Life Archive

Changes – My Decision To Live In A Cave

I’m writing this article in response to Justin’s blog just to show that what he is talking about can and does work in practice.  My name is Carl and I’m 56, born and raised in the UK although I have lived in Spain and Holland before.  I had been living in the north of England and working for the Council in  a dead-end office job along with 200 co-workers and hating every minute of it.  Working for the Council only to pay back half my wages in …

Your Money Or Your Life

When it comes to finding a career we truly love, one of the main things that can really hold us back is the lack of money (as well as large amounts of debt). I know this from personal experience because I was in this exact situation a few years ago. It can be really depressing when you find yourself in that “stuck” mode, where you have to keep your job in order to stay afloat even though you hate it. I might still be stuck in that same situation had I not hit my tipping point with office jobs and went through a financial overhaul.

Luckily, there is a solution to this problem and I feel that it can help people in just about any situation. What is it? Taking control of our personal finances. I know, the topic can get really boring, especially if all you do is read the “How to Get Rich” books that rehash the same content (save more money, make gazillions with real estate, etc.). It can also be overwhelming, especially if you find yourself in a tough position. But there is no better time to do an overhaul of your finances than right now.

Should I Quit My Job?

Over 3 years ago, I hit a tipping point where I could no longer handle working at an office job. I remember this experience like it was yesterday because I wrote a post about hitting my tipping point, where I wrote out my feelings and what was going through my head while I sat in my cubicle. Luckily I was able to make a change for the better and haven’t looked back since.

Since then, I’ve continued to work for myself and am soon going to be celebrating my 3 year anniversary of being self-employed. It’s been an interesting journey but I have enjoyed it and have learned more about business (and myself) than I ever would have anticipated.

However, the thing I find most interesting is that since writing that post, more than 230 people have stopped by and left comments (and stories) explaining how they no longer enjoy their jobs and are looking for a change in their life. It amazes me how many people feel the way I did and how the stories vary from person to person.

It’s Been So Long…

It feels like it’s been years since I published a new blog post. Turns out it’s only been two months. Then again, that’s still a heck of a break between posts. I hope to get back into the habit of writing more often but I can’t make any promises.

So what have I been doing the past two months?

Well, besides working on projects, I’ve been spending A LOT of time outdoors. I’ve been trying to get out hiking as often as possible and just broke the 200 mile mark …

Coke in Glass Bottles

Once in a great while I like to take a look at my traffic stats to see where people are coming from and what posts they are landing on. So today I spent some time digging through my data and found that my most popular post is now an article that I never anticipated getting much traffic. What is it?

It has to do with the title of this post…

Confused? Here’s the story: Awhile back I wrote a post while I lived in Austin about Mexican Coke. Many …

I’m Not Dead, Just Busy Shopping For A Duvet Set

It’s hard to say it, but today I am celebrating my 25th birthday. That means I only have 5 years before I turn 30! I am amazed at how fast time has been going by over the past few years. It feels like just yesterday I was graduating from high school and heading off to college. Yikes!

If anything, I’ve really started to notice how “grown up” I’ve become. Not only do I sit around and drink tea and read books all day, but I now spend my free time working on my budget spreadsheet and browsing the shelves at Goodwill hoping to find a flannel shirt for a dollar.

The feeling of being a grown up really sank in when I recently found myself spending a fair amount of time in off-price retail stores (I refuse to pay full price for anything) looking for a down comforter and duvet set (apparently they cover the blanket). Luckily I found one yesterday and no longer wake up freezing from the lack of a heater here in Florida.

Stop Making Excuses – Why There’s Never A “Right Time” To Get Started In Making Lifestyle Changes

Why do so many people join the gym and go on a diet in January each year? Is it because they’ve all piled on plenty of weight over the Christmas period? To a degree the answer is yes. But of course this isn’t the whole story.

The people who go into a new fitness regime in the New Year are typically people who have been concerned about their figure for months. Maybe even years. But it’s the kick of making “New Years Resolutions” which …

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: