I WANT TO BE COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT. THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINKS (AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU). PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
If you read my Journey to FI series, you’ll know I recently quit my well paying full-time W2 job to try out my Early Retirement Experiment and live the digital nomad lifestyle. Freedom from a W2 job is a topic I plan to revisit frequently, probably every month as I transition to this entirely different lifestyle! But, to start, let’s go over some goals I have, as well as how I believe freedom from full-time employment will help me reach said goals.
Habits
I am under the impression that having control of my time, being able to do what I want, when I want, and with whom I want will be an incredible feeling.
No more waking up at 5 am because I have to – commuting an hour, being on my feet for 12 hours a day, commuting home, showering, eating dinner, watching Netflix, and going to bed – rinse, repeat – a typical day in the life. That is, before early retirement.
However, I’ve thought a lot about the importance of having something to run towards as I test out early retirement. Mrfreeat33 has an excellent article on this subject. I know that it cant be all leisure and relaxing all the time and that’s not what I want at all. I have some goals for this blog which I will discuss in a later post. I also want to develop habits, which will allow me to become the person I want to be.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit -Will Durant
I plan to follow a daily/weekly routine. A few examples of daily practice I want to implement are as follows.
Daily Practice
-Write, first thing every morning
-Daily exercise
-Time outside
-Something social with friends
-Read
-Practice Spanish
-Meditate
I will publish a more detailed schedule that I plan to follow on Remote Year and see what works best for me to optimize for productivity. However, after grinding it out for seven years, I want to enjoy myself as well.
I plan to build relaxation and balance into my daily practice as well. Instead of taking a month or something to relax, I’d rather dive right in to learning new skills and building this blog!
But, as part of my daily routine, I know I am most productive in the mornings and can’t rely on the afternoons for getting stuff done. Maarten van Doorne has a great article on this. I plan to crush it in the mornings with focused deep work, then have the afternoon completely free and unstructured to do whatever I please that day. Workout, read, explore the city, keep working, who knows??
I need to make sure I develop good habits and stick to my daily schedule and routine though and avoid laziness and procrastination. One of my sixth-grade teachers did say “Eric is often too kind to himself” haha so I need to make sure I’m challenging and holding myself accountable.
Relationships
I’m going, to be honest, some of it was related to my strange work schedule WED-SAT and some of it was self-imposed, but I didn’t get to spend time with my Austin friends as much as I would have liked these past few months. So with this newfound freedom, I expect to have more time with friends, time to play and enjoy life a bit more. I also recently just purchased the Blogging for Profit course, I’m excited to start building this blog and building relationships with folks in the FIRE and DN communities. This newfound freedom will grant me the ability to reach out and form strong relationships with those interested in the same topics as me.
Fitness
The best shape I’ve been in as an adult was probably the summer of 2016, I had been doing Crossfit Consistently x4-5 days a week. Even with a hectic schedule, I have stayed in decent shape over these last few years. However, I know that it could be much better! I’m excited to have a daily fitness regimen again – I am excited to utilize my Classpass membership, run or bike to workouts and continue to eat healthy (Paleo/Whole 30ish).
Work
Freedom from a full-time job doesn’t mean I won’t be working. Mr. Free at 33 has a great article on this. Maybe entrepreneurship and blogging won’t be for me, but I’ll never know until I try. I plan to give myself at least six months to a full year – to really experience the lifestyle and see if it’s actually for me. And even if it isn’t – at least I will have learned new skills and can say I tried! Sounds like a win-win to me.
Money
Since I am the Nomad on FIRE, saving a significant sum of FU money was critical for me before leaving my job to pursue DN lifestyle full time. I am not entirely financially independent, but I don’t want money to be the first thing for me to focus on.
Many articles that discuss transitioning to the Digital Nomad lifestyle suggest freelancing then building up your own business. I plan on freelancing, depending on my COL, expenses, and how comfortable I feel once I see the savings start to deplete. But to start, for me, I want to enjoy myself and focus on building the Nomad on FIRE brand and doing my own thing!
FUN
Am I doing a good job at balancing work and play!? My Early Retirement Experiment is not one giant vacation. I want to be very productive and work towards my goals; I guess if you’re reading this on the internet somewhere, I am doing an alright job so far. But I do want to have a lot more fun in life with no full-time job and enjoy all that RY and living in SA has to offer.
Closing Thoughts
Will this be the life of ultimate freedom that I have been dreaming of for years? Or is it essentially a fun break I do for a little while and then I go back to the corporate world? Only time will tell.
Initially, I think I’ll go back and forth – it will be a continually moving target, my thoughts will change over time the more I experience and live this lifestyle. Again, only time will tell…At the very least it will be extremely interesting to look back on one day.
Check back in for regular updates on Freedom Expectations vs. Reality. I’ll do a post monthly to hold me accountable and share how my feelings change over time. Comment below for what you think is legit and what’s totally off base.
- All About Van Life with Casey Hogan of Towing Wild Oats | NOF #85 - October 6, 2021
- Traveler vs Digital Nomad, Freedom and Balancing Work While Traveling with Rax Suen of Nomads Unveiled | NOF #84 - October 4, 2021
- Real-Estate Investing, Turnkey Rentals and How to Stop Trading Your Time for Money with Eric Martel of Martel Turnkey | NOF #83 - October 3, 2021
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