After nearly seven months that went by way quicker than I’d even realized, I find myself back in Portland, Oregon.

In the five days I’ve been here I’ve found that the weather is even more beautiful than I’d hoped, the beer is even better than I remember, and having a flexible lifestyle in the States is going to be even more enjoyable than I’d imagined.

Over the past three days I’ve done something that I haven’t done in, well, I can’t remember how long.  I’ve been completely shut off from the internet and my computer.  I’ve been spending time with friends that I haven’t seen since I returned and going to events that I’ve been looking forward to  for months. Somehow during that time, internet just didn’t quite seem to fit in.

And surprisingly, the world didn’t come to an end…

This weekend has taught me how important it is to take time to really enjoy the things that are worth living for in life.  I’ve been so caught up in work and projects over the past few months, that I think part of me forgot this.  Even when I was doing cool stuff like scuba diving in Ko Tao or motor-biking through Bali, I always felt guilty about it.  There was work that I could have been doing, so I felt like that’s where I needed to be.  But there will always be work that can be done. One of the fundamental components of the location independent lifestyle is learning how to embrace the fact that just because you can work, doesn’t mean you should work.

My new (old) home of Portland

In order to be successful in this lifestyle, I’m finding how necessary it is to “turn off” during tim es when I’ve told myself I would do so.  If I’m going to golf for an afternoon or take a bike ride, I need to enjoy it! The work will always be there when I get back, but nothing is going to be getting done while I’m gone regardless – so stressing about it has no positive effect, and in fact diminishes what could be a stress relieving activity.

I constantly struggle with this.

However this weekend I had no problem turning work off for a few days.  And you know what? It felt good.  If I can continue to embrace this mindset, I know that this is going to be one hell of a summer.  Between all of the stuff that is in store for both my work and my social life, I’m really excited to enjoy a summer in the northwest.

Quick side note: I’m currently on the metro train back to the other side of town, and just passed my old office building.  Man, to think that this time last year I would have been in a suit and tie and sitting in an office building is startling.  It’s completely sunny and 88 degrees out, the most perfect weather I could ask for.  It’s moments like this I know I’ve done something right.

So this will be the end of my transitional posts for awhile.  I know the last few have pretty much only been about my preparing to move back, moving back, and now being back.  That’s cool and all, but I know you are probably ready for something a bit different!  Stay tuned later this week for something a bit more substantial.

In the meantime, go do something fun.  Seriously – you’ll be glad you did.

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I am probably 37,000 feet up by the time you read this, so I will approve any comments and respond as soon as I land!

Over the past 9 or so months I’ve been incredibly selfish.

Now, I’m not saying I’ve done anything wrong, or that looking back I should have done anything differently, but the fact of the matter is that I’ve been focused only for what is best for me, with little regard for those around me.

That said, just about everyone around me has been incredibly supportive of everything I’ve been doing.  Even my family and close friends who have been affected the most by me quitting my job and moving to a foreign country for half a year have had very few bad things to say and have made it clear that they just want me to be happy.

That’s pretty cool.

Throughout this journey I’ve met a ton of people whose loved ones weren’t so ok with their live choices.  Parents disowning children, relationships ending in ruins and best friends that are no longer – I’ve really been surprised at the lack of support some people have exhibited for those going against the grain (or even those just wanting to do a little traveling).

I’m currently sitting at Suvarnabhumi International Airport (and now Incheon International in Seoul as I edit this) reflecting on everything that has occurred this year.  I couldn’t be more excited about going home to Portland, but at the same time it will be impossible to not miss the city and country that has treated me so well.

I’m actually incredibly thankful for Bangkok.

Last year I was clueless as to what I wanted out of life.  I didn’t know where my priorities were, I didn’t know what kind of career I wanted, and I didn’t know where I wanted to be.  I’ve now figured out the answers to all of those concerns (or at least gotten much, much closer), and I know that it wouldn’t have happened without Bangkok.

Coming to this city gave me the opportunity to break away from the incredibly comfortable life that I’ve been living for the last 25 years.  I was able to get out of my comfort zone and experience new adventures on a daily basis.  Coming here gave me the time to explore my hobbies and passions, and have helped me to realize which ones I miss the most (I’m really looking forward to playing a round of golf next week), and which ones may not have been that important.

I’m thankful for Dan and the Tropical MBA.  Were it not for him taking a chance on me, none of this would have happened.  I would have had a completely different year, and frankly I guarantee it wouldn’t have been as much fun and as productive as it ended up being.  I’ve found people to build a business with that share the same goals as me, are willing to work extraordinarily hard to achieve them, but also know how to have fun in the process.  I can’t wait to see where things go from here now that a solid foundation has been laid.

However most of all, I’m thankful for my closest friends and family.

I thought about going through and calling each of you out by name, but rather than do that I’m just going to say that in addition to the other things mentioned, its your support that has allowed me to do all of this.  As much as I believe that everyone has to live their own lives, and make tough choices to ultimately do the stuff they want in life, the support by those around me has made it much, MUCH easier for me to make those choices.

"I hate leaving, but I love comin' home again"

So now my choice is to come home (for awhile at least).    Traveling is still going to play a big part of my life, and I already have a lot of ideas about what the next adventure could be.  But at this point I can’t wait to have an ice cold Mirror Pond, a backyard bbq with my best friends, and get to work on building my empire from a place with fast enough internet to enable me to do so.

Oh yeah, I’m also really thankful for fast internet.

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to scuba dive.

When I was younger I used to get incredibly jealous when my dad and uncle would leave on dive trips, and I’d have to stay at home and do fun things like go to school.  Exotic places like Cozumel, Roatan and Thailand became implanted in my brain as these holy grail destinations – perhaps that’s what led me down my current path.

For years, I considered the prospect of getting certified, but there were numerous road blocks that always got in my way.  First off, is the proximity factor.  While the Willamette Valley is a mere hour drive from the Oregon coast, the diving conditions you would find there are far from ideal.  I mean who really wants to hop in water barely above freezing in a full dry suit with visibility that’s equivalent to that of your great-grandpa’s when he forgets to put on his glasses? Yeah, me either.

Then there were the physical limitations.  Something most people don’t know about me is that when I was younger I had a myriad of ear problems.  Constant ear infections, three sets of tubes, and a completely rebuilt left ear drum later, I can say I am 100% – I know this now.

Koh Nang Yuan off the coast of Ko Tao, Thailand

While these ear problems happened over a decade ago, there was still the concern that I wouldn’t be able to properly equalize if I were to dive.  This fear has kept me from taking a class on it in college, and unfortunately it’s what has made me delay attempting it until 7 days before I depart one of the dive capitals of the world.

However, I knew that if I didn’t give it a shot, I’d regret it forever, and probably never actually go through with it.

So I did.

I found one of the many dive shops on Ko Tao that offer “try dives” or “discovery dives”.  I paid my 1500 baht and hopped on the boat with no sense of what would happen.  It was a beautiful day and our dive site couldn’t have been better.  Named Japanese Gardens for the rock formations that surround the bay, we found ourselves near the island of Koh Nang Yuan – what can only be described as one of the most beautiful beaches on earth.

I had no problem at all with the 45 minutes of training – I was actually surprised at how natural everything felt.  Whether it was breathing underwater, clearing my mask or finding my regulator, I was a natural.

That is, until the words came out of my instructor Tom’s mouth: “Alright, lets go for a dive!”

That’s when the nerves kicked in a bit.  I was actually surprised at how the mention of equalizing was a bit of an afterthought.  He explained how to do it, but was much more concerned with other aspects of diving.    I never thought that something that’s been haunting me for years would be mentioned for a mere 30 seconds before diving into the crystal clear abyss.

And then I went.

Tate and I preparing for our first dive

There was some adjustment, and even some minor discomfort, but somehow minutes later I was swimming around at about 6 meters completely oblivious to the fact that I ever had ear problems.  I was jetting through schools of small fish, and observing blue spotted stingrays as they fluttered around below me.  I even dodged a few attacks by a trigger fish.

This is what I’d been putting off for 25 years?  Man, I’m an idiot.

More so for the fact that I didn’t give it a shot sometime in the last 6 months – I can forgive myself for the rest of the time.

About to take the plunge

I could have been certified and exploring some of the most majestic spots on earth for months, and yet I found it easier to put it off and continue to wonder about what could be.

As I mentioned, had I left Thailand without giving diving a shot, I don’t think I would have forgiven myself.  For months I’ve been harping on about overcoming the fear of uncertainty.  Hell I’ve written a whole book on the subject, but this is one time, where I truly realized how little we actually have to be afraid of, and how important it is that we don’t let our fears get the best of us.

If there’s ever been something you’ve wanted to do, but have put it off, don’t put it off anymore.  Life presents itself with opportunities to make you a better person and ways to actually do all of those things you say you’d like to.

When one of those opportunities comes your way, how are you going to react?

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I feel like I’ve been doing more traveling over the last month than I had in the previous six months combined.  Although I guess when I think back, I’ve been a lot of places and seen a LOT of cool stuff.

Currently I’m writing from a nice bakery on the Thai island of Ko Tao.  Ko Tao is without a doubt one of my favorite islands that I’ve been to thus far.  A far cry from the insanity that is Koh Phi Phi, as soon as you get off the boat you can tell that this place is much more tranquil.  Ko Tao is one of the dive capitals of Thailand, and I think we are probably the only people around who aren’t here to make diving their primary focus.

If there is one thing that I’ve realized over the past six months its the importance of having good friends in your life.  I’m currently here with a cool mix of old friends such as my girlfriend Tate and her cousin Abby, as well as new friends such as David Walsh, Derek Johanson, Clay Boeschen and Blake Jakopovic.  Its cool to be able to experience this place with some of my favorite  people , yet at the same time it makes me wish that there were a few people from back home who could experience it as well.

Sairee Beach on Ko Tao

Tomorrow I’m hoping to accomplish another goal I’ve had forever which is to go scuba diving.  My whole life I’ve had some recurring ear problems, and while they haven’t been an issue for years, there’s still a question of whether or not I’ll be able to properly equalize.  I figure if I don’t do it now, I never will, so I will keep you posted on how that goes.

UPDATE: Since I first wrote this a few days ago I have SUCCESSFULLY completed my first scuba dive.  More on that soon.

In the spirit of keeping you up to date, I also have another announcement to make.  If you’ve been following me on Twitter, or are subscribed to the Location 180 mailing list, you may already know, but:

On July 20th I will be headed back to Portland, Oregon.

As I’ve started telling people about this plan over the last couple weeks, I’ve received a wide variety of reactions.  From excitement to disgust to the most common of surprise, I’ve seen a far greater spectrum of feelings that I’d anticipated.

A lot of people who’ve reading about my travels at Location 180 and talking to me about them, are wondering why on Earth I would give up everything I have here?  Well the fact of the matter, is that I’m not giving up anything. The beauty of this lifestyle is that I can literally do it from anywhere I want, and the response I keep telling people is that:

There is no place in the world that I would rather spend the summer than in the Pacific Northwest

Incredible festivals and events.  Outdoor activities that a second to none. Friends and family.  The thought of that was too much to pass up.  Not to mention its been years since I’ve been able to really spend a summer in Portland enjoying all of these things without the chain of a 9 to 5 job.  To be able to craft my schedule around work, and enjoy all of the things an Oregon summer has to offer is really exciting.

The flexibility of the work I do with the Tropical MBA a big reason that this is possible, and I’m really excited about where that business is heading and my role in it.  There will be more updates on that in the coming weeks, but I think I will be able to add just as much if not more value to those endeavors back in the US as I am here.

So that’s my plan.  Obviously the writing here will be slightly different considering I won’t be living in South East Asia, but I’m really excited to start exploring some different topics and looking at another side of the location independent lifestyle.

It will be interesting to share my experiences going back and to see how I deal with things like sticker shock, not having a car, interacting with people who may not have the same mindset as me, and not to mention just being able to share all of the awesome things that are in store for the next few months.

Realistically I couldn’t tell you what will happen after the summer, and I don’t really want to worry too much about that right now.  I’m hoping to make a trip out to NYC for the first time ever at some point, and then maybe spend some time skiing and living in the mountains for awhile in the winter, but those decisions are still a long way out.

The bottom line is that coming to Thailand has been the greatest experience of my life, and I know I’m a much more self-assured and better off person because of it.  It will be a challenge to keep the mindset I now have in a place where so few people share my sentiments, but it’s one that I’m prepared and excited for.

In the meantime, I plan on enjoying my last week here with some of the coolest people I’ve ever met, have a few more memorable experiences, and then prepare myself for the next chapter in a story that keeps getting better and better.

If you have any questions, comments, thoughts etc. I’d love to hear about them!  Leave me a comment or shoot me an email!

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The other morning I spent a few hours doing errands, answering emails, and preparing myself for an afternoon of doing nothing but working on one specific project.  This particular project is one that I’ve been putting off for days now, not because I don’t want to do it, but because it was something that was going to take a significant amount of focus and creativity. As we all know, getting into that mode can prove difficult from time to time.

So after I spent the morning getting stuff done and organizing my day around this work session, I was ready to work.  I ate a good lunch, prepared to sit down at my desk, and you know what happened next?

I fell asleep.

Now I’m all for the occasional nap, but this was completely unacceptable.  I slept for about two hours, and by the time I woke up, I was too dazed to get back into the mindset necessary for creative productivity.  This got me thinking about the most important trait necessary to be a successful entrepreneur.  I think this thought actually first came to me during the nap in question, as my mind was berating my body for not following through with my plans.

The most important trait of an entrepreneur is energy.

Having a constant supply of energy is absolutely necessary if you want to be successful working on your own.  At the very least you need to have enough of it to allow you to push through when you aren’t feeling 100%.

When there’s no one to hold your hand or tell you what to do, what’s to stop you from spending the days lounging around and taking naps?  Not much.  By having an energetic mindset, and keeping yourself awake and focused, you allow yourself to accomplish so much more, and not fall into the traps of the lethargic.  Occasionally, I do fall into these traps.  We all do.  The disappointing thing about this is that I know exactly why I do it, and I’m not always proactive about fixing it.

See, with energy you get the opportunity to take creepy pictures of you hugging monkeys...

I don’t want to turn this into a generic article about how to have more energy, but at the same time, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a few fundamental components of a healthy lifestyle that can make a huge difference.

Basic things such as getting enough sleep at night, eating fairly healthy and drinking a lot of water are extremely important when trying to keep yourself awake through the days.  For me the most important of these is drinking enough water.

From a liquids stand point, my  typical day goes something like this: wake up and have a few cups of coffee, have juice, soda or maybe a few sips of water in the afternoon, and then each evening have a beer or two.

Does anyone see a problem with this?  Not only am I not drinking water, I’m supplementing it with things that are just going to dehydrate me further.  Not acceptable…

On the days when I make it a priority to drink the recommended 8 glasses a day, I feel great.  I’m awake, sharp-minded and ready to work.  I find it incredible that something so simple has been so difficult to do at times, and can have such a huge impact.

But ok enough on that, just take note that if you’re tired – drink more water.

It isn’t just physical energy that an entrepreneur needs to succeed though.  They need to exude energy and passion for the work that they’re creating.  When you combine the physical energy with the right mental attitude, amazing things can happen.  I usually get this combination right two or three days out of the week, I can only imagine how effective I’d be if I was getting to 6 or 7.

By looking at your life from the perspective of trying to maximize energy in order to both work and be social, it becomes easier to make subtle lifestyle changes that while easy to do, can have a big impact.

Also, don’t get me wrong, there are lots of other traits of successful entrepreneurs.  However, I believe that it’s an abundant supply of energy that makes it possible for those other skills to come out.  You can be a fantastic accountant, but if you don’t have the energy to dig into some spreadsheets, it doesn’t matter.  This is the one trait that makes it possible for all of the others to shine.

The point of all this being, take some time to think about whether you are operating at the level you should.  You could be sleepwalking through life and not even realize it.  Imagine how good you can feel, and how much you can accomplish with just a few simple changes to old habits.

Now time for me to get another cup of coffee…wait, I mean water.

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First off, sorry to everyone for being somewhat unresponsive over the last week!  I’ve been in Bali and my free time at a computer has been pretty limited.  Although, I’m sure you guys can understand my desire to have a bunch of experiences, rather than spend all of my time writing about them.  Also, if you haven’t seen it, check out my recent guest post at Unclutterer.

When I was younger I used to always dream of the day when I could take a lavish vacation to some place truly exotic.  Places like Tahiti, Bora Bora and Bali all seemed like these far away, astronomically expensive destinations that I wouldn’t get to experience until I was of retirement age.  Well, as of a few days ago, that dream became a reality.  And you know what?  Very little of it is what I expected.

In my mind, Bali, Indonesia has always been the epitome of a world class tropical destination.  Up until recently I actually knew very little about it aside from umbrella drinks and expensive resorts.  I once heard that Bali has more rooms that cost over $1,000 a night than any other place in the world.  I’m not sure I’ve come across one more than $50.

Kuta Sunset

We booked $200 round trip tickets out of Bangkok on a semi-whim when Air Asia announced that many of their Bangkok routes would be going on sale.  We spent the first three days near the highlands and rice terraces in a town called Ubud.  Ubud was the exact opposite of everything you’d think of when you think of Bali.

Artists, jewelry makers, and craftsmen pretty much sums up Ubud.  If you were to transplant Portland, Oregon and put it in Asia, I have a feeling this is kind of what it would look like.  With a very laid back feel, no one ever seemed to be in a hurry in Ubud. Our beautiful room came complete with it’s own private veranda, where we would find fresh coffee and tea twice daily.  The breakfast was fantastic as well.  If you’ve never had a jaffle, be sure to give it a try when you arrive in Bali.  Oh and it only cost $270 a night.  Oh wait, I meant $27.  $27 is a long way away from the dreams of yachts and beach clubs that I’d been picturing.

Sure, those places are around, but I’ve been shocked at just how affordable Bali really is.  I rarely spend more than $3 or 4 when eating, and you can get a large Bintang beer for $2.50 or less at most places on the island.  After expecting to be eating ramen and drinking water all week, its been a nice surprise to find I can live the high life for such a reasonable amount of money.  If you’re willing to splurge and spend $20-30 on a dinner for two with drinks, you can get something really special.  Honestly, my meal of spare ribs and potatoes at a beautiful open air restaurant along the river in Ubud would have been well over $100 at a fancy place in the states, here its hardly more than a Big Mac.

View from Teba Guest House in Ubud, Bali

All of this to say Bali has shocked me.  Its absolutely gorgeous and after spending time at temples, textile shops, and some of the most quaint and delicious café’s around, I can’t imagine not coming here on a trip through South East Asia.

I hardly know a single person in the states that hasn’t been to Hawaii at some point in their lives.  Yet while Bali may have a slightly more expensive plane ticket to get here, I bet you the whole trip would cost hundreds less.  The food will be twice as good, and you’ll get a cultural experience that’s second to none.  Sure Kuta Beach, where I am now, is overrun with Australian surfers, but even that can be overlooked when considering how much the island has to offer.

While it isn’t the super secluded, personal island paradise I may have built up in my mind (although I’m sure that’s around), Bali has definitely not disappointed.  Even passport issues and a flat tire on our motorbike haven’t been enough to dampen the trip.  The people are the friendliest I’ve met in Asia, and everyone is more than willing to help out in any way they can.  When was the last time you were in a place where people would pull over their bikes, just to thank you for visiting their country.

Fire Dancer on Kuta Beach, Bali

Now that’s hospitality.

So while many in the western world only know the side of Bali that caters to jet-set celebrities and millionaires, the truth is that it is actually an extremely affordable place for just about anyone – assuming you can make the time to get here.

It’s moments like these when I truly appreciate the lifestyle I’ve created.  While I may have spent the week being more concerned than I should be about getting work done, the fact that I have the ability to take my work wherever I want to go is a pretty incredible thing.  Many might hate the idea of working in paradise. However, personally I’d rather have the flexibility to go anywhere in the world, whenever I want, and do a little work in the process, than have to save up a whole year’s worth of vacation time just to get a few weeks off.

Bottom line, whether you are looking to play while you work, or just get away from work altogether, Bali is the perfect place to do it.

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With all of the talk about the new iPhone 4 over the last few weeks, I’d like to review one of the most beneficial tools I’ve used on my travels: the iPod Touch with the new iOS4 (Iphone Operating System 4).  The iPod Touch has always been like the Jan Brady of the Apple lineup.  It never seems to get as much attention as it’s siblings Macbook Pro and Iphone. Too bad really.

If you’ve been around for awhile you may remember me finally, after years of resisting, giving up my faux pod for a brand new iPod Touch.  Essentially it’s turned out to be one of the best purchases of my life.  Luckily I bought it when I did, because had I waited two more weeks until after My Last Day, I probably wouldn’t have dropped the $300.

Throughout the last six months of trains, planes and automobiles there is not a single item in my bag that is more multi-faceted or convenient.  I take this thing with me everywhere, and it’s become the ultimate travel tool.  Here’s why:

A Free Phone*

Why spend over $100/month on an iPhone 4 with a data plan, when you could turn your iPod Touch into a phone for next to nothing.  If you grab the free Skype app (or a number of others that do similar things), and couple that with a Skype-in or Google Voice number, you can basically turn your iPod Touch into an iPhone.  With the new capabilities of iOS4, you can stay connected to wifi while the gadget is asleep, and be running multiple programs at the same time.  Essentially that means you can leave Skype on all the time, and still have the ability to take incoming calls.  Either way, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been able to pop this out and use it to make calls while on the road. You’d be surprised at just how many places have wifi.

*All of this for the $2.95/month it costs to make unlimited calls in the US.  The BIG caveat to all of this is that you have to have wifi.  But when 80% of the time you are at a hot spot, it really isnt that big of a deal.  Besides, the times you aren’t, you probably shouldn’t be focusing on your phone anyways (I’m looking at you 4Square and Twitter addicts).

Kindle in Your Pocket

There’s been some criticism over the functionality of the new iBooks app for iOS4, but I’ve found it to work wonderfully.  Essentially I’ve been looking for a good app that allows me to read pdf ebooks on my iPod, and I had yet to find anything that I really liked, until now.  Upon opening up this app, I was able to drop no less than a dozen pdf ebooks on here, that all showed up neatly in my bookshelf ready to read.  It even gives them a cool cover.  Sure reading long novels on a screen that small isn’t ideal, but for bus and plane rides, I’ve found it to be exactly what I’ve been looking for.

My iBooks Library (the green one is the best)

Stay in Shape

This feature has been around for awhile, but it’s had such a positive impact on my life, that I feel compelled to share it.  The Nike + iPod app is freaking awesome. Sure you have to buy the $19 adapter, and have a pair of Nike iPod compatible shoes, but if you do that, believe me, it’s well worth it.

I go through periods of time on the road, where I tend to be, how shall we say this, lazy.  I get sucked into my laptop and don’t make an effort to exercise.  THIS gets me motivated to exercise.  Maybe it is the goal tracking, the constant need to want to beat my old personal bests, or the sexy female voice that comes on to tell me I only have a mile left, but this is one of the best exercise tools around.

All new iPods come with the app pre-installed, its just up to you to pick up the rest.  I literally use this 4-5 nights a week these days, and if I didn’t have it, I think my body would hate me.

Get My Mail Everywhere

With me taking off for Bali in a few days, one of my biggest concerns is making sure that I’ll be able to stay in touch with what is going on with work.  Well, now iOS4 makes it even easier for me to keep track of all of my personal and professional email accounts.  I can view all messages in one inbox, saving me time, and ensuring that I always know what’s going on.  Apple also finally updated their mail so that messages are grouped by threads.  No more inboxes forcing you to scroll through 20 back and forth emails when all you want is something else.  Also, all I need is a connection for a few minutes.   I can then download all of my messages, respond when I have time, and next time I’m connected, everything gets sent out.

The Basics

Those are some of the newer things that I’ve found that makes the iPod Touch so great, but what about all of the fundamentals that make this the best tool ever.  I can store 32gbs of music, which I don’t care who you are, this is enough.  I also usually have my laptop, so if I need to add something new, it’s only a quick usb connection away.  You can also now create real playlists directly on your iPod.  This beats the hell out of On-the-Go playlists by the way.  I’ve got access to just about any game I want for those times where the lines at immigration seem as though they’re never going to end.  I use my alarm clock every single day.  I can track my finances with Mint.  I can write blog posts with WordPress. Get quick reference for photography info when I’m out on a shoot.  I’ve written about many of these things before in the Location 180 Guide to iPhone Apps, but the fact remains, this is the best gadget you can buy to aid in your globe trotting.

How do you use your iPod or iPhone?  Do you use Everyday Looper to record music on the go? How about use the World Cup app to get live audio from all of the games? The options are pretty endless.

Sidenote: Did anyone else know you could take a screenshot on your iPod/Phone by pressing the Home and the On/Off buttons simultaneously?  Go figure.

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Being an entrepreneur is a constant struggle. I’ve never met a single true entrepreneur who wasn’t always looking for the next big thing.  It doesn’t matter how little free time they have, or what the state is of their current projects, they are always open to new possibilities.  This can be both a good and a bad thing, but for me personally it’s left me a little overwhelmed throughout the past week.

Right as I was in the midst of finishing up my first premium product here at Location 180, I decided it would be a great time to start a new venture!  I’ve had an idea to start this site for the last few months, and I finally decided to just go for it – regardless of how close I was to finishing my current project (anyone else notice my June 15 date come and go?).

Note: My new site will officially launch in a few weeks, but if you sign up for the Location 180 mailing list, you will get full details in Wednesday’s newsletter.

The point being, why would I take on a new venture when I’m so close to finishing the project I’ve been working on for months?  To be honest, I don’t know the answer to this, but it did get me thinking about the importance of project management and the components that lead to success for some and an endless amount of half finished products for others.

Hint: New site has something to do with this.

So here are the 7 fundamental components of project management:

1) Organization

If you can’t force yourself to be even the slightest bit organized, you might as well not even start the project.  Organization is essential to ensuring that you stay on track and are able to focus on the real priorities.  This becomes even more essential once you get multiple projects involved and have to balance your time between each of them.  If you have a proper roadmap to completion, filled with goals and timelines you will have a much greater chance of success.  The best way to accomplish this is to have a plan before you even get started.  Know exactly how much time you are going to spend each week, and on what tasks.  Having this type of plan for each of your endeavors will make it clear whether or not you are over extending yourself

2) The Ability to Say No

This is extremely important.  As I mentioned, so often the typical entrepreneur wants to get involved in as many opportunities as possible . However sometimes, no matter how great something seems, you have to be able to say no.  You’ve already started working on any number of other projects, so you obviously hold a belief that they will be successful.  If you over extend yourself, very quickly those current ventures that were on the fast track to success could wind up half finished, and you with little motivation to return to development mode.

3) A Feature Filter

So often we have a tendency to want to throw everything we possibly can into our products, businesses, whatever.  This can be one the quickest ways to slow down progress and make yourself extremely frustrated in the process.  In writing my guide to Overcoming the Fear of Uncertainty, I had this huge unrealistic list of things I wanted to include for the initial launch.  By taking an objective standpoint and only keeping the most important features, I’m able to continue making progress, while not getting frustrated with the sheer amount of features I tried to cram in.  With any features you are adding to something, ask yourself what the benefit is.  Will it help you sell more?  Does it really make the product that much better?  If the answer is no, scrap it and move on with your life.

4) A Life Outside of Work

We’ve all been there at some point, hell I’m probably there right now, where we get so wrapped up in the things that we are working on that we forget to have a life outside of our work.  Essentially what this leads to is lower levels of quality, more stress than necessary, and a propensity to burn out.  Don’t do that to yourself.  At the very least set aside an afternoon or evening each week to step away from business and enjoy the rest of what life has to offer.

Or you know, you can take a whole week and go some place exotic.  Like Bali, where I’ll be headed next week!

5) Follow Through

This where I get into trouble.  I’m great at starting projects.  I tend to get overly excited and jump right in, without thinking too much about how I plan to actually finish a project.  I get sidetracked, start something else, lose interest, or any number of other things that keeps me from finishing what I’ve started.  Just in the last few weeks I’ve started to take heed to each of the other 6 aspects of project management, and I feel like I’m closer with this whole follow through thing than I’ve been in awhile.  It’s exciting.  A little bit of momentum can carry you a long way – think about that if you are struggling to get something past the finish line.

6) An End Goal

Why are you working so hard on this?  What are you hoping to get out of it?  If you don’t have a goal, then it’s really difficult to put your full effort into your projects.  Do you want to make money?  Free up time?  Gain exposure?  What is it that is driving you to do what you are doing?  Understanding exactly where you hope to be when all is said is done is vital to helping you get there.

7) Passion

You can work on just about anything without the need to be passionate about it, but doing something you love and believe in can certainly add motivation.  I’ve tried to choose projects and businesses that I really have an interest in.  The kinds of things that I would do for free (and many I am), if I had to.  Finding something you are passionate about is a much better long term business model than grinding away at something you hate.

How many of these things have you considered when it comes to your life and your businesses?  Whether you have a business or not, you are applying project management skills to many aspects of your personal life.  Viewing yourself as the project manager of your life and continually analyzing it in the context of these fundamentals can be a worthwhile way to ensure you stay on track with your goals.

If you enjoyed this article be sure to check out the Location 180 RSS Feed and Facebook page.  You can also subscribe to my mailing list for cool updates (like insider info on my new site launch!)

Have you ever had an”oh shit” moment in your life? You know,  one of those moments where something something so bad happens, that the the only thing you can think of to do is say “oh shit”.  Or perhaps cry.  Well let me just say, earlier this week I was the closest to tears I’ve been in a long, long time.

It all started simply enough with me trying to install WordPress on a new site that I’ve started.  It’s an easy process that I’ve done a dozen times, but for some reason this time around I felt compelled to try and give myself a heart attack.

I’m at a point now where I have quite a few different domains on my hosting account, and it had been awhile since I had installed wordpress to one of those directories.  So while I’m going through the process and not paying as much attention as I should (thanks Twitter),  I checked a box that apparently wasn’t supposed to be checked.  How did I know that box wasn’t supposed to be checked? Well after the installation I realized that

I completely overwrote all of the data on Location 180.

Thats a pretty crappy way to find out the box wasn’t supposed to be checked..

Do you have any idea what that feels like?  To completely erase something that has become one of the fundamental focuses of your life for over a year? It doesn’t help when the first thing out of the technical support guy’s mouth is “ooooh, you didn’t click that box did you?” YES I CLICKED THE FREAKING BOX.  NOW JUST TELL ME HOW TO FIX IT!

“Oh, your site’s gone.”

Ok, I’m sorry, I know my site isn’t gone.  There should be no way that I could accidentally click one box and delete 13 months of progress ….or is there?

At this point, I’m not exactly thinking very clearly.  I’m pacing around having to listen to the obnoxious hold music, while trying to figure out what it really means if my site really is gone for good.  The tech guy finally comes back and says “I have some good news and bad news.  Good news is, we can probably fix it.  Bad news is that it is going to be really expensive.”

The park in Bangkok where I run

Here I am thinking its going to cost me $500 or more.  And I was prepared to pay it.  Turns out to restore my database, it cost me $50.  Ha.  Now that I will gladly pay for (even though  I figured out how I could have done it myself later on).

Anyway, the key word here is probably fix it.  That is definitely not the reassurance I was looking for.  He said the specialist would be in an hour later and he would make it the top priority.

So now what do I do?  I’m too distracted to work, but I’d go crazy if I sit still. Time to go for a run.

I’d been running each of the three previous days, which is more consecutive days of running than I’d done in years.  This was supposed to be my day off.  Well, apparently the universe had different plans for me.  I think this was it’s way of telling me I need to get in better shape!  So it took destroying Location 180 and 50 bucks to get me to work out.

Hopefully this doesn’t turn into some kind of evil trend.

It wasn’t until about 7 uneasy hours later that I was at a bar watching the English goal keeper make the biggest mistake of his life, that I was able to pull out my iPod and access my site.  That might have been the happiest moment of my life.

Seriously.

There were a lot of lessons learned through this whole process. Not the least of which was ensure you are constantly backing up any thing of importance.  Your website, your products, your sanity, whatever – find a way to back it up.

This was a really interesting experience for me though, because it wasn’t until that point that I realized how important this blog really was to me.  I mean this is the only place in the world where my transformation is documented, and that is a powerful thing.  I’ve built a brand off that.  Losing the site would be like Michael Jordan trying to build his career off baseball – much more difficult to do!

As I’ve realized how personal it is, it has also motivated me to keep putting out good content.  I’ve fallen into one of those cruise control type modes, where posts are going up, but they could probably be better than they are.  Not that they are bad, just not as good as they could be.

Funny how it takes near-catastrophe to realize this!

So for those of you that tried to access my site over the weekend and were presented with nothing but a white page, you now know why.  It’s simply because the guy behind it is a complete dumbass.  Oh well, lesson learned.

If you enjoyed this article be sure to sign up for my RSS Feed and the Location 180 newsletter in the sidebar.  I’d also love you forever if you joined my Facebook fan page.

This is a guest post by JD Bentley of Wage Slave Rebel.  He has just recently launched his new blog coaching course, which you can check out at Idea Anarchy.

In July of 2009 I decided to take a risk. I registered a domain name, bought some hosting and wrote two weeks worth of posts for Wage Slave Rebel, a blog I wanted to create as a way to document my entrepreneurial aspirations and to help inspire other people to start moving toward doing what they love. I’d tried to start a blog many times before this but had only mustered up enough effort to earn myself a series of outright failures.

Wage Slave Rebel was going to be different, though. I just knew it. Why? Because from the beginning I’d planned the content for the benefit of the reader rather than myself and had become resolute about maintaining a strict posting schedule. This turned out to be two of the best decisions of my life.

I’d created enough failed blogs that I had started to suspect that anyone who claimed to be making money with them was an absolute bullshitter, but that was before I hit the magic number. That was before I figured out how to hook an audience.

Influence and Authority

The blog started out like any of the others I created, but before long I could tell something was up. Something was definitely different. It was as if one day I woke up and people cared. They were actually invested in me and in my journey. They were actually waiting for my posts.

Within a few months, I’d wake up to find my inbox speckled with contact form submissions from my site. Visitors started writing me asking for clarification or advice or recommendations or wanting me to do a post about this thing or that thing. They wanted help and all of a sudden I was the guy to ask.

Once I realized that my consistency with the blog and my particular voice had not only captured the attention of an ever-growing audience, but also gave me a certain amount of influence over them, I started to explore the extent of my newfound authority by introducing a handful of affiliate links. To my surprise they got clicked and for the first time ever I actually made some money from a blog.

I was a bit shocked. I wondered what exactly the difference was. Why, all of a sudden, had this become so easy?

The Importance of the First 500

Sean here at Location180 has been a leading advocate of the importance of starting a blog and I definitely agree with that, but I’d like to also take it a step further by emphasizing the importance of those first 500 subscribers. When I analyzed my numbers at Wage Slave Rebel, what I found was that the first significant opportunities and contacts that started coming my way correlated directly with my approach to 500 subscribers.

When I started nearing 500, lots of doors opened and I found that I had built a substantial amount of authority on the subjects of online business and, to a certain extent, lifestyle design. Beyond the affiliate links, I had also found that my readers were actually interested in buying products I created myself (like this blogging course) or services I offered.

You Won’t “Get” It Until 500

If you are planning on starting a blog or have only just recently started, lots of things are probably still unclear to you. It may seem like you just don’t have the same luck as everyone else with blogging and that you’ll never be able to turn it into anything more than a hobby.

Those feelings are definitely common, but what you have to realize is that you won’t really “get” how it works until your subscriber numbers begin nearing 500. At that point, things will start to snowball. You’ll start growing faster, getting more contacts, owning more authority and exerting more influence.

Whatever you do, don’t give up. When it comes to blogging, there’s a dip right before an explosion. If you can stick with it through the dip, the payoff is huge!

If you enjoyed this post check out JD’s new coaching course at Idea Anarchy.