Fire By Sea

I could write a book on this, so here’s how I’d condense it:

I love my country. It’s a deeply complex place based on great ideas, great accomplishments but not without some very disturbing activities and history.

I admire our the ideas of our great leaders but rarely do I admire the leaders themselves. There are some exceptions, though.

I admire and support the military and the Americans who serve in it, like my father and his father, but I myself am not primarily a military-minded person.

America is a vast, diverse and beautiful country with incredible much wealth, culture and resources. We need to constantly progress and evolve if we want to stay alive.

There’s more, and maybe I’ll get into it in another post.

(9/2)

Death has been a topic of conversation between my wife and me this week. I was having chest pains and she got worried about me having a heart attack, which got us talking about a possible premature death.

First issue: life insurance. I need to raise it to a more substantial level. Agreed. Put that on the to-do list.

But then there’s the issue of my legacy. What am I leaving behind for my family, especially my children?

From a historian’s point of view, my death would be a tragedy: I haven’t accomplished anything yet. Having kids doesn’t totally count. I still need to make my mark, establish the New family name and open doors for my kids so they can run with it.

So I better keep living.

(9/2)

Today was her birthday, and we had a great day. It started with all the right touches — a lei, coffee, extra affection. Then we drove south for beers on the beach and lunch on the water at a new restaurant from her hometown that recently opened a new location in Hawaii.

Then we went to another beach for champagne. That’s when we realized that we still share a great passion for each other. I wish we could have that every day.

When we got home in the late afternoon, our passion was replaced by parenthood, and that’s when we realized that it’s still there, but oh so dormant.

I’m talking about the money-minded affiliate marketers. I’m committed to being one of them now.

Enough of my righteous web marketing ideology because it’s kept me broke (thanks to the Millionaire Mind book I read I no longer reject the notion of being rich).

But here’s where I separate myself from the pack: I don’t see affiliate marketing as an end-all solution. There’s just not enough creative genius in it for me (for other, yes, but not me.)

I see it as a means to an end: a way to get financially free so I can fund much bigger and better things that have the potential to not only go mainstream (aff marketers always seem so elusive), but also generate BILLIONS of dollars.

(9/2)

Getting rid of things is just as important as gaining things, just like unlearning is the key to true enlightenment.

Right now I’m clearly overwhelmed with a lot going on in my business world and I’m getting nothing done. And I know that if I start to drop some things that I’ll slowly achieve escape velocity. The hard part is — what do I drop?

With AWM, I can be way more selective with clients in terms of the interest and scope of the project and, of course, how much it pays.

With Day Job, it’s all about using the time wisely. I spend hours a day in the office here, so I might as well not squander them, right?

(9/2)

And at last, the organization action plan:

I’ve decided to start with using two calendars: one for agenda, one for editorial. And sticking to them!

With the percentages broken down, I’m able to see what needs to be given how much attention and when. Deadlines will force accountability.

Of course I’m well aware that no percentages, strategy, tools, tips and calendars are going to make things happen. That’s up to my mindset and ability to act. Again — my ability to act.

Despite years of dragging, paralysis by analysis, I have gained something: I know what I need to do to pull this off. I have the knowhow in the noggin.

(9/2)

[continued from last post]

So seeing my goal, and the realities involved (I’m starting from scratch), here is what I have going and what relevance they have to achieving it:

I have taken a half-step back from my life and assessed what the heck is going on. What am I trying to do? Where am I trying to go? What’s more important than the other? Here’s the matrix I’ve come up with:

GOAL: Be financially independent within 1-2 years, on the road to self-made billionaire.

How I’m going to get there: well imagining how I’m going to get there got me nowhere — I always thought I’d just come up with a bunch of money by doing things that only existed in my imagination. But that’s done nothing, obviously.

So what I’m doing is going after some fast track to money to build those funds to enable what I really want to do, which is publishing.

[continued in next post]

(9/2)

It’s August in Hawaii and I’m frickin freezing. My hands are cold, I’m semi-shivering and I’m overall uncomfortable.

This town we live in — start off Alpine sunny, then in 5 minutes turns to Alaska in autumn — cool and damp and foreboding. I just don’t get it. Where’s the growler shop, the expansive land, the icy blue rivers?

Consider this a rare rant on Hawaii weather. My constant raving comes from the much more desirable, warm, sunny, sultry lower elevations. And that’s exactly where we’re headed.

I bet that very few people know about what’s going on in parts of Hawaii this time of year.