I have a problem, and it’s one that has festered in me for years all the while growing increasingly difficult to face. It’s part addiction, part pride and part deep-seeded insecurity (ha, classic “problem”).

I hate [...]]]>

Damn you John Wayne, you handsome devil

First of all, let me preface this by saying… this is an incredibly hard post for me to write.

I have a problem, and it’s one that has festered in me for years all the while growing increasingly difficult to face. It’s part addiction, part pride and part deep-seeded insecurity (ha, classic “problem”).

I hate to ask people for things. I think it comes from never wanting to be looked at as a “charity case” and always wanting to be able to hold my own. Values I’m assuming I absorbed from watching one too many John Wayne films as a child. I also grew up strongly disliking braggarts – usually because these people got shot in the aforementioned movies, often right after they won a game of poker. Regardless, because of these long held beliefs I shy away from talking at length about my life or business in front of most people.

Looking back the major problem with this attitude has been that it’s crippling effect when it comes to selling one’s business and can make you awkwardly aloof when it comes to personal relationships. In an attempt to “not need nuthin’ from no one” I’m realizing that I’ve done a disservice to both myself and our team at Zirtual (I’m sorry guys, gals and hundo – our sweet little money tree).

If I was in therapy (which I would be if I wasn’t ruthlessly bootstrapping) I’m sure my shrink would give me some sort of exposure-therapy homework. But, since I can’t afford the finer things in life at present (like an overpriced MD) I get to “pretend” and not only be the patient, but also the doctor. Which is both fun and awkward, especially when my roommates walk in on me lying on a coach, talking to myself in a soothing voice, saying things like “how did that make you feel” and “tell me more about your childhood”.

So since I have crowned myself my own - temporary – therapist I have assigned a rigorous exposure regimen which includes me coming clean about my problem & resolving to change my True Grit ways. This wouldn’t be a problem if I was a cowboy, but aside from my penchant for country-idioms and love of horses the Duke and I share very little in common.

My unproven, untested system for self-improvement

(Trust me, I’m not a doctor, but I play one in my head)

1. Come clean. Someone once told me “You can lie to the whole world, but always be honest with yourself”. It was a twisted, slightly depressing bit of advice but the last part always stuck with me. Most people are generally honest with others but they lie to themselves about what they want, who they love and what their dreams are. Don’t be like those people. Ideally be honest/honest but no matter what, be totally honest with yourself. Whatever your issues is, spit it out, then you can tackle the problem and move forward with a clean slate.

2. Be Confident. I love my business, Zirtual, and I think having someone who takes care of all the little things in life that take up your precious time can absolutely change one’s life. But until now I haven’t been confident enough in myself to really take our message to the streets. It has nothing to do with our business or model, instead it was a personal falling of it’s founder – which is unacceptable. From now on I am Zirtual’s number one evangelist because if you truly believe that something can change lives then it’s your duty to get out there and tell everyone about it, wouldn’t ya say?

3. Ask people for simple, easily fulfilled favors. Over a drink a friend laid this wisdom on me and it was staggering. She explained how people love to lend a helping hand if you come to them with a simple, easily fulfilled way they can ‘pay it forward’. So the final part of my self-diagnosed, non-FDA approved regimen is to start asking those around me for help when it comes to the thing that means the most to me right now – my business and our mission.

So be forewarned, friends, family, those distant relatives who haven’t heard from me in ages and don’t like me that much because of that one Christmas when I got sick on “adult” punch and ruined their china rug (sooo not my fault btw, don’t put ice-cream in spiked punch … silly grown ups). I’m here, I’m queer (in the Merriam-Webster “eccentric, unconventional” definition way) and I’m about to stop taking life lying down.

“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”
― John Wayne

I’ve had a hell of a time getting here. 10 hours, four airports [...]]]> I’m writing this from a hotel room in downtown Charleston, West Virginia. My brother mentioned, as we were walking back from a sumptuous dinner at Le Chili’s, that center of this city reminded him of a post-zombie-apocalypse movie – hello Appalachia.

I’ve had a hell of a time getting here. 10 hours, four airports SFO > DEN > IAD > CRW, lost tickets, misplaced bags- it would be oh so easy to bitch. But instead I’m going to be thankful. I’m surrounded by family I haven’t seen for ages and have a chance to reflect on this last year and all the things I have to smile about.

Being thankful, or grateful, is hands down the best way to live. You’ll live longer, be happier and enchant others with your positive outlook versus boring them to death with your whining. So in honor of Thanksgiving I wanted to jot down 25 things that I’m truly thankful for and maybe you can be too.

Some things to be grateful for…

1. Rain. It washes the streets, the trees, the cars and occasionally the soul.
2. Iced green tea from Starbucks… yum.
3. The big, blue ocean that is only ever a road trip away.
4. Canadians, especially Canadians who work at startups.
5. Grocery stores, and the fresh food that dwell within them.
6. Fast cars.
7. People who doubt you, because you’ll work a lifetime to prove them wrong.
8. Technology, for so many reasons, it can save lives.
9. The bad times, because without them the good times would have no perspective.
10. Kitties, those epic, cuddly napping companions.
11. Instagram, an amazing app that allows you to see the world from other people’s eyes.
12. The ability to have a dream and build it into a company like Kickstarter.
13. Good and bad mothers, they both teach you something.
14. Good and bad fathers, they both teach you something too.
15. Hitting bottom, because there really is nowhere to go but up.
16. Hitting a glass ceiling, because like in Willy Wonka you can always break through it if you just don’t stop.
17. Film Noir, and it’s exquisitely sexy leading ladies & gents.
18. The enchanting creativity of small children.
19. Bacon wrapped dates, be still my beating heart.
20. People who love you in spite of knowing how f*ed you truly are.
21. Bustling, big cities.
22. Cool, cheap vacations you can grab at the last minute on sites like this.
23. Charities that are truly trying to make a difference, ala charity water.
24. Horses, and the people who know how to make riding them look so easy.
25. The ability to fall in love.

I am so grateful for my loving parents, Susan and Vic, my amazing brother, John and my darling Grandparents Mary and Armen Charles… they have encouraged me like nobody’s business and I’ll be forever grateful for their love. Also to my dearest Jake, who has endlessly supported me and my work.

I can’t trace it back to one point in time, but I do know that when I first put finger to keyboard my [...]]]> This blog has changed my life. I came to this realization while wandering the sunny streets of San Francisco’s Mission district with Ev, a fellow blogger & friend.

I can’t trace it back to one point in time, but I do know that when I first put finger to keyboard my world was thrust into a trajectory that would forever change my life.

Though school did very little for me over the years – except breed in me a contempt for the privileged – I did learn my two most cherished skills there: how to read and how to write. Arguably the most life-changing, yet hopelessly under-utilized skills any person can possess.

Read.

I’ve been reading for as long as I can remember. I’ve always been devouring books, listening to someone read to me or enjoying an audiobook while I drove. When people ask me “what’s the one thing you’d tell an aspiring entrepreneur” I tell them to read.

I used to read behind smoky bars, flipping through the pages of business books with a highlighter in one hand and a cigarette in the other. My patrons would be sucking down stiff drinks, feeding bills into machines that didn’t care whether or not they were sinking their kids’ college tuition into their mechanical abyss, all the while I read – highlighted – read some more – made notes – and served shots…

I was always dreaming of the day my napkin-ideas would grow into something much larger than myself… something beyond the dingy bar I was working at while half-assing my way through college.

Then one day it happened, completely out of the blue. One day I scribbled an idea on a napkin – while at the bar – that would turn into my first real business. This idea happened because I had spent the last 5 years absorbing as much information as I could get my hands on about successful people, business, life, philosophy and how to become the kind of person you want to be – not the kind of person you’re expected to become.

Reading is the single smartest thing I have ever done, second only to giving myself lengthy chunks of times in which to digest what I’ve absorbed. Reading was what opened my eyes to a world I didn’t previously understand that I could achieve.

Read everything you can get your hands on, look for lessons written in between the lines, ask smart people what they’d suggest you read – read and then read some more. It is a life changing preoccupation.

Write.

After you consume anything for long enough you’ll start to become fascinated by how it’s created and what exactly goes into the process of making said item. After years of reading I began to become genuinely curious about how people filled books, newspapers and dissertations with letters, words and sentences – strung together in a way that made perfect sense.

I started to write, at first on scraps of paper, then in Word docs and finally online – on this blog. It has been a VERY bumpy and grammar-mistake-laden ride, but writing has allowed me to digest what I’ve learned from my books, from the world and from the smart people that I hunt down like some sort of cerebral big-game.

So write… write down things you think about, write down things you observe. Write fiction, write non-fiction. Write “shitty first drafts“, hopefully in a year or a month or whatever you’ll start writing better. I still haven’t reached that pinnacle of being a “great writer” and maybe I never will – but it’s worth the ride.

Evolve.

The term evolution (from its literal meaning of “unfolding” of something into its true or explicit form) carries a connotation of gradual improvement or directionality from a beginning to an end point. – Thanks Wikipedia… Read. Write. Learn. Grow. Evolve as a person.

A thank you and nod to my new site!

I wanted to say thank you to Andrew Powers, the ultra-creative founder of PageLines a drag-and-drop WordPress platform that this blog is currently running on. If you dig WordPress or building coding-free professional websites be sure to check out PageLines and see what’s in store for their upcoming launch at LeWeb (it’s pretty interesting stuff).

These are the only three alternate jobs I imagine when I think about the worst case scenario… failing to find a product/market fit, me giving up, everything going terribly wrong.

Occasionally when I’m lacking creative drive at work I fantasize about my worst [...]]]>

This post is as utterly ridiculous as these sunglasses: be forewarned

Go-go dancer. Slighty dark, moderately-witty freelance writer. The world’s worst trophy wife.

These are the only three alternate jobs I imagine when I think about the worst case scenario… failing to find a product/market fit, me giving up, everything going terribly wrong.

Occasionally when I’m lacking creative drive at work I fantasize about my worst case reality – failing my beloved Zirtual – and then of the progression of my 3 “fall back” gigs play through my mind.

After I epically fail, embarrass my family & friends and have exactly negative-zero savings I will start working as a go-go dancer (which is a long shot at best since I’m an awful dancer).

The best I can hope for is they give me a job because I look halfway decent in fuzzy boots and a bikini, the dark lighting is a girl’s best friend and maybe their low on good talent because Burning Man is around the corner.

At the nightclub I’ll meet someone who will feel bad for me (probably because I’m the worst dancer there) and perhaps he needs someone to take care of his kids. With this turn of fate I’ll graduate into my 2nd fall back career of the world’s worst trophy wife…

The joke will be on this poor sap though – since anyone who knows me would tell him that I can’t cook, I dislike children and I’m no good at keeping house. I also have a terrible habit of making men I’m with self-conscious so on top of ignoring this dude’s kids, not making him dinner and generally laying around the house smoking and staring at the pool boy – I’ll be psychosis-inducing.

He’ll go to therapy. I’ll work on my tan and eventually I’m hoping he’ll get so sick of me and his kids will hate me so much that they’ll send me packing at any cost – just so I’ll leave him and his family (which is now in shambles) alone.

I’ll take my hard-earned cash and start traveling the world in pursuit of my 3rd fall back career: the slighty dark, moderately-witty freelance writer. I’m hoping by this time I will figure out a way to get Zirtual back on track since I really do love that damn company and can’t imagine it failing even if I have to pivot faster and more frequently then I did onstage in my past fall-back-pretend-life as a go-go dancer.

So now I’m divored, an ex-dancer, who can’t really get writing gigs because I’m not nearly as witty or dark as I think I am. My parent’s and friends are now not only embarrassed by my business failure but they are mad at me for becoming a go-go dancer versus, say, a librarian and they are doubly disappointed about my failed stint as the world’s worst trophy wife…

But at least at this point I’ll have gotten my head back on straight and I will sink the last of my go-go-dancing-trophy-wife-ing money into getting Zirtual on it’s feet and things will start to pick up, slowly but surely.

And I will work hard. And I will work 7 days a week. And people will wonder if I’m half insane or half brilliant (I’ll be the former). And eventually I will be back to living my dream of building a truly great company.

… but when I get frustrated, or down, or wonder how in the world I can go another day in the bi-polar inducing world that is the San Francisco startup scene… I will start walking through my fall back plan(s) again and see how even in my imaginary worst case scenario, no matter how bad or improbable it gets, I always come back to my baby.

What I realized was that when I didn’t know what I was doing with my life, every birthday over 21 seemed frightening.

Now that I have a clear vision of my future, set goals that [...]]]> Today I turned 26 and unlike birthdays of yesteryear I’m actually really happy about growing a year older and wiser.

What I realized was that when I didn’t know what I was doing with my life, every birthday over 21 seemed frightening.

Now that I have a clear vision of my future, set goals that I’m gunning for and an overall positive outlook on life – another birthday is only reason for celebration.

Last night as I celebrated the end of 25 I sat deliberating on what kind of year 26 would be – that is May 27th, 2011 to May 27th, 2012 – and it came to me in a flash. Twenty-six will be the year of the hustle. 

25 in rewind

Exactly a year ago I was celebrating my birthday in Riverside, California. It was a great time and I really enjoyed it – but what I wasn’t enjoying was my social and web work for various clients. My old company (painfully) named Oracle Launch (i know, i know, it’s gosh awful) specialized in a variety of media things and effectively spread ourselves too thin.

I was working on 3 or 4 “projects” at once a year ago and it made for one incredibly un-effective Maren.

I also had just moved back to Reno, Nevada from Vegas – the home of my alma mater and a city I’ve had a love hate relationship (mostly hate) since I was 18. I made this choice because I hated Vegas even more than I hated Reno and because I was too scared to make a big leap and move out of Nevada, my long time home.

Do I regret my time in Reno? Absolutely not. I have many, many great friends there and the community is rad.

But… I knew deep down I wanted to be in San Francisco over a year ago, though I never had the pears to make the move.

By October I had joined Founder’s Institute since I knew if I was accepted it would force me to spend a lot of time in S.F. and decide if it was the right city for me. From November to February I commuted every week between Reno and the Bay Area – staying in hostels, hotels and airbnb several nights a week.

The traveling killed me but getting through Founder’s made me stronger in a variety of ways – and it opened my eyes to how badly I needed to make San Francisco my permanent home.

After another month of traveling in March (exhausting!) I moved into a place in Polk Glutch at the end of April.

Fast forward

… like, a month… and we’re here. I’m sitting in a Starbucks that I ran off to in the midst of my b-day celebrations to right this post. I did so because I wanted to write, not because I felt like I had to. I really, really love writing this blog.

I’ve spent the last 6 months working on Zirtual to get it to the point where I can be proud of it and where I know it has a massive value add. I also now believe with my whole heart that Zirtual is the company that will take me to my massive goal by age 30.

I could not be happier. I don’t know how to explain it.

What did I leave behind in Reno? A very, very supportive boyfriend and an adorable little kitten. Was that decision hard? Abso-freakin’-lutely.

What did I gain by coming to a big city by myself and starting from scratch? Confidence, an ability to be happy alone and a strength of will I didn’t previously know I possessed.

The lesson

What’s in it for you? What lessons can you take from the last 365 days of my life?

My suggested lessons would be:

1. Set huge goals
2. Strive to be happy by yourself
3. Take big chances in pursuit of your goals
4. Don’t be a chicken, push yourself far beyond your comfort zone and see what happens
5. Set either a birthday goal (from X date to X date) or a year goal (2011) and sum it up in one concept, mine is hustle

The year of the hustle

Zirtual has been redesigned and revamped over the last few months and went “hush hush” live two days ago (meaning no press or marketing has been done but it’s active and taking orders). Now that I have a product, team and website I can be proud of – it’s hustle time, in a big way…

Hustling means pulling out all the stops and working as hard as it takes to get to where you’re going. Your year goal may be something like:

• The year of the decision
• The year of the diet
• The year of escaping my 9 to 5

I’d love to hear about your year goals and/or suggestions on how I can best “hustle” towards making Zirtual great.

I love you all – in a weird, bloggy way I can’t really explain in words – thanks for always being there to listen.

*photo credit

Today I had a very real wake up call on what I want more than anything. A goal deeply tied into my belief that people should strive to become What is the one thing you want more than anything… what’s the thing you’ll fight for – come hell or high water?

Today I had a very real wake up call on what I want more than anything. A goal deeply tied into my belief that people should strive to become self made and my business, Zirtual.

It all started this morning when I was wishing I could offer a friend a job at Zirtual (someone who has vast talent and skill but got royally screwed by “the man” so to speak). I often wish I could give good people, hard working people jobs – but we’re currently just a baby company and doing things super bootstrapped style with a team of 3.

Then I got a nasty email…

Out of the blue – after sending an email out aimed at helping the people that read my newsletter – I get this email ripping me a new one for no apparent reason.

This completely derailed my day as I took the time to respond (petty mistake n. 1) and then angrily researched the jerk online to see who the hell he was to say such nasty things to me (petty mistake n. 2).

Finally I started thinking how I could turn this angry feeling into something productive, so I began redirecting into the “I’ll show you” mentality. I took out a pen and paper and wrote down my goals – as I often do when I want to encourage myself – and then started brainstorming how I could reach them faster, better and brighter.

I scribbled furiously what I want my business to one day become: a meaningful company that will be worth $100 million dollars – a company that can hire talented friends who need jobs – a company that can make huge differences in it’s customers lives – and a company whose entire philosophy is wrapped up in the concept of facilitating relationships between hard working assistants and hard working entrepreneurs.

Then I sat and looked at that piece of paper for a long time.

Suddenly, it hit me…

Like in so many hurtful, negative things there was a kernel of truth shrouded in the irksome email I had received earlier. It was a sentence along the lines of “who are you to try to give out all this advice (on your blog)” justified by a “I’m a successful business man and you’re not” etc. etc.

And the jerk was right – I’m not a successful businessman… yet.

My businesses before Zirtual was mildly successful and in the eyes of people trying to escape their jobs I did well. I supported myself, had several clients who paid up to $5k a month for social media services and had a decent sized team working for me – but it wasn’t an out of the ball park success.

…And deep down I felt ashamed of that.

So when someone says “You’re not successful enough to give out advice” it hits me hard because until now I’ve written this blog as a “how to” versus a “this is how I’m doing it, follow along if you like” and there in lay my mistake.

Once I realized it and saw how easily I could fix it on this blog the sting of the nasty email completely lifted and instead I saw it as a learning experience. So I wrote back:

Dear X,

Thanks for your email. Though you meant it to dishearten me your words had completely the opposite effect – you were right in a way and realizing that has completely changed my attitude.

Thanks,

No more “how to” only “let’s try this”

I never wanted this blog to become a platform where I preach – since I’m only trying stuff and seeing what works, what doesn’t and course correcting as I go.

Instead I want this blog to be like a shared journey – between me and those rare souls who want more than anything to become self made and who’ve chosen the path of entrepreneurship to get them there.

So from now on – on this blog, my video channel and the newsletter I’ll be a lot more open, candid and ballsy about how I’m building my will-be $100 million dollar business and the wins or losses along the way.

I’m not pretending my goals aren’t as big as they are anymore – I’ll either fail spectacularly and everyone can say I told you so or I will succeed spectacularly and I will have the satisfaction of of knowing I did what 99.9% of the population will never do – build a 9 figure business.

So back to ‘come hell or high water’…

For so long I’ve worked hard towards the goal of hitting a business out of the park and with Zirtual I know beyond know that this is the fast ball and I’m equipped with the bat – I just have to practice, practice and practice some more.

This is the key to all success I believe and a key you can easily hold too.

I believe with fervor, with passion, without a single doubt in my mind that by the time I turn 30 (I’m late 25 as of today) I will have built the $100 million dollar company of my dreams. There is literally no doubt in my mind. It’ll be the hardest four years of my life, there will be tons of pivots and maybe some outright changes in direction – but I’m going big or going home.

That may be insane but it’s the honest truth…. come hell or high water I’ll reach that goal.

Now it’s time to ask yourself: what goal could you commit yourself to with that fervor? What thing do you know beyond know that if you dedicated yourself to it with solitary focus you’d knock it out of the park?

Next actions…

1. If you don’t have that goal: don’t fret, it just means you need to watch, listen and learn more before you’re epiphany hits you. It took me years of reading and researching business models in my teenage years before I took the plunge. Don’t rush it but always keep your eyes open.
2. If you do have your goal: focus on it, solely, without distraction and dedicate yourself to achieving it no matter what.

Also, regardless of where you’re at, I want you to listen to The Strangest Secret. It’s a truly inspirational talk by Earl Nightingale recorded in 1956, the amazing part is like many jewels of wisdom it’s still insanely applicable today. It will encourage you, inspire you and jazz you up to succeed at whatever your goal is.

So whether it’s starting a small business that provides you an income of $250,000 a year and will support your family or building the next billion dollar baby you should listen to the above then settle on JUST ONE goal to go for like crazy in your quest to become self made…

P.S. Please don’t respond “It’s hell & high water” – I’ve always said it ‘hell or high water’ and that’s how everyone in Texas said it when I was real little – so it’s “or” for me and since I’m not apologizing anymore – deal with it On that note would love your feedback, whether you believe I can do it or think I’m ridiculous it doesn’t matter as long as you respect the fact that I’m trying.

Lately [...]]]>

Here's looking at you, kid.

It’s two days before Christmas, my most favorite holiday ever – and I’m stuck at the airport. Early this morning I headed to SFO on my way back home to good ole Vegas, two bags of candy, an unusually large hot dog and a 4 hour delay later I’ve decided it’s blog post time.

Lately I’ve felt like a cheating spouse, or a weird polygamist – I’m unsure of which since I’ve never been either.

I’ve spent so much time working on Virtual Zeta and Zirtual through the Founder Institute that I haven’t spent as much time with Escaping as I normally do and my Presbyterian guilt is kicking in. So I’ve been going through old posts, shuddering at my own grammar and replying to comments… when I stumbled upon 100 days to change your life. I wrote this post almost exactly two months ago and I had no idea how much my life would change in 59 days. It’s insane really.

The weirdest part is that the 100 days isn’t over, not only have I partially achieved a lot of the goals I was gunning for in October but many things happened that I wasn’t prepared for – yet that are nonetheless thrilling.

A smart entrepreneur once told me that you should never have more than three goals active in your conscious mind and since I lack originality often, I decided if it’s good enough for him it’s good enough for me… and heck, it’s probably good enough for you too!

My 3 Goals for 2011

I write a lot from a me-centric point of view, it could be because I’m self involved (I’ve been called this in more relationship type fights than I’d like to count), or I’m found of possessive pronouns – but in reality it’s because I find it easier to share what I’ve learned by talking about real life experiences vs. pontificating like I’m some sort of expert.

Okay, disclaimer over, I’ll explain the goals I’m going for this coming year so I can publicly hold myself accountable and hopefully it’ll encourage you to go for the grandiose as well in 2011.

1. Vlogging. I’m written over 200 posts, at roughly 1000 words each, meaning I’ve written a looong book in the last year and a half. I’m exhausted. Also video is the future (as people brighter than me have been saying for years), check out this great TED video if you want to get jazzed about it too. I’m going to dedicate to doing videos under my new (yet to be disclosed) Youtube channel EVERY day of the week – I’ll be covering everything from my epic move from being a Nevadan to San Francisco (scary!) to my adventures trying to get my start up funded and successful in the uber competitive “valley”.

What iJustine is to Apple products and Marina Orlova is to etymology – I want to be to startups (except less skin, because it’s cold in SF!) I’ve even got the new blond hair to prove it!

2. Virtual Zeta Success. Whenever I start a business or project I decide what number (it can be units sold, warm bodies in a room or cold hard cash) that it needs to bring in for me to count it as a success. Virtual Zeta is built to be a small business, our goal is 100 VA’s placed per month and to have ridiculously satisfied customers that refer friends. This 2011 I plan to reach that goal with my partner and to set VZ up to be a sustainable income flow and a bad ass little business, in it’s own right.

3. Zirtual graduating the Founder Institute & getting funded.

When I began the Founder Institute a few months ago I thought it would be tough, but nothing worse than I’ve seen as a scrappy entrepreneur…. I was dead wrong. I didn’t know anything about the world of Silicon Valley type business. It’s crazy, fun, ridiculously hard and rewarding but you’ve got to fight your way to the top. So naturally, I dig it

I’ve learned so much through being in a tech incubator and now more than ever I’m committed to growing Zirtual.com into a big player in the virtual hiring world by graduating FI and getting funded – so we can do it proper and make it the best it can be.

What are your 3 game changers?

When setting goals for 2011 I’d suggest not attempting anything that wouldn’t be a game changer – i.e. lose 100 pounds or build a business that allows me to quit my day job. Fluffy crap like “have better thighs” or “be happier” doesn’t cut it – you have to make sure your goals are actionable and your drive is manic to reach them.

So contemplate three goals that if you accomplished in 2011 would put you in a completely different place in life when 2012 rolls around. Be big, be lofty – say boldly, as Steve Jobs has famously said: I just want to put a ding in the Universe.

Kitten-on-a-leash says: Go out there & kick some tail in 2011!

It could have been the fact that I applied 3 hours before the deadline was due or maybe it [...]]]>

It may look like I'm sad, but really I'm just plotting my next move!

Today has really stunk After riding a three day high from my 100 day challenge post I hit a serious wall in the form of getting wait listed for the incubator I had applied for.

It could have been the fact that I applied 3 hours before the deadline was due or maybe it was because I filmed the ‘introduce yourself’ video in my Grandmother’s bathroom (I’m traveling and had no quiet space!), but regardless getting that wait listed email was a serious blow to my self esteem and temporarily shook my on a mission-ness.

But I realized – after I had a quick cry in the Starbucks bathroom (why do I spend so much time here!) – that I could either cry about it or I could adopt a screw you attitude and turn all my disappointment into the fiery rage that burns deep in the heart of most great entrepreneurs. Tell me I can’t do something and by damn I’ll show you a way that I can and make it bigger than ever.

Anyhow, this isn’t supposed to be a Maren-fest, instead I want to encourage those of you who feel like the World has kicked you in the coins one time too many that you can either let that self doubt crush you or turn it into the fuel that builds a business empire.

Using Sadness, Anger and Jealously for Good!

Often we hear how bad negative feelings are – you’re not supposed to be envious, angry, jealous or resentful – and I’ll agree, they’re not great emotions. BUT the  majority of us have to deal with them at some point, and often when you’re in the middle of building a business that will change your life – you have to deal with them a lot. So you can either read hippy poems and try to ‘smell the roses’ or you can take all those negative emotions and recycle them (see we’re being green!) into fuel for a fire that’ll burn deep inside you.

This fire will be what sees you through the toughest times and what eggs you on when things get rough. It’ll be what pushes you to go beyond what anyone would think humanly possibly – and to succeed more times than not. Most great companies started because a fire burnt deep within one of the founders, mine burns hot and long. It’s been compounded from years of feeling like I had something major to offer the world and every time I hit a wall (like today) I ball up all those sad/angry/upset emotions and compress them into a tiny cube of rocket fuel. Fuel that will last me the next 6 months as I fight on towards my dream of building a $100 million dollar business empire (note in how to consistently make $33,333.33 a month I said I wanted to personally walk away with ten million – not necessarily that that’s all my biz empire would be worth).

Build a Bridge

Cry me a river, then build a bridge and get over it. It’s one of my favorite sayings and though harsh, very true. There are two kinds of people in this world – those who bitch about everything and think the World owes them a free ride and a coke… And those who get sad, pissed or cry, then figure out a way to overcome and impress all the people who thought they couldn’t do it.

Let’s be the bridge builders, not the coke wanters. We have waaaay too many of them anyhow. Plus it gets easier, the more you look adversity in the face and say ‘screw you’ the more you’ll get used to it. Then adversity will stop stinging so much and you’ll start jumping into gear far faster. Eventually you’ll become such a juggernaut of pure creative power that you’ll crush any obstacles that stand in your way on your collision course with destiny.

Good luck my loves, I’m off to kick a tree and then get back to work!

Today has been one of those ‘I need a hug’ days in Marenland, I’d been running particularly low on inspiration it seems even though yesterday was a very good day. Maybe it’s a positivity hang over, regardless it left me walking the streets of San Francisco in a fog trying to [...]]]>

Today has been one of those ‘I need a hug’ days in Marenland, I’d been running particularly low on inspiration it seems even though yesterday was a very good day. Maybe it’s a positivity hang over, regardless it left me walking the streets of San Francisco in a fog trying to figure out what it is in my life that is weighing me down.

Then it hit me, after about a half hour of watching Seagulls in Yerba Buena Park, I’d been chasing minnows for far too long.

What chasing minnows is and why it’s so deadly

Imagine for a moment you’re standing knee deep in a babbling brook, toes wiggling around in the course sand. You’re goal is to leave that brook with a big fish but every time you look down you get distracted by little minnows zipping around your feet. You think “Well, while I’m waiting for this big fish to come by I’ll at least gather a few minnows” - they aren’t much fish meat, but they’re some. So you start chasing minnows and landing a few of the sluggish ones, all the while you tell yourself you’re keeping an eye out for the big fish.

You’re never gonna to catch a big fish that way…

That’s what struck me today like a hard slap in the face (not that I have much experience with that sensation). Even though I’d been telling myself for months I was “cutting down on distractions & focusing on my core” in reality I was just finding other minutia to distract myself with. My number one goal right now is supposed to be my start up, so why in the world have I been taking on more social media clients, trying to monetize my blog & attempting to get the Escalade of my dreams wrapped?

Because I’m dodging the “fear” factor of throwing myself 100% into my dream… I know that if I go all out & pursue my outsourcing business with laser focus there is the chance I’ll fail – but if I distract myself with 5 other mini projects I can keep putting off my main goal forever & thus avoid the fear.

Nevermore…

So I’m done chasing minnows, from now on when I get in the water (which I’m about to dive head first into) I’m going to have 1 laser focus. That is, BIG FISH. I’ve written down the name of my big catch, which is getting Virtual Zeta & it’s sister Virtual Assistant Board launched & making a profit and I’m not going to let myself get distracted with anything until that goal is achieved.

Am I scared? Hell yes. But I know that if I don’t make this plunge I’ll wallow in mediocrity forever… a fate worse than death. I’d rather take the chance of going down fighting than fade out like a pop star of yesteryear.

My goal with this post is to push any of you who are on the precipice of doing something great over the edge. Hope it helps.

Serious

I’m sitting at a cafe in the heart of Seattle, the last few days have been an awesome adventure traveling with fellow bloggers & entrepreneurs Andi & Collin. As I sit here I just think Wow, I could never, ever go back to a [...]]]>

Serious

I’m sitting at a cafe in the heart of Seattle, the last few days have been an awesome adventure traveling with fellow bloggers & entrepreneurs Andi & Collin. As I sit here I just think Wow, I could never, ever go back to a 9 to 5 because the freedom and happiness I get from doing what I am doing is overwhelming at times.

This is a feeling I want each and everyone of you to have, hopefully sooner than later. If you get amazing amounts of fulfillment from your 9 to 5 job than that is great – and you’ve already arrived. But if you are still doing something you don’t wake up loving – you need to take a serious look at your life and think Is this really how I want to be spending hours I will never get back. Just remember, our time on this Earth is limited… every day, every hour and every minute is precious.

Funny

As I was writing this a guy came up to me and started talking, the ONLY way I can describe the situation that ensued is through this amazing Mad TV video below… he even commented on my up-do.

Story Time!!

I was talking to Collin on the drive out to Seattle about my writing and how much of what I write goes unpublished and saved in my own ‘vaults’. I write a TON of fiction – often sci-fi – usually funny, sometimes morose, but it is what drives me. Because this is a whacky, all over the place post I decided to finish up with a short story I wrote a while ago. You may like it, you may hate it but it is liberating to have a place where I can post it so deal with it, my lovelies.

THE LAST DAY

“He’s been coming in here and ordering the exact same breakfast for two years now”, the manager at Muffin Land, a breakfast chain in downtown Chicago, told his new trainee. The eager young girl titled her head to the left and tried to act as interested as possible in her boss’ story.

“He always orders the exact same thing,” the manager tapped a pen to his lip and stared at the man as his food was delivered, “and do you know what that thing is Darlene?”

The girl was a Sophomore at Stanford and like many of the college educated young nowadays she inwardly sighed at the ignorance of her older – and in her mind less intelligent – boss. How was she supposed to know what he ordered, the girl thought, someday I’ll own a place like this and there will be a litmus test to weed out the ignorant and the storytellers. But she smiled and instead asked with all the cheer she could muster what it was the man always ordered.

“A BLT,” her boss paused a long time, waiting for her surprise to kick in. It didn’t so he went on. “A BLT for breakfast, with an ice tea and he always buys a paper which he skims while he eats.”

“Why don’t you ask him why he has such a rigid regimen?” the girl asked, proud at the chance to show off her ivy league vocabulary.

“Well dear that would be rude,” said the manager, “we here at Muffin Land pride ourselves in customer service and food quality, not in our ability to nose around in our patron’s business.”

The manager chuckled hardily and led the young girl to the smoothie counter to teach her the art of adding bananas and strawberries to a drink. He glanced up once more as the door chime rung denoting that his loyal customer had just left the building.

“And you know what he always says when he finishes ordering?” the manager couldn’t help but add just one more thing.

“What?” the girl asked with a phony smile that she hoped was convincing.

“He says, isn’t a great day to be alive.”

“Gee, weird…” the girl could tell this was going to be a long day.

—

Jacob Bean had just began his daily routine as he walked over to the park to give some money to the old homeless man called Brew. Jacob had always wondered if Brew was actually the man’s name or a nickname that hinted at the reason he was homeless.

“Great day to be alive Brew,” Jacob said with a broad smile.

The old man nodded and grinned a gummy smile at Jacob.

“Be sure to make the most of the days you have left on this wonderful Earth!” Jacob hollered as he strolled towards home to make his calls.

Jacob arrived at his parent’s home, where he had resided since he quit his job, and immediately went on a search for his mother. After day one of his routine, which had started almost two years ago, Jacob had quit his job as a trial lawyer and given up his lease at in a posh loft so he could move home and focus on living his life to the fullest.

—

Jacob found his mother in the garden pruning the rose bushes. He went up behind her and gave her a great big hug like he did every morning. A tear even came to his cheek and for the next half an hour he regaled his mother with every memorable childhood event he could think of and thanked her for what a wonderful parent she had been.

His mother sighed a little and then reminded herself how lucky she was to have a child who loved her so, even if after the seven hundred and fourteenth time it got a little wearing. She kissed him on the cheek and told him to go enjoy the rest of his day.

“I will ma,” Jacob said tears coming to his eyes, “I love you so much.”

Jacob then went inside to the living room and got on the telephone. He took out his worn address book and proceeded to call every person of significance in his life. A lot less answered now than had answered a year and a half ago or even six months ago but he left messages with everyone regardless. Even his great-aunt Mel hadn’t picked up, which was odd because she used to love that Jacob called her every day. She lived alone and had practically no contact with the outside world yet still it seemed as if even she was dodging his attempts at contact.

Jacob hoped she was somewhere in the house and couldn’t hear the phone then he left her a loving message. He said in it that he’d be meeting up with her in the sky soon, like he said in every message he left her. Jacob hoped the old lady wouldn’t take it wrong but she was ninety two years old, she couldn’t go on living forever. Plus he always thought that it should make her happy to think of spending the rest of eternity with her great nephew to keep her company.

—

An hour and forty minutes passed before Jacob reached the last and most important phone call, the love of his life, his everything, Addison. He always waited to call her last and always practiced before hand what words he would say. The phone rang once and then a second time, she picked up. Which was fortunate because lately she had been letting it ring through to voice mail.

“Addison,” Jacob said tentatively, “It’s me Jacob Bean.”

There was a heavy sigh from the other end of the phone and Addison cleared her throat.

“Jacob I’m waiting for a phone call I need to let you go,” she said stiffly.

“But Addison I have something to tell you, something that can’t wait…” he began to blurt out.

“Jacob, just stop. I know exactly what you are going to say. You love me, you never got the chance to tell me. You want to spend your last day on earth in my arms, for heaven’s sake I know Jacob” and then Addison hung up.

Jacob sat there stunned but he didn’t let it phase him, he had to see her.

He dialed again three times and each time no one picked up. But on the fourth try, success.

“Jacob I swear I actually have an important call coming through,” Addison said.

“Okay fine, promise you’ll meet me. This may be the last time you ever see me alive.”

As if she should be so lucky, thought Addison.

“Okay Jacob, I’m going to grab a quick bite to eat at Bruno’s you can meet me there for a minute but I swear if you so much as touch me I will zap you with my taser.”

Jacob waited for a moment.

“Could we make it Sushi Somo? Sushi is my favorite food and I want to eat it one more time.”

“NO!” Addison practically screamed and again the receiver went click.

—

Jacob wasted no time contemplating what had just happened and instead found his mother, gave her another tearful hug and made his way quickly to the subway. He was at the downtown zoo at no time and enjoyed a large soda, a bag of popcorn and a massive pink cotton candy as he wandered around looking at his favorite animals.

Jacob pulled out the small notebook he kept that dialogued every day’s events since he had made his discovery, as he made his way towards Bruno’s. On the first page a worn and weathered scrap of paper that had once been a fortune cookie  was taped down. It read:

LIVE EACH DAY AS IF IT WERE YOUR LAST.

Jacob tucked the notebook back into his backpack and smiled, then out of the corner of his eye he saw something… then everything went white.

I got my start in the mint business at the [...]]]> I’ve just been reading Seth Godin’s book All Marketer’s are Liars where the gist is that to convey your point you must tell a story, not just share facts. So in that vein, I’m going to start this post off with a story…

I got my start in the mint business at the tender age of 12. By mint business I mean I got together a group of kids from my neighborhood and created a ‘business’ of picking wild mint, tying ribbon we got from our homes around them and selling the bundles for a quarter each around the neighborhood. As you can imagine it was a flop. After raking in a whopping $1.75 for 3 weeks of work I shuttered the doors so to speak and let my entrepreneurial spirit lay dormant for several years.

At 18 I tried my hand at selling on eBay and within a few months was bringing in $5000 + a month selling trinkets with profit margins that were insane. Life was looking up, until at 20 because of my own negligence eBay ban me and once again I had failed epically.

Now let me bring you up to the present day, I just turned 25 and I have under my belt about 15 failed businesses from birth till now. These businesses range from kiddie enterprises like the mint thing, to a website I put 3 months of work and about $6000 dollars into that sold a whopping $150 over it’s lifetime in product.

It’s very easy to see that I have FAILED far more often than I have succeeded but since I have always failed forward it’s not really failure at all. Instead I like to say that I’ve had about 15 big learning experiences under my belt, learning experiences that have nearly broken me – but I survived and most importantly I kept on fighting. Do you have that spirit? Do you possess that hardiness that can carry you through a boat load of perceived ‘failures’… if so, read on…

Yesterday I realized that I was going to make an epic change to my life by cutting out ONE small feeling: the fear of failure. Yesterday I woke up and as I often do lay in bed thinking about all the balls I have in the air, thinking about how I would reach my goals and inevitably thinking ‘what if I don’t'…. then I jumped up and shouted

FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION

I meant it and in the 30+ hours that have passed I’ve felt like a new person.

Why Failure isn’t an option for me anymore…

The best things in life defy logic, just look at successful relationships between complete opposites, paupers becoming princes and women that were told they’d never have children giving birth. Saying that failure is no longer an option in your life defies logic - because life is FULL of failure, but it is also the best thing you can possibly do for yourself.

First you must redefine your idea of failure. To me failure is getting licked by something, completely and utterly licked. When something doesn’t turn out the way you like (i.e. a girl not accepting your invitation for a date or your new business failing) that isn’t a failure – that is a learning experience. And when a the girl across the bar doesn’t take you up on a date that doesn’t banish you to the land of the lonely hearts – it is just a temporary set back in your search for a mate.

When your business crashes and burns that doesn’t mean that your over arching goals of living in Aruba making $50,000 a month is over… it just means you have to find another means to get there – maybe even a better means.

Secondly you must NEVER, EVER concede to defeat. When the website I put $6000 into only made $150 I was pretty darn low. Granted it was my first attempt at internet business and granted in retrospect it was a huge learning experience, but in the moment I felt like a total failure. But my first goal had been to make $10,000 a month every month and I refused to give up  on it, so instead I decided to shift gears and go in a completely different direction. That direction has finally paid off and is now my main business.

Between my first site and today I’ve probably created 6 other sites or ideas for online businesses that have tanked, each time I’ve been bummed but have forced myself to carry on. This determination alone is what has led to me actually being able to make a living as an entrepreneur, it’s the same thing as playing baseball… the more you go up to bat the better chances there are of you hitting a home run.

So in reality Failure for me isn’t an option, just the simple task of telling myself this has done wonders.

Imagine not being able to fail…

How would your world be different if you couldn’t fail? I mean literally whatever you put your mind to you would succeed at no matter what. This would change even the laziest person’s life exponentially. Imagine if you said “I’m going to become President” and it was actually an impossibility of you to fail. Then you would start going about the tasks it takes to become President (campaigning, getting backers, raising money) with ease – knowing that it was predestined for you to win.

Imagine if you knew you couldn’t fail in relationships or business? You’d walk up to your dream girl/guy/android and confidently ask them out knowing that you couldn’t fail in a relationship – ever. You would set ridiculously high goals for yourself like:

• Screw $150,000 a year in gross we’re going to bring in $15,000,000
• Nevermind being in the top 500 in our industry we’re going to be #1
• Shipping out 100 products per week? That’s for suckers let’s ship out 100,000

You’d literally be unstoppable if you physically couldn’t fail.

Drum roll please….

YOU CAN’T!! If you keep going no matter what, you literally can’t fail. The momentum you build up will just grow stronger and stronger and no matter how many times you fall on your face you’ll be falling forward towards your goals and learning something vital every time.

Also here is the best part. You already know that the human mind is an amazing, miraculous thing. Through books like Think & Grow Rich and The New Psycho Cybernetics I’ve come to realize that the old standby “whatever you put your mind to you can accomplish” couldn’t be more right on. When you honestly believe you CANNOT fail and you WILL reach your goals no matter what you will. It’s the law of the Universe.

Take hypnosis, people can be told they are a board of wood and when their subconscious mind believes it the hypnotist stands on top of them to prove to the awe struck crowd that the person is now actually as hard as a piece of wood. There are cases of people all over the world who believe so strongly they can turn off and on their sensitivity to pain that they can go through major surgery with no anesthesia. Now imagine taking that power and convincing, nay telling your mind that come hell or high water you are reaching your goals and FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION.

Picture credit: http://www.demotivation.com/

This video is all about the WWW principle, an idea that I believe is truly life changing and can completely re invent your purpose in life [...]]]> I did this video a few weeks ago and didn’t really promote on Youtube so I wanted to make sure any of you who didn’t see it got to.

This video is all about the WWW principle, an idea that I believe is truly life changing and can completely re invent your purpose in life within a few hours. I was reminded of the importance of this video today while I interviewed the amazing author’s behind How to Be Rich & Happy – an interview that will be airing on this blog soon and a book I truly recommend you to read.

Tim & John, the co authors of this book, coined the ‘whenever, whatever’ idea and explain in the book how it applies to living a happy full life. In this video I’ve expanded it to encompass one more W.

Trust me this concept can rock your world… it did mine in a big way.

Hope you enjoyed it! If you have any questions, comments or testimonials please feel free to leave them below! I love interacting with you all almost as much as I love hot dogs (which is tons!).

I’ve been [...]]]> So late last night, clad in my jammies and caring a warm cup of tea, I worked tirelessly on a very special offering for you, my lovely fellow escapees of the 9 to 5. What is the offering? I’m getting to that! But first let me tell you about my quarter life crisis.

I’ve been avoiding telling anyone this but May 27th of this month I’m turning 25!! Aaaaahhhhhhh!!! All this turning a quarter of a century old has made me think lately about what I want to do with my life and what kind of impact I’m having on the world.

More or less for the last week I’ve been going between stages of serenity and insane ‘I’m getting old/I’m not far enough ahead’ freaking out. I blame it on our darn westernized ‘work ethic’ which takes no time for chill pills and lazy afternoons of espresso drinking like the Europeans. So what did I decide? I need to go to Europe, stat.

If your still with me we’ve gone from: developed something awesome last night in my jammies… to freaking out about my impending 25th birthday… to desperately needing to get the H-E-double hockey sticks out of the states and head for a land of espressos and fine wine.

What does that mean for you? It means 2 AMAZING consulting offerings and a kick butt virtual assistant finder!

Let me explain… I run a business, I have a condo, a car & I am working on FOUR other major projects that are taking lots of time and money… so instead of stretching myself thin I want to fund this much needed VaCa with my dear old brain power. Over the last few years of entrepreneurship I’ve learned a thing or two about a thing or two and for the next 30 days I am going to be offering consulting at a severely discounted cost than what I charge at my ‘real’ business (OracleLaunch.com). Shhh… Don’t tell my boss, one of the reasons I’ve gotta get out of here is because she’s such a tyrant and works me to death!

So here’s the brass tax, I am offering three kinds of packages:

1. Radical Business Consulting: Is your business in a rut and you need some help spicing things up? Or maybe you’re just starting out on your entrepreneurial journey and want help picking a niche, developing a rocking business plan and ensuring that your venture will be unique and successful? If you answered yes to either of these than I’m your gal – I live, eat and sleep awesome business ideas and I can come up with some that will rock your socks and help you get on the road to profitability in no time! (1 hour of consulting)
2. Rock Star Branding: I believe Rock Star’s are made, not born. And on that note – who says they have to be only in the music and movie industries? Why can’t their be motivational speaker Rock Stars, yoga teacher Rock Stars, even pediatrician Rock Stars? Truth be told there can be – the Rock Stars within certain markets are the ones who destroy the competition and have people craving their input. Rock Stars get all the girls (or guys), money and fame… why not tap that power for your niche? I’ll help you bring out your inner Rock Star no matter HOW boring your industry is and help you stand far out from the crowd. (1 hour of consulting)
3. The Virtual Assistant Finder: You know Outsourcing is the best way to get your business up and going for a fraction of the cost right? So why not get started now! Outsourced workers range from $3-$8 an hour for AMAZING quality, talent and skill sets. I’ve been working with virtual assistants from the very beginning and my team is well equipped to help you find your perfect, outsourced soul mate! We review hundreds of applicants for your specific needs (which we assess through a thorough questionnaire) and hand you over the top 6 picks highlight the 2 we think are the absolute best of the bunch. No expensive recurring middle man fees, no hidden costs – just a one time finders fee and you’ve got the virtual assistant of your dream to help take your business to the next level.

Hop on over to Ooh La La consulting quick – PROMISE they are all super worth it and come with an 100% ‘kiss and make it better guarantee’ which will ensure you get your money’s worth no matter what! One last thing – though I love to do consulting with those awesome people who want me I do have limited time, I am going to be taking on as many consulting clients and a set number of virtual assistant finder gigs before I cut if off and have enough $$$ for my escape to Europe to be fully funded. Check the prices and do the math but it is well under 50 slots so hurry my loves!

Looking forward and really wrapping your mind around your goals is what will allow you to be successful.  Being able to put your goals in writing [...]]]> This is a guest post by Eric at My 4-Hour Workweek and something that will help a great many of you become and stay successful!

Looking forward and really wrapping your mind around your goals is what will allow you to be successful.  Being able to put your goals in writing and constantly remind yourself of them is a key motivating factor, in my opinion.

You’re probably familiar with a standard goal-setting process.  Throughout school and in the workplace, we’re taught to set goals, and even forced to set goals.  Often, this is seen more as an administrative burden, rather than something you want to do because you believe in it.  The standard goal-setting process goes something like this:

1. Define your goals
2. Define specific actions related to those goals
3. Determine specific measurements related to your goals so that you’ll later be able to figure out whether or not you’ve achieved those goals

This process does have value, but you’re seemingly caught trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.  You might be instructed to set 10 goals across 3 different general areas, but maybe you only have 4 goals that you’d legitimately like to achieve.  The addition of the other 6 “filler” goals (just to meet your goal “requirements”) only serves as a distraction.

I’d like to propose a new way of setting your goals.

The 5-Year “About Me” Page

Imagine you have a website or blog even if you don’t actually have one.  Common with most blogs is an “about me” page that contains some pretty basic information about what the author currently does, where they’ve been, and what they’ve accomplished.  A lot of times, it reads like a very casual resume.  If you read my current one, you’ll see it gives a little bit of my own background.  The “about me” page is an effective and acceptable means of bragging, in a way, because people want to read about it.  If you’re doing a lot of writing on your blog, readers want to know that you’ve had some level of success (and people even want to know about your failures), because it adds to the legitimacy of what you write.

What if, in addition to writing your current “about me” page, you were to write a 5-year “about me” page?  In other words, you write down (or type out) what how your “about me” page would read 5 years from now. Normally, goals are so distant from you when you write them.  They’re just words on paper.  However, if you step into the shoes of yourself five years from now and are writing about your “current” life accomplishments, you’re forcing yourself to actually visualize your unachieved accomplishments.  Not only does this force you to think about your goals, but it helps you actually believe in them.

What Your 5-Year “About Me” Page Should Contain

Before you can write your “about me” page, it helps to know what one contains.  They can vary quite a bit (check your favorite blogs right now and see how they’ve written their pages), but usually contain the following elements:

1. Who you are – your occupation, where you live (generally).  For this exercise, this will contain who you want to be (use any interpretation of this) and where you want to live.
2. What you enjoy – your interests, especially as they pertain to the work that you do or the content you write about on your blog.
3. Your accomplishments – what you’ve done and how they’ve impacted your life and the life of others.  This is the meat of your 5-year “about me” page because it’s where you’ll write about the things you plan to accomplish in the next 5 years, except that you’ll be writing as if you’ve already achieved them!
4. A forward-looking statement – a statement that usually begins with “I plan to…” or “I hope to…” to let your readers know what they can expect down the road from you. Now you might ask, “This is already written from the perspective of 5-years in the future – what would the forward-looking statement be about?  The forward-looking statement 5 years from now might contain even bigger dreams that you have and hope to accomplish later in your life.

Don’t be afraid to be unreasonable. It’s perfectly fine to have goals that appear out of your reach (and I bet Maren would encourage you to set goals like these!).

Complete this exercise ASAP!  It may seem silly, but it’s really helpful to step outside the boundaries of normal goal setting.  You may find that it gives you motivation like you’ve never had before, and again, it really helps you visualize your goals and make them feel a lot more real to you.

Eric is a full-time CPA who currently writes at My 4-Hour Workweek, a blog where he captures his struggle of creating sources of passive income while still balancing the workload of his “normal” job.  Follow his journey as he attempts to escape the 9 to 5 and explore his true desire to be an entrepreneur.

He had hit it big when he snagged a 5 year contract to be the Goodman’s Goodies spokesperson. That’s the [...]]]> This is the second time since I started this blog that I am sharing one of my fictional short stories, I love to write and not always about business… let me know what you think!

He had hit it big when he snagged a 5 year contract to be the Goodman’s Goodies spokesperson. That’s the reason I started hating him I suppose, because he had made it in showbiz so fast and I hadn’t. Maybe not made it per say, but at least he had gotten his crunchy, brown foot in the door.

I was a screenwriter, though I had never actually finished a complete screenplay. So I guess it would be more accurate to say I wanted to be a screenwriter, someday. To pay the bills I had been reduced to writing scripts for shlocky late night reality dating shows. Every night I sat alone in my dingy living room watching one of the morally reprehensible episodes I helped create, and every night I would have to watch his smiling, round face pushing Goodman’s Goodies during the commercial breaks. I knew as I sat there alone on my out of date sofa that two doors down was the guy who had been parading all over the television screen that evening in the company of chocolate chips and lollipops. He was probably sipping champagne and toasting his success in a hot tub full of young starlets that hung on his every word. It made me sick.

He didn’t deserve the success he had fell into, just because of his color and what he was. He even had the nerve to rub it in my face. Earlier that day when he was out walking his dog (or should I say the dog was walking him) he had idled in front of my humble abode just to rattle on about how star struck he was now that he was working with some of the industries greats. He had met Mrs. Butterworth, the Pillsbury Doughboy even the Keebler Elfs, granted he said the elves were kind of divas but it was the principle of it all. He was bragging, watching to see my eyes glaze over in jealousy. Watching to see me squint from the stars glow reverberating off his hard body.

I couldn’t sleep that night so I lay in bed eating Crack n’ Snack (Goodman’s Goodies knock off version of Rice Krispy squares) and watching an investigative reporter countdown the top 10 perfect murders that had been pulled off over the last century. Murder number ten included a lover’s quarrel and a wood chipper, murder nine was a mob hit and a body sinking to the bottom of the Hudson. By murder number 3 I realized there was a common thread between all perfect murders, leaving no evidence. As I pondered this the investigative reporter said “after the break we’ll here the true story of a child murderer who got rid of her victims by feeding them to swine”, then he appeared, big as life, dancing with marshmallows shining into my darkened bedroom. At that moment I knew what I had to do.

I dressed in the dark and left the house resolute. Two houses down I rapped on the door lightly. After a moment my neighbor, looking sleepy appeared. He looked at me quizzically and I explained I needed to talk to him. He ushered me in and I asked him if anyone was home, fortunately no. I took it as a sign from above that this was the night it had to be done. My neighbor asked me if I’d like anything to drink. “Milk” I said solemnly. He brought me a large glass and sat across from me. “This isn’t right,” I started, “I shouldn’t be made to feel inferior everyday by the likes of someone like you”. He looked confused and started to ask what I meant by the likes of him. “You know what I mean” I said irritably and lit a cigarette. It was time. I got up and walked over to him, towering over him as he sat there. “What are you doing friend?” he said his voice quivering but still with the hopeful, perkiness that landed him the Goodman’s Goodies deal. “Neighbor, pal?” he asked, pleading at this point. Then I snapped his head off just like that.

About an hour later I had destroyed all the evidence. Finished the rest of him off with the large glass of milk he’d handed me himself. Now that’s irony. Tell you the truth it was quiet nice. I’d always had a taste for gingerbread. Granted eating a whole gingerbread man was a little daunting but I had finished what I started and there wasn’t a crumb. It was truly the perfect crime, no evidence, no known motive. One day he was here and the next he wasn’t. No one would be the wiser. Goodman’s would have to find a new spokesperson, maybe the Peacan Sandies girl, she never got very much attention. The gingerbread man had always had a monopoly in the living cookie arena but that day was over. I’d imagine if they knew I’d be getting thank you cards from Oreos, Shortbread and Oatmeal Raisins everywhere.

Two days later the cop cars were in front of his house. They talked to everyone on the block. I was the one that suggested maybe he got tired of the spotlight, maybe he decided he wanted a simpler life, maybe he pulled a Thoreau and took off to find himself. After a few days the news crews stopped doing segments from his front yard and the cops came by less and less. By the time a month had passed everyone in the neighborhood had pretty much moved on. Some thought he ran off with a starlet, some thought he disappeared and most just didn’t care. I should have been celebrating, toasting myself and the fact that I didn’t have to feel like a failure anymore, but I wasn’t. It was the oddest thing, and I think it might have been brought on  by the fact that I had been reading through Poe’s the telltale heart. But every time after that I saw a Goodman’s goodies commercial late at night or walked by the sweets isle at the grocery store I got a sharp, throbby ache. Instead of a guilty conscious I had developed a guilty gut.

Yes, you heard me right, I want you.

I guess I should elaborate… In my quest to make this blog a community, the community I wish I had had when I started out in online business, this post is all about you, my blog buddies and how we can all bring [...]]]>

Yes, you heard me right, I want you.

I guess I should elaborate… In my quest to make this blog a community, the community I wish I had had when I started out in online business, this post is all about you, my blog buddies and how we can all bring each other up and push each other to be truly extraordinary entrepreneurs together.

So please, each of you who are reading this and even SLIGHTLY care about the message escaping the 9 to 5 is trying to push respond to a few of these very basic questions in the comment section below & later I want to have a Ustream live conference ‘mastermind’ group for all the participants. So I want you to share with me…

1. What are you doing right now to escape the 9 to 5 (regardless how big, small or even if you haven’t made the plunge to try anything yet)?
2. What is your biggest road block facing you as an entrepreneur or would be?
3. What monetary goals have you set for yourself or your business in the coming year (if you haven’t set any think of the most ridiculous outrageous number that you’d love to make and we’ll all brainstorm exactly HOW you can do it)
4. What are a few of your greatest accomplishments since you’ve decided to seek a more extraordinary life and have began to live that life on your own terms?
5. Do you think a mastermind group via Skype, Ustream or maybe even the comment section of this blog would help you grow as an extraordinary entrepreneur?

If you don’t want to share where others can see please feel free to email me at marenkate(at)gmail.com and answer the questions in that form, then I promise I’ll get back to you with my thoughts and hopefully helpful suggestions.

8-9 am Meeting with client [...]]]> 6:30 am It is unholy early, I never, ever wake up this early but I have a good client who wants to meet at eight and since my hair is doing a where the wild things are on me I decide to actually try when it comes to my appearance.

8-9 am Meeting with client goes well, I find out I am meeting, if not exceeding his expectations which makes me very happy He pays me to manage pretty much his entire online presence from social media, to his website, to his yelp! and citysearch accounts… and a variety of other stuff I won’t bore you with here. He is the kind of client you LIKE to get and LOVE to keep. These types come around rarely so when you get them hold on to them by giving them the best service ever.

9:30 am Drop my Lexus off to get serviced at the Toyota dealership because I am cheap. Then remember Toyota is going through record breaking recalls and wonder “should I have let them work on my brakes?”

10 am I decided to walk to a nearby Starbucks instead of taking the courtesy vehicle because it was a Prius (read above sentence if you don’t get it yet)… I find that I am lazy and out of shape because after walking a mile I am sweating in 50 degree weather. Record voice note on iPhone: work out more… fat ass (I find my psyche responds well to verbal abuse from itself).

10-12pm I drink two iced green teas and get a lot of responses to emails done, respond to comments on my blog and comment on other’s blogs. Then I send follow ups to two VERY LARGE proposals I sent out yesterday, one is to do the website and social media for a very popular Cable show and the other is for a successful chain of restaurants ran by a businessman in Vegas. Fingers & toes crossed, prayers said and I am PRAYING I get these because these would be the so called TIPPING POINT for me.

2pm Watched Law & Order SUV and it makes me think danger may lurk at every corner, so before I go back out I slip my mace in my purse.

6pm Dinner with the parents… their Doberman Sasha attacked me and kept biting my feet. This is why I am a cat person.

8:30 Networking i.e. going to my local, favorite ‘business bar’ and enjoying a libation with my friends while introducing myself using the 2 a night rule (make two networking connections each time I go out), this particular bar in Vegas called Vintners is like my own personal networking hot bed. I have gotten more leads here than I can tell you.

(this is me rocking out on the way to my networking bar)
12pm Bed time, rinse and repeat tomorrow.

Alright, this is one of my first No really I’m legitimate posts. I [...]]]> picture is of me singing karaoke while reading the words off my iPhone.. just be glad there was no sound attached to that image… its meant to say ‘If someone who looks that silly singing karaoke can do it you can too’!

Alright, this is one of my first No really I’m legitimate posts. I gotta say I am a little proud of myself too, because I’ve worked my butt off lately to get here (Sorry Tim Ferriss even though I adore your book I have yet to figure out how to work a four hour work week). But in this post I am going to show you two things.. first how I made $4444 in 7 days and secondly how you can do the same.

So one of my New Year’s goals has been to make $10,000 (USD) per month gross for the first half of year… then after that I am going to put on the heat and do $10,000 a month net (oh snap!). You can imagine my happiness by 7th (yesterday) when I realized (with the help of my rusty math skills) I was only $5556 bucks away from my goal!

So how did I do it and how can you do the same, first let me tell you one thing… ALL of my income comes directly from my businesses. I don’t hold a job, I’m not one of those ‘internet marketers’ that preaches one thing but works at a corporate firm. I’ve refused to work for anyone, ever again. When I named this blog escaping the 9 to 5 I really meant it. Next let me tell you something else.. I won’t b.s. you. I have been working at my business for the last six months like crazy. Pulling in enough to live, barely at times, but still livable. But only in the last two months have I seen a big increase in business and money. Meaning… starting a business takes time! Not a lot of time, 4 months to make more than I would at a normal job is great. But still.. don’t be surprised when you work at your online or offline business for a few days and don’t see buckets of cash.

Also anyone who tells you otherwise is a big, fat LIAR. You must work to eat and you must work hard to eat well. Good news is that I have noticed the law of compound interest working in my own entrepreneur’s life. Each month that I work I make more and things come a little easier. It was hardest, scariest and the most stressful in the first 3 months. Now I make more, stress less and have more fun at my business.

So what is my business model right now? Firstly, I have another website called www.powersellerprincess.com where I teach people how to powerseller on eBay (something I did for years in college and made a great living). I sell a few eBooks on there but the bulk of my income has come from helping small to medium businesses get viral online. What I did was take my knowledge of the online world and share it with businesses that have the marketing budgets but not the time or creativity to get a strong viral presence online.

I charge anywhere between $99 bucks a month (via tweeterpreneur) to $3500 a month for customized social media packages. Ones that I put a lot of tears and idea equity into. I’ve hired 4 full time people that are all telecommuters (this system allows me to operate with no overhead i.e. lights, water, rent) and gives me a flexibility that I crave.

So will I make the $5556 before the 31st to make my goal? I think so, no, darn it, I know so. I’ve come this far, I’m determined to go even farther. $4444 may seem like a fortune to some of you and a meager amount to others but I will tell you what it means to me. Freedom, the freedom to live the life I want, the freedom to answer only to myself and more than anything the freedom to not worry about what if I get laid off. Is entrepreneurship easy? Heck no! Its one (if not THE) hardest thing I’ve done. It is incredibly scaring because you must go against what 99% of the population thinks is the best course.

Say screw you to anyone who tells you that you can’t do it. You can.

I have had NO proper training in entrepreneurship, business or marketing but I read 3 business books a week and consume knowledge. That is really all it takes, that and a crazy, irrational passion to succeed.

Hope this inspired some of you, please let me know what your fears or hesitations are in the comment post below & I’ll help you crush them!

Love,

Maren Kate

All in all this year [...]]]> So I’ve been trying to create a list of goals for 2010, they’ve ranged from “get a six pack” (which i nixed when i looked at pictures of chicks with six packs, too buff for me) to gain 1000 loyal fans, to stop sleeping 10 hours lazy ass.

All in all this year I am determined to meet my goals. So to do that I had to figure out why all the years before I hadn’t met my goals. Then I looked into the broader idea of why there are so many of us in the world that despite opportunities never meet our goals. This is what I’ve concluded:

You have to REALLY want it.

When you make a goal, say lose 20 pounds, if you are not 100% determined, focused and ready for the sacrifice you won’t do it. You can say all day long “I’m fat” but if you still are stuffing your face with blueberry muffins every morning you don’t really believe you are that fat. Because we do what we want to do. So whether your goal is to turn your business into a 1 million dollar a year enterprise or to quit your slave labor job if you aren’t beyond committed it will never happen and you’ll just become one of the bitching millions who plows through life without a clear purpose.

The second thing I realized is you have to KNOW what you want, have it SO clearly in your mind that there is no mistaking your goal.

In my own life I’ve realized that for too long I’ve stayed comfortable and not taken the chances that will ultimately get me where I want to go. I have catered to the masses instead of tailoring my business, brand and blog to the specific demographic I love and loves me. That will stop now.

For too long I’ve catered to general categories, general keywords, etc. I have written articles to address people who want to ‘maybe’ leave their job, people who have dabbled with the idea of working for themselves but are scared & anyone who is an entrepreneur. That is a freaking broad category, too broad and its not my real passion. The people, businesses and brands that I am passionate about are those who are passionate themselves!

Starting in 2010, well actually starting toda,y www.escapingthe9to5.com is gonna go through a face lift. I am going to follow in the footsteps of people like Tim Ferriss of Four Hour Work Week & Naomi of Ittybiz who don’t care who they offend, instead they just do what they love.

So here is who should really read my blog & who I think will get the most out of it and in turn who I’ll get the most out of. I am going for the idea of 1000 true fans and not stopping until I get there. If your with me we can help each other and build businesses and income sources up that will fund our lives doing what we please and never answering to a ‘boss’ again. This blog and me as a person, will start adhering much more to the true ideals behind escaping the 9 to 5 and never again compromise for the mushy generic goals of mediocrity!

Read escaping the 9 to 5 if:

• You hate your job and can’t stand lining someone else’s pocket with cash that could go in yours.
• You like your job but realize that doing it for the rest of your life will just make you a drone & you’ll never get to follow your true, deep down dreams like hiking the Andes, swimming with dolphins or traveling with the love of your life on a year long trek across Europe.
• You have started a business and failed, and now you want to know how to do it right.
• You have just started a business and need encouragement, strategic short cuts & want to know the best way to make the most money.
• You are a zealot, ridiculously motivated and a big thinker.
• You have crazy ideas and are dying for a way to let them out and make them reality.
• You never take no for an answer.
• You go against all odds.
• You aren’t normal.

If you fit into any or all of these categories then PLEASE join me in a revolution of a very small and motivated group of individuals who will bond together to escape the 9 to 5, to earn more for less effort and to ultimately control their own life and destiny through being their own boss and designing income streams to support their dreams.

Email me, call me (1-702-245-2423 << personal cell) or hang out with me on Twitter or Facebook, we’ll form a community & our mutual motivation and crazy love of entrepreneurship will spread like wild fire to other like thinkers. This is true passion and it is amazing to be around others who are truly passionate. So if you are passionate for business, for starting businesses, for entrepreneurship & for becoming part of the 20% who make 80% of stuff happen please join me and lets make 2010 the best year ever!