It’s true. There are secrets to success. They are hidden everywhere, and the most incredible people around us weave them together in the most unlikely ways.

In that moment it occurred to me that people don’t read blogs only to get the best information on a topic, or the most sound arguments. They show up to be a part of the conversation. To engage others who are talking about the same ideas.

If you’ve never had your own mastermind group, I highly recommend pulling one together. You can use Craigslist, Meetup.com, Twitter, or you can go door to door. In my experience, they are incredibly valuable.

If you feel that you are in this category, my suggestion is that you create content that is part of of a paid product, program, or service. If your desire is to connect, consider expressing yourself through your products and business.

December was incredible: I spent tons of quality time lounging around with my family in Pennsylvania, I spent a week hanging out with my best friends in New York City, and at the very last minute, I booked a flight to San Diego to hang out with my business partner @AnythingIan.

Now we've got 6 full time people on our team. As I was editing this post this evening over $1500.00 in orders came through our cart. That feeling never gets old. I always take a moment to look at the orders and to be thankful for them.

After spinning around Manila and the surroundings for a few weeks, I packed up my stuff and moved to an island. I’ve got another 7 weeks in the Philippines before I take a spin to the USA and then back to South East Asia for an internet marketing meet-up in Thailand.

The original purpose of the Tropical MBA was to be a magic bullet– a final push out the door to the “jet set” nomadic lifestyle. It’s not all the time glamorous or baller baller (we aren’t paying much) and I’m not posting videos of all the days I’ve spent holed up in offices or crappy hotel rooms trying to get some business done.

I’ve got a small feeling of despair today. I just finished a great book. A book that will sit with me for years. I’m sorry that I can’t continue along its journey. I’m sad its over. I’m a book reader.

In the past three years, the longest I’ve been one place is 5 1/2 months. I’ve set up some kind of residence in 4 countries, set up offices and hired employees in 3, and have been fortunate enough to find the time to visit over 10 new countries. I’ve done my share of travel adventures, but I’m not really a traveler.

Survivors of the big deal or any deal, especially business people looking to dole out advice, tend to present their stories as if what they did is what it takes to accomplish a particular feat.

Ever wonder about people who step foot in some exotic destination and never come back? It happens all the time– the SCUBA instructors, the yachties, the bar owners, the beer drinkers, the criminals, the naturalists, the internet marketers, the retirees.

I got a ton of emails after podcasting and writing about Bali. Perhaps people could feel our passion about the place, or maybe a lot of people remembering their own good memories.

I set out to make a ratio. How much more valuable is location independent money than “job” money? My gut told me that if I could generate 20K in income from working on projects I had equity in from anywhere on the planet that would be equivalent to 100K made at my job.

Many of you reading this have much more informed opinions on this issue. That’s part of the reason I’m writing it. I’m interested to hear your thoughts.

I get a lot of emails from people just getting started asking me to evaluate their business ideas. Here are some general principles I pulled out of my responses and my hope is that these thoughts are helpful to some folks who are looking to get started with their own internet based business.

The two Tropical Sean’s and myself got together this past week to brainstorm ways to run the next semester of our program and to review the applications in detail. We read every word of every application, and let me just say– the applications were incredible.

You can live on a Tropical island for next to nothing. We will pay for room and board. Travel, gadgets, nights out on the town, and local transport are on you. How much you spend per month will depend on your budget and goals.

There's a lot of important factors that go in to owning a business that makes 10K a day, but the most important one is mindset.

Semester 2 of the Tropical MBA is going to be structured a little differently. That isn’t because we don’t believe in our 1st round model, in fact, Sean and I have talked seriously about doing something on it later this summer.