Our Week in the Poconos

Hi everyone.

Once again the weeks are flying past and oops I skipped all the way through September and here we are a good way into October and I haven’t even posted a little peep about what we have been up to!

Before I get to far into this post I want to say Hello! and Welcome! to all of my new Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and of course to new subscribers to my blog.

August turned out to be a tight month for our Second Life land business so after some house-cleaning we rebounded and had a very satisfactory September.  So far in October we are taking off like a rocket but like all businesses ours has its ups and downs.

Last month Amanda and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary by taking a week off. We went up to the Poconos for our 2nd honeymoon and had a fantastic time.  It was great to take a break from our businesses, reconnect with each other, and also to reflect on the past year.

And when I say we took a week off, I mean exactly that.  I did not turn on a computer, take a phone call, check email, or send a text message the entire week.

OK I know at this point some of you are saying – James took a vacation, what’s the big deal?

Well, it may not be that big of a deal for you, but without being too dramatic I will say it was a definite milestone for me.  Our GRN membership allowed us to stay in a nice one bedroom condo, with a view of Lake Wallenpaupack, all for about $300 for the entire week.  This meant we had plenty of cash left over for what we like to call “mad money” and we were able to do everything we wanted to do while we were on vacation!

We went to Bushkill Falls and hiked the 2 hour “red” trail hike.  It was beautiful but some fellow hikers laughed in appreciation when on our way out I said the Exit sign was the most beautiful thing I had seen all day. Ha.  It was kind of like being in a sauna, it is enjoyable, but you enjoy it even more when it is over.

We went to Kosta’s Family Fun Park for a day.  We played mini golf (Amanda won), laser tag (Amanda won), and even did the go-kart track (Amanda won).  Can you sense a pattern?  I really enjoyed that go-kart track though, we went around the loop three times I think.

We went to Woodloch Springs Golf Course and played the back nine.  It was a beautiful but humbling course.  There were many elevation changes and every single hole had a forced carry, most of them over thick rough.  I foolishly forgot to buy more golf balls before we started.  We had three or four holes left to play when we were flat out of the golf balls we started with!  Fortunately Amanda was good at scavenging and found some strays that we used to finish our round.

We went horseback riding through forests and fields, and negotiated with the owner of the Bed & Breakfast in an attempt to structure a deal that would allow us to take over the 200+ acre grounds.  The horses were nice, and the owner was nice, but I think for now the purchase of the land and business is going on our wish list.

We were so sore after the horseback riding and the golf, that we were grateful to have booked a massage mid week.  That was my first time getting a massage and while I was a little freaked out I have to admit I felt much much better afterward.

In addition to those activities we also did a bunch of driving and exploring the area.  We had a couple of nice restaurant meals, but we mostly enjoyed Amanda’s cooking thanks to the full kitchen in the condo.  We watched some movies on the flat-panel TV.  We read books.  We went on walks.  Amanda finished 50% of a 1000 piece puzzle.

In short, we had a wonderful week, and returned rested and rejuvenated.

The icing on the cake was when we finally checked in on our businesses, we discovered that our Second Life land business brought in $4700 USD worth of revenue while we were gone. Some of that we even got to keep!

Coincidentally or not, since our vacation I have had a few conversations with aspiring entrepreneurs about life, goal setting, and business.  It is fun to share the successes, but our week in the Poconos was, truth be told, years in the making.

By know most of my readers know that I am a big fan of Robert Kiyosaki.  Years ago I had a chance to go to a Cashflow 101 game meeting in Syracuse, New York.  I had never played the game before, and I only knew about it from reading Robert’s books.  Well as it turned out I didn’t play that day either, as aside from the host I was the only other person to attend the meeting.

We didn’t play Cashflow but we did have a nice chat about the game and about Robert’s books and teachings.  I don’t remember this man’s name, so for the sake of the story I will call him Tom.  Tom was a truck driver and real estate investor.  He bought residential rental properties for cash flow.  He also drove truck.  All week long while he was driving truck, he listened to Robert Kiyosaki tapes.  When he took his meal break, he would sit for a half hour or hour and read one of Robert’s books.  And when he wasn’t driving truck or studying the Rich Dad philosophy, he was taking action and increasing his passive income.

We talked a bit about the land lord business.  He told me how foolish it was that people strive for +$100/month on their properties, when something as simple as a broken window will kill your cash flow for the month.  He told me how to improve a property and collect more rent by installing ceiling fans, pretty much in every room.  He told me about negotiating for properties by including people’s personal possessions in the negotiations.  He told me about getting someone to include their motorcycle and their sofa along with their house.

He told me a lot of things that day, but there is one piece of advise he gave which is the same advise I give today.  At the time I was starting to dabble in internet marketing and building websites, but had not yet achieved any level of success.  And the advise he gave to me was this:

Whatever you choose as your wealth vehicle, whether its websites, real estate, stocks, network marketing, building businesses, make sure it is something you enjoy.

That sounds simple, but without following his advise, I never would have been able to enjoy my 2nd honeymoon in the Poconos while our internet businesses cranked out cash.

Pursuing the path of financial freedom isn’t easy.

But if you choose something you love, you will get there.

It is too easy to quit, to get discouraged, to get negative, to give up.

But if you chose that thing you love to do, whatever it is for you, you will get past that.

Becoming financially free is hard work.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is telling you a fairy tale.   But if you chose something that you love, the work won’t seem that hard.

You will get into the zone where you can put in those 12 hour days and get up the next day eager to do it again.  You will have that energy that allows you to quack like a duck and let all the (excuse the language) bullshit roll right off your back and you can keep on keepin on.

You will be able to survive those lean months while your business is getting off the ground, and overcome the inevitable ups and downs.

You will get to that point where you can enjoy your own week (or more!) in the Poconos while the cash keeps rolling in.

Have fun, and good luck!