Is it possible to change your life in 15 minutes a day?

For the last 18 months or so, I’ve been on a quest to answer that very question.

Here’s what I’ve got so far… YES! It’s absolutely possible.

When you consistently apply your time toward creating the life you love, those bite-sized chunks will create an incredible surge of momentum. They compound. They stack. The efforts multiply each other.

In fact, we’ve found that the person who spends 15 minutes a day for a week – almost always has better results than the person who only focuses once a week for 2 hours.

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Today marks the launch of our next You Vs. Debt course – and it’s designed to change your life during the next six weeks using a series of bite-sized chunks that you should be able to knock out in 15 minutes each weekday.

As long-time readers know, we’ve poured a lot of sweat and tears into the development of this framework.

Here’s some of the new structure we’ve created:

• Daily lessons are delivered via video, MP3, and text transcripts.
• Each video contains a lesson, a specific challenge, and a worksheet that you’ll be expected to fill out.
• Our accountability forums offer a place to share your journey to debt freedom with others who are in the same place.
• We’ll send out weekly accountability surveys to track your progress and check your momentum.
• You’ll have the opportunity to unlock badges and publicly display progress on your profile and in the forums.

We all know what we “should” be doing with our finances.

But for so many of us – we’re not doing it. Like I explained in my TEDx talk, that was our situation as well – UNTIL we got serious about changing our habits and our way of thinking.

We’ve been talking about this concept in our posts and podcast episodes this month. I asked you to seriously consider where you are in the phases of debt reduction.

And here’s the awesome thing about You Vs. Debt. Because we’re designed to providing accountability and community support, and to building good habits, it’s an incredible resource no matter WHICH phase of your debt journey you find yourself in.

In our Fall 2011 class, we had people who were currently at their highest debt level ever – and some who started the course with ZERO debt, following the program to make sure they stayed consistent and debt-free.

The last You Vs. Debt class paid off more than $280,000 in debt – an average of more than $1,000 per person – during the six weeks of the course.

And more than that, these class members changed the way they THINK about debt and their financial futures.

For instance, check out this note from Sherice, who paid off $7,372 during the Fall 2011 class. You read that right – more than $7,000 in 6 weeks! She says:

“Your course gave me so much more than I expected. I think I can say my husband and I are successfully winning our battle with debt (but that’s the small part). The big part … my perception of debt was really suffocating me. So much so that I stopped dreaming … I lost my passion for me. You really helped me get that back and inspired me to find my voice again.”

That’s what we know can happen when you surround yourself with positive influences. I can’t make you (or anyone else) show up and focus for 15-20 minutes a day.

But your life CAN change.

You can change it.

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Maybe you’re not ready to make that commitment yet. And that’s OK. But if you are, we’d love to tell you more about You Vs. Debt.

You literally have nothing to lose – because not only does your enrollment cover LIFETIME membership, meaning you can participate in the class as many times as you like – we also offer a DOUBLE your money back lifetime guarantee.

Put simply: If you invest the time and the work and you DON’T at least cover the cost of the course in debt paid off, we’ll not only refund your money, but we’ll add in a $97 Amazon gift card (yes, really).

*****

We believe we can empower you to make a difference. Check out You Vs. Debt here.

If you have friends who are ready to be held accountable and get started changing their lives, spread the word. Our team has a goal to help ONE MILLION PEOPLE get out of debt, and to do that, we’re going to need the help of those who have been positively affected by our message!

If you’ve read this far, I know you’re serious about leading the life you want – the one in which you’re truly your own “success story.” So here’s our challenge to you. Learn more about You Vs. Debt. Share the info with a friend or family member.

Then, leave a comment here with one positive change you’ve made in your life in the past six months.

No, silly, this doesn’t need to be a result of this blog or our course.

I just want to hear what sort of progress you are making…

Big or small, what’s on positive change you’ve recently made?

-Baker

Note: You Vs Debt opens today and closes this Friday. First day of class starts on Monday!

For the last three years, I’ve been sharing our income report in some manner or another.

It started with a detailed breakdown of our household budget, debt, and where every dollar was being allocated. A year into this community, I began to consider the possibility of monetizing the website. When we made that decision, we started sharing monthly reports on any income generated along the way.

Recently, we’ve gotten away from the monthly reports for several reasons.

First, it’s a ton of work to publish the monthly reports. It takes away from other creative work that might be able to affect a wider percentage of the people who come to the blog in a much deeper way (not everyone benefits from these reports).

Second, there are half a dozen people involved in different ways behind the scenes. Some small, and now, some large. While I don’t mind disclosing my income, should I disclose theirs? I’ve not decided my position on this yet.

However, sharing the report in some way is still an important principle of this community.

Each and every one of you makes this journey possible. As a result, you deserve to know the inner working if you want to (in my opinion). Also, having a profitable community allows us to spread the core values and message in a way that we simply wouldn’t be able to do under any other scenario.

In short, I firmly believe that this *should* be public information. That there’s nothing wrong with it being public information. And the pursuit of a sustainable business ultimately means we help thousands and thousands more people.

Investing, Building, and Testing…

As I talked about throughout 2011, this year was all about investing and building.

I invested tens of thousands of dollars into creating courses and products (like You Vs. Debt), which haven’t yet returned the investment.

I also invested tens of thousands of dollars into building a team. A real, living, breathing team. With people I can trust… people who care about the business and the message themselves.

It’s far cheaper and less stressful to contract everything out – or to outsource recurring tasks to VAs based somewhere in Asia. For some businesses, this is an amazing route, but for mine I didn’t think it was a good fit.

I enjoy working with people, especially people who really do care about the business. And to accomplish our long-term vision, I’ll need to develop these relationships and learn to run a team (something I’m learning comes with lots of practice).

I’ve had several missteps. A couple of the first employees I thought would be a part of the team haven’t worked out in one way or another (much of the time this was my fault!). But I’ve learned an incredible amount and am starting to find the sweet spot.

The team in place today is the strongest, most passionate version we’ve had. I’m pumped.

2011 was also defined by testing.

We tested email services, shopping carts, affiliate systems, productivity systems, different team members, working on the road, working from an office, working as a team in person, working as a team remotely.

We spent a lot of time testing. We spent a TON of money testing.

Some of this was purely for business strategy. But most of it was for me personally.

Personally, I just didn’t know. I didn’t know what system I would enjoy. I didn’t know what environment I worked best in. I didn’t know what project management software I’d actually use.

I didn’t really even know what I wanted to be doing.

I didn’t know what my daily work would look like. I didn’t know what I wanted the hour-by-hour vision of my typical workflow to be.

Obviously, work isn’t going to be exactly replicated from day to day, but you’d be surprised how much your work routine, combined with the systems you use, can dramatically affect your creativity and productivity.

In 2011, we used the shotgun approach. We blasted a bunch of shrapnel and then went to see what actually hit.

I’m not suggesting this as an ultimate business strategy for you. I’m giving you an honest breakdown of what defined our 2011.

2011 By The Numbers…

All numbers are rounded. Income is rounded down. Expenses are rounded up.

This is how we teach people to budget, because it makes it easier to project, analyze, and envision what needs to be done (without needing an accounting degree).

Income from Products ($28,000)

• You Vs. Debt — $14,000
• Sell Your Crap – $12,500
• Unautomate Your Finances – $1,500

These are the products that I’ve produced, filmed and written and that we sell as part of the community here to help people with specific problems.

Unautomate Your Finances was our very first premium project and isn’t for sale any more. It’s been upgraded and replaced by the much more in-depth and impactful You Vs. Debt 6-week course.

Many online business people have a business model that relies on publishing a NEW product or course on a DIFFERENT topic every 6 months or so. While this may work for some, it’s not at all what our team wants.

We know there are a couple, very specific, and deeply tangible problems our community faces. We need to obliterate debt and we need to ditch our excess clutter and crap.

That’s not changing. Those issues affect almost everyone. There’s no reason for us to release new products from a slightly different angle every 6 months. We’ve got the solution right here.

So instead, we’re focusing on making the You Vs. Debt and Sell Your Crap courses the best available premium resources on those problems. It’s a 10-year product, not a 6-month product. Sure, we’ll improve them every few months – but most of what we do is focusing on how we can get amazing results for the people who get these resources in the future.

In 2011, we planned, shot, and edited You Vs. Debt TWICE. The first time was decent, but it wasn’t mind-blowing for people. We had our pioneers take the course and provide us with feedback needed to improve it.

We then completely went back to the drawing board and came up with a new approach (mostly the same content, just broken down more, and presented much better). We released the first version of this new course in the fall.

The second YvD version clicked! We had more than 100 people go through the course and in just the first few months, they’ve paid off more than $300,000 in combined debt; those that finished the course averaged nearly $1,400 in debt paid off in just those 6 weeks!

We didn’t take the shortest path, but ultimately our time and money invested paid off with amazing results. Our strategy in 2012 is to relaunch You Vs. Debt 3 to 4 times, improving and adding content each time.

We’ll ruthlessly track each and every individual to be able to analyze what makes the people who actually complete and succeed different from those who drop out at one point or another. It’s a huge project, but a worthwhile cause, and what I believe will be an amazing business venture as well.

Sell Your Crap was completely and utterly ignored in 2011. It continues to sell every week, but in the next few months will get an impressive overhaul. We’re strongly considering releasing a shorter, compact version of the “Main Guide” as a Kindle eBook.

This would allow us to move the more specific strategies (and technical tips) for eBay, Craigslist, garage sales, and Amazon to a new video course structure. We’ll be featuring more live examples and case studies than we did with the first version.

In summary, You Vs. Debt will continue to be a flagship product. We’ve found the right setup now and will have several classes in 2012. Sell Your Crap will receive a huge facelift, but will continue to help solve the same important issues.

*****

Income from Side Projects ($35,500)

• Only72.com — $29,000
• Hustle Project — $6,500

Many of you know that my friend Karol Gajda and I run a large sale twice per month over at Only72.com. We bring together online eBooks, courses, and apps and sell them for a short time at a large discount. We organize the sale, build the infrastructure, and take good care of the customers.

The sales really are a fantastic deal (if you are in the market for that training) and generated a large amount of sales. There are a whole host of income and expenses that are associated with just that side business; it would be too confusing to break this all down inside of the MvD income/expenses breakdown.

Once again, we did do more than $200,000 in revenue in 2011 (as we had the year before). After all was said and done, the portion the Man Vs. Debt team saw come in was around $29,000. Some of that will pay some of our expenses listed below, but much of that is profit from hosting the sales.

Overall, Only72 had another great year and two useful sales. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you I expected it to do even larger numbers, though. Karol and I learned a lot from our most recent sale. As is the theme, we tested several new features and strategies that didn’t work as well as our initial one.

I feel blessed that I can experiment with different strategies and still have success with that side project. We have our own passionate community of people the enjoy those rare sales when they pop up.

The Hustle Project was another side project I took on with my good friend Corbett Barr. It was an attempt to offer something for those of you on the “Do What You Love” part of our journey here.

My favorite part of this whole process was getting to work alongside Corbett. He’s a fantastic guy with brilliant business savvy.

While I really enjoyed the webinars and the community of hustlers, I don’t think the format of bi-monthly webinars is a long-term solution for this particular problem. It would require a much more robust backend for users and several added features to be completely viable. Talking about business is profitable, but not quite where my heart is fully right now.

I want to focus on solving the debt and clutter issues first, before turning my focus to building and growing a business based on a cause you really love.

*****

 Income from Affiliated Resources ($8,650)

• Travel Hacking Cartel — $5,200
• Unconventional Guides — $1,600
• Amazon.com — $450
• Thesis (My Theme) — $350
• HostGator — $300
• Nerd Fitness — $300
• PocketSmith — $180
• Aweber — $160
• Benny Lewis — $60
• FireStarter Sessions — $50

For those of you that don’t know, affiliate marketing is a huge source of income for many online websites and communities. What happens is instead of paying for traditional advertising, many product or service creators pay a certain amount of the price to trusted allies who refer sales.

In some cases, it’s extremely small. For example, Amazon pays me 4% of a sale if I link to a book I enjoy and you end up purchasing. In my case, that relationship made me $400 last year (linking books or gear I use, etc…)

In other cases, you may get something like 50-80% of the sale. If you click my recommendation for Chris Guillebeau’s great Unconventional Guide books, I get roughly 50% of that sale (in this particular case).

That said, I do almost no active affiliate marketing.

There was only one post I did in 2011 that was a direct recommendation to check out a specific product or resource that wasn’t my own (Travel Hacking Cartel). As it turns out, that was a pretty good choice as many of our community members here have decided to join and stayed as customers.

In this case (as you’ll see), Courtney and I are also customers of that program. In fact, we don’t affiliate with anything we don’t either use or have used extensively in the past. This is why I’ve never pushed affiliated resources that much.

Some of the other income is from tools I use to run my business. I list them for people, but don’t actively push Man Vs. Debt readers to buy hosting or web themes. This simply isn’t the concern of most of the readers. Those who do want to start websites can find the resources very easily.

However, in 2012, I do think we could actually do a better job of affiliate marketing.

For example, there are many services and products I simply can’t offer, don’t want to offer, or have no freakin’ idea what I’m talking about around.

I’ve been searching for a good online bank account to recommend for two years, but haven’t found one yet. I may try harder to test a few out.

I have no idea what I’m talking about when it comes to investing strategy. I simply haven’t studied (nor do I want to right now) that arena. However, there are some readers and fans on that part of their journey. What should they do? Once again, I could try harder to find a resource I trust and recommend.

Overall, I’m much more concerned with knocking our own solutions and products out of the park. After all, these are the topics I study and talk to people about every single day.

But there’s certainly room, from a business perspective, to increase the type of people we partner with to help a wider variety of people (with problems we can’t help them with ourselves).

We’ll keep our eyes open for genuine matches for this style of marketing.

*****

Sponsorship Income ($20,800)

Most of you know that at the beginning of 2011, we kicked off a 6-month RV tour of the U.S. We had a blast and met thousands of people along the way (by far the most rewarding part)!

Along the way we got to host many meetups, parties, and events in various cities. The intensity of our schedule and the hosting of these gathering was only made possible through a partnership with Adaptu on the tour.

We designed a bright orange wrap for the RV (many of you got to see it live!) and negotiated a very genuine, light-touch way to partner for the road trip.

Adaptu was a fantastic partner to have. Honestly, we couldn’t have asked for anything more. Even when we decided to come off the road (for reasons many of you know), Adaptu understood and allowed us the flexibility to do so. That meant a lot to us.

At the same time, I’m not sure I want to throw my hat into a “sponsorship” ring again. This particular RV tour was a perfect fit, but those kinds of arrangements are few and far between. Working with a large company presents its own challenges – and anything more than the tour itself could have easily caused a conflict of interest.

I don’t mind partnering, affiliating, or developing relationships with companies. Not at all. But there’s a fine line between finding a great match (which we did this time) and compromising your values or message for money reasons.

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Consulting Income ($9,800)

Consulting was something I offered more in the beginning of 2011. I worked with some larger companies and some individual entrepreneurs.

Within the first few months I phased this out though (at least actively having it offered). While extremely profitable and enjoyable, it still involves me actively trading my time for money.

I’m much more passionate about scaling our solutions to much bigger problems. And, in retrospect, I get much of the same personal fulfillment from speaking that I do from consulting with clients.

I don’t mind working with one or two people per month. In particular, I enjoy the deep friendship that is formed after working several months with a person. But I don’t foresee this being a public offering again, nor a huge part of our projected 2012 revenue.

*****

Other Income ($1,800)

This include a small amount of freelance writing I did earlier in the year (more than $1,000 of this), as well as some random income such a returned purchases, banking rewards, unclaimed affiliate payments, etc…

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TOTAL INCOME — $104,550

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Expenses Related to Sales (-$6,650)

• Man Vs. Debt Affiliates — $4,300
• Processing Fees — $1,400
• Refunds — $950

Overall, I’d love these expenses to be MUCH HIGHER in 2012 (these all go up with more sales).

We need to do a much better job of giving our own affiliates the tools to successfully recommend You Vs. Debt and Sell Your Crap. (By comparison, we paid out more than $100,000 this year to Only72.com affiliates.)

We know what needs to be done to help others share our message, we just need to step up and organize this better.

Processing fees are what they are. You pay them and move on.

Refunds are still only happening on a very small percentage of our sales. The far majority of these refunds are for “my personal situation has changed and I need the money” reasons.

Because we offer 100% lifetime guarantees (for any reason), sometimes that does pop back up to backfire on you. But the percentages are so low, and the trust we gain with customers is so high, that it’s not even a question of whether it’s worth it or not.

I wouldn’t feel right if people weren’t allowed to get refunded at any point for any reason. So we won’t be switching this any time soon.

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Team Member Expenses (-$49,880)

• Permanent Team Members — $41,200
• You Vs. Debt Film Crew — $6,400
• External Tech Help — $1,300
• External Design Help — $520
• Transcripts — $460

And BOOM, here comes the big whammy.

As I suggested, we tested a lot of different setups with team members in 2011. We’ve rotated among four different “permanent” team members, at different times for different purposes. Ultimately, we’ve settled on two moving forward for 2012 (we’re a three-person team now).

This small team can handle most of the operations – design, filming, editing and content production – we want to have in 2012. We’ll still need to contract out a few technical issues and smaller things like transcripts, etc.

We didn’t even come close to using our money efficiently in this area in 2011, but I was more than happy to invest (or even lose) money in trying to figure this out. The next few years will be so much better because of this investment.

I’ll introduce our current team more in the coming weeks!

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Operation Expenses (-$8,460)

• InfusionSoft — $2,750
• Email marketing, shopping cart, affiliate program, etc.
• PremiumWebCart — $375
• Former shopping cart, replaced by InfusionSoft
• Optimizely — $500
• Used for split-testing different version of a shopping cart or sales page
• Clothing — $475
• Purchased for filming You Vs Debt or public speaking events
• Aweber — $300
• Former primary email provider, replaced by InfusionSoft; might go back
• SnapEngage — $275
• Allows for live chat during launches or sales period (with potential customers)
• AppSumo — $275
• A “bundle package” that offered discounts on some different design packages, icons, etc.
• Employee Gifts — $350
• Self-explanatory
• Wufoo — $250
• Software we use to survey in You Vs. Debt (and Man Vs. Debt) and sort responses
• Travel Hacking Cartel — $300
• Program we use to earn miles and find discounts for business travel
• GoDaddy — $300
• Domain names. Some necessary. Many not!
• Wishlist — $300
• One-time plugin that we use to manage You Vs. Debt community membership
• Amazon s3 — $200
• Fast, easy hosting for many of our videos and our course content
• Wrike — $300
• Project management software we tested; replaced by free option
• Mailchimp — $200
• Another email option we tested; easy to use, but replaced by InfusionSoft
• iDev Affiliate — $250
• Old affiliate program, replaced by InfusionSoft
• HostGator — $180
• Hosting for Man Vs. Debt and You Vs. Debt communities
• Lynda.com — $150
• Training on editing, design, software for team
• iStockPhoto — $120
• Various images bought for Man Vs. Debt
• Dropbox — $120
• How we share and back up our files
• E-junkie — $120
• How we formerly sold Unautomate Your Finances
• Bank Fees — $100
• Fee to make 1-day ACH payments to contractors and employees; also, some wire fees
• Shipping — $90
• Mostly books we have given away to readers
• Misc. — $90
• Everything random that didn’t fit or was unknown
• Spotify — $50
• Listened to and used every single day in our at-home office
• GetClicky — $40
• Tested for use in real-time analytics and tracking; not used any more
• JewelBeat — $5
• Music for podcasting and programs

Whew.

First and foremost, as you can tell, we learned a lot about what DIDN’T work in 2011.

Of this entire list, fewer than half are things we’ll be using moving forward in 2012. Many of the moving parts were condensed as we started using InfusionSoft to do multiple things.

That said, InfusionSoft is expensive – and I’m not sure we’ll keep it long-term. In theory, it treats each person as a real person (instead of just a name on another list). It allows you to segment people very specifically; you can customize the way you reach out to those who’ve clicked but didn’t buy in a different way than you might for people who are brand new, etc.

Ultimately, this would allow us to offer better solutions to different people. It would keep people from seeing messages that don’t apply to them. It would make for a better experience overall!

But in practice, it’s a clunky software and requires a ton of training to be able to properly use. We aren’t leveraging it anywhere NEAR its potential.

We’re sticking with it for now, because we’re slowly starting to squeeze our value out of it. But the bottom line is there is no “best” option for email marketing, shopping carts, sales, and customer management yet.

In fact, I know dozens and dozens of bloggers making their livings online – and not a single one of them is ecstatic about this part of the industry. I hope someone figures this out (and soon) to the benefit of everyone!

At the end of 2011, our team sat down and evaluated each expense and whether or not we were fully utilizing it. We cut 75% of them (even ones we were sort-of-kind-of using). Armed with our knowledge of the different options, we’re starting from a clean slate.

If you have any more specific questions about all these apps and software, ask in the comments. I’ll do my best to answer them.

*****

Hardware Expenses (-$10,350)

• Laptop Gear — $4,700
• Camera Gear — $3,900
• Podcasting Gear — $1,300
• Books/Courses — $450

In 2011, we invested in a wide variety of equipment that we’ll get years of use out of (but which cost us up front, out of pocket).

First and foremost, we bought two laptops. The first was purchased for as an “advance” for a team member who’ll be handling all the video editing, audio editing, and design work.

The second, unfortunately, was my own.

Why buy a new laptop, you ask?

Because mine was stolen from the dressing room of TEDx Asheville while I was giving my talk on stage.

Talk about a good way to ruin an otherwise amazing day!

I’ve traveled around the world and around the U.S. – I’ve worked in HUNDREDS of coffee shops and public spaces (not all the nicest of places) and never had anything stolen (at all). The one time I do get my laptop jacked is in Asheville, NC, at a TEDx conference. Oh, the irony.

TEDx didn’t have insurance. The theater didn’t have insurance. All right, whatever. Buy a new one and move on. I didn’t have to replace my MacBook with a MacBook, but I did. I love my MacBook (as expensive as they are) and work on it every day.

On the camera front, we invested in a Canon 5D Mark II to film the videos for the You Vs. Debt course, as well as the upcoming MvDTV Youtube videos. Along with tripod, lenses, bag, etc… it was a big investment.

Courtney is a photographer herself, so we are able to get dual business use from this. But for Man Vs. Debt, we’ll also use it to record speeches, events, and publish amazing video. It’s not even close to a necessity for what we need, but it does give us an amazing level of professionalism to live up to.

In December, we also invested in a professional podcasting microphone, mixer, and recorder to produce our new Man Vs. Debt podcast. In addition, I hired Cliff Ravenscraft of Podcast Answer Man for an hour of his valuable consulting time.

Cliff’s time and expertise saved me countless hours getting everything set-up, configured, and working. Essentially, we were able to focus right away on the content and the approach, which let us get the podcast out the door with almost no friction (a really big deal around here).

Once again, the professional microphone and setup will allow us to shoot better video, better interviews for different blogs, radio shows and other outlets – in addition to helping us to produce a great sounding podcast.

The podcast is going extremely well (off to a fast start) and we’re really excited about its potential in 2012!

*****

Communication Expenses (-$1,260)

• Cell Phone — $610
• Internet — $390
• Mobile Wifi — $200
• Coworking — $60

Not sure why I separate out this category, but I always have.

There’s nothing especially wonderful or helpful for me to explain here!

*****

Food / Eating Out Expenses (-$4,700)

No, that’s not a typo. We really did spend $4,700 on food in various business-related expenses in 2011.

Keep in mind that for the first half of 2011, we were traveling the country on a daily basis hosting meetups. Our sponsor helped pay for some of this cost, but not all of it. Several times, we bought the food for dozens and dozens of people at the meetup.

We also defaulted to connecting with people over food (we still do, although certainly not as much). In my mind, there are few things more powerful than sharing conversation and a meal.

This also accounts for all food bought or purchased during traveling for conference or speaking engagements, etc… Once again, this should go down in 2012 as we’re on a much slower travel schedule.

*****

Travel-Related Expenses (-$3,010)

• Airfare — $1,650
• Other Transportation — $690
• Hotels — $520
• Parking — $150

None of “these” travel expenses are related directly to the RV tour. Meaning, for example, that lodging isn’t counting campground fees. These expenses were related to non-RV travels to conferences (mostly).

2012 will likely see some of these go up, but hopefully so will the compensation for attending and speaking at various conferences.

*****

TOTAL EXPENSES — (-$84,310)

*****

Net Profit From Business in 2012…

$20,240.

Unfortunately, I’m not missing a zero.

After all the work, sweat, and tears I put into Man Vs. Debt this year, we took home around $20,000.

And even more sadly, this doesn’t account for ANY expenses we incurred as part of the RV tour (other than meetup food). So our taxes this year might even show a loss (or a break-even year)… we’ll leave that to the professional accountant.

But, it’s important to note, I’m not at all down about this number.

In fact, I’m proud.

Sure, we were wasteful in many parts. We focused too much on testing software and systems. I made mistakes in my initial team-building attempts. We bought equipment that wasn’t a bare necessity to deliver value.

On the flip side, look at everything we’ve accomplished:

1. I’ve found a great team and a fantastic set-up for 2012 (one of my biggest goals). It cost me, but I’m happy with the result.
2. We invested in a wide variety of gear that’ll help us increase our professionalism for years to come (on many projects).
3. We’ve honed You Vs. Debt to the point where it’s delivering results we’ve never been able to get (from anything else) before.
4. I’ve learned more about business this year than in all my previous years combined. School of hard knocks, anyone?
5. We prioritized making an impact and delivering long-term value over a quest for sheer dollars. It takes both to survive through the long haul, but I’m glad we didn’t give up to chase more money right away.

Trust me, folks. I want to make more than $20,000 a year when I’m dedicating this much of my life and effort to something. (If anyone tells you that this is *easy*, run the other way quickly!)

Courtney and I will have to net more than that in 2012 in order to live!

But I’m not discouraged. Nowhere close.

I’m excited for 2012.

I talked about this just a few weeks ago, but here’s the short summary of our agenda:

• Launch You Vs. Debt 3 to 4 more times. Make it the best course on attacking debt anywhere.
• Revisit Sell Your Crap and give it a nice facelift. Potentially create a Kindle eBook.
• Record 35 episodes of the new Man Vs. Debt podcast.
• Launch and routinely film MvDTV on YouTube.
• Redesign Man Vs. Debt.
• Record a documentary.
• Analyze the problems of our audience that we can’t solve and partner with genuine, trustworthy solutions.
• Explore developing our own budgeting software and app.
• Speak 12 times this year. Have travel expenses compensated (at minimum) for most of these appearances.

Our choice to invest so much this year was a conscious one.

This doesn’t mean we didn’t make plenty of mistakes, but we chose to go down that path consciously.

Now it’s time to show off what that investment can do.

And, for that, I’m honored to have you along for the ride.

Ask any questions in the comments. I’ll do my best to respond!

Xoxoxoxo,

-Baker

Jonathan Fields’ new book Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance is being unleashed into the world!

In the video review above, I share my honest feelings about the book along with my two major takeaways from consuming it over the weekend.

Note: Today is the very last day to take advantage of special pre-order bundles available at the book’s website. Tomorrow is the official launch (these offers go away)!

Uncertainty is something we all deal with.

Anytime we attempt a major life change, we face uncertainty. Anytime we attempt to solve a problem with creativity, we face uncertainty.

We all face uncertainty, but most of us go about this in the wrong way!

We attempt to eliminate uncertainty from our lives. We try to get to a point of absolutely certainty before we take action.

But if we wait around for a moment where we have complete certainty… we end up doing NOTHING!

Anything in life worth doing is going to involve massive levels of uncertainty.

If Jonathan has taught me only one thing, it’s that action in the face of uncertainty is the path to a fulfilling life. In fact, it’s a requirement of a fulfilling life.

Here’s a recap of my takeaways from Uncertainty:

• Major Takeaway #1: Our fear of being judged is keeping us from living the life that we know is possible. We must take concrete steps to counteract this. (Jonathan covers these early in the book.)

• Major Takeaway #2: 90% of the fear and doubt of a life change exists only in our heads. You’ll always have some uncertainty, but a few simple questions can dissolve the majority of it almost immediately. (This comes later in the book.)

Jonathan’s three questions (Chapter 9: Own The Story Line)…

My favorite part of the entire book happens in Chapter 9 towards the end.

Jonathan suggests that when we’re faced with any decision or major life change, we need to ask ourselves the following:

1. Question 1: “What if I go to Zero?” — Write down the worst possible outcome of trying and failing. Be realistic, but be honest.
2. Question 2: “What if I do nothing?” – Write everything that’ll stay the same if you take NO action to change.
3. Question 3: “What if I succeed?” – Write down what would happen if you DID accomplish the change or shift in your life. Be as specific as possible.

Whether or not you can get your hands on a copy of Uncertainty, I challenge you to apply Jonathan’s 3 questions to a big decision or change in your own life.

Write down (on paper) your answers to each of the 3 questions.

For me, I didn’t even have to spend time looking at the answers. Just the process of writing down my answers immediately dissolved 90% of the fear and doubt I had attached to a recent decision.

It was almost all in my head!

Give the exercise a try – and I strongly recommend you grab a copy of Uncertainty and read it this weekend.

For more information check out Jonathan’s raw, inspiring book trailer…

[Can't view the video? Click here for more info (and to watch it in your browser)...]

It’s one of my top three books for anyone who has to creatively solve problems in business or life. And I’m guessing you probably fall into that category.

Jonathan Fields is a brilliant man.

Uncertainty is a brilliant book.

How do you currently deal with uncertainty in your life?

*****

I’m a bit exhausted, but far more excited to announce that the newly-redesigned You Vs. Debt class is open for registration starting today!

We’ve designed the structure of the course to focus around daily, bite-size chunks that anyone can knock out quickly.

It only takes an average of 15 minutes per day, but when applied consistently over the 6-week framework, this amount of time can yield fantastic results.

Here’s some of the new structure we’ve created:

• Daily lessons delivered via video, MP3, and text transcripts.
• Each video contains a lesson, a specific challenge, and a worksheet that you’ll be expected to fill out.
• We’ll send out weekly accountability surveys to track your progress and check your momentum.
• You’ll have the opportunity to unlock badges and publicly display progress on your profile and in the forums.

But more important than fancy, new features is the why…

There are millions of people in financial situations that keep them pinned down. And the truth is, a big percentage of these people know better.

They even know exactly what needs to be done. But they still can’t manage to bring it all together and change their habits.

Over the last two weeks, we’ve talked about how habit change is not about simply knowing more. It’s about understanding how our emotional mind and logical mind work together to create lasting change.

I’m so passionate about this non-conventional approach, that I’ve designed You Vs Debt around it completely.

The entire focus is to get people to stick with the program and finish.

I’m CRAVING results for the people who jump in on this. We’ve broken it down into small pieces. We’ve installed game mechanics to help make it fun. We’ve brought together a community of other like-minded people.

I can’t make you (or anyone else) show up and focus for 15-20 minutes a day.

But I’m sure as heck going to try!

If you think this may be a good fit, go check out the guarantee we are offering on the class right now!

Seriously, we are THAT intent on getting results for people who show up and stick to the plan.

Your one-time enrollment also covers lifetime membership! 

Meaning even if you miss a week or two, you’ll be able to pick up where you left off in any future classes down the road.

*****

Lastly, I’ll be doing a no-holds-barred Q&A session this coming Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST.

It’s the first time I’ve done something like this and I’ll shoot out more information about it tomorrow. If you’ve ever wanted to ask about finance, debt, travel, business, life, or anything else you can think of… this is the chance. It should be a blast!

*****

Thanks again for all your support. If you know someone who can use motivation and accountability to passionately attack their debt – I appreciate if you forward them over to You Vs. Debt this week.

We’re going to blow the roof off this class!

I’d been putting it off for months…

I’d talked about starting a website, a blog, or an online store. I’d dreamt up designs, slogans, domain names, and dozens of “million dollar ideas.”

You see, Courtney and I had passionately been attacking our clutter and our debt for the past few months.

Round 1 of our stuff had been listed and sold on eBay and craigslist – and for the first time in several months our budget was starting to actually work.

One fateful night – several months earlier – we had pledged to sell everything we owned, pay off our $18,000 in consumer debt, and move to Australia.

Since then, we had picked up some serious momentum.

Everything in our personal life was clicking. Our mission was clear – and we were executing it like madmen.

But I had this funny habit.

Whenever it would come time to actually do something about my business ideas… I’d buy another business book. I’d tell myself I needed to learn more… that reading, thinking, and planning were an important part of the process.

I desperately wanted to be an entrepreneur.

I wanted to build a business that could support us as we traveled.

But, at the time, in this one area of our life… I just didn’t know how to take action toward that goal.

Looking back, I can see that it was a combination of naivete, laziness, and lack of clarity. What a nasty combo!

The Tipping Point:  ”Something just snapped…”

As it turns out, the two dozen business books I read were worth a tenth of the value I got from just one night of action.

It started around 3:30 p.m. – something just snapped. I was tired of waiting and fed up with putting off this idea any longer.

I registered the domain ManVsDebt.com and spent the next 4 hours walking through tutorials on how to set up hosting, domains, DNS servers, and WordPress.

To this day, I still remember feverishly searching the archives of ProBlogger for walkthroughs on how to get the technical stuff set up.

I had absolutely zero idea what I was doing (and zero technical experience). The only way forward was to put my head down and bust through it.

As night set in, my dream started to come to life. It was ugly, unoptimized, and bare bones… but it was alive.

I didn’t stop there.

Into the night, I outlined my first six posts. I focused on topics I was deeply passionate about and researched each of them for hours.

I started writing.

The last time I had written over 1,000 words in one sitting was high school. But somehow I couldn’t stop writing that night. Time moved quickly… or slowly… I wasn’t quite sure. I was in the zone.

When Courtney woke up early the next morning, she came to check on me. I was still typing. I was working on the 5th full post – some 8,000 words later.

Only in that moment did the feeling really hit me…

As the sun peeked over the horizon and in through the window, I could only think of one thing…

“I’m an online entrepreneur.”

I hadn’t had a single visitor to my website yet. That would come in the next few days.

I hadn’t got one person to subscribe to updates. That would come in the next week.

I hadn’t made a single sale. That wouldn’t happen for another year.

But I knew.

In the buzz of that all-nighter, I just knew.

“I’m an online entrepreneur.”

*****

For those of you that have been following along for a while (a few of you from that first month several years ago), you know there are three main areas that have driven Courtney and my quest to reshape our life.

1. “Sell Your Crap” – Our initial rejection of consumerism and purge of our possessions has radically shaped our life these last few years.
2. “Pay Off Your Debt” - Our journey to attack our $18,000 in consumer debt is well chronicled – and has freed us to focus our time, money, and energy on our passions.
3. “Do What You Love” - The last part of the equation for us involves cultivating that entrepreneurial spark to align our passions, purpose, and “work” lives.

I fully realize not everyone wants to be (or should be) an entrepreneur or business owner. That’s fantastic! There are tons of ways to align your work and passion with starting a business or movement.

For me, however – and many of you (based on our conversations) – entrepreneurship is a natural extension of the personal finance journey.

Building Man Vs. Debt has been extremely stressful, but extremely fulfilling at the same time. It has and will continue to play a central role in Courtney and my life. And we don’t plan to stop there as Courtney has her own entrepreneurial aspirations and goals to foster.

You see, I have no problem being an outspoken fan of entrepreneurship – because I believe that people building business and movement around their passions is fantastic for our culture.

Introducing ”The Hustle Project”…

That’s why I’m so proud to announce “The Hustle Project” with a good friend and mastermind partner of mine – Corbett Barr.

“The Hustle Project” is the third leg of my own business tripod. Along with “You Vs. Debt” and “Sell Your Crap”, it’s the third area where I can really help positively impact people’s lives.

“The Hustle Project” is a membership community for entrepreneurs looking to grow their online presence and revenue.

We have three very simple objectives:

1. Arm people with the concrete tactics (and examples) they need to build momentum.
2. Incite them into action.
3. Hold them accountable to the actions and their goals.

“The Hustle Project” is part mastermind group, part mentorship group.

Our goal is for every member to add $12,000 in revenue to their online business over the next 12 months.

This isn’t a get rich quick program. It will require focused time, a lot of effort, and a bit of stress. But it’ll be worth it.

This certainly isn’t for everyone. But if you’re serious about online entrepreneurship – and ready to invest the time and effort we all know it takes – you need to check out this new project.

[Click here for "The Hustle Project" details]

*****

That one night – over two years ago – changed my life forever.

Another 6 months of planning couldn’t have come close to the feeling I got from just one night of focused action.

How much different would my life be today if I had read another book that night?

I don’t even want to think about that.

One of the most common questions I get from people (when they find out we work/travel full-time in an RV right now) is… how?

How do I work on the road?

What do I use for internet?

How can I stay up with my business?

What kind of gear or gadgets make this possible?

To be honest, it’s really not that complex. Over the years, I’ve refined the minimal amount of stuff that I need to carry around to ensure I can handle just about any work situation that may come up.

Everything I need is stored in my laptop bag at all times – which means within 30 seconds I can be packed up and on-the-go without worrying that I forgot something that I’ll need.

In the video, I go through every item in my simplified ready-to-go work bag.

For those of you that can’t watch it, here’s a quick list of every item (w/ amazon links) ranked by importance:

• Brenthaven Prostyle II-XF Laptop Case - This is the glue that holds it all together – or at least the bag that holds it all together. I really enjoy it.

• 15″ MacBook Pro – This is my primary weapon of choice. I love this computer. I also carry around the charger of course.

• (2) Moleskine notebook – All my ideas, concepts, blog posts, or projects start in these notebooks. It’s essentially what I use (in combination with gmail) as my productivity system. Again, I really enjoy these notebooks.

• Pilot G-2 Pen [3] - My favorite “everyday use” pens to jot down those amazing ideas.

• iPhone 4 Black – The amazing Chris Jourdan sent Courtney and I new iPhone 4s earlier in the year! I use the apps Yelp, Mailchimp, WordPress, Paypal, Chase, and Skype for business on the road all the time. The charger comes with me, too.

• Virgin Mobile MiFi - This gives us wireless internet anywhere we can get 3G. It’s $40/month with NO CONTRACT which is why we initially got it! Still works pretty well.

• iPhone headphones - Still stuck with the very basic headphones. Looking for an alternative that is more comfortable for multiple hours of use.

• Jawbone ICON bluetooth headset - I use this to take calls or do interview while driving in the RV. I’m not convinced it’s really that great, but I guess it does help reduce external noise a bit.

• Spare set of business cards – Just in case I meet someone who needs some more information!

• A Deck of Cards - Always need a deck of cards – you just never know.

• BodPod paperwork - I keep the “BodPod” bodyfat measurements paperwork I got at the beginning of my weight loss journey with me (as a reminder to stay focused).

That’s it! As always, I’m more than willing to answer specific questions in the comments below!

*****

I’ve told you *what* I use to work, but nothing about *how* I build my business while on the road. That would simply take too long to do in blog post format!

Which is why early next week, Corbett Barr and I are opening the doors on what we are calling “The Hustle Project”.

It’ll be a series of webinars (twice per month) with insights into the exact step-by-step tactics and strategies we used to build momentum in our online businesses. Along with live Q&A sections, audio downloads, full transcripts, and accountability profiles.

Here is our theory, boiled down into a simple formula:  Action + Accountability = Momentum

This project will only be for online entrepreneurs who are serious about building something sustainable, it’s not meant to be for hobbyists, people deep in debt, or casual businesses. Sorry!

If you are interested in the “do what you love” part of my message (and are serious about it), sign up here to be notified early. If you aren’t interested in building an online business, that’s cool too – back to regular programming next Thursday.

xoxoxo,

-Baker

Each month, as part of an ongoing transparency project, I share the income, expenses, and master plans of my pursuit to earn a living online. This includes many of the expenses related to our RV lifestyle.

Personal finance should not be a taboo subject in our society. The more light we can shed – and the more examples we can share – the better off we are!

April’s Business Income/Expenses…

Sell Your Crap income:  $1,261.64

You Vs. Debt income:  $5,107.60

Additional Income:  $1,368.89

• Travel Hacking Cartel:  $503.37
• Consulting (off the market):  $385.19
• Pocketsmith:  $183.80
• WhitePixel:  $82.07
• Unconventional Guides:  $80.58
• UYF Sales (off the market):  $47.50
• Amazon Affiliate: $37.63
• Language Hacking Guide: $33.50
• Bank Fee Refund: $15.25

Direct Expenses:  -$6,734.12

• YvD Launch Consulting:  -$4000.00
• WDS Conference Tickets: -$610.84
• YvD Graphics: -$501.25
• Affiliate Payments:  -$393.77
• Food/Meals: -$289.31
• Cell Phone (final): -$175.32
• Website tech work: -$130.00
• YvD Transcriptions: -$112.15
• AppSumo Deal: -$99.00
• Premium Web Cart: -$79.97
• Optimizely: -$79.00
• Aweber:  -$49.00
• Virgin Mobile: -$40.00
• Rebel Strength Guide: -$39.00
• Cloud Blogging Guide: -$37.00
• Wufoo: -$29.95
• Travel Hacking Cartel: -$25.00
• MailChimp:  -$15.00
• E-junkie:  -$10.00
• DropBox:  -$9.99
• Domain Name: -$8.57

Net (Income – Expenses):  $1,004.01

Over the last 13 months, this brings the average net to: ~$5500/month.

Want to know even more details? My friend Corbett Barr (from ThinkTraffic.net fame) and I will be hosting a live Q&A this coming Wednesday on “Building Momentum for Your Online Business”. We’ll leave no questions unanswered, but there are only 100 spots on the webinar. Here’s the link to save your spot if interested.

As you can see, we successfully launched the very first private “You Vs. Debt” course behind-the-scenes last month. We’re in the middle of the course now, tweaking and testing the content, gathering feedback, and helping people radically change their financial approach.

It’s thrilling to see the first group of people take the course, as I’ve never before approached my courses/eBooks in this manner. I can already see the impact it will have on the eventual public release (likely late next month).

Even still, there is a lot left to do – the grunt work is far from over as far as the course is concerned!

You may also notice a $4,000 payment to a team member. Keep in mind this actually represents several months of hard work – and is an investment in a piece of my team that I want to play a core role for years to come.

As always, I’ll answer any questions below!

RV Tour Updates… Keep Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’…

April saw us visiting and hosting meetups in the cities of Phoenix, San Diego, and L.A.

The Phoenix meetup was especially fun – as we had a BBQ out at a local park – and 30-35 people, including several families with kids were able to swing by. This was a welcome unique-twist to our normal gatherings!

In San Diego, I was interviewed and featured in the San Diego Union-Tribune (which was fun). Our meetup had a smaller, but very mighty turnout – featuring what ended up being mostly other entrepreneurs and bloggers!

We also had a great time while staying with friends in Hollywood, Los Angeles. We had a strong showing of personal finance industry folk and bloggers turn out and share some great tamales and stories at the meetup.

Let me pause here to share that at each step of the way our sponsor, Adaptu.com swooped in and bought free food for everyone – at each meetup.

To be clear, this isn’t something they are supposed to do. Nor is this something I’m required to talk about here. I’m just extremely fortunate to have found and created a really great relationship with the team over there.

They’ve been a fantastic company to work with – and offer a valuable service that is completely free. Thanks again to Adaptu for help making this tour a great experience for us so far!

Next stop: SAN FRANCISCO!

May brings us into San Francisco (where I’m writing this as of now), for the first couple of weeks.

In mid-May, we’ll spend a week driving through northern California and southern Oregon. We hear these areas are especially beautiful for driving.

Ultimately, we’ll pull into Portland, Oregon toward the end of the month – and are looking forward to a couple weeks with good friends and allies before the World Domination Summit in early June.

RV Expenses/Lifestyle Cost…

Speaking of the tour, here’s a glimpse at the expenses related to our RV lifestyle (for April).

Gas: $605.03 (-58%)

Whoo-hoo, down over half! While gas prices have continued to go up, up, up… we’ve driven less, less, less.

Essentially, we drove only two legs: from Phoenix to San Diego and from San Diego to L.A.

Campground Fees: $489.50 (-13%)

We stayed the far majority of the time at campgrounds this time, but did benefit a small amount from having cheaper parking with friends in the Los Angeles area at the end of the month.

As it seems moving forward, $500 appears to be a realistic and comfortable budget for us. We *could* do it on much smaller incomes, but we also could easily spend more as frequently as we are moving.

Hotel/Hostel/Lodging: $0 (0%)

Once again, we’ve avoided any extra cost from lodging outside the RV – making two months in a row now.

This isn’t much of a feat, but early on we had several circumstances that forced us into more expensive lodging.

Propane: $35.06 (+100%)

We only had to fill our propane tank once in April (after not filling it at all in March).

It appears as long as we stay out of cold weather, propane won’t add any significant pain to our budget. It’s actually fairly affordable.

Tolls/Parking: $0 (-100%)

April didn’t see any toll roads, parking garages, or miscellaneous fees that we encountered on the road.

We did get stopped along the Mexican/U.S. Border – but all they wanted to know was if I was a U.S. Citizen. Check.

Repairs: $ 55.25 (-40%)

As with last month, we only had one very minor problem with the RV or Jeep this month.

It came to our attention that we had the wrong size of “hitch ball” that we were towing the Jeep with. While it had still towed several thousand miles, it was starting to warp a bit – and wasn’t the most safe option.

In addition, the wiring jack that connects the RV lights to the Jeep lights when we were towing was shorted out (this is important so the brake lights and such work on the back of the Jeep when towing).

I’m proud to report, I fixed both problems myself with a trip to AutoZone. Now, these are the most simple problems in the world for anyone who works on… well, anything. But for me, splicing the wires and installing the proper trailer hitch are HUGE accomplishments!

I’m very happy with our expenses this month. We saw reductions in nearly every category. We live a VERY comfortable RV lifestyle (and a fairly mobile one) and our expenses are becoming much more controllable.

Hoping to keep it up!

*****

As always, I’m willing to tackle any questions you may have in the comments below.

I’m excited to have you along for the ride – and to have a community where I can share so openly.

Xoxoxo,

-Baker

It’s my huge pleasure to share an interview with Steven Pressfield on habit change, resistance, and doing the work.

I’m a fan of several of Steven’s past books (check out the transcript for more info), so it should come as no surprise that I’m currently in love with his latest book – Do The Work – which releases today. It’s a quick, powerful read.

Quick Recap:

• [00:30] – Steven outlines the enemy of change… what he calls “Resistance”.
• [02:15] – How to know when Resistance will kick in…
• [03:30] – Steven’s number one tip to overcoming the Resistance.
• [04:50] – The most important takeaway from Do The Work.
• [07:10] – Common resistance points people struggle with in finances.
• [08:45] – What to do when family or friends try to pull you down.
• [14:00] – Steven’s question for you!…

Full Transcript Below…

Hey everyone. This is Baker from Man vs. Debt. And today I am joined by Steven Pressfield.

It is my pleasure, because Steven is a fascinating author, and dare I say a prolific author, with his wide range of works. From The Legend of Bagger Vance to The War of Art, which I enjoyed, and my personal favorite, Gates of Fire.

Steven, thanks for joining me.

Adam, thanks for having me. It’s a pleasure to be here.

I want to jump right in and talk about what—I believe you brought this up in The War of Art, but correct me if I’m wrong. The topic of the Resistance. Can you explain to the readers of Man vs. Debt, what is what you call the Resistance?

It’s—I call it Resistance with a capital R, and it is—If you’ve ever joined a gym and found that you stopped going after about a week and a half, then you know what resistance is.

If you’ve ever brought home an abdominal machine. If you’ve ever signed up to do any kind of project and crapped out on it, as I have done many times. If you’ve ever started a book. If you’ve ever started a screenplay. If you’ve ever opened a business and gotten halfway through and dropped the ball, that’s what resistance is.

Resistance is the internal self-sabotage that we all face. It’s sort of the negative forces that kind of radiates off a blank page or off a work in potential that’s trying to keep us from doing it. That’s what I call Resistance with a capital R.

All right, so I think this is such an awesome topic, because it can be applied to a wide variety of situations. From anything from entrepreneurship to just creative work, even to personal finance, which is where I would like to take this.

And people not only having to overcome resistance to lose weight. [They] not only have to overcome resistance to start a business or start a creative project. But whenever they start to do any changes in their life.

What are, let’s say, your top three tips?

Or what—If I came to you and said, “Steven, I’m just really having this problem. I really want to get XYZ in order. How do I overcome this internal Resistance with a capital R?”

Let me back up one second, Adam. ‘Cause one of the characteristics of Resistance—and I know what you mean about personal finance—is Resistance will kick in when we’re trying to move from a lower level to a higher level. That’s the only time it’ll kick in.

I say in The War of Art, if you’re working for Mother Teresa in Calcutta, and you have an idea that you want to start a career in telemarketing, don’t worry about Resistance. It’ll give you a complete free pass.

But—And maybe—See if I’ve got this. I read an interesting book called The Automatic Millionaire. Have you ever read—You familiar with that?

I am familiar with that, yes.

I forgot the author’s name, but I know that—

Bach.

I think that he had a bunch of clients, and he wanted to get them to automatically pay themselves first. In personal finance. They were entrepreneurs. And he said, “Let me set it up for you.” And everybody said to him, “No, no, no. I’ll set it up for myself.”

Anyway, bottom line, out of 100 clients that he pitched this to, not a single one of them did what he told them to, and that’s purely for Resistance.

Resistance seems to be when we know something is for our own good, Resistance will keep us from doing it.

So the question that you asked, Adam, was how do you overcome it?

Exactly.

Now, for me as a writer, what is—The Resistance takes the form of facing a blank page. So what worked for me, after a million years of failing, was to—What I call turning pro.

And it’s just a change in attitude, from thinking of yourself as an amateur to thinking of yourself as a professional. Now an amateur, when an amateur runs into adversity of any kind, they’ll just fold up their tents and crap out.

You know? If we’re playing basketball for fun, and our ankle starts to hurt, we’ll knock off. But if it’s Kobe Bryant, he’s going to keep playing through the pain.

So a pro, if we just have the professional attitude of a hardcore but cold-blooded, get the job done attitude, then we’ll do the right thing.

Yep. I completely understand that. And I guess what you’re saying is that you just need to step up and do the work. If I can be a little pun here. Because—

Exactly. It’s as simple as, just do it. That’s all there is to it.

Yep, yep. So—And let’s talk a little bit about that. Because your latest, I guess, creative release into the world is called Do the Work. And it’s a joint project with The Domino Project, or a collaboration with The Domino Project.

What are the two big takeaways that you want to convey with Do the Work?

That’s a really good question. Do the Work is—It’s about—It’s sort of a manual that takes you from the start of a project to the finish of a project, hitting the points of Resistance that will come up as they happen. And they’re amazingly predictable.

You can see that like—Just in, say, a screenplay. Let’s say you’re writing a screenplay. You’ll plunge—First there’s a Resistance to even start. You’ll come up with all these reasons: “Why me? I’m not good enough. I’m too old. I’m too young. I’m too stupid.” Whatever.

Then you’ll plunge in on pure enthusiasm. You’ll get to about 1/5 of the way through, and then you’ll panic because you’re outside the sight of shore, but you can’t see the other side anyway.

So to boil it down to your question of takeaways from Do the Work, it’s that for one thing, if you hit these sticking points in anything you’re doing, you’re not alone. You’re not the first person that has hit this thing.

Everybody hits it, whether it’s Neil Young or Donald Trump or anybody that’s doing anything. And there is a way through each one of these points that you will hit.

And a lot of it comes down to that professional, and it’s sort of a do the—That’s why it’s called Do the Work. There’s no sort of mystery to it. It’s just making yourself face each challenge and push through it, no matter what.

And I love that. Because I think that—I haven’t read it yet, but you bet I will.

It’s an easy—It’s an easy read.

Yeah. So, but each—I think that the key thing that you said there, especially when it comes to the personal finance world, is for people to understand that there is a series of steps through this process.

Yes, each person’s life circumstance/creative work/screenplay/movie/book/whatever may be a little bit different, but each step along the way, as you’ve mapped out, has been encountered before.

And by doing and channeling and focusing, you can get over that into the next step. I’m sort of paraphrasing what you’re saying.

Exactly, yeah.

Because that’s what we talk about in the personal finance world all the time here.

Let me ask you a question, Adam. When you talk about personal finance, give me a specific. What would be a Resistance point that clients might have?

Internal Resistance points? Oh gosh. They can range from anything to they think they just can’t do it. A lot of people self-identify as being bad with money.

So they’ll get into a certain rut, and they just can’t identify as the type of person, like you said, that can step up and just do the work. So they’re just like, “I’m always bad with money,” or, “I can never do this.” They don’t think they’re good at math. They think they need to be great at math in order to budget.

And all of these things are just not true. It’s just finding the system for them. And I think a lot of people encounter fear, too. Fear of what—The amount of work it will take to make a change. Which is oftentimes a misconception. Does that make sense?

Yeah, and I would imagine too that money is a tremendously emotional issue, right? And it’s tied up, I imagine, with self-worth, and all kinds of things like that.

Yeah. Go ahead.

I myself have issues with money. So I can relate to who you’re talking to. I will say to myself, “Oh, I’m not good at that kind of stuff. I need somebody to help me with it.” And I know I’m wrong.

Again, it’s that sort of attitude of turning pro. If I were lecturing myself, I would say, “You used to get 100s on math tests. You can think of this. Just think of yourself as a money pro, and make that change in your head, and then it’ll be a piece of cake.”

Yep. Yep. I love that advice. And I want to take this. And I don’t know if I necessarily read this from you or not before, but what about external? We’ve talked about the internal Resistance. And what about external?

Because this is big in personal finance. Like people’s family and people’s friends, and this thing about personal finance being that a lot of people see the resistance as not only internal, but they feel pressured or blame or place a lot of the blame on these external forces.

Do you have any tips? ‘Cause I know I do this as a creative and an entrepreneur as well. I tend to blame my environment, blame my circumstances. And that keeps me from looking at the internal problems that I have. Does this make sense? I’m sort of rambling but I’m—

No, absolutely. In fact, I think one of the characteristics of a Resistance is that we tend to blame other people. I wake up in the morning, and I’m almost always in a really terrible mood. Coming off the freeway and I’m bitching at everybody. This is just Resistance.

I’ve got work I need to do today. I’m afraid of it. I don’t want to do it, so I’m projecting this outward onto other people and being a pain in the ass. But at the same time, there’s another form of—Where not only will you sabotage yourself, but people close to you will sabotage you if you try to change.

The one—The analogy I use in The War of Art is if there’s a bunch of crabs in a bucket, and one crab tries to crawl out of the bucket, the other crabs will grab it and pull it back down, ’cause—Did you by any chance see the movie The Fighter with Mark Wahlberg?

I have not seen it yet, no.

Well, it’s a great movie. I highly recommend it. But it’s really about this exactly. The story is, this fighter, played by Mark Wahlberg, who is managed by his brother, Christian Slater, or what’s—Christian Bale, who won the Oscar. And his mom. He’s trained by his brother and managed by his mom, Melissa Leo, who also won an Oscar.

And this story is about, as he gets good as a fighter, his family tries to sabotage him. They—The opening scene in the movie is they overmatch him, with a fighter that’s like 20 pounds heavier than he is. And the guy just gets his clock cleaned.

So the whole story, in my view, is about this sort of group sabotage, where he’s trying to overcome his own internal things, and his family’s dragging him down. And what’s interesting is, in the movie he has a girlfriend, Kay—whatever her name is, who stands up to the family. And it’s really an interesting story.

And it’s just—it’s scary how the creative world—and I guess just attacking your personal finances, and stepping up in the money world is the same thing as doing that in any creative endeavor.

But there are so many parallels, because exactly what you just went over, it happens to people so much in personal finance. They finally are able to step up and take personal responsibility, and then they also have influences that don’t want to see them succeed with money.

Right.

They like them right where they are, because it makes them feel better about themselves. They don’t want them to elevate themselves.

One of the—I’m sorry, go ahead.

No, what was your point there?

One of the things that I say in Do the Work is that friends and family can be one of our worst enemies. Not always. I’m not—But friends and family do have a vested interest in us as we are. Right?

And so they want to keep us as we are, and if we’re trying to make a big change, that can be threatening to friends and family. They say, “Geez, what if Adam starts taking off and making a million dollars? He’s going to leave us, he’s going to”—whatever. So they want to keep you right where you are.

Yeah. And I guess, to channel this into an action for people to take, again, does it come back to just channeling that in, and focusing in and turning on pro mode and doing the work?

I mean, is there any other way? Is that what it all comes back to, even—

There’s no real mystery about it, you know? It’s doing the hardest thing.

I was reading somewhere. Somebody said something that was just as simple as the trick to something—I forgot what—is just doing what you don’t want to do.

And that sounds so simple, but there’s—That’s where people fall down, particularly in our culture today, seems to reward instant success, no work, take a pill, buy this little machine and you’ll lose 100 pounds, you know? It doesn’t work like that. Life doesn’t work like that.

Yeah. Nope. I love it, your message. Simple, straightforward, exactly what I preach in the personal finance world.  And in your books and yourself, you’ve been a big influence on me. So I want to ask one more question, and then we’ll wrap it up.

And the question is actually for you to ask a question. And I do this—And we didn’t talk about it beforehand, but I like the people that I interview to ask a question of the Man vs. Debt readers.

So this doesn’t have to apply to personal finance. It can, but you get one question. I’ll ask it. And hopefully we’ll get some intelligent answers back from the readership.

Now say that again?

Sorry.

—of your readership?

You got it. What one question do you want to hear from my readership to sort of sum up the interview and continue the conversation?

What would be the worst thing that could happen to you if you listen to what Adam says?

Haha—I might change the end of that. But I love the framing of that question. What would be the worst thing that—

What would be the worst thing that would happen to you if you took good advice and followed it?

Exactly. Again, thanks Steven. I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to be with us today.

Thank, Adam. Thanks for having me. You ask really good questions. It was fun.

Steven’s Question For You:

*What’s the worst that could happen if you made the change you wanted?*

Share your comments below!

Xoxoxo,

-Baker

Each month, as part of an ongoing transparency project, I share the income, expenses, and master plans of my pursuit to earn a living online. This includes many of the expenses related to our RV lifestyle.

Personal finance should not be a taboo subject in our society. The more light we can shed – and the more examples we can share – the better off we are!

First, here’s a look back at March (by the numbers):

March’s Business Income/Expenses…

Unautomate Revenue (off the market):  $221.00

• Total Guides Sold:  13

Sell Your Crap Revenue:  $1318.40

• Total Guides Sold (all versions):  33

Additional Income:  $11,122.11

• Advertising/Sponsorship: $10,000.00
• Travel Hacking Cartel:  $503.37
• Consulting (off the market):  $397.00
• Amazon Affiliate: $78.91
• Thesis Affiliate: $77.55
• Unconventional Guides:  $65.28

Direct Expenses:  -$4994.48

• You Vs. Debt Filming:  -$1040.00
• Virtual Assistants: -$740.00
• Food & Drink: -$653.29
• Airfare:  -$646.20
• Sketch Graphics: -$400.00
• Website tech work: -$292.50
• Affiliate Payments:  -$274.88
• External HDs: -$213.44
• Shut Up & Hustle: -$175.00
• AppSumo Deal: -$99.00
• Team Member Gifts: -$75.00
• Paypal Fees: -$74.98
• Aweber:  -$49.00
• Basecamp (canceled): -$49.00
• Icon image package: -$49.00
• Virgin Mobile: -$40.00
• Wufoo: -$29.95
• Travel Hacking Cartel: -$25.00
• E-junkie:  -$10.00
• MailChimp:  -$10.00
• DropBox:  -$9.99
• Amazon S3: -$8.25

Net (Income – Expenses):  $7667.03

Over the last 12 months, this brings the average net to: ~$5860/month.

Like last month, this month was all about pumping more time, energy, and money into building my You Vs. Debt course.

I’ve cut down many of my past income streams to focus on building the absolute best training I can. I flew away from the RV for a week (to two different locations) to finish up video editing and course planning with other team members.

Much of the increase in hardware and software is going to help with the same cause. I’ll be the first to admit many of these expenses are high due to me testing different solutions. I’m testing VA’s, new software/accounts, graphics, etc… (in addition to the increased travel costs).

The good news is I’m starting to find the solutions and the workflow that works best for me (and the couple of people I’m working with). This will allow me to cut the fat in the coming months – and pump up the expenses that truly pay off.

Why am I’m spending so much time and money on You Vs. Debt?

I’ve been getting a great question (from several people) over the past few months.

Essentially, much of what I can do to generate income has *extremely* low overhead. In other words, my raw expenses to create just another eBook would be less than $1000 – even for a high-quality one.

Consulting expenses? Almost nothing. Same for freelance writing – nearly no direct expenses.

So if I’m able to generate a decent income with almost no overhead… why am I spending so much money to produce You Vs. Debt?

Simple answer: It’s the most in-depth creative endeavor I’ve ever attempted – one that has the potential to change the lives of tens of thousands of people.

There are hundreds of eBooks (many high-quality) just among bloggers I know alone. eBooks, however, can only go so far in their interaction and impact on the reader.

I can do better.

I have the power to go deeper.

I have the ability to build an interactive multimedia course – and to bring together a community that’ll help hold each other accountable.

Most importantly, I realized that stepping up my game would enable me to shift people’s relationship with money and debt on a level no eBook or blog post can.

Last week, I emailed out to the You Vs. Debt early adopters list and set up 8 phone calls with readers at all points in their financial journey. I simply wanted to hear what they were going through in their own words.

Those phone calls were mind-blowing. I knew they’d be helpful, but I never could have estimated how motivating it would be for me to talk 1-on-1 with others about their challenges. (I talk to people about these issues all the time on the road – but not back-to-back at that intensity!)

Talking with those readers reminded me that fighting back against your debt isn’t just a matter of knowing the step-by-step process.  Sure, it’s important to know the basic steps… but it doesn’t stop there.

You can’t fight debt with logic alone. A person’s environment, community, and mindset are the biggest factors in their long-term success!

Over the next couple weeks, I’ll be opening “You Vs. Debt” to a very small group of pioneer members. We’ll be gathering feedback from these early adopters to help shape future curriculum for the general public.

This initial batch of seats will only be sent to the members of the private notification list below (I won’t be making them available here on Man Vs. Debt):

West Coast here we come!…

Our RV Tour continues to motor along…

We had an amazing time meeting so many inspiring and fun people at SxSw in March. Austin seems like such a fun city – I’m not sure I’d want to live there – but I love having the chance to visit once per year.

On that note, thanks again to everyone who came out to the SxSw meetup. We had a packed house as Adaptu.com provided free coffee and breakfast to everyone!

I gave well over 15 RV tours, most with over 5 people coming through. It was a blast to pack so many people in such a short time (even if we were tired afterwards)!  I really do appreciate it!

Next up is Phoenix!

We’ve been here a week or so, but this Friday we are hosting a BBQ meetup with the amazing Pam Slim. If you are in the greater Phoenix area, we’d love to hang out!

Over the coming weekend, we’ll likely motor out to San Diego area. We’ll be spending at least a week in the area and hosting a San Diego meetup, as well!

The end of April will likely bring L.A. into focus – with the new potential of a quick plane trip to Panama to visit family!

The fun doesn’t stop!

RV Expenses/Lifestyle Cost…

Speaking of the tour, here’s a glimpse at the expenses related to our RV lifestyle (for March).

Gas: $1433.06 (+11%)

We hit the road in two big spurts this month – from Tampa to Austin – and from Austin out to Phoenix.

We made some stops along the way, but those two huge drives really put on the miles this month!

Campground Fees: $564.47 (+260%)

Our campground fees shot up to a much higher amount as we lost the benefit of staying with friends in Tampa.

Being in the Austin area for SxSw also brought along premiums that were a little higher than normal. All things considered, we didn’t do too poorly for paying nearly 100% of the nights.

Hotel/Hostel/Lodging: $0 (-100%)

Boom! Part of the uptick in campground fees was the fact that we didn’t stay anywhere outside of the RV this month. Honestly, I expect this to be the norm moving forward (we may stay at a special place once every couple of months).

Propane: $0 (-100%)

Boom, boom! I actually couldn’t believe we didn’t have any propane, but in the nicer weather we only use it for cooking. To be fair, we filled up at the end of February – and are in desperate need of another refill here in early April.

Tolls/Parking: $10 (+79%)

I don’t remember exactly where we had to splurge for parking (or tolls), but I’m not disappointed at only $5-10/month.

Repairs: $ 90.66 (-75%)

After back-to-back months of multiple small repairs, I’m happy to report we had only one minor problem this month.

Somehow the wiring that runs our propane became loose (or rusted) and quit operating the emergency panel that monitors propane. When this happens, the system effectively shuts down propane use (just in case there is a leak).

Good news, there was no leak – and we found the problem.  Bad news, the repair technician charges $90.66.

Once again, I’m not too disappointed in our RV expenses this month. Gas and campground fees notched up a bit, but the others fell as expected.

*****

As always, I’m willing to tackle any questions you may have in the comments below.

I’m excited to have you along for the ride – and to have a community where I can share so openly.

Xoxoxo,

-Baker

photo by gustaffo89

Each month, as part of an ongoing transparency project, I share the income, expenses, and master plans of my pursuit to earn a living online. This includes many of the expenses related to our RV lifestyle.

Personal finance should not be a taboo subject in our society. The more light we can shed – and the more examples we can share – the better off we are!

First, let’s look back at February (by the numbers):

February’s Business Income/Expenses…

Unautomate Revenue (off the market):  $272.00

• Total Guides Sold:  16

Sell Your Crap Revenue:  $1074.00

• Total Guides Sold (all versions):  22

Shut Up & Hustle Revenue:  $225.00

Additional Income:  $2154.50

• Consulting (off the market):  $1593.75
• Freelance Writing (off the market):  $226.05
• Unconventional Guides:  $186.15
• Amazon Affiliate: $69.05
• Host Gator Affiliate: $50.00
• Language Hacking Guide:  $29.50

Direct Expenses:  -$3145.00

• Food & Drink: -$521.79
• Virtual Assistant:  -$482.50
• You Vs. Debt Filming:  -$450.00
• Wishlist Plugin: -$297.00
• Affiliate Payments:  -$229.77
• Website tech work: -$240.00
• Cell Phone: -$175.59
• eSellerate Cart: -$99.00
• Products/Research:  -$96.25
• Domain Renewals: -$88.72
• Team Member Gifts: -$75.30
• You Vs. Debt Clothes: -$73.77
• Paypal Fees: -$65.31
• Aweber:  -$49.00
• Virgin Mobile: -$40.00
• Wufoo: -$29.95
• Travel Hacking Cartel: -$25.00
• Bank Fee: -$25.00
• iStock Photo: -$18.50
• Cab Ride: -$15.00
• E-junkie:  -$10.00
• MailChimp:  -$10.00
• DropBox:  -$9.99
• Paid Internet: -$9.89
• Domain Name: -$7.67

Net (Income – Expenses):  $580.50

Over the last 12 months of monetization, this brings the average to: ~$5500/month.

As you can see from the “net” and the numbers above – this month was about investing back into the machine. I spent thousands of dollars this month on building a team and investing in the next big project.

I’ve also invested my “time” and “energy” by manually choosing to cut off several income streams. The consulting and freelance writing trickled in from money that was owed (I took on no new clients or writing gigs).

At the beginning of the month, I had a team of four people converge on a single location to help strategize, film, and plan. I took care of meals, travel, etc… which inflated my expenses, but which I predict I’ll look back on and realize was the smartest money I’ve ever spent.

As most of you know, up until the last several weeks it’s been me (and only me) keeping the ship afloat. It’s scary to bring new people (and the expense) into the equation – but I know it’s right.

We’ll all make mistakes, but in the end – it’s going to rock. I feel it.

You Vs. Debt…

All of this extra time and investment is being poured into creating “You Vs. Debt” – the single most amazing premium resource on fighting back against debt.

Most of March will be spent organizing, writing, designing, compiling, and tweaking the course framework. This is no eBook launch – let’s put it that way. We want an environment that really pushes people to make the necessary shifts required.

Debt is emotional. It’s silly to pretend it isn’t. Environment, presentation, motivation, community… this stuff matters when you are digging yourself out of debt. I’m not going to leave any stone unturned.

In fact, I’ve just got the first rough edit back from the video we shot in February. It’s not polished enough to be public yet, but if you want to see a “sneak peak” of what one of these videos will look like, sign-up below and I’ll email you a link when I get it uploaded:

The Tour Rolls On…

Last, but not least (in terms of business updates) – our tour is not slowing down.

We’ll finish up this week in Florida, hopefully getting to spend some time with my brother and his fiance. Early next week our friend Norcross will hop in and we’ll all ride towards Austin, TX.

We’ll make small stops in New Orleans and Houston, but will make a strong pace to hit Austin in the middle of next week for the infamous SxSw conference.

If you are going to SxSw, mark the morning of March 14th on your calendar. I’m still waiting for 100% confirmation, but it looks like we’ll be having a morning meetup at a coffee shop – complete with RV tours, great conversation, and all the proceeds going to charity: water.

Whoo-hoo!  I’ll be sharing the exact details on Twitter and Facebook when they happen – but if you’re in the Austin area for SxSw stay tuned!

After Austin, we’ll be heading toward Phoenix via way of the Grand Canyon (with several stops along the way). We’ll likely finish out the month in that area somewhere.

If you’d like to meet us, fill out this quick form so we know where you are!

Speaking of touring…

RV Expenses/Lifestyle Cost…

Aside from the business, here’s a glimpse at the expenses related to our RV lifestyle (for February).

Note: Courtney and I use Adaptu.com to pull in our debit card spending and automatically separate the “RV Expenses” into our manual categories below.

Gas: $1289.39 (+137%)

As expected, our gas expense took off as we did. We covered a lot of ground in the first 3 weeks of February – and I expect that this will be a more average number in the months ahead.  Yikes!

Remember, we make an active choice to be mobile. If we wanted to spend several month in a location – we could seriously slash this down.

Campground Fees: $156.69 (-76%)

Also, as predicted, our campground fees shrank when we made it to a much warmer climate. We’ve ditched our $35 and $45-per-night winter campground in the Northeast for $10, $15, and $20 campgrounds here in the South.

We’ve also spent the last week with a friend here in Tampa – again lowering our costs.

Hotel/Hostel/Lodging: $268 (-23%)

At the very beginning of the month we stayed several nights at a AirBnB house while the RV wrapping was being finished. Since we’ve got the RV wrapped – we’ve yet to stay anywhere else. I’m planning for this number to be extremely low the rest of the trip.  :-)

Propane: $73.90 (-60%)

Another benefit of spending most of the month in warmer weather… no furnace running!  :-)

I expect that this will continue to drop even further, helping offset the other fuel costs (gas).

Tolls/Parking: $5.60 (-90%)

We only hit one little ‘ole toll road (here in Tampa) and had one small parking fee in Washington, D.C. Whoo-hoo!

Repairs: $358.59 (+23%)

We had two mechanical problems in the month of February – the first being that the circuit board that controls the RV turn signals, windshield wipers, etc… burnt out (well, first it shorted – then it burnt out).

It only took one time of driving 20 m.p.h. in the mountains of Tennessee without wipers in the snow to realize that this was going to be a top priority.

In addition, the driver’s side window in our Jeep fell into the door when Courtney tried to roll it down. We paid someone to take it apart and look at it – we eventually got it to stay up – but decided not to spend the additional $125+ to fix it right now!

The last three weeks of the month were uneventful – and we’re hoping for a month or two without minor repair costs (although, we are prepared to pay more).  :-)

*****

Overall, I’m not too disappointed in our RV expenses this month. Most of the categories went as we anticipated (the point of trying to budget) – and the majority of them did trend downward.

Time will tell whether we’ve adjusted our planning appropriately, but we feel ever-more-confident as we continue the journey.  :-)

The best is yet to come…

I told you there was a lot of transition coming – and I wasn’t joking.

As always, I’m willing to tackle any questions you may have in the comments below.

I’m excited to have you along for the ride – and to have a community where I can share so openly.

Xoxoxo,

-Baker