Life Archive:

What Exactly Is Lifestyle Design?

Over the past few weeks, I have received a handful of emails on the topic of lifestyle design. Specifically, a few people asked me what lifestyle design actually means. Instead of coming up with a short definition, I decided to put together a post that answers that question in detail.

In a nutshell, lifestyle design is all about creating your own design and plan for life. You start by asking yourself some basic questions such as:

• What do you want to accomplish in your life?
• What is important to you?
• Where do you want to live?
• What do you want to spend your time doing?

Once you have a good understanding of what you want out of life, you then design a lifestyle to suit your needs. Last but not least, you create a plan to make it happen.

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

Over the past week, I’ve been hiding out and reading a new book I bought. For some reason, I could not put the book down until I finally finished it up. So what book was it?

The book was Linchpin by Seth Godin. Seth is not only one of my favorite authors, but he is also one of my role models. The guy is a genius in so many ways and I’ve been a follower of his blog since college.

Whenever he comes out with a new book, I tend to make it a priority to give it a read. After finishing this one up, all I can say is “wow.”

Despite that a lot of the content was not new to me, the book still managed to open my mind in many ways. It’s much different from some of his other books and focuses on being, rather than doing.

Here’s my Linchpin review including some details about the book and what I thought of it.

The System Is Broken

In his book, Godin talks about our current work system and how it is broken. Many tasks that used to be done by white-collar employees can now be done for free, by groups of people or by machines thanks to advancements in technology. A great example of this is Amazon’s Mechanical Turk.

The idea of just showing up for work and putting in your time no longer works. Unfortunately, most schools teach people how to do this with perfection. When it came to working in an office, I used to be amazing at “just showing up.”

The Perfect Morning

I woke up this morning and had the idea of taking my camera along with me on my morning run. Turned out to be the perfect morning for some photography:

The Art of Voluntary Simplicity

As many of you know, ever since I hit my tipping point with office jobs I decided to live a life of voluntary simplicity. This lifestyle change is the main reason why I was able to leave that job and pursue my passions.

However, a lot of people who I talk to are curious to know what simplicity means in terms of a lifestyle. So here is an in-depth look at the lifestyle and how you can start living it yourself.

How to Retire Young

Have you ever wanted to retire early? How about in your 20’s? I know my goal had always been to retire early so I could enjoy the simple things in life.

Well guess what? It is possible to live a retired lifestyle, even in your 20’s, by simply following the steps I’ve listed below. The plan is broken down into two phases: one for getting to retirement and the other is for living it up once you make it there.

Go Green, Save Money

As most of you know, I’m a big fan of frugal living. But I also try to keep my carbon footprint as small as possible. I’m a huge advocate of living an earth-friendly lifestyle and try to conserve as much as possible.

However, it seems that whenever I mention the idea of a green lifestyle to people I meet, they often act surprised. They assume that living frugally and being green is an impossible task. The truth is, being green can actually help your frugal lifestyle. It can save you money in a lot of areas you might often overlook.

Being green does not mean you have to go out and buy all the green friendly gadgets you can find. It’s more about consuming less in your every day life. However, I do recommend a lot of green friendly products to people because they are better for the environment and our purchases help support the companies that make them. That way they can continue to produce more of their products and compete with the non-green alternatives.

How to Have A Kick Ass 2010

I’m a firm believer of setting realistic goals. However, I’m also a big thinker who feels that no one should ever sell themselves short. You should never set a goal for yourself that is too easy to accomplish.

Instead, constantly push yourself as hard as possible. Why? Because pushing yourself makes you a stronger person. And who doesn’t want to be a stronger person?

So here’s a thought: why not set a goal of making this year the best year of your life? Can you think of a single reason why it shouldn’t be? I can’t.

So how can you make this year an amazing one? Start by doing some the following things. You don’t have to do them all, but give a few of them a shot and see how they work out for you.

How to Move Across the Country

Well it’s no secret that I’m a big fan of moving around the country. Since graduating college, I’ve moved around the country a few times as you can see in the map above.

I’ve learned quite a few things about moving over the last few years and wanted to share my advice with anyone planning (or thinking about) a big move. Keep in mind that I did not using a moving company at all so these are all tips based on moving yourself (it’s more fun this way).

The Art of Journal Writing

If you’re like most people, you spend a good amount of time thinking to yourself everyday. I use to do it all the time, especially when I worked in a cubicle. I would constantly sit at my desk and let my brain work itself into overdrive about all sorts of different things.

I would brainstorm ideas on how to make money, think about the dreams I had the night before, and even spend time daydreaming about a life that was more enjoyable.

However, I would always fail to make anything of the thoughts. Instead, I would let them drift away and constantly forget the ideas I had.

End of One Path, The Start Of A New One

This weekend was the ending point and the starting point of two major things in my life. I officially graduated from Fox Valley Technical College with a degree in Web Design/Computer Support.

College was a great ride, with a lot of ups and downs. I met friends that I will keep in touch with for the rest of my life. It has changed me as a person in more ways than I could have ever imagined. It really took me to a new level coming from such a small town…