Neil Strauss:

1. Register your full name as a web domain if you haven’t yet.You never know when you’re going to want your personal website.If www.[yourname].com is already taken, don’t worry - there arealternatives.For example, who owns jamesjoyce.com? Answer: A bar in Dublin beatthe author’s estate to it. But there are always other options, likehyphenating the name and getting james-joyce.net or james-joyce.org

(check those sites now if you’d like), or choosing less commonTLDs (or end letters) like .ws or .me. For more information,godaddy.com and networksolutions.com are among the most popularsites to register domain names.

2. Call your cell phone provider. Ask if you can get a bettercalling plan based on your usage. This way you can afford to do thenext item on this list.

3. Subscribe to a newspaper or magazine. Choose a topic that youdon’t know about - be it politics, fashion, culture, or technology- and sign up for the best periodical covering that topic. Rather

than choosing the most popular magazine, select one that offersthe most in-depth and interesting coverage, like Wired fortechnology or Foreign Affairs for politics or Mental Floss forculture. Yes, you could read it all online, but it’s great to havea physical magazine to read when you’re on the subway or on anairplane or waiting in line somewhere.

4. Get a passport if you don’t have one. If yours has expired, getit renewed now. You never know when that great travel opportunityis going to occur, and you don’t want to get stuck at home whileyour friends are at some great concert at the Acropolis in Greece.If you’re in America, you can simply go to most post offices withtwo acceptable photos of yourself, proof of U.S. citizenship, and avalid form of photo identification. You can find more informationhere: http://travel.state.gov/passport. And, for those of youwho’ve read Emergency and qualify for a passport to a secondcountry (if, for example, you have a parent or grandparent who wasborn in Ireland), take advantage of that opportunity now, beforethe rules change.

5. Back it up. Most people don’t take the time to do this,and regret it later. So copy your entire hard drive onto anexternal drive immediately; if possible, download a program likeAcronis True Image that will simplify the restoring process andregularly make backups (or for Mac owners, start using TimeMachine or SuperDuper). Also backup your cellphone, PDA, andany other personal-information-storing device.

6. While you’re at it, make photocopies of your creditcards, passport, drivers license, social security card, birthcertificate, and other important papers. If you keep a journal oranything similarly irreplaceable, photocopy that. Keep these in asafe deposit box, parent’s house, locked file cabinet, or any othersecure location, preferably outside your own house. They’ll beinvaluable in the event of theft, loss, fire, or any otherunplanned incident.

7. Look through your refrigerator and cabinets. Read the labels onthe food. Stop buying anything high in saturated fats, trans fats,cholesterol, and sodium. And start shopping healthier today. Here’sa handy free e-book from the government on how to eat healthy:http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/pdf/DGA2005.pdf

8. Get business cards. Don’t have a business? It doesn’t matter.Sites like vistaprint.com will send you 250 free ones (thoughthere’s a shipping fee of under $6). Never hurts to lookprofessional. And if you know the number close from Rulesof the Game, these will come in particularly handy.

9. Sign up for US Airway’s E-Saver, Southwest’s Ding, or any otherairline program that offers last-minute, low-cost travel options soyou can take quick weekend getaways whenever you feel like it.Flights can be as low as $15.

10. Check your credit report for identity theft, or any othermisinformation or errors that could harm your financial status andoptions. You are entitled to one free check a year atwww.annualcreditreport.com.

11. Learn how you work: I’m often asked at signings what books Ifound the most useful for learning The Game. Here are the onesI’ve recommended:

Mastering Your Hidden Self by Serge “Kahili” King; The Art ofSeduction by Robert Greene; Introducing NLP by Joseph O’Connor andJohn Seymour; and a book on evolutionary psychology, such as TheRed Queen, Sperm Wars, or The Selfish Gene.

12. Make an appointment to get a physical checkup. Head off anypotential medical problems that may hinder an active, fun year.Also recommended: make an appointment with a dentist to get yourteeth cleaned if you haven’t done so in the last six months. Youmay also want to call for an eye exam if you haven’t had one in thelast five years.

13. This is not for everyone, but some of you–and you know who youare–definitely need to do this: Throw out all your socks. Everylast one. Now go buy new pairs that actually match and don’t haveholes in them. You’ll feel like a new man. Remember, get blacksocks. White socks are for athletic activities only. I don’t wantto catch any of you guys here wearing white socks in the bars orclubs!

14. Get prepped: You’ve read Emergency by now, so go sign up fora local CERT class (or an equivalent if you live outside the U.S.).It’s free and will teach you the basics of survival and disasterpreparedness so you can be a local hero. Plus you’ll get a niftygreen uniform like in this photo: http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/While you’re there, enter your zip code in the box to find CERTclasses in your area.

15. Buy a suit. (Or a dress if you’re a woman.) But don’t just getany suit or dress. Get one that’s slightly closer to the size youwant to be this year, whether it be a little bigger or a littlesmaller than your current measurements. Try it on every Saturdaymorning as a reminder to yourself to get in shape this year;until, one day, it fits perfectly, and you wear it out and feellike a million dollars.

16. Then decide to actually become a millionaire. You can find outhow much money you’ll need to save here:http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/kiplinger/savings01/tool.fcs

And, afterward, it’s always good to find out what you’re worth:http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/networth/networth.html

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