Quick example: On my ship, we once had a guy remove a monitoring instrument from a pipe as part of routine maintenance. These instruments were swapped out every couple months for maintenance and calibration. Apparently in a hurry to get his work done and go home, he simply pulled the instrument out, replaced it, and took the old one out down to our division office to drop off for somebody to pick up to take to the calibration lab. He didn’t bother properly bagging the instrument, just carried it by hand down to the office.

Normally, not a big deal. Except this instrument was dripping wet with radioactively contaminated water. To quote one of my skating coaches, this would be “no bueno”.

Routine radiation monitoring of the ship the next day revealed a path of radiological contamination from the pipe system in engineering, straight to our division office. There was, of course, an incident report. Then an investigation. Then several people lying about certain aspects of it. Then a Captain’s Mast (Article 15 non-court martial proceeding) and some punishment handed down.

If the individual in question had exercised integrity from the get go, it never would have happened. If he had exercised integrity after his initial mistakes were uncovered, he would have gotten a slap on the wrist. Instead, his career was essentially destroyed.

In short, what happened here was a failure of his integrity.

What does this have to do with Personal Prosperity? Pretty simple, actually: Customer service has gone down the toilet. When a business, a co-worker, and many times even our friends, actually KEEP a promise to do something, we’re now in awe that they did it. It’s such a rare thing for people to actually follow through on the things they say they will do.

One of the biggest “aha” moments for me lately has been the realization that I don’t need to have the big, grandiose plans that I think I needed to. Recently, James officially gave me “permission” to not think so big. Why was this important to me, and why was it holding me back? Because I felt like I have to strive for huge achievements, but the stress of not being able to follow through on everything was holding me back, and locking me into “analysis paralysis”. In short, I was violating my own integrity by thinking big, because there was simply no way that I would actually follow through on everything.

In the tax resolution industry, failures of integrity are the number one complaint. Sales people outright lie to prospective clients, practitioners fail to maintain open lines of communication with their clients (I’ve been guilty of this myself in the past!). When I work with a client and don’t maintain proper communication, I can feel the frustration coming from my client, and I’m quickly reminded that this one thing (which has always been a challenge for me, no matter what I do) is probably the biggest key to my success in my profession.

The old saying of “underpromise, overdeliver” is just as true today as it was 100 years ago. With everybody these days automatically suspicious of big businesses and any conversation about getting ahead or creating an “unfair advantage” for yourself, it’s important to be able to follow through on what you promise.

When I look at Jame’s business, he has an obligation to clients. James has a business model that is different from any other real estate agent you will ever meet: He charges his a client’s a $2,000 up front retainer in order to work with him. This is credited against commissions at closing when that client buys a house, but by accepting that up front retainer, James takes on a huge commitment to his clients, all of whom are real estate investors. James has to deliver on his promise represented by that $2,000 retainer: To find investment opportunities suitable to that investors buying criteria. It is entirely a matter of integrity for him to deliver on this promise. In order to do so, James has built an incredibly complex system of property analysis, created numerous checklists to keep him on track towards his customer’s objectives every day, and works a well defined system to ensure he can deliver on that promise.

I came across this article in Fast Company about the concept of overpromise, underdelivering that exists in our world today, and it contains several examples that are worth reading: Under-Promise. Over-Deliver. And Your Brand’s Fans Will Talk.

How does this apply to your Personal Prosperity Plan™? Your personalized plan contains numerous promises to yourself and your family. If your plan contains a business element, which it most likely does, then you are creating promises to customers. In order to succeed in your Plan, you must have integrity. There is an awful lot of follow through you’re going to need to do, and integrity is required along every step of the path.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

Who is Dan Kennedy? And what exactly is a wealth magnet? Well, Dan Kennedy is the “millionaire maker”. He’s one of the single greatest contributing minds to the field of modern marketing that is still alive. He’s written probably two dozen books I’d imagine, has spoken on thousands of stages, and is the man-behind-the-man in numerous fields. If you come from outside the marketing world, you may have never heard of him, but within the marketing world, he’s basically treated like an idol. He is the marketing genius behind the success of many TV infomercial products, the most commonly famous of which is probably Proactiv acne treatments.

Dan Kennedy defines a “wealth magnet” as a habit or personality trait that helps a person to naturally attract opportunities to them. Described in full detail in his excellent book, No B.S. Wealth Attraction in the New Economy, available on Amazon, Kennedy discusses 28 different traits that, when combined, make a person a nearly unstoppable force for success, no matter what their chosen endeavor (not just business — the principles apply in athletics, spirituality, the non-profit world, politics, etc.).

I highly suggest reading the book, and making a personal study of it yourself. Ben Franklin had a list of 13 traits he wished to embody, and spent 1 week working on each of them in turn, and repeated the 13 week cycle for most of his life. Kennedy’s 28 traits would make for a 6 month cycle at one week each, and is probably worthwhile. However, it also fits nicely into a monthly cycle, and my mentor James Orr and I have discussed doing this several times, and repeating the cycle monthly as an exercise.

The past few days, I have been privately communicating some thoughts to James about the wealth magnet that corresponds to the day of the month, but he agreed that these would make great blog posts, so for the next 30 days, they will.

Each day, I will briefly explain my own viewpoints on the Kennedy Wealth Magnet, and how it applies to the overall concept of Personal Prosperity (I’m not going to replicate Kennedy’s thoughts — seriously, buy the book, it’s worth the $11). Then, I will briefly discuss how it applies to my life right now, and also how it applies to James’ real estate business. In all reality, these latter segments are really to better myself and for James to see my perspective on his business. While the particulars of how it applies to my business or James’ business may not be of immediate interest to you, the reader, hopefully seeing a day to day application of the principles to real businesses will help you see how you can readily apply the concepts to YOUR life, your business, your goals, your Personal Prosperity Plan™.

I hope you enjoy reading these over the course of the next month, and that doing so contributes to your own Personal Prosperity.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

Personally, I consider bankruptcy to be one of the single most intelligent financial decisions I’ve ever made.

Yes, I’ve been through bankruptcy, and I’m happy I did it.

In the summer of 2007, I was flat broke. I was unable to pay my bills, including the mortgage. This was the beginning of the real estate bust, and definitely the end of my career as a real estate broker. By January 2008, I had swallowed my pride and accepted an entry-level administrative job at a tax firm in Denver (an hour commute each way). By April 2008, my home was foreclosed on, and I filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection the next day.

For a divorced guy that eschewed material possessions, I had an enormous amount of debt. In my bankruptcy, I flushed a high six-figure amount of debt that I had amassed over the course of my adult life.

In August 2008, when my bankruptcy was discharged, I was floating on a cloud. Why? Because the burden of being massively in debt was suddenly lifted off my shoulders.

Also, by this time, I had made myself significantly more valuable at the tax firm I worked at, and was well on my way to obtaining my Enrolled Agent license from the IRS.

In other words, being broke and having to do what I had to do in order to stay afloat directly lead me to where I am today. In other words, going belly up directly set the stage for finally finding a career I truly love, and living a lifestyle that I wanted to live.

The single biggest benefit to filing bankruptcy is that the stress of dealing with bill collectors suddenly goes out the window, because they can’t call you anymore. Reduction in stress lets you focus on other things, and work towards being successful in other words.

If bankruptcy is something that’s crossed your mind, sit down with an attorney and discuss your options. It may be a discussion that you wish you’d had much sooner.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

Just walkin’ down the street,
Doesn’t even need a beat,
Steppin’ to the walk real neat,
That girl got some awesome feet!

Ain’t all about the fame,
Knows life is just a fun game,
And if you wanna dance,
Well hey, here’s your chance!

Gotta take your dance floor with you,
Everywhere around you is dance space,
Just keep movin’ ’til your blue,
‘Cuz with your moves you be the ace!

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

While there are obviously expensive places to live abroad (Tokyo, Japan is the most expensive city in the world in which to live, as of January 2011 data), it’s possible to travel for far cheaper than you can live in the United States. Let’s look at some numbers.

Denver, the largest urban area in the Rocky Mountain region with a population of over 2.5 million for the metro area, is fairly representative of the average cost of living for the United States, with a cost of living index of 105 (3rd quarter 2011 data — the national average is set at 100). Since Denver represents fairly close to the national average, and is close to me, I’m going to use it as a baseline example for crunching some numbers.

A one bedroom apartment in Denver averages $977 per month (as of August 2011). The IRS National Standard (used to calculate allowable expenses in IRS collections cases, and also for bankruptcy proceedings and other legal purposes) for food, clothing, and household items for a single person in Denver is $534 per month. The national average car payment is about $400 per month, with operating costs (insurance, gas, etc.) set at $236 per month under IRS financial standards. Add in about $100 a month in utilities, and a $70 per month cell bill.

So, for a roof over your head, food on the table, clothes on your back, and transportation, a single person in Denver is sitting at about $2,136 per month to live. Add in about $100 a month in utilities, a $70 per month cell bill, and let’s just say $100 a month for entertainment, and you’re getting a good picture of what your typical single person in their mid-20′s to mid-30′s, living on their own, is spending to live in Denver: over $2,400 per month.

As a dummy check, I looked up the median per capita income for Denver County, which is just over $24,000 per year. The median household income in Denver is right at $40,000 per year. $2400 a month is close enough to $24k a year for our purposes, and meshes well with the household figure and splitting of expenses across two wage earners.

Using this data as a baseline, let’s compare it to the cost of spending time overseas. I’m going to compare it somewhere I’ve actually been recently: Tokyo. Do recall that Tokyo is considered THE most expensive city on Earth in which to live.

Or is it?

I’m a big believer that one of the greatest joys of traveling is the people you meet, and I don’t think there is any better place to meet people abroad than in hostels. Some hostels are dives, some are very nice places that are basically somebody’s house, such as Jimmyz Backpackers in Sapporo, where I stayed for about 3 whole weeks. Hostels are also really cheap – $15 to $50 a day around Japan, depending on where you are and how nice it is. Most hostels give discounts for longer stays, and so I was averaging about $25 a night to stay in hostels.

$25 times 30 equals $750 per month. That’s already cheaper than our one bedroom apartment in Denver.

On top of saving a couple hundred a month on rent already, consider this: No utilities. Most hostels have free wi-fi. If you’re only spending a month or two in a country, Skype quickly becomes your communication friend. I chose not to have a local cell phone in Japan, and it worked out just fine. But let’s say you want one: $50 a month for basic communication (Tip: Get it at the airport when you arrive!).

So, we’re at $800 a month.

Let’s look at transportation. Tokyo probably has the most efficient mass transit system on planet Earth. Subways and buses take you anywhere you want to go, and surface trains go just about everywhere else in Japan. Japan also has an incredible domestic air transit system, and if you want to travel on open water, you can go long distances on the cheap by taking a ferry.

Using discounted tickets for foreigners, weekend and seasonal deals, and the discounts you get for using electronic tickets, getting around Tokyo becomes a $3 or $4 per day thing, if you go places EVERY day. Call it $100/month. If you commute on particular routes, you can get monthly passes (teikiken) even cheaper.

So, we’re at $900 a month to live in and get around in the most expensive city in the world.

Whoops, I guess we need to eat, don’t we?

All over Tokyo you can find these awesome little family restaurants, usually down weird alleys and twisted back roads, where you can get a bowl of rice with beef strips and vegetables, for example, for about $5. Fresh fruit is expensive in Japan, but staples of the Japanese diet are fairly inexpensive in markets. If you love rice and fish, you can eat even cheaper. Eating out for *every* meal does get expensive – I was pushing $20 per day on average just to eat, but that was by choice. You really can eat for $5 or less per day if you cook for yourself, even in Tokyo.

So, $150 to $200 per month to eat in Tokyo. Let’s add a party night once a week, and give ourselves a $100 per month entertainment and booze budget. Now we’re at $1200 per month.

Did I miss anything? $1200 a month to live in the most expensive city on Earth, and have the time of your life doing it.

Let’s look at airfare. Round trip airfare for me to Japan was about $1600. An American can stay in Japan for 90 days on a single entry tourist visa, so amortized over 3 months, airfare is $533 per month. If you plan to continue traveling around Asia, you can just buy a one-way ticket, which ranges anywhere from $600 to $1000, depending on the time of year. But even at the round trip price, added to monthly cost of living, we’re at $1733 per month.

Yup. $1733 per month. And I mentioned we’re living in the most expensive place on Earth, right?

I realize that this grand equation doesn’t take into account the fact that our example single person has to work a job back in Denver, and that’s not possible when you’re just traveling. I’m fully aware that most people don’t have the luxury of working from anywhere, via the Internet (although I have a firm belief that just about anybody CAN put themselves into that position, but that’s a subject for another post).

So, let’s look at things a bit differently. Our 20 or 30 something single person in Denver makes $25k to $35k per year doing whatever they do. Instead of that $997/month apartment, let’s get them in a house with two other people, and paying $400 a month for rent and utilities. Let’s also ditch the car payment, and let’s ride the bus, live within walking distance of work, buy a beater of a car, or ride a motorcycle (the option I choose — a motorcycle can cheaply be stored when abroad). Let’s also cut back on out cell plan, use Skype when possible to avoid eating up cell minutes, and pack our lunch to work every day.

In other words, let’s live in Denver under a similar lifestyle as we could live cheaply in Tokyo. All of a sudden, we’re not spending $2400 a month to live. Instead, we’re spending $800 or less, and saving $1600 per month.

Do this for a year. That’s $19,200 saved up, cash in the bank, in ONE YEAR.

$1600 airfare, $17,600 remaining. That buys TEN MONTHS living in Tokyo. Your visa won’t last that long. So, you stay 3 months, then go to South Korea. Then Taiwan. Then Hong Kong. Then Manila. Each of these places is far cheaper than Tokyo. All of a sudden, ten months turning into 18 months abroad.

Some people are going to look at these numbers as unrealistic. However, these are real numbers, based on real cost of living norms. For foreigners reading this, YES, that is what Americans blow every month to live the American lifestyle.

Is it worth drastically dialing down your American consumption and materialism for one year so that you can save up the cash to spend a year, maybe even two years, abroad?

Only you can answer that question. But for some of us, the answer is an unequivocal YES.

See you at the airport…

-Jassen

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

So, how do I pull this off? There are probably dozens of effective ways of doing this, ranging from signing things with a stylus input device to just drawing your signature carefully with your mouse. Here’s what I do. Your mileage may vary.

First, you need a scanned copy of your signature. My signature is pretty distinct (and some would say weird). So, I simply did one that was really big, in thick, blue ink, with my full flair. Then I scanned it. You can do this at Kinko’s if you don’t have a scanner.

Then, I routinely use three very important tools. Yes, there is probably ONE tool that does all this (on a Mac, I’d be doing it all in Graphic Converter, but alas, there is no such program for Windows).

Since I work with a lot of PDF files, I need to be able to extract pages for signature, then reinsert them. For this, I use Foxit Phantom, which is the single best PDF editor I have yet to find out of half a dozen I’ve tested (I’m kinda cheap when it comes to software — I refuse to spend the money on Adobe Acrobat Professional).

After extracting a page to sign, I have to convert it to an image. For this, I use Office Convert PDF to JPEG Free, which is also the best of several I tested.

Then, I open the converted image into MS Paint, which comes with Windows. I’ve tested other graphics programs, including IrfanView, GIMP, and other big names in the shareware Windows world, and I’ve found Paint to be sufficient. I shrink my signature to fit, then copy and paste it into the document. Since Paint can’t handle transparencies, I fit the signature into a block, then literally use the line tool to re-draw the lines in the form that my signature block may have overwritten.

Then, save the image, and use Phantom’s “Insert Page” command to insert the JPEG image back into the PDF it came out of.

Voila!

Yep, it’s kind of a pain in the rear, but it’s a cheap and simple process that’s there when I need it. If I had to sign things anymore than I already do, I’d look for a better all-in-one solution, but for me, this system works just fine!

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

OK, so I’m biased. I’ve been here for two weeks, and will be here for two more. Oh, and I guess I should admit that I haven’t stayed at any other Sapporo hostel or hotel. And to be honest, I’m not interested in doing so.

Jimmy himself is a pretty cool guy. He speaks excellent English, which comes from going to college in Orange County, California. In addition, he’s a great tour guide, being very knowledgeable of the local attractions, both ON and OFF the beaten tourist path.

The hostel itself is pretty amazing. In all reality, it’s much more like staying at somebody’s house than a hostel. Jimmyz is much smaller than most hostels. The mixed dorm holds six people, and there is a separate room that houses another 6 in a women-only dorm-style room. On the main floor, there is a small tatami-floored dining room, hardwood-floored living room, men’s and women’s showers and bathrooms, and a small kitchen.

Jimmyz is most definitely not a big place. In fact, the entire house (yes, it really is a house) is smaller than most American 2 bedroom homes. But honestly, that’s what makes it awesome. Not a single night has gone by where I haven’t met awesome people from some different corner of Japan or even the world. I’ve hung out with several gorgeous women from Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan. I’ve clinked drinks with gents from Norway, the U.S. Air Force, Britain, America, and South Korea.

If you’re looking for either a very affordable (less than 3000 yen per night) place to stay, and/or a clean, cozy, and intimate hostel for either one week or a month (discounts for stays over 7 days), then book at Jimmyz Backpackers. It really is the best Sapporo hostel, and I say that not even needing to say elsewhere.

To book at Jimmyz, visit his web site and send him an email: Jimmyz Backpackers Sapporo Hostel (English site)

Some other cool tidbits about Jimmyz:

-only a 5 minute walk from Susukino, the largest entertainment district in Japan outside of Tokyo
-easy access to the subways (Hosui Susukino station about 4 minute walk)
-for figure skaters, about 20 minutes by foot and subway from ice rink (Tsukisamu Gymnasium, off the Toho subway line, Tsukisamu-chuo station, go upstairs, around the corner [LEFT!], down a block, just past the tennis courts)
-one block away from the awesome river running paths (currently under reconstruction from recent flooding damage)
-gorgeous girls often stay (what?!?!?! I’m a dude, this is important!)

So if you’re in Sapporo, spend the night at Jimmyz Backpackers. It really is a great place. I like it enough to stay here almost a month — it really is that nice of a place. Again, it’s small, cozy, very clean, and Jimmy speaks perfect English and can direct you where you want to go.

See you out and about in the world,
-Jassen

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

Why would somebody want a second passport? For a number of reasons. For some of us, it has to do with having the freedom to travel visa-free to certain countries that your native country’s passport doesn’t cover. For others, it has to do with work authorization, and being able to live and work freely in another country (or group of countries, as with an EU passport).

Be extremely careful of information you read online about the process of obtaining dual citizenship, alien registration, and second passports. Very little of what I’ve seen appears to be based on the person experience of the writer, and I’ve seen quite a bit of just plain incorrect information.

So how DO you obtain a second passport, permanent residence, or citizenship elsewhere? In short there are three major ways:

1). Ancestral lineage. Some countries, such as Ireland and Poland, may grant you citizenship under ancestral programs. The idea is to bring descendants of those nationalities back to the homeland within a certain number of generations. Ireland, for example, will go up to three generations back in certain circumstances, and still grant you citizenship. If you are Jewish, Israel has a return program that provides numerous incentives for returning to the Jewish homeland, including job placement assistance and very low interest rate government-backed mortgages for buying a home. You have to prove your ancestral lineage, of course, and there may be residency or other requirements to obtain citizenship and/or that second passport.

2. Economic citizenship. There are places in the world where, if you have enough cash, you can simply BUY you’re way in. Yep, cold hard cash. Economic citizenship requires that you either pay a sum of money to a government entity, invest a certain amount of money in the local economy, or both. There are often also residency requirements. Small island nations in the Caribbean, such as St. Kitts and Dominica, both offer this type of program for just paying a fee (it’s a lot — six figures in USD). Other countries will let you at least start the process of establishing residency simply by showing up, paying some fees, filling out some paperwork, and dunking money into a local bank account. Uruguay, for example, in order to encourage foreign investment, is allowing this for as little as $8,000, according to the last information I had from several months ago. Finally, you may be able to obtain economic citizenship by buying land and sitting on it for a while. Several of the former Soviet republics in the Baltic are currently actively promoting such programs.

3. Permanent residency. Some countries will let you immigrate and apply for naturalized citizenship simply because you’ve been there for a while. In fact, for many countries, this is the only way to obtain citizenship and a second passport from that country. Of course, you have to have a legitimate reason for being there in the first, which often requires a work visa and a sponsor. For example, in Japan, where I’m writing this from, you can apply for permanent resident alien status (a “green card”, in American parlance) after living here for 5 years. Note I said “apply” — it’s far from automatic, and you have to demonstrate that you contributed significantly to Japanese education, technology, economy, or culture. Being an English teacher at an eikaiwa for 5 years doesn’t count; being a research professor at a university often does.

The only countries I’ve researched this subject extensively on are a few Latin countries, Japan, and Australia. Australia has long been my immigration target, and I am actively engaged in working on boosting my point totals under their skilled immigration program in order to qualify for permanent residency in that country. However, it’s a 2 to 3 year process that I’m barely a year into.

If this is something you are seriously interested in, due your homework and due diligence. You may also want to speak to an immigration attorney in the country in which you are interested.

Note: I am NOT qualified to answer questions on the immigration subject — only in relation to the American taxation of your foreign earnings and investments.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

First of all, let’s talk money. Just about everybody in America believes that Japan is one of the most expensive places in the world to visit, let alone live. Actually, let me back up a bit. Any discussion about the cost of Japan has to start with the cost of converting currency. Unless you live under a rock, you know that the U.S. dollar has been getting weaker and weaker by the day. In high school and studying Japanese, I remember the dollar being worth about 140 yen. Today, I got exactly half that when I pulled money out of the ATM: 70 yen to the dollar. Think about what that means in terms of purchasing power. If you earn money in yen and spend it in dollars, you’ve got a golden ticket. But earning dollars and spending yen, quite frankly, sucks.

Next, let’s talk costs. Yes, Japan can be a very, very expensive place to visit. The standard rate for a Western-style hotel that we saw during the vacation phase of coming here was about $120 per night, for an incredibly tiny room with it’s own bathroom. However, Japan also has a huge quantity of budget accommodations. Although we didn’t do this, there are traditional Japanese ryokan for under $50 a night, and some Buddhist temples can accommodate overnight guests for under $50/night. In Nagoya, we stayed in a super budget hotel for about $25 for the night, and the place didn’t even have showers (think “sponge bath”). In Tokyo, we stayed (and I still am), at two different capsule hotels, one of which is more like a hostel than a business capsule hotel, and it is less than $40/night (plus I get to meet some interesting foreigners, but that’s a subject for another post). Some of the onsen (hot spring public baths) will let you stay the night for very cheap, if you don’t mind sleeping on the floor.

What about food and drink? Again, there is a huge range. Last night, I splurged 14,000 yen ($182) on a 6-course meal of the best bar food ever and unlimited beverages for four people (all you can drink in two hours). But today I had a delicious lunch of cucumber rice rolls, fried prawns, and shredded cabbage that was more than filling, and it was about $5. In other words, I had a fairly healthy lunch for cheaper than the McDonald’s that was a block down the street, and it was delicious.

Transportation in Japan is another thing that can be considered expensive. Flying from place to place within the country can run $100 to $300 on way, which is high compared to regional flight costs in the U.S. and Europe. Also, the bullet trains (shinkansen) can be pricey. For example, going from Tokyo to the northernmost point in Honshu (the main island) is going to be close to $200 by shinkansen. If we had traveled from Shikoku back to Tokyo all on express or bullet trains, we probably would have spent close to $1,000 on transit.

However, all the rail lines offer various discount tickets. The JR Rail Pass is a bargain if you use it a lot, but can only be purchased outside the country. In order to be worthwhile, you HAVE to use the shinkansen I think, just from a cost standpoint. We used a special ticket intended for teenagers and college kids on school breaks, but that is available to everybody, in order to get unlimited travel on JR local trains, which enabled us to see more of Japan by town hopping back to Tokyo. These tickets run about $35 per day, and are worth every dime if you travel the countryside extensively for a day on local trains. Also, if you purchase airline tickets at least 45 days in advance, the major carriers and the budget operators offer steep discounts. You can fly from Tokyo to Sapporo for well under $100 if you plan it right.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the ferries. Japan is an island nation, of course, so it is well suited to water travel. Ferries operate daily between all the major cities in the country. While they are not the fastest means of getting around, they are super fun and also super cheap. We took the ferry from Tokyo to Tokushima, Shikoku. The trip took 18 hours or so, overnight, and was a blast. It was much cheaper than flying or train, also, and we had a private cabin for not much extra money — it was about the price of a Western-style hotel room for the night to make the trip. If it weren’t for the approaching typhoon (that’s what they call hurricanes here — they are the exact same thing in meteorological terms), I’d take the ferry to Sapporo instead of the shinkansen.

Within Tokyo, it can add up quickly to bounce around between the two competing subway operators and the JR trains that encircle the city. However, for $12/day, you can get unlimited use of the subway system, and for about $20 a day you can get an unlimited use pass for both subway lines and the JR trains. These tickets can be purchased at almost any ticket machine, and will save you possibly hundreds of dollars during a week or two in Tokyo.

As I plan for living here in Japan short-term, I’ve been looking at other expenses. The interesting thing I’m discovering is that Japan is not as expensive to live as people in America think it is. The horrifying sticker shock to find a place to live here really comes down to what is called “key money”, essentially the same as your first and last month’s rent plus deposit, except bigger. In many cases, two year leases are the norm on an apartment, and your “key money” is equal to six months worth of rent. In some cases, that can essentially be the equivalent of a down payment on a house in some parts of the U.S.

But, again, there are less expensive options. Since Japan is a major destination for both foreign tourists and international business people, there is an entire industry here that caters to providing short-term (which can become long-term) housing for gaijin (foreigners). The most common of these places are called “gaijin houses”. Basically, they are just regular apartments or houses that are owned or managed by property management companies that specifically cater to the foreign market, and offer deposit options that are much more “normal” to Westerners. Some of these guest houses can accommodate couples and even families. If you’re single, the options greatly expand, though. For example, dorm style guest houses, with two to four blokes to a room, can be had for under $350 per month and a $100 deposit. For a private room in a house, rents are closer to $600 to $800 per month and deposits of about $400. However, compared to your own apartment, this is a bargain, and really is in line with what most Americans are used to paying for rent if they live in any large U.S. city.

As somebody that likes to splurge on occasion, but that is basically a cheapskate at heart, exploring these kind of options is of value to me personally. My place in Sapporo (I’ve narrowed it down to two options) won’t be posh by any means, but it also won’t be any worse than where I lived in Provo before coming here. On top of that, there’s the great benefit that it’s someplace interesting and living with people from other countries. Since part of my objective here in Japan is to not only work on my Japanese, but also begin picking up a European language (such as Spanish, French, or German), the opportunities in a gaijin house are quite spectacular.

I hope that this quick and dirty guide to doing Japan on the cheap is helpful to somebody out there on the interwebs. If you have any interest in visiting Japan, just go — don’t be frightened by sticker shock perpetuated by people in the travel industry that have never been here physically on the ground. Just like anywhere you go, it’s what you make of it, and if you want to or have to do it on the cheap, you totally can.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

Also in response, the S&P downgraded the US credit rating from AAA to AA+. This was completely symbolic — it has no impact on what the US government can or will do.

G7 and G20 leaders have been meeting to discuss how the U.S. economy is collapsing and how our national debt is almost 100% of GDP. They forgot to discuss the fact that many of THEIR national debts vastly exceed 100% of GDP already.

The media is screaming holy terror. Democrats are calling Republicans insensitive. Republicans are calling each other sellouts. Republicans are calling Democrats idiots. Reporters are saying your retirements accounts are hosed, and we all need to snuggle into our bomb shelters and await the end of the world as we know it.

What does the U.S. debt crisis and the responding market conditions really mean to you?

Not a damn thing, that’s what.

Did gas prices spike overnight? Nope.

Did unemployment skyrocket the next day? Nope.

Did little Jonny and Susie have to eat out dinner out of a dumpster for the first time? Nope.

Did anything really change? Not a bit.

Here’s the reality of the situation: What Congress does, what the Treasury does, what Wall Street market makers do…None of it has any real impact on your day to day life.

Your daily activities stay the same. For the most part, the price you paid yesterday for this or that will be the same price tomorrow, more or less (yes, it trends up over time, it’s called inflation, you should be used to it by now). You still go to work, take the kids to soccer practice, and blow money on absolutely, 100% non-essential goods and services.

What if you own a business? You should be worried, right? Wrong. If you run a business, you shouldn’t give one shit about what the economy as a whole is doing. Instead, focus on YOUR business. Focus on what YOU can actually DO to market your products and services and get more paying customers through the door. So, again, nothing changes.

How can I be so callous, you ask? I’m not being callous. I’m simply reminding everybody about this little thing called reality. Back in the Depression, people still scraped by. As a matter of fact, more millionaires were created during the 1920′s than at any time in U.S. history, both before and after. People with good business sense will always do well. So will people with good, marketable job skills. If your only employable skill is manual labor, you’re gonna have a hard time in ANY job market.

So if you’re sitting around fretting about what is going to happen to you, your business, your job, or your family…Stop. Just stop. Life goes on just as normal.

Look at it this way: Do you think your average Iraqi citizen is sitting around worried about the global economy? Nope. He still has to take his goods to market, go to work, feed his family, and show up for his kid’s soccer game. Despite the fact that his country’s infrastructure is now shrapnel, his economy is in the crapper, and there is the constant threat of violence in the streets, he still has to go about living his life.

You, my friend, need to do the exact same thing. In fact, YOU should be thriving, because you probably won’t get shot at today.

Perspective is a bitch, ain’t it?

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

So what exactly is it? Basically, it’s being a permanent nomad. There is a resurgence of the nomadic lifestyle erupting amongst those with the wherewithal to do so, be it retired Americans selling their homes and permanently hitting the road in their motor homes, to financially insecure twenty-somethings that simply never return home from their gap year to do what they’re “supposed to do”.

Why on Earth would anybody want to do this? Humans have long had a natural urge to explore the world, seek out new lands, experience other cultures, and seek fame and fortune in the wild unknown. While I’d like to believe most individuals these days have moved past the desire for conquest and new sources of gold, we are still an innately curious species, and the desire to explore and learn will, hopefully, always be with us. In many cases, the new resurgence of the nomadic lifestyle is a backlash to the sterile, stoic world that many industrialized nations have become.

Personally, I just like to know what’s around the corner…where the road goes…what exists on the other side of the pond. Lately, as I’ve been dealing with insomnia and irregular sleep patterns, I go for random drives up and down I-15, taking whatever exit strikes my fancy, and following whatever road (or, as was the case three nights ago, the complete lack of a road) happens to create a path. I like to think that if I had been born at any time prior to the 20th century, I would have been an explorer. I would have been on the Lewis & Clark Expedition, or headed across the Atlantic with Pizarro, journeyed across the Middle East in search of trade routes, or been the Neanderthal to lead my tribe to lush new hunting and gathering grounds.

I’m constantly amazed at the number of Americans I meet that have no desire to travel, explore, or even really learn anything new. Even when I go through periods where I shut myself in, I’m still seeking to learn new things, even if it’s just through the miracle of the Interwebs.

For years now, I’ve this dream of becoming an international nomad. Scratch that — not a dream, more of just a “notion”. I’ve been more or less nomadic across the United States, having lived in 14 states and visited 43 of them so far. I spent way to long living in Colorado, where I was for 9 years. I’m not even really sure how or why that happened, but I don’t regret it – I met a lot of great people and it really is a beautiful state, and probably the state I will technically call “home” for several more years, even if I’m not actually there. Leaving last December for Utah, however, opened a massive can of worms that got the travel bug going again, and I’ve taken several trips out of state since then.

I’ve been planning a trip to Japan for a couple months now with my BFF, Ashley, kind of as a graduation present to her. As we’ve been getting closer and closer to our Augsut 15th departure, the thought of simply not coming back to the States has loomed larger as an option.

And so, as of yesterday, I made it official: I’m not coming home. In fact, I’m not going to have a home. I’m becoming location independent.

As somebody who prefers traveling extremely light (I went to Australia for two weeks back in 2009 with nothing but a small backpack, and it was only half full), going “location independent” suddenly creates some unique challenges, because I feel like I must take more stuff with me. There is also the challenge of suddenly and swiftly getting rid of everything else I own, deciding whether to throw some stuff in storage or not, dealing with an apartment lease and that chunk of steel in the driveway.

Even bigger, there’s this little thing called WORK. I am by no means a wealthy, financially independent person: I’m still a working stiff. If I can’t continue to service my clients, I can’t eat, let alone hop a fly-fly from Salt Lake to Los Angeles for a random weekend excursion.

Fortunately, I started working on the issues of working remotely when I left Colorado for Utah. Granted, it’s only an 8 hour drive back to Denver, but the exact same systems that allow me to be here in Provo and continue working actually allow me to work from anywhere with Internet access. While my businesses and staff are primarily based in the Denver area, I do work from here.

The vast majority of the location independent people I have read about that still work (e.g., they’re not rich and don’t have a business that throws off cash with zero management or interaction from themselves) have been writers, journalists, travel editors, videographers, artists, athletes, and performers. In other words, creative types that can ply their trade anywhere, or where their trade IS travel related. The only exceptions I’ve seen to this are nurses and English teachers, which seem to be able to get work worldwide quite readily. However, even these professionals are tied to a location, even if it’s overseas.

I’m not so naive as to suggest that anybody, with any profession, can achieve location independence. However, I think it’s perfectly doable for anybody, regardless of profession, that sits in front of a computer all day, talks on the telephone all day, or telecommutes or works from home anyway. This would include many service professionals, including architects, accountants, and attorneys, computer people such as programmers and CAD designers, and just about any engineer that doesn’t do field work. The vast majority of sales professionals could also do this. I also think it’s doable for people that work within agriculture, with animals, industrial trades (welders, electricians, plant technicians, etc), medical professionals, infrastructure types (roads, bridges, water, power, sewer, etc), and even unskilled laborers (muscle power is needed everywhere, despite technology).

In other words, if your job is digging ditches, then guess what? You can just as well dig a ditch in Paraguay or South Africa as you can in Kansas.

Now obviously, for some jobs, I’m completely ignoring work visa issues that are going to apply in most other countries, and I would never advocate working in a country illegally. But at the same time, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Here’s the bottom line: No matter what you do for a living, there’s either a way to do it elsewhere, or you could make a small career change into something that you can do from elsewhere.

As a nuclear power plant operator, my geographical options were extremely limited, but by gradually transitioning to tax consultant (the path to which was actually quite accidental) I am now in a position to work from anywhere, and given enough motivation, you can too, no matter where you’re starting from.

Are you location independent, or heading that direction? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic, so leave a comment to this post.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

If you owe the IRS back taxes, and they are actively coming after you to collect the money, then you are in a collections situation. Therefore, tax relief for you probably means getting the IRS off your back. What I mean by this is that you need to stop the collections process, particularly to get the IRS to not come after your bank accounts and your wages.

If you’re already on an Installment Agreement, then tax relief for you might be obtaining a reduction in the penalties. This process, called a “penalty abatement”, requires you to meet certain criteria and demonstrate that, despite your best efforts, you were unable to pay your taxes on time because of reasonable cause. Reasonable cause itself has a variety of criteria, which I actually outline in an article on my firm’s web site about penalty abatement reasonable cause criteria.

Another scenario with a slightly different definition of “tax relief” could be if you have years and years of unfiled tax returns, and the IRS files returns for you based on the information they have on file. Since employers, brokerage firms, and other companies are required by law to send copies of your W-2′s, 1099′s, and other documents to the IRS, they have all that data regarding your wages and transactions. If you don’t file a return, they will file what is called a “Substitute For Return”, or SFR for short. This return is literally a worst case scenario — they give you no deductions, nothing but the standard deduction and usually only one exemption unless you have a prior history of filing married, and they assess you the highest possible tax under this scenario. The solution to this little nightmare is to file actual returns and replace the ones the IRS prepared for you.

In most cases where I have filed real returns to replace Substitute For Returns filed by the IRS, the tax liability, as well as the penalties and interest, end up getting slashed by 50% to 70%. Therefore, it’s worth spending the money to have real returns prepared on your behalf if this happens to be your situation.

For other folks, “tax relief” may be having your property tax valuation more accurately reflect the value of your home. This has become a common scenario as market prices have dropped, but property tax valuations have not. Most counties have a process by which you can contest the property valuation — most people these days either don’t realize that or simply fail to do it. Having your assessed value of your home accurately reflect it’s value can save you thousands of dollars in property taxes over the years, and if this is the type of tax relief you are looking for, then I would highly encourage you to look into it.

Tax relief means different things to different people in different situations. I’m always happy to talk tax (I’m kind of a geek like that), so feel free to call me directly at (970) 930-1040 to discuss the kind of tax relief you need.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

Cell phones have permeated every possible fabric of our society. From mobile banking and workout tracking, today’s smart phones in particular come with everything but the kitchen sink (but you can look up where to buy a sink, of course). The most advanced smart phones are more computer than anything else, with a phone chip and antenna just along for the ride, it seems. With mobile Internet, email, navigation systems, high definition video, today’s smart phones can do almost anything.

Which, honestly, is why I switched from a fairly basic, phone-only device to an iPhone 3. My thought process behind the iPhone was to be able to do all the things I do with a computer, but from a mobile device. In this way, I could always keep in touch with my clients and their IRS agents. I would never be far away from anything I need for business. On top of that, I wouldn’t have to plan ahead and print maps, I could listen to whatever music I wanted, wherever I wanted. It seemed like a perfect, magical little box.

So, what happened?

It didn’t take me long to figure out that a smartphone is actually a leash. After just a few months, I didn’t WANT to be constantly available. I was able to work 24/7, even when I was on vacation, even when I was at the rink. Although I could suddenly work from almost anywhere, that was the problem: I was working from everywhere. And quite frankly, it sucked.

So, I basically just quit using the stupid thing.

After moving to Utah, the iPhone became something I basically used for just two things:

1). Playing music at the rink
2). Texting with ONE local friend, mainly to arrange where to meet up for lunch.

When I was at the office, I would, of course, use the phone to contact clients, but months ago I adopted a policy of time blocking my phone time, as a time management tool. In other words, I *never* actually answer my phone live when it rings. 99% of the time, the ringer is OFF, and vibrate mode hasn’t been turned on for six months.

Like many people that experience smartphone addiction (they’re not jokingly called “CrackBerries” for nothing), I dealt with the problem by simply stopping the usage. This is actually a subset of a growing problem in industrialized countries. While the world of Facebook, Twitter, and mobile devices are supposed to be bringing us all closer together, they in fact further isolate us from one another. This is now a mainstream topic for research in psychology.

Technology should enhance our lives, not enslave us. What’s even worse is that we get to pay through the nose for this. I was paying $120 per month to AT&T for the privilege of carrying a leash around, basically.

So, what’s the solution?

Ditch the damn thing.

Most smart phone users are under contract, so there is an Early Termination Fee in most cases. I was fortunate to be one of the last iPhone 3 purchasers, and was under an ETF scheme that decreased with every month, so I only had to pay $100 to get out from the last year of my contract. Even if your ETF is $350, which many are these days, you’ll make that back within 3 to 6 months, depending on your average monthly cell phone bill. I’ll be saving $1,440 per year.

My service with AT&T is officially over on August 8th, but I’ve already disabled the data service manually, and have quit carrying it around. And you know what? I don’t miss it. Period.

Considering the fact that I’m in the professional services industry, the question immediately comes up: What am I going to do about telephone service?

Well, I’ve been using Google Voice for all inbound communications for over two years, and it works great. Now, Google Voice offers outbound calling, as well, and the call quality is fairly comparable to most commercial VOIP services. There is also Skype, which tons of people use as their primary phone service around the world, even though the call quality isn’t always the greatest. In the tests I’ve conduced, Google Voice is more than adequate for business level service, particularly when done over a hardwired connection.

What was that? Yes, I’m using a laptop with the wi-fi disabled and a physical CAT-5 cable plugged into the LAN jack.

What am I going to do about “emergency” cell phone service?

There are numerous options out there for simple, pre-paid cell service. You can go to Wal-Mart and walk out with a cell phone for $10, that doesn’t require a monthly bill. Problem solved. Just keep it in the car and it’s there when you need it.

Is doing this a bit drastic? Yes, of course it is. But often times, it requires drastic change to get where you want in life. For me, being tied to a U.S.-based mobile device, particularly for voice communication, was one thing preventing me from making the switch to VOIP based communication, which was ultimately going to be necessary for me to live overseas but keep my business here operating.

Interestingly, I can use Skype over on my iPhone (now just a glorified iPod touch with a camera) when I’ve got wi-fi around, and the call quality isn’t that bad, and I can use it overseas with nothing more than the few bucks a month for a Skype plan.

I’ve accepted the fact that I’ll be taking a computer with me overseas. It’s part of what I was trying to avoid with getting the iPhone, but I just have to do too much data work, too much programming, too much with PDF’s, etc., in order for that to be realistic. But when I’m away from that computer, hanging out on Bondi Beach, I’ll be playing, not working. Booyah.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

This is you, I say,
And tarry now I will,
to learn of truth and things
so profound as to cause the Earth to shake.
For if I choose to pontificate less,
listen more,
I dare feel the winds of change.

‘Twas yonder in the distance,
a feeble little light,
a bare few lumens so,
not gone for the moment,
but growing steadily as we go.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

If you’re already a gardening enthusiast, and would like to take a stab at indoor growing, then I highly recommend the book Gardening Indoors with Soil & Hydroponics by George F. Van Patten. This book is a staple of grow stores and is available at Amazon, B&N, etc. It is the single best reference guide AND primer that I’ve yet to find on the subject.

If you live in a climate with high year-round sun, I would also suggest you check out The WindowFarms Project. This project is all about using active hydroponics to grow veggies and fruits using the sun.

The engineer side of my brain LOVES hydroponics and artificial lighting, but artificial lighting has a cost and environmental issue attached to it (thus window farming), while soil has a simplicity factor attached to it. If you can do indoor window box gardening, supplemented when necessary by artificial light, that’s probably the cheapest and most environmentally friendly way to get started.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

Here are some primary reasons for growing a seed-only crop:

1. Attempt to preserve a particular strain or phenotype
2. Desire to have seeds for long term storage or larger-scale planting efforts
3. To create seeds of a plant for which you only have cuttings for propagation
4. Attempt to cross-breed two strains of a plant in an effort to obtain the desirable characteristics of both

The method I’m about to describe can be used for all these purposes. My particular objective with this experiment is to cross two phenotypes in order to get something new, which is why I’m calling them “Breeder Buckets”, since I’m trying to breed essentially a new strain.

One of my favorite flowers in a garden are lupines. Lupines are tall, spindly flowers that basically bloom along their stalk. They almost look like spears. There are hundreds of different strains and phenotypes, including a bunch of bi-colored varieties. They blossom in all sorts of colors, including blue, pink, purple, white, yellow, orange, red, and all shades thereof. When growing the commonly available Russell Hybrids Mix, it’s pretty common to get a lot of the purple and blue, quite a bit of white, and a smattering of other colors. In the commercial seeds I have, there is a beautiful shade of lavender that I want to cross with the pure white in an attempt to create a bi-color variety. I don’t know if this will actually work, but I’m going to try it and see what happens. Hopefully, it will produce several phenotypes: lavender, white, and lavender-white, and then I can isolate and create more seed of just the lavender-white phenotype. That’s the plan, anyway.

Doing any sort of variety breeding requires an isolated environment. If my lupines pick up pollen from an outside source, such as a neighbor’s garden down the street, then my experiment is completely hosed. This isolation from other pollen sources of the same general species is the biggest requirement when breeding. Since I garden indoors primarily, this is easier to accomplish. However, I can’t have any other lupines growing in my indoor garden, unless I take precautions involving isolated grow tents, HEPA filters, latex gloves, etc. in order to eliminate pollen transfer. It’s simply easier to do this with no other plants of the same species growing in the house. This is obviously NOT how large scale commercial breeders do this, but it’s how to do it for the small household gardener.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

Flexibility is important for all figure skaters to work on. From a simple lunge to a perfect Biellmann spin, flexibility is a core component that makes many elements possible, let alone graceful. As part of your off-ice program, always include basic warmup and cooldown stretches, as would an athlete in any sport. In addition, certain yoga poses, ballet stretches, and element-specific stretches are good for figure skaters in order to build the flexibility they need. Some of these stretches, when held against gravity, also assist in building strength and stamina for that element. Your coach can suggest specific stretches that will benefit your ability to perform technical elements that you are currently working on mastering. Examples might include static lunges and specific hip flexor stretches.

Stamina, including both muscular endurance and overall cardiovascaular conditioning, is essential for figure skaters. Whether your program is 90 seconds in duration, or four and a half excruciating minutes, if you lack the stamina to actually complete it, your mastery of the technical elements if basically a moot point. There is a reason that certain technical elements are awarded a higher point value under the IJS if performed in the latter half of a program, and that is because the system recognizes the difficulty in performing those elements when the athlete is already exhausted, and therefore rewards the athlete appropriately. Figure skaters should engage in some sort of cardio at least twice per week, for a minimum of 20 minutes each session. Activities could include cycling, swimming, running, etc. Note that your on-ice practice in and of itself doesn’t count as your cardio, even if it feels like it should sometimes.

For decades, the value of strength training in many sports was often not recognized. Current scientific opinion holds that any athlete, in any sport, can in some way benefit from strength training. This is a bit more obvious in figure skating when one examines the specific muscles required to hold spirals, make a jump take off, perform a lift, etc. Skating is a sport where core strength in particular is important for all aspects of maintaining posture, checking rotations, and maintaining a proper skating position over the skating foot. Jumps require significant abdominal, lower back, quad, and gluteal strength. Spins and spirals both require core strength. Lifts and paired spins in pairs skating and ice dancing require not only core strength, but strong pectorals, forearms, biceps, triceps, and deltoids — in both skaters, not just the male. While singles skaters may not require as much upper body strength as pairs and dancers, they should still include upper body strength conditioning in their workouts. An active figure skater should include both strength training and plyometric training, to develop strength, stamina, and power. Machines, free weights, and body weight resistance training are all acceptable forms of strength training, and plyometric drills should be included, either as a stand alone off-ice training time or combined with resistance training. This type of training is recommended at least twice per week.

A figure skater can be “in training” for any number of reasons. Whether it be training for competition, training for tests, or training for personal satisfaction, the athlete in training should recognize that they are, in fact, an ATHLETE IN TRAINING. This distinction from the recreational skater is important, because it carries with it the understanding that achievement of the competition, test, or personal objective requires effort and commitment beyond that of skating without a particular objective in mind. Being on the ice is obvously critical to achieving any goal in our sport, but so is working off-ice on the factors that make a difference for the skater on the ice. While the rink may be the skater’s home, other places such as the gym, pool, weight room, cardio studio, and track should be on the skater’s weekly route through life.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

Pulling hairs
Torching chairs
Nothing seems fair
But let me make it perfectly clear
What I see
Is what I know
And what I know
Cannot be denied
Cannot be made to hide
Can’t be crushed
Can’t be stolen
Never to be suppressed
‘Cuz what I see
Talks to me
In wicked ways
About wicked things
That these eyes see.

Rough and tumble
Double down
Shake the clown
Fuck this entire town
Cuz none of these people
See the things
That these eyes see.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.

Can’t be a blue-eyed blonde white girl
(to get with this)
Gotta move them feet and dance
()
Better look smokin’ tight in those pants
()

And baby I ain’t old
Yer just neon cold
But if I may be so bold
Show me your Olympic gold

You bitch about being home alone
But when I ask you out
You just be actin like a stone

So if that’s the way you gonna be
I’ll just go for a bit of Glee
Brit and Santana together works fine for me

IMa tell you this
Things gonna change
If you wanna get with this

Tired of payin fer dates
And you always showin up late

Ya better be with the fitness
()
Ya gotta earn yo own money
()
Gotta get yerself a degree
()
Better land that Lutz
()
Nationals…….what?!?!?!
Yeah…haha…shake that skater butt.

Better have an eternal perspective
()

Ya better know bones
And read em like tomes
Know your seismic zones

Now let’s close out
With a shortie shout out
With God as my witness
Ya gotta be 4′ 11″
If yer gonna hit this.

Are you ready to take control of your future and ensure your own personal prosperity? Check out my new program, Personal Prosperity in the New Economy.