Yeah, I know what you’re thinking right now, “Another blog post from David that has nothing to do with dating.” How do you know? How do you know this has nothing to do with dating, because—let me tell you something––it can have a ton of things to do with dating.

First off, when you sell something on Craigslist, you never know who’s going to come over and buy it from you. It could be love at first sight. Secondly, when you buy something on Craigslist, you never know who you’re buying from. She could be super hot, maybe she likes clothing swap parties, and the next thing you know, you guys are swapping clothes in your bedroom after meeting on Craigslist.

Yes, I said it. You can meet people on Craigslist. And it doesn’t have to be one of those cheesy Casual Encounters ads either.

But, I digress.

So, I’m selling my iMac on Craigslist and a guy writes back and tells me that he’s paying in CASH. Uh, well, what do you think we’re accepting on Craigslist? Credit cards? PayPal? Money order? Traveler’s checks? Of course you’re going to pay me in cash, dude—it’s Craigslist!

People are very funny. What, am I supposed to be impressed because you’re paying in cash? It’s just a way of negotiating. When I negotiate, I always tell them that I will come over with (usually much less than) what they’re asking for right now—no hassle, nothing. “It’s $500? Okay, I’ll be over there in 20 minutes with $400. Cash.”

That’s how you negotiate. You tell them you’ll be there in 20 minutes because they’re already dreaming about the money. And, they already know where the money is going. Maybe they’re getting a new computer. Or maybe it’s the Craigslist in LA and they have to pay their ridiculous rent for the month. Either way, they’ve already got that money spent in their mind and it makes the deal go so much smoother for you, the buyer.

So that’s the key to negotiating on Craigslist. And as for dates, well, you never know who’s on the other end.

Share with us today if you have any Craigslist stories. Any people that you’ve met on Craigslist via putting up an ad or if you absolutely fell in love with the person who you bought your car from or your new Mac computer.

You never know.

Do you practice abundance and help others with the power of that bulge?

So what I am talking about today.

Let’s talk about another kind of relationship right now: what is your relationship with money?

This should be one of your best and most well managed relationships.

What is your relationship with money?

Let me share with you what my relationship with money used to be. Growing up in my household, money was doled out when we were being good. You went to Grandma Frankie’s house, and if you were a good grandson, you’d leave with a couple of hundred bucks for a pair of new sneakers.

If you weren’t a good grandson (or granddaughter) you wouldn’t leave with anything. And the whole time, she would sit there and make sly remarks about what a bad grandchild you were.

My dad couldn’t show love in any way. But when my dad and I were not talking, he was great at paying my car insurance bill. He tried to use his money to show me his love.

My mother has pissed away money four times. My brother and I are basically supporting her now. That shows you my mother’s relationship with money. I don’t mind taking care of my mom. I love her, but she has a bad relationship with money.

Most of my adult life I also had a bad relationship with money. I thought about it too much, I wanted it too much at times, and I hated spending it. Chalk it up to my Jewish upbringing. Chalk it up to my Grandmother, who taught us that we should save every dime and only buy things on sale. I would feel guilty if I bought something that I had wanted. I felt guilty if I stayed at a nicer hotel.

My relationship with money over the last four years has been phenomenal. These days, all I think of is abundance. I don’t let money control my life, and I won’t let the power of money suck me in.

There are always going to be people that are richer than you and there will always be people that are poorer, but your own personal relationship with money is very important.

As I wrote in a blog a while back, the definition of being rich is having enough money and enough love in your life that you are able to do anything you want without feeling the stress and pressure of life.

Think about that. That definition of being rich is very different for every person who reads this.

You have to have a healthy relationship with money. If you don’t, the next time you have a relationship with another person, your unhealthy relationship with money is going to make an appearance. The two reasons why most couples break up is sex and money.

Many times guys will come to me and want to do a bootcamp, but they will use the money as an excuse. It’s not the money that’s really the issue; you can come up with the money to do anything. It’s really the relationship that you have with money that is the issue.

You hold on to every penny because you fear that it will be your last. And if you’re grasping on to every last penny, the universe is not going to reward you with more money.

You have to create abundance in your life. Whether you make $30,000 per year or $4 million, you cannot be cheap with the person that matters the most: you.

Of course, don’t go out and buy that new car if you can’t afford it today. But if it’s something that you’ve wanted to do for a while, and you’ve made the excuse that money is what is keeping you from it, believe in yourself and do it. The money will show up as long as you work hard and believe in who you are.

If you’ve been holding off taking one of my bootcamps or you’ve been holding off buying a new pair of jeans – do it! The way you feel and the way you act after an experience is what is going to attract more positive things in your life – including more money.

Life is about energy. If you walk around holding onto every nickel, it will soon become your last nickel.

How do I know this? Because in 1997, I lost every penny I made due to my fucked up relationship with money. I lost three businesses.

It took me a long time to fully understand what a healthy relationship with money looked like.

Be healthy! Spoil yourself! And go watch the movie Defending Your Life with Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep – one of my all-time favorites. For those of you that have listened to the Mastery Series, I talk about that movie at length. It’s a movie about having a healthy relationship with yourself.

Money is about experiencing things. Eventually, we all die. In general, he who dies with the most money in the bank is the one who experienced the least amount of love and happiness.

Of course, there are some very rich people out there (like Bill Gates) who travel the world and experience things. But many rich people are just saving for that rainy day.

Unfortunately, if you live in Southern California or not, that rainy day may never come!

Get healthy with your relationship with money and you will start to see some amazing things attracted into your life!

Everybody wants to be the boss. Everybody wants to be paid like the boss, but no one wants to excel like the boss.

How many times do you look at how much money your boss makes, compare it to what you make, and think to yourself “I work my ass off. Why does he get to make more money than me?”

Perhaps it is because he built the company from the ground up. Perhaps it is because he hustles every single day and he deserves it.

Build your own company if you think you can do better. That is what I did.

I used to work for people, but I thought I could do better. So I went out and built my own company. I basically ate pasta and butter, and begged and pleaded as I built my own company.

So many people want to be compensated for mediocrity. They try to get five things done in one day, but they only do a mediocre job doing each of those things.

I tell people all the time that if you want to get good at something, learn to be great at one thing at a time before you work on doing other things. Once you perfect that one thing, then move on to doing something else and do it until you can do it perfectly.

As I mentioned in a recent blog, you can’t multitask in life unless you learn how to do each task perfectly first. I am tired of mediocrity. I don’t like mediocrity, and neither should you.

So the next time you look at someone who is good at meeting women, don’t be jealous or upset. Just go out there and perfect one skill that will help you become just as good with women.

Pick just one thing at a time. For example, go to the grocery store and learn how to be the best at meeting women at the grocery store.

The next time you look at your boss thinking he is overpaid and he gives you a list of things at which you can get better, think about how you should respond to him. Instead of being jealous, lazy or unappreciative, prove yourself to him.

Become great at one thing, and then take on the daunting task of becoming great at something else. If your boss tells you that you’re lacking in an area that is a part of your job description — whether it’s that you don’t bring in business, you don’t know to sell, you’re not a good marketer or whatever it might be — then you should go and work overtime to be great at that skill because that is how you get compensated.

Too many people in life feel like they just deserve things. They don’t have a good work ethic.

Get a good work ethic and you will earn respect. If you come to someone with your hand out looking for money and you don’t have that good work ethic, that person will lose all respect for you.

Get good at everything you do. Make a list of five things at which you want to become great, and then tackle one of those things at a time.

If it takes a month to get great at that one thing, then so be it. Just be sure to focus on that one thing until you master it, and forget about the other things while you do.

Hope this was a big kick in the ass for you guys today. I know some of you need it.

But there’s something interesting that I want to bring up to everyone on the blog. As many of you know, I’m not really in to New Year’s resolutions – I think that they are a crock of shit. They are just a complete waste of time.

Everyone always makes 10 or 11 New Year’s resolutions – and of course they are going to be broken! You’re trying to do too many things. I bet most of you have already broke most of the resolutions and we are only 12 DAYS into the year!!

I was talking to some clients the other night and I told them that what I like to do is to choose a theme for the year. I know if I concentrate on a theme, I’ll make things happen. I’m going to start believing in that theme.

I remember one year – I think it was 2004 – my theme was patience and trusting the universe. I wanted to put my trust in the universe in everything I did. I wanted to allow things to happen on their own terms. I didn’t want to force anything.

When I was in the business world, when I would lose a client I would be totally bummed out. If I didn’t have a good month, I’d start stressing out, wondering if things would get better.

A wise friend of mine, told me I needed to start trusting the universe. If you trust the universe, everything that you want will manifest. Things will start to happen because you are no longer suffocating the energy. You aren’t putting too much pressure on things and you are allowing them to unfold in their own time.

Trusting the universe means having the abundance principle. If you embody the abundance principle, people will start becoming attracted to you and they will want to meet you or do business with you.

So in 2004 I worked on trusting the universe and being patient. Then, in 2005, after I learned how to be patient, I started working with the theme of abundance. I started working with the theme of abundance in every facet of my life.

And by the end of 2005, everything was abundant for me. Business was great, the people in my life were great – I had no complaints.

So what did I want to work on in 2006? In 2006, my theme of the year was living in the moment. I wanted to embrace and be present in every moment. I didn’t want to think about the future of everything; I just wanted to embrace every little moment of life.

I wanted to learn about the gift of life. I wanted to embrace it. I wanted to be present every moment and I didn’t want to have to think about what I had to do tomorrow or what tomorrow would bring. I didn’t want to think about the past either. I just wanted to be in that moment.

And by doing that, each moment that I was truly present helped create another moment that I could embrace. It’s all about living in the moment. It’s all about staying focused, positive and having abundance.

All of these themes work really well together as well. This is what you need to do: you need to choose themes for your life.

What was the theme I chose for 2007 and 2008? To continue to live the life that I love. I’m really living the life that I love every day. I want to thank myself every day for this amazing life. I want to thank the people that I work with every day for the amazing job that they’ve done. I want to thank all of the people in my life for what they offer.

It’s about being 100% in tune with what is going on in the world so that you are able to put all of these principles and themes together.

By now, the 12th of January 2009, you all know that you’ve totally screwed up your New Year’s resolutions because you chose too many things.

Start concentrating on one thing. Life is a marathon – it’s not a sprint. It is about being able to go the distance. If you can go the distance in life, you’ll be able to accomplish everything you hope to.

The problem is that many people try to master too many things at one time. Rather than concentrating on one thing, they try to learn too many small things at once.

If you are a fast learner, you could concentrate on having a new theme every month or every three months. But you need to do this work in order to have an amazing life and attract great people into it.

What is your them for the year?

Do you know what mine is?

I have a theme just for the day.

I want to break the record we set last week with 300 responses to last Mondays blog.

So start typing folks!!!

This should be one of your best and most well managed relationships.

What is your relationship with money?

Let me share with you what my relationship with money used to be. Growing up in my household, money was doled out when we were being good. You went to Grandma Frankie’s house, and if you were a good grandson, you’d leave with a couple of hundred bucks for a pair of new sneakers.

If you weren’t a good grandson (or granddaughter) you wouldn’t leave with anything. And the whole time, she would sit there and make sly remarks about what a bad grandchild you were.

My dad couldn’t show love in any way. But when my dad and I were not talking, he was great at paying my car insurance bill. He tried to use his money to show me his love.

My mother has pissed away money four times. My brother and I are basically supporting her now. That shows you my mother’s relationship with money. I don’t mind taking care of my mom. I love her, but she has a bad relationship with money.

Most of my adult life I also had a bad relationship with money. I thought about it too much, I wanted it too much at times, and I hated spending it. Chalk it up to my Jewish upbringing. Chalk it up to my Grandmother, who taught us that we should save every dime and only buy things on sale. I would feel guilty if I bought something that I had wanted. I felt guilty if I stayed at a nicer hotel.

My relationship with money over the last four years has been phenomenal. These days, all I think of is abundance. I don’t let money control my life, and I won’t let the power of money suck me in.

There are always going to be people that are richer than you and there will always be people that are poorer, but your own personal relationship with money is very important.

As I wrote in a blog a while back, the definition of being rich is having enough money and enough love in your life that you are able to do anything you want without feeling the stress and pressure of life.

Think about that. That definition of being rich is very different for every person who reads this.

You have to have a healthy relationship with money. If you don’t, the next time you have a relationship with another person, your unhealthy relationship with money is going to make an appearance. The two reasons why most couples break up is sex and money.

Many times guys will come to me and want to do a bootcamp, but they will use the money as an excuse. It’s not the money that’s really the issue; you can come up with the money to do anything. It’s really the relationship that you have with money that is the issue.

You hold on to every penny because you fear that it will be your last. And if you’re grasping on to every last penny, the universe is not going to reward you with more money.

You have to create abundance in your life. Whether you make $30,000 per year or $4 million, you cannot be cheap with the person that matters the most: you.

Of course, don’t go out and buy that new car if you can’t afford it today. But if it’s something that you’ve wanted to do for a while, and you’ve made the excuse that money is what is keeping you from it, believe in yourself and do it. The money will show up as long as you work hard and believe in who you are.

If you’ve been holding off taking one of my bootcamps or you’ve been holding off buying a new pair of jeans – do it! The way you feel and the way you act after an experience is what is going to attract more positive things in your life – including more money.

Life is about energy. If you walk around holding onto every nickel, it will soon become your last nickel.

How do I know this? Because in 1997, I lost every penny I made due to my fucked up relationship with money. I lost three businesses.

It took me a long time to fully understand what a healthy relationship with money looked like.

Be healthy! Spoil yourself! And go watch the movie Defending Your Life with Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep – one of my all-time favorites. For those of you that have listened to the Mastery Series, I talk about that movie at length. It’s a movie about having a healthy relationship with yourself.

Money is about experiencing things. Eventually, we all die. In general, he who dies with the most money in the bank is the one who experienced the least amount of love and happiness.

Of course, there are some very rich people out there (like Bill Gates) who travel the world and experience things. But many rich people are just saving for that rainy day.

Unfortunately, if you live in Southern California or not, that rainy day may never come!

Get healthy with your relationship with money and you will start to see some amazing things attracted into your life!

I’ve been looking recently to buy a new house. There is a house that I saw up in the hills that needs a lot of work. I could buy it for a certain price, put a certain amount of money into it, and at the end I could probably have a couple of hundred thousand dollars worth of equity. I can have that big payoff, right? I could sell it if I wanted to. Or I could live in it if I wanted to.

But here’s the bottom line: I don’t want the house! I don’t like the street that it is on. So even though I could make money on it – there would be a big payoff attached to it – I don’t want it.

Why is it that everything we do in life has to have a big payoff at the end?

When you buy a piece of property, you never buy the land you love; you buy the one that has the best resale value. You want to live in a place that you love, but we’re trained to choose the option that is going to give us the biggest payoff.

Life has to give us the big payoff in every facet. If you buy a stock, yes, there should be a big payoff to your investment. If you buy a house, you want to buy the right house in the right neighborhood at the right price.

But what happened to the time when home ownership was just home ownership – living in a place to increase your quality of life? Coming home to a neighborhood that you love? Having friends over to a place that you were proud of? Hanging artwork on the wall in a place that felt like home?

Why does everything now have to have such a huge payoff at the end?

When you approach someone that you’re attracted to, you’re no longer present in the moment – you’re just thinking about whether or not they like you and if you can get the phone number.

I know so many men who approach a woman and instead of just talking to her and getting to know her, they spend the whole time just thinking about whether or not she is interested in him. From the second they approach her, all they think about is how they can get the phone number – they are focused only on the payoff.

Rather than approaching someone and just having a great conversation, they are worried about the payoff the entire time. They worry about if the other person likes them, they worry if they are going to connect with them, they worry about when they should ask for the phone number, and they are never actually present in the conversation!

Meanwhile, they haven’t even taken the time out to think about if they are genuinely interested in this person or not! The whole point of approaching someone has become the payoff – not to find out if you connect and have chemistry and want to get to know the person further. Figuring out whether you are interested in this person or not should be the payoff.

You have to start learning that often times the quality of life is more rewarding than the big payoff. The payoff – the outcome – is going to happen naturally.

If you’re 100% present in a conversation with someone and enjoying the experience – guess what is going to happen? You’ll get the payoff that you were worried about in the first place! You’ll get the phone number; you will go out on a date and find out whether or not you’re interesting in them.

But if you are so obsessed with the end result during the conversation then you will never intrigue the person or be able to get to know them. You’ll just be nervous and your energy will convey that.

Stop worrying about what the future holds in life. Stop worrying about the future payoff and just stay present. The more present you are the better decisions you’ll make and the richer your life will be.

The other day someone told me that he wanted to get into my business after he listened to me talk about how I struggled for the first few years of my career. He told me he wanted to get into the business, and I asked him why.

He answered, “because I need to make money.” This is hardly the business to get into if you want to make money. You’re a nobody. What’s your platform? What do you stand for? Who are you?

That’s the funny thing about it – so many of us are all about instant gratification. You need to make money right away? Are you that short on cash? Well, get a job! Rob a bank!

There are no shortcuts. Anyone who is successful in anything in life has worked his or her ass off to get there. I don’t know anyone who has found a shortcut.

Now, granted – there are some easier ways to success – such as inheriting Daddy’s business. Some guys just happen to meet a great woman, marry her, and then, boom.

There are people who got involved in the dot com industry in the late nineties and instead of getting greedy actually cashed out in time – they probably haven’t really worked since. Is that luck? Sure, there is luck involved, but there are also smarts there.

But people hear that one story about the actor who became on overnight sensation. The thing you don’t hear about is the ten years it took that actor to become that “overnight” sensation.

I tell guys all of the time that I’ll give them the foundation, but they have to do all of the work. The foundation is the easy part – it’s the sticking with the foundation that is the challenge.

Hard work is tough for people. I don’t know why. There’s no sales letter advertising hard work: “do you want to work 100 hours a week for the first three years of your career? You’ll have to sacrifice everything…” Can you imagine that advertisement? How could you write that? Nobody would buy that product, even though it’s the one thing in the world everyone needs to have.

Todays video is all about how to have fun and unleash that inner child. Have a great weekend I am doing a bootcamp up in Seattle!!