Written by Everett Bogue | Follow me on Twitter.
When people meet me, they instantly observe that I have achieved an interesting social position within society — one that most people don’t have. I have no schedule, I am required to be nowhere, no one tells me to do anything. I simply am what I am on any given day.
I like to refer to this as complete autonomy.
In order to do this though, I had to learn a few incredibly important skills that allowed me the use of systems which grant me this freedom, autonomy, the ability to do whatever I want.
Some people look at me and assume that someone else must be paying my bills for me. I used to look at people who live this way and assume the same thing: “He must be a trust fund baby.” I assure you, this is not the case.
My parents both work very hard for their money, and while they’ve given me more than they ever needed to, they certainly didn’t give me a trust fund that pays out every month. As most of you know from Minimalist Business, I was able achieve complete autonomy by learning about systems inherent to the Internet etherspace which allowed me to automate my business.
In a sense, the internet takes care of me in exchange for the value that I added to it.
This is how Chris Guillebeau makes his living. This is how Tammy Strobel makes her living. This is how Colin Wright and Miles Fitzgerald are designing their startup Ebookling, and how Maren Kate is designing her startup Zirtual.
Value added to the Internet = Internet takes care of you.
I want you all to figure out how to do this, but it will take a leap of faith in order to for you to cross over. The systems that you were told about before are broken, and you’ve got to suspend your belief in them long enough to realize that there is another system.
For some of you it won’t be hard to suspend belief in a broken system, just look down at your unemployment check, or glance up from your cubicle. It’s not working very much at all.
Some of the most successful newcomers to this scene are ahead of you because they had the courage to burn bridges behind them and embrace the idea that we’ve entered an age where the Internet will care for your well-being.
Defining a new way of thinking about freedom.
To make my next point, I want to put some metaphors into play that I may use for the next few blog posts if they work well.
You’re free to either use these metaphors as imaginary ideas, or you can actually view the world in this way. The difference between metaphor and reality is slim, language is simply a technological construction and can be used in any way that you please. Your perception of reality is also largely an illusion, and can be changed at will.
If you want to see zombies, you will see them.
Ask anyone what they think the most dangerous thing in the world right now is, and they’ll probably still tell you terrorists — when in fact the most dangerous things you can do is drive a car, or sit on a couch too long. Your reality is what you’ve been told or told yourself. I’d rather tell myself than be a servant to someone’s mind control.
Some definitions for a new reality:
Drones. Have you ever walked down the street in the financial district of any major city and look around you? Hordes of people that we call worker drones for a reason. Running back and forth from their desks to get a sandwich. I know about the drone hive cluster, because for a moment I bought into that illusion and I was one of them. Once you’re in, it’s difficult and/or impossible to un-assimilate yourself.
Many people have been convinced by mega-corporations that they need to slave away for 10 hours a day in order to make a little bit to afford their cable bill, where they can then sit down and watch cable news which convinces them that they need to hold onto their job desperately because everyone else is looking for one.
It’s a culture of fear, and some pretty powerful people are pulling the strings. Most drones don’t even know they’re drones, instead they think that this is all there is to life.
Get up, drive to work, sit at a desk, eat a donut, get up from desk, drive home sit in front of TV and eat products made out of corn from the middle of the supermarket, and wonder why they’re so goddamn fat.
You’re fat because you’re being used as a human battery in someone else’s system.
If this is you, I feel bad, but there’s another option.
Superhumans. This metaphor that I’m going to start using for people who’ve escaped the system, who live on their own terms. There are many paths to becoming a superhuman, minimalism is one of the easiest ones. Yoga is another shortcut to becoming a superhuman.
I recently started to realize that over the last year I’ve unintentionally began to draw superhumans towards me, as this blog and its influence grew in power. These are people who’ve found shortcuts around the drone system in order to bend reality to their will. They’re all charismatic, attractive, and incredibly talented.
It really does happen like it does in the movies. You wake up down day and realize that you’ve developed sophisticated control over one of your superpowers — such as passive income, minimalism, yoga, charisma, avatars or veganism, (I don’t actually do all of these things, just some) and slowly over time you realize that your power draws other people to you. You’re a magnet for a certain group of incredible people — and they’ll follow you anywhere — as long as you maintain your superhuman strength.
I’m starting to view minimalism as just one superpower in a network of other powers that I’ve been able to employ over the last few months in order to achieve more with my life.
I realize this is all metaphors (maybe you forgot? I hope you did.) None of us are really from Krypton or anything like that. But look around you, you are starting to realize that you’re surrounded by the living dead, haven’t you? When you drive down the street and glance into other cars you see the scowling faces of other drones.
Maybe they’re scowling back at your dead-eyes, if they could see past their windshield.
This is a cultural split. Those people aren’t alive anymore, they’re simply doing what they’re told. They can’t see freedom if you smacked them in the face with it.
There’s a very real battle going on here, but it’s not being fought with weapons or in the real world. This is a war between the darkness of a society that wants us to be zombies in their artificially constructed cages, and a future that wants us to live free lives supported by a digital world that gives us infinite options.
We’re living in the future… of what?
Over the last few months I’ve been investigating something… a deeper reason for minimalism.
Minimalism is a huge part of my life, and it’s a very real shortcut to becoming Superhuman. The fact is that minimalism is easy for me, and it’s also easy for a lot of other people too. It’s no longer a few people talking about decluttering closets — minimalism is a very real movement that thousands of people have embraced. Hundreds of blogs have sprouted up written by people who are living this lifestyle.
I know this because minimalism didn’t just allow me to stop worrying about money and stuff, it also allowed me to become location-independent, to grow passive income, and freed time in order to practice yoga once or twice a day for the last four months, this allowed me to drop my waist size down from a 32″ to a 29″ improve my overall health and charisma in general.
All of these systems are connected in some way.
This isn’t just minimalism at work, it’s something more, and I’m dedicated to figuring out the answer. Why? Because I know it will help you escape the reality that you’re trapped within to become superhuman and join us on the other side.
A generation of us are now living out of backpacks searching the world for the next great adventure.
The question is:
What is this deeper reason for minimalism?
Why has it become so easy to part with our stuff?
What are the implications of this change?
How can we harness this mysterious force of nature in order to become better than ourselves?
Anyway, I don’t have all of the answers at the moment. I’ve decided to delve headfirst into full-time research mode in order to investigate the implications of this change in the fabric of our very own society.
This mission is not without dangers. I’ve already uncovered some material that has challenged my own thinking, and will definitely challenge yours. I’m even a little worried that there are powers out there who’d rather this information not be made available to you.
There are people who’d rather keep you sitting at your desk. They want you there, because they need you to power their languishing empires.
I’m a little scared, and I know you are too. However, if we’re going to make any changes in our own lives and the lives of others, we have to take risks. Freedom does not come without challenging the status-quo.
I just worry that some of the people in power don’t want to be challenged.
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In the next article, I’m going to go over some very real actionable strategies that you can put into play in order to increase your superhuman powers using this mysterious secret force of nature that I’m investigating.
One of the most important superpowers you can command is the power of automation.
Did you know that you can automatically have my blog come to you? Well you can. Simply sign up for free updates via email or RSS.
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Oh, and don’t forget! The incredible business e-book sale is still going on until Thursday morning at 10 am EST. 1000+ people have already picked up the package (it’s no wonder.) If you’ve been thinking about buying $1052 worth of business education for only $97, don’t wait until 9:59…
Written by Everett Bogue | Follow me on Twitter.
This post is going to go viral, so if you’re here for the first time let me introduce myself to those of you who are new.
My name is Everett Bogue, and I think you’re an idiot.
Why? Because you think that buying people things for Christmas will make them love you.
You think this for a lot of reasons, here are a few of them.
- You’ve been giving and getting presents at Christmas since the dawn of time. It must be right, right?
- You watched TV and saw all of the happy faces around the Christmas tree in the Coca Cola commercials, in the car commercials, in the clothing commercials. Going to to the mall to buy things for people must be what Christmas is all about, right?
- You haven’t followed up as to where the stuff that you bought everyone for Christmas actually ended up by the time New Years came around (hint: the closet, where no one has to look at what you gave them.)
Why your reality is broken.
The simple fact is that your mind has been manipulated by mega-corporations into the mess that it is now. You’ve been bombarded by advertising since the day you were born telling you that the only way Christmas would be a success was if you spent somewhere around $1,000 on gifts for people.
Gallup estimates the average American will spend $714 on Christmas gifts that no one actually needs this year. If you hadn’t read this post, you probably would have spent way more. There’s no need to thank me yet, keep reading.
What they didn’t tell you about Christmas-gift-giving is that no one actually cares anymore. They don’t want the stuff you’re buying them. In fact, everyone you give gifts to is trying to recycle them, donate them, or stuff them in their attic as soon as possible.
Think about it this way: when was the last time you got something for Christmas that you really wanted?
I’m waiting… still nothing? Exactly.
If you didn’t get anything you wanted, maybe you’re not giving anything that anyone wants either.
Why does no one care about the sweater or flashlight you gave them?
Here’s the deal. We already have way more than we ever needed. Look around, you have everything. Your family has everything. If you didn’t have something you needed, you could go to the corner store or Target and buy it for less than $20.
The reality is that your holiday shopping is overlooking the one thing that everyone actually wants Santa Claus to bring for them.
While you were at the mall running around swiping your credit card, a small child was crying into their pillow asking for something that you never could buy them at the mall.
What is the one thing that everyone wants for Xmas?
Freedom.
One more time: the best gift anyone can get for Christmas is freedom. Why?
Because the #1 most valuable commodity in the world is freedom. The ability to live on your own terms, doing what you want to do with your life.
And the fact that you’re buying crap for people is in direct opposition of the most important goal in everyone’s life. What is everyone’s goal? Freedom.
One more time, just in case you missed it: more stuff ≠ freedom.
You know what the worst part about this whole equation is? The crap you’re buying for people is getting in the way of your own freedom too. Couldn’t you use all of that cash you’re spending on stuff for people’s closets on making your own life better? I think so.
How to operate with a blown mind.
I understand, you’re confused and scared. What I’m saying is blowing your mind. Has every Christmas gift you’ve given been a waste?
Well, no. You see, for a long time having a lot of things was a sign of wealth. People who had money would buy fancy cars and decorate their living rooms with all of the nicest Ikea furniture.
But somewhere along the way that changed. The fact is that our generation, yours and mine, is starting to figure out that there is a better way to display your wealth. This generation is calling themselves a lot of things. Some operate under the moniker of Minimalist Freedom Fighters, others call this generation The New Rich.
Our generation is the most mobile generation ever. We live out of backpacks, wandering the world in search of experiences. We don’t want another set of Ultimate Scrabble or another dinky flashlight/radio, because we already have it on our iPhone — and besides, it wouldn’t fit into our backpack.
What is certain is this: the less you have the more choices you have to pursue your dreams.
If dreams are like fairies, every time you give a Christmas present, Tinkerbell falls out of the sky somewhere and a lost boy cries.
So how can we fix Christmas?
If you’ve stuck around long enough to get to this point in the blog post, I’d like to offer some resources in order to save a shit-ton of money, as well as make people want to sit next to you at the dining room table at Christmas.
1. Use your resources to help someone achieve their dreams.
All of your friends and family are trying to achieve something (probably freedom, see above.) If you have the resources to spend tons of money on Christmas gifts, then you have the ability to re-direct those resources towards helping your family achieve great things. Ask your little cousin what they want to learn, and then help them pay for a class so they can learn it. Does your cousin need more education in order to rock the opportunities the world has to offer? Ask and see if there’s anyway you can help. Does your sister need funding to get her minimalist business off the ground? Maybe give her a few hundred bucks with no strings attached. If you don’t have any friends or family who need help, consider investing your money in Kiva International so that entrepreneurs in 3rd world countries can help themselves and their families this holiday season.
2. Two inexpensive and under-appreciated gifts.
There are two things that can make Christmas dinner better. 1. Hugs, which are COMPLETELY FREE, and so infrequently given. 2. More wine. If you absolutely must buy something, use your money to get something that everyone can share and consume at Christmas dinner — then no one has to try to figure out what the socially acceptable length of time before they can make another trip to Salvation Army is.
3. Sometimes the best gift you can give is to yourself.
What will make your life better? What will make you happier? I know this is a hard question to ask yourself. The answer is almost certainly not giving useless gifts to people who don’t need them. I bet you want to book a trip to Europe right now, don’t you? Well, do it. Or maybe you want to start a small business that pays for your life as you live and work from anywhere? Well, do it. Or maybe you want to learn something? Well, go take a freakin’ class and learn something new!
You’ve only got a short time on this planet, so don’t waste it being conned into wasting your money on stupid junk by giant corporations. You’re worth more to yourself than that.
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This post is going to go viral without your help, because it matters this holiday season.
But, if you liked the message and don’t want to get another flashlight for Christmas, I’d love if you’d send this to your entire family, all of your friends, and perhaps your neighbors too. Definitely send it to that one person in your family who always buys you junk that you don’t need, you know who they are.
A great way to forward this on is to use the ‘Like’ on Facebook button, or the Retweet button if you use Twitter. Thank you, and happy Holidays! Ho ho ho ho.
Written by Everett Bogue | Follow me on Twitter or Facebook.
There’s a an old saying that goes something like this “the only way to be truly free is to have nothing at all.”
Obviously I like the saying, most of the time… But sometimes you can see downsides to it.
Like when you’re all alone on a Saturday night, with the rain pouring down on the window outside. A single lamp burns brightly in the corner, illuminating the space that you live in in San Francisco that’s really filled with other people’s stuff.
The upside to being a minimalist location independent is that you can run forever.
The downside to being a minimalist location independent is that you can run forever.
We can live anywhere. We can work from anywhere. We can spend every single day doing whatever the hell we want. But when it comes down to it, is that worth coming back to an empty home?
This blog post isn’t about you, it’s about me. They have a saying in blog world — you’re either writing a me blog or a you blog. FBTS has this weird way of crossing that divide. It’s like a moo blog or something. I can write about me, and somehow you’re still interested? Maybe you aren’t.
To be honest, when I write here, I sometimes forget that 70,000 people are potentially going to read this tomorrow morning. Let’s just ignore that fact for a moment, and publish this post anyway.
Here’s what I’m wrestling with:
I’ve built a life and a business with three key elements.
1. Minimalism. Physical materials are out, information is in. I don’t own a lot of stuff, I encourage you to embrace this lifestyle too, because I like it.
2. Location independence. I can work from anywhere, I’m my own boss. Right now I’m making more money than I ever need. The easiest way to be rich is to embrace minimalism.
3. Automation. I don’t have to work much at all, because my business is automated. Most weeks I work less than 10 hours. I check my email once a day. I’ve even outsourced the copy-editing of my e-books, so I don’t even have to worry about that anymore.
These three elements present a pretty sweet deal, but for the last few days I’ve been thinking intensely about the dark side of the whole deal. Some might call it the paradox of choice, some might call it Kerouac Syndrome. I’m not sure what to call it.
I just know that somewhere inside me I’m battling an urge to run. I want to throw all of my stuff in a bag and get as far away from everywhere as possible.
…and I have no idea why. Maybe by the end of this blog post I’ll have some idea. Maybe you will too. Maybe you’ll think I’m nuts and unsubscribe from my blog (I hope you do!)
Maybe I’ve just been running for so long that I don’t know how to quit. Maybe it’s because I got the unrepressed hunter/gatherer genetics. Maybe I’ve just gotten addicted the feeling of walking down new streets for the first time. Maybe it’s just so much easier to say goodbye than it is to wade through the muck of normal every day living.
Maybe it’s the freezing rain that just moved in with the San Francisco winter.
These are real issues that the future of humanity will have to deal with.
When we’re all working and living anywhere, how will we know when we’ve wandered too far from home?
I’ve become so good at meeting new people, that I sometimes forget how to keep up with the people I’ve known forever. I’m living so in the moment that all I see is the face across the table from me, but so often it’s the last time I see that face again. Faces are beginning to blur together into pool of human potential and energy, devoid of individual characteristics.
The more people I meet, the more I feel like I’m just meeting the same twelve people (models?) over and over again.
You aren’t alone.
The reality is that this isn’t just me that feels this way, I know you do too. I know this because I’m not the only person who set out on this journey. In fact, most of my friends can’t seem to find a reason to throw roots down anywhere. For every friend I have that stays put, there are two more who are living everywhere and anywhere.
We’re the digital vagabonding generation, that much is certain.
This reality isn’t a fad, it isn’t going to stop being the way we live. Freedom is a result of exotropy, and that’s been going on as long as the Universe has existed.
Technology has given us greater freedom, and so we took it. But now we’re all Skyping each other late at night wondering what it was like to get a hug from someone who you’ve known for longer than three weeks.
It’ll be easier once we invent the teleporter, then I can just beam wherever for brunch. Come on people, quantum entanglement isn’t that hard to implement on a larger scale. We have all of the other Star Trek gadgets, why can’t Scotty beam me to you, so I can see what it’s like to look into your real eyes one more time?
Anonymity is addictive.
For a long time we were worried about how the Internet would end privacy as we know it. That’s all a dead issue now, google knows where you sleep and there’s nothing you can do about that. The simple fact is that once everyone knows everyone about everyone, your privacy is assured because there’s so much information out there that no one has time to do anything but try to find time for themselves.
That being said, the anonymity of being the new person in town can be addictive. Wandering down the street knowing that there is no possible chance that you’ll ever bump into anyone you know has it’s charms. Wandering into parties where you know no one can be kind of fun, once you learn enough about networking and charisma to avoid wallflowering.
When you’re anonymous, all everyone gets to know is your story. What you tell them is what they believe. You could be anyone. You’re Jason Bourne for a night, and then you’re gone forever. No one even Facebooked you, because they never caught your name. And if they did, now all they can do is ‘Like’ your next blog post…
Maybe what I’m wrestling with is that I can see everyone else’s future but my own.
I know where you’re headed, and you’re going to do amazing things. You’re all on a path to figuring out exactly how to embrace the advantages of this new society we’re building. I know, because I’ve been there.
And meanwhile I’m here sitting in the rain wondering where to run to next, but I have no idea where to. I don’t know what I’m running from and where I’m going.
So I write to you instead, maybe it’ll help. Maybe…
Strategies for anchoring the drifters (maybe only temporarily.)
The only option seems to be simple: stop running. Sit down, and shut up long enough to embrace the idea that you could find a place called home.
Plant a flag somewhere, anywhere, and sit on a spot long enough so that you can feel some sort of attachment (albeit, somewhat nervous for the group of people we’re talking about.)
…and then sit with it. Sit with the anxiety of staying. Sit with the idea that you might be around the same people long enough for them to see you on a down day. Sit down with someone long enough for them to dig under the perfect smile long enough to see the dark past that you’re trying to hide (from yourself or from them?).
…sit with the idea a person might get comfortable enough with you to assume that you’re going to be around for awhile.
This probably means walking through the rain for a winter, it probably means letting down your guard, it probably means learning people’s names, and it probably means giving up every other future that running forever could bring.
I love San Francisco so much that I could stay here forever, and that’s what I’m afraid of.
Candle lit Yoga to the People on Sunday nights will never get old.
Climbing to the top of Bernal Heights to watch the sun set will never get old.
Eating carne asada burritos (mindfully!?) after yoga will never get old.
Reading a book at Four Barrel while they play Led Zeppelin LPs will never get old.
So, I ask you this question…
How can you be a wanderer, and still have a home?
Written by Everett Bogue | Follow me on Facebook or Twitter.
As many of you know, for the last few weeks (and the next few) I’ve been studying yoga intensively at Yoga to the People in San Francisco.
I’ve been learning a lot of things, many of which I can’t begin to convey in a way that would be understandable to you yet. Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding takes awhile to coalesce into anything close to being presentable across the Internet.
The origins of yoga extend backwards 5,000 years into the history of the entire world. We think of yoga as being from India, but in actuality the practice has been built by all of humanity, a technology for building better human beings.
Yoga isn’t the point of this article though, belief is.
Recently we sat down for a lecture on the Koshas, which is yogic belief system which speaks of the different layers of the body. The physical body, the energy body, the mental body, the wisdom body, the bliss body, and finally underneath all of that the true self.
Most people are obsessed with the physical body, and the physical things around them. This leads to the current state of materialism in the world — and why materialism in and of itself is deeply unsatisfying to most people. It’s because there’s so much more.
I’m pretty fascinated with the energy body right now, Pranamaya. How we gain, use, and lose energy is incredibly important. I think that much of the work we’re doing to free people is at its base convincing them to free their energy. So they can breathe again.
When someone burns all of their junk, they feel incredibly free. When you get out of a relationship, suddenly energy comes from everywhere. It’s all interconnected into a part of ourselves that many of us are deeply disconnected from.
But this is also not the point of this article. Let me get to it.
The first thing the lecturer told us was simple:
“Don’t believe anything that I tell you.”
And then followed with:
“All of this you must experience for yourself.”
I think this approach is so incredibly important for you, and I, to understand.
I can tell you to burn your notebooks all you want, in order to free creative energy, but how are you going to know what it feels like until you experience it yourself? The article I wrote on freeing yourself from your past lives was incredibly powerful for a lot of people, but in order to actually experience what I’m talking about, you’re going to have to experience yourself.
How does it feel to delete the photos of your ex-boyfriend?
How does it feel to sell the house you’ve lived in for the last 26 years?
How does it feel to drop your TV off your roof?
How does it feel to move to the other side of the country?
How does it feel to not have a home at all?
How does it feel to swap out bacon egg and cheeses for breakfast fruit?
How does it feel to make $27 (or $2,300?) of location-independent income?
All of these seem like really good ideas, theoretically. But they also could be really bad ideas in practice. But you just don’t know until you try them.
Every lesson I’ve taught you in the last year on this blog has been very much optional. Also, every lesson I’ve taught you could be the wrong match for a lot of people. I like living a unrooted lifestyle. I gain energy from wandering the streets of San Francisco, smiling at the tranquility in the chaos. You might not be so into that, but you don’t know until you try.
Self-evolution happens in different ways for different people.
If you’d caught me two years ago, glanced off the top of my cubicle and told me that in one year I’d be working less than 2 hours a day, practicing and learning about yoga for 35 hours a week, I would have told you that you were nuts. …and yet, here I am.
If I told you that your wildest dream was possible, would you really believe me? Do you believe yourself when you tell you?
The human mindbody is incredible. It can convince you that you have great power. It can convince you that you have great worry. It can hold onto anything. The mind can give you a life of suffering or a life of joy. You really are the decisive element in every situation. The work that we’re doing here, is very much an exercise in exploring how far we can push our minds into believing that we’re actually capable of living in a way that is important.
Many of the best books I’ve read in the last year weren’t good because of the writing, they weren’t good because of the content, these books were good because they retrained my mind to think in a very specific beneficial way.
Books like Think and Grow Rich, The 4 Hour Workweek, Tribes all show you that success isn’t a result, it’s a mindset. Happiness isn’t a quantification, it’s a mindset.
We have control over our minds.
We have control over our bodies.
We have control over how we gain energy, lose energy, store energy and use energy.
We can also control the minds of other people, consciously or unconsciously.
There are so many ways to do this, but most people don’t investigate them (yoga is one.) Instead they sit in front of the TV, mindlessly sucking up whatever is in front of them. Their energy sinks into the couch cushions.
Mindsets are patterns. The pattern created from nightly watching TV is much different from the pattern of nightly practicing yoga with 75 people in candle light.
Let me bring this back to the point of this article:
Don’t believe me, and don’t believe anyone else. You need to experience all of this from yourself, you can’t just keep subscribing to my blog waiting for the change to come about. These words are only permission for you to embark on your own exploration of a reality that you have access to. In fact, I’d love if you’d unsubscribed to my blog if it would help put you on the path to experiencing real life.
You’re not going to know what it’s like to live without a TV until you do.
You’re not going to know what it’s like to eat fruit for breakfast every morning until you do.
You’re not going to know how much energy you gain from practicing yoga twice a day (in a beneficial way) until you do.
You’re not going to know what it’s like to throw away all of your stuff and move across the country until you do.
You’re not going to know what it’s like to read people’s energy from across the room until you do.
You’re not going to know if what I talk about is an unrealistic fantasy world, or if anything is possible, until you do.
Maybe it’s time to start working towards a reality that you can believe in — one that you’re experiencing for yourself…
…you won’t know if it’s possible until you do.
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If you’re trying to figure out how to do a good interview, Nina Yau did an incredibly good one with me here.
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I really hope you’ll check out Tara Sophia Mohr’s blog today — she’s involved an epic project called The Girl Effect, which I believe will change the world. Tara and I spoke to a class at Stanford last week, which was a blast.
Basically, investing in women in the 3rd world is been proven to make lasting change. When you give money to men in Africa (or anywhere) they tend to spend it on booze and motorcycles (I know, because I have, and I don’t even live in Africa.) Women tend to build businesses and support their families.
Go help Tara and women everywhere out, by retweeting her stuff. Women are so powerful. Thank you for your help! — Everett
Written by Everett Bogue | Follow him on Facebook/Twitter.
“Every time I try to create a home, it ends up being a prison. So I stopped trying. I got rid of all of my stuff. Now I live in coffee shops, in the streets, in bars… I come and go as I please. I stay when I want, I leave when I want. And it works, for now…?” -Anonymous.
“For all its material advantages, the sedentary life has left us edgy, unfulfilled. Even after 400 generations in villages and cities, we haven’t forgotten. The open road still softly calls, like a nearly forgotten song of childhood.” -Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot.
The future of a generation.
Over the last few months, as I’ve wandered the streets of San Francisco and parsed the depths of the Internet, I’ve started to see an interesting trend.
A year ago I seemed like a radical when I tossed out all of my stuff. A year ago, when I jumped on a plane and headed to the other side of the country, I seemed like a prophet — now everyone’s doing it. A growing legion of surprising individuals are living this way, and it seems absolutely natural to most.
Yes, you can point to the few that come back and settled back down in Kansas and say that location independence is only a temporary escapade. However, you can always find the few who change their minds and hit the road again. For every one who gives up, there are 10 free individuals who are out there exploring.
And the numbers keep growing.
Three years ago I saw my generation banging their head against a wall trying to be professionals like their parents told them to. Now I see my generation as something entirely new. A class of people that never existed before. We’re Jack Kerouacs tapped into the 3G network.
As Colin Wright recently said in his interview with Nina Yau: “The whole world is my home, in a lot of ways.”
There have always been wanderers, but we’re different.
There have always been the wandering few. Hippydippy gutter punks, begging for money on the street, and Vagabonders who saved up a few thousands dollars before taking off for a three month stint in east Asia, coming back when they ran out of cash to save up in their mom’s basement to rejoin society.
But this generation (yours and mine — and this generation is vast, I’m seeing people doing this who are 18, I’m seeing people doing this who are 60) is different. We have the ability to live anywhere perpetually.
What changed?
The difference I think is this: The Internet is caring for our wellbeing.
Before the web, we were isolated and alone. We had to tether ourselves to a company that would take care of us (until they didn’t need us anymore.) Leaving was a big deal, because there was no way to live and work from anywhere. Now? I don’t have to leave my friends when I go places.
I can see my friend Rachel Sol playing with baby tigers and riding on elephants in Bangkok. I can keep track of my buddy Chris Dame as he adventures around the world. I can Skype with anyone, anywhere and see their faces.
And we can talk about the money-making potential of the Internet all day long, but I’ve already pretty much covered that in Minimalist Business.
The barriers between people are breaking down.
A few years ago, it was really weird to meet people off the Internet. Now I’d never meet people any other way (except at Yoga class.)
Now every week I go to yoga class with a person or two who I met off the Internet (next week Maren Kate! Yay!)
For this generation, the barriers are gone. In fact, we know for a fact that using Twitter, blogs, etc is a much better way to meet your people. The whole random night out thing seems antiquated in comparison to identifying friends who have incredibly similar interests to you in the soup of society.
I’m starting to be more comfortable meeting people from the online space than I am with random strangers. It’s just so much more useful.
Some of my best friends these days are entrepreneurs and bloggers who I met through the online social space — and anywhere I go there’s the potential of meeting a brand-new pool of people who are doing similar work to me instantly via these tools. This wasn’t possible, everything has changed.
The idea of what we were going to be become is dead, and we’re in this weird new space before the next level begins.
If that’s me lying there, than what am I?
The aspect of this whole equation that’s been puzzling me is this: who are we?
We’re this mobile generation that lives out of bags. We outsource most of our needs to the society we left. We don’t consume. We work from anywhere. We aren’t afraid of the world anymore. We have no boundaries.
I’m looking for a word to describe this, but I can’t find it. Location-independent doesn’t cut it. Minimalist doesn’t cut it. The New Rich doesn’t cut it. Sean Bonner tried to label us Technomads — maybe that works?
I suppose in the end a name is just a name is just a name. We are who we are. Deep down we know that we’re different than the rest of settled societies. We know we’re the future of everything.
There are very real issues that we need to discuss or discover though. How do we deal with relationships in a location independent world? How can we develop more support systems for perpetual travelers? Is living this way for everyone, or just a small group of brave individuals? What will our generation look like when we suddenly all have headsets that read our brainwaves (we will all have these in 3 years, I will write blog posts with my brain)? These are all real questions, but I don’t have all the answers.
This much is true: I have a feeling living this way is a lot more natural to us than sitting alone in front of a TV in the suburbs.
We’re the hunters, the explorers of the new era — and every day more of you join us.
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Oh! Before you forget. I need to tell you about an incredible opportunity for a few people who need it. My friend Satya Colombo has put together a remarkable educational program called The Freedom Business Summit, where he’s conducted extensive interviews with 12 extraordinary individuals in the generation I described above — learn how they did it, and how you can too. There’s also some excellent free material available for everyone, which I’d love for you to check out.
Anyway, the price for the Freedom Business Summit doubles on Friday night (Nov/12) at midnight PST, so I figured I’d let you know before it does. As I said before, this isn’t for everyone. If you learn best by listening, and want to hear from extraordinary people like Leo Babauta, Danielle Laporte and Tammy Strobel, this might be a great opportunity for you.
Best, Everett