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When faced with a difficult, unknown, or impactful life decision it’s important to have belief in your ability to land on your feet. The only way for you to truly grow is to take chances, but you won’t take chances without this mindset. Instead, you will hope for a net to catch you, or you will never attempt at all because you’re too afraid you’ll fall flat on your face. Whatever you fear the outcome may be is more contrived in your head than any real outcome. If you’re the type of person with an “It will work out” mindset, not only will it actually work out, but you will also grow from your experience.

Growth From Falling

The times I have found out the most about myself have always come from pivotal decisions in my life. From moving from Virginia to DC to moving from DC to Denver to quitting multiple jobs without a concrete plan. All of these were more-or-less spontaneous decisions that  I didn’t know the outcome beforehand. All I knew was a gut instinct that I wanted something more. And a gut belief that no matter what might happen, I would land on my feet. Although there wasn’t a net to catch me on the way down, I didn’t let that stop me. Instead, I took the leap and hoped for the best.

Each time I’ve taken a leap I have learned more and more about myself. Every instance has allowed me to grow. Much like a lobster needs to shed its shell to grow bigger, my big life events have helped me to shed my prior skin and grow bigger (and better).

Landing on Your Feet

I know I don’t know everyone’s situation or everyone’s level of self-belief. But I can almost guarantee that if you have an itch to do something, it will work out in for you in time. Not only will it work out, it will accelerate your development into a better version of you. I full-heartedly believe in following your gut and figuring it out as you fall.

Taking this approach has had the biggest impact on my life and when I grow from the experience it builds my self-belief I can do it again. Being comfortable in your own shell won’t lead you to the bigger, better version of you.

Freedom starts with becoming the best you, but it’s exponentially grown with a planned approach. Definite optimism is about developing a plan for a better future and executing on that plan. Without an end goal, there is no path to the optimist’s future.

Indefinite optimism, believing the future will be better but without a plan, is what protestors partake in. It’s an exclamation of “I want my voice to be heard, but I don’t know what outcome I want my voice to achieve.” Protesting is great at promoting a cause, but it doesn’t create a definite strategy. Instead of protesting, develop the desired outcome and strive to achieve that goal. Protesting may very well be part of the plan, but make sure it’s a means to achieve the bigger goal and not merely the end goal.

The Optimist Approach

Optimists look at the world through rose-colored glasses. They believe the world has vast potential to become better tomorrow than it was yesterday. There are millions, if not billions, of people in the world who have this mindset. Wanting a better world is the start, achieving a better world is the goal. An optimist can see a better future all they want, but without a definite end goal, there is no way to actually achieve the future.

The Definite Optimist Approach

The definite optimist is not unlike the optimist, they also see the world through rose-colored glasses. The difference lies in their plan, the strategy to execute to reach their goal, and the realization that their better world relies on creating the world around them.

Not only do you have to become the best you but you have to be willing to dream big and hold yourself accountable to make changes. You have to see a better world and spend each day making the world better. There aren’t accolades for doing this, you won’t get a cheerleading squad at your back or any trophies. What you get from this is to reap the better future that you sow.

By being an optimist and developing a plan you are a definite optimist. The world you are creating is the world we want to live in. Freedom requires people who see the future, a brighter future, and work each day to create it. Freedom starts with becoming the best you, but freedom grows with definite optimism.

Freedom requires a long-game approach. There’s no “Utopian” switch that when flipped cures all problems and creates the perfect society. Instead, over time individuals earn freedom as they harness the same power as the men or women supposedly in charge. Becoming free, and achieving freedoms for the oppressed, starts with becoming the best you. On any given day an authoritarian figure can do something unagreeable to your beliefs, putting you in their game. They’re looking for a reaction, a distraction, from the big picture. If you are more concerned with every move they make then you’re not concerned with yourself. Instead of playing their game, you should be building up your powers to push back. And it starts with becoming the best you.

Whether you’re a pink knitted hat wearer or a Don’t Tread On Me flag waver, you desire freedom. Although you may have convinced yourself “if the right person is in power I’ll be okay,” that’s merely an illusion. The powers granted to the government were not created to give one person absolute power. They were meant to give everyone a framework for a freer world. With the obvious incapabilities of the government to achieve a freer society, the question becomes: How can we create a freer world for ourselves?

Become Absolutely Open-Minded

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. – Albert Camus

To really have your existence be an act of rebellion don’t stop at being absolutely free. Be absolutely open-minded, absolutely un-bigoted, absolutely non-sexist, absolutely not racist, become so absolutely open to everyone no matter their race, religion, sex, gender, or nationality, and you will start building a freer world. Your very existence will be a protest to the man in power. And at the same time, your actions will improve the life of the people around you. It’ll improve your neighbor, your community, your country, and your connections with the world. Becoming absolutely open-minded is an act of rebellion without the need to protest in the streets.

 Tune Out the Noise

Stop paying attention to the media. Whether you find a trustworthy news source or not, it’s all an attempt to fill your head with nonsense. For every person that agrees with the news, there’s another person disagreeing with it. Either way, it’ll rile up both sides and break down any chance of an absolutely open-minded rebellion. It’s okay to be uninformed. It’s okay to not know what’s going on in current events every second of every day. If you’re truly focusing on making the community around you better then there’s no need to listen to the news. It’ll do more harm than good.

Become the Best You

The growing rebellion, the acceptance of everyone, and freedom starts with individuals. It all starts with people who hold their moral standards, their beliefs, and their desire for a freer world to achieve freedom. Focusing on becoming the best you may seem selfish, but it’s not. It’s the starting point for change. It’s the catalyst for freedom. Working every day on yourself, your capabilities, and your open-mindedness starts building the framework for freedom.

Decide what you stand for. And then stand for it all the time. – Clayton M. Christensen

Freedom won’t be earned by going through the system, but by becoming so free, and so open-minded, that your very existence is a rebellion.  Freedom begins with you, the best you.

 

Minimalism is not about living with next-to-nothing, but living only with purpose-driven material items. Basically, if a material good doesn’t serve a purpose in your day-to-day life then you don’t need that item. My rule of thumb for material consumption is asking myself my perceived purpose of an item. And then evaluating my actual perception and not being afraid of getting rid of something (sunk cost fallacy) if I don’t need it. This same rule goes for knowledge consumption.

Purpose-Driven Knowledge Consumption

Much like material goods in minimalism, I purposefully only consume knowledge which I perceive to have a purpose in my life. Although a lot of my reading helps expand my knowledge, some of it I cut loose and forget. Not all information is good information.

There is tons of information to be consumed. From blog posts to informative articles to how-to YouTube videos to books. With so much free material on the internet knowledge consumption is everywhere. With that much zero-cost information there exists a lot of bad information. Finding purpose-driven information to consume becomes the key.

Finding Quality Information

Although the consumption of knowledge is a noble goal, you don’t want to spend all of your time searching for information. Instead, you want to focus on high-quality information. Below are some places to find high-quality information:

• Through friends – I have a lot of “doers” as friends. By following what they’re up to I am able to find great information. They’ve already done the vetting process for me and I trust their perspective. A lot of my reading comes from friend recommendations, whether they know they’re giving me recommendations or not.

• Through reading – If you read a good book or blog then you’re bound to come across book recommendations. If you trust the message by an author then you are likely to trust the message of an author they recommend. This comes with a grain of salt – sometimes the author has their own motivations – but for the most part, you can trust an author’s recommendations.

• Through Google – Whenever you’re interested in a particular subject, do a quick Google search. Not only will you find high-quality content, but once you start reading the content you’re most likely going to come across other great material. It takes a little time to get good at, but asking Google is an easy path to quality information.

Remember, like purpose-driven material consumption, your knowledge consumption should have a purpose. You don’t want to consume knowledge “just because,” but instead to improve your thoughts and mind. Eventually, the high-quality information will meld together in your mind and start connecting your cranium.

This is a really good video timeline on bestreviews.com that takes you through a desk in 1980 to a desk in 2017. With the essentials on a desk covered in items in 1980 to merely a laptop in 2017. Look at that progress:

With the speed at which technology grows, and changes our lives, it’s more important than ever to be in-the-know about technological progress. Not only will technology improve the lives around us, but it will also change our jobs. It enables automation of tedious tasks and allows us to focus on more cumbersome questions. Technology is really cool. The fact that we can take a desk-full of items and stuff them into a laptop in less than 40 years is impressive.

Instead of being afraid of innovation, we need to embrace it. The advances outlined in the video timeline happened, whether people lost jobs because of it or not. But if you ask anyone who no longer has to do a boring, time-consuming task they’re probably happy about innovation. Technological progress is not going to stop. Worrying about who’s jobs it might take shouldn’t be the priority. Instead, the priority should be seeing who’s lives can be amplified and aligning ourselves for the technological future. It’s an amazing time to be alive.

I’ve blogged before about the impossibility of finding your niche, your niche finds you. Recently, I wrote about your unique perspective. But, there is one more piece to the writing puzzle: developing your style.

First and foremost, much like finding your niche, you don’t find your writing style without practice. It takes dedication to writing, it takes turning ideas in your head into written words. Your writing style isn’t developed by thinking, but by putting pen to paper. Not only do you have to consume a lot of ideas from books, blog posts, and great thinkers, but you have to learn how to put your ideas into coherent sentences. Developing a writing style isn’t easy, and it won’t come naturally. But if you consume enough information, and practice your craft, you will soon realize your writing style.

Looking For a Writer’s Style

The best book I’ve read recently that disguised the author’s writing style was The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday. I didn’t notice the underlying Stoicism, even though Holiday has another book The Daily Stoic until he explicitly said it in the end. Instead of writing with continual quotations of Stoicism, Holiday used his knowledge of the subject to convey the message in his own words.

Anytime you read an author it’s important to look for their writing style. They have a perspective, honed over time, to provide unique insights on the subject. Their writing style will portray that.

My Writing Style

Since I’ve started blogging daily I have definitely developed a style to my writing. I have also found the authors and bloggers who put actionable ideas into my head. With a combination of past experiences, formal education, and self-directed learning I have found the things I’m passionate to write about. Below is a breakdown of the influences on my writing.

Philosophy/Religion

Since I’m not very religious I tend to think of my religious reading as philosophy. From the Toltecs to Buddhism, my religious study is a way to live life. My philosophical view has been developed through Stoicism. Likewise, my “always move forward” mentality has been heavily influenced by the Stoics.

Austrian Economics

George Mason University was my first awakening to the Austrian thinkers. F.A. Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, Carl Menger, Henry Hazlitt, Murray Rothbard, etc. have all had a profound impact on my thoughts and ideas. If I can channel only a tiny bit of praxeology from Mises I would say my writing is a success.

Business Acumen

Being in accounting for the past four years and seeing how businesses operate I try to bring my corporate background into my style. I’ve seen many different organizations and know how each work from large corporate, to small corporate, to startup. Each experience has impacted my writing style, my thought processes and how I perceive the world around us.

Lifestyle

The last influence on my writing style is how I’ve been living my life since graduating college. Instead of settling for average I have spent a lot of time exploring what makes me tick. From traveling the country looking for my new home to settling in an outdoor-crazed community, to reading insightful blogs/books. Living life my way has helped give me my voice.

Although I try to encompass all of these aspects into my writing, I am in no way a master. I also had no intention of finding these out when I started blogging. I had no idea what I wanted to write about before, or that I could create my own voice. But through writing, and dedication to the craft, I have started to develop my style.

Eventually, I’d love to be able to write like Holiday, interweaving these views into a style so unique you don’t even notice. For now, I concentrate on consuming material in my wheelhouse and improving my writing on a daily basis.

When I first started the 30-day blogging challenge, in August 2015, I decided to take “Living Free” as my moniker. I don’t think I had a true understanding what it even meant. I found a cool picture and thought it fit into the theme.

Since blogging daily, and the life choices I’ve made since August, I have a clear understanding of what living free means to me. It’s not some cute catch-phrase or a dream in La La Land, but a mindset of self-discovery, self-belief, and putting thought into action. To start to understand the meaning of living free I’ll first explain what it doesn’t mean.

What Living Free Doesn’t Mean

• Living free doesn’t mean being lazy. No matter how awesome it sounds to sit on a couch and watch TV all day, that’s the furthest thing from living free. In order to live free, you have to be actively challenging yourself, putting yourself in new situations, and figuring out how you react to different circumstances. Sitting around won’t challenge you, and thus won’t open you up to a life you could be living.

• Living free doesn’t mean finding yourself. No matter how hard you try, you’re never going to find yourself. It’s impossible! Life, people, situations, and the world around us is too dynamic to find yourself. The only way to truly find yourself is in a vacuum, and we don’t get to live in a vacuum. We have to live in an ever changing world.

• Living free doesn’t mean finding your passion. Much like finding yourself, finding your passion is overrated. Instead of trying to find your passion, try to find something that gets your mind moving. When your brain starts obsessing over something, and you have a desire to get good at it, propel your passion forward. Eventually, you’ll determine if it’s merely a spark to ignite a bigger fire, or truly your passion.

• Living free doesn’t mean anarchy. Living free, in a world with governments and bureaucracy can lead us to a desire to “stick it to the man.” After all, freedom is the idea that we aren’t governed by higher forces. However, trying to take power away from the government isn’t something that happens by protesting or being politically active. The way around bureaucracy is innovation and creating the world we want to live in. Uber didn’t wait for government’s approval, instead, they started their ride-sharing app and dealt with the ramifications later.

What Living Free Means to Me

Living free means being unafraid of following your gut.

It means taking the path less traveled because you want to create the path for yourself. It means challenging yourself in many different aspects of life to find what makes you come alive. It means developing knowledge because a sentence you read sparked an ember in your mind. Living free is a mindset of discovery, creation, knowledge consumption, and applying your thoughts in actionable ways.

You’re not going to find yourself, or find your passion, by sitting around and doing nothing. Quite the opposite. It takes trying many things, wearing many hats, talking to many people, and constantly being in pursuit of more knowledge that helps create the living free mentality. Once you find a thing that makes you come alive, don’t dream up what the world would look like if you pursued it, start pursuing it now. Put the idea into action and see where it goes.

Living free means being unafraid of the path your passion might take you on. Follow your ideas by doing and eventually, living free will happen.

 

Fear is a big inhibitor for picking your path and creating your future. You come to a fork in the road. In one direction the path is pretty clear. Other people have traveled it before, and you know sooner or later you’ll come to a nice clearing where you can be comfortable. The other path, the path less traveled (thanks, Robert Frost), hasn’t been traversed enough to show you the way. There are a lot of unknowns, and you don’t know exactly what the outcome will be. It’s scary to deal with the unknown, but if you truly want to find your path, you have to take it.

“It Will Work Out”

Basically anytime I come to a fork in the road, I throw fear aside and approach it with an “it will work out” mentality. There’s a really good Q&A section in Four-Hour Workweek where Tim Ferris outlines how to go about making big decisions we’re fearful of making. It’s a seven-step approach to outlining our biggest fears, what they would look like if they came true, and to let go of fear, “it will work out.”

Although it’s nice to have the “it will work out” mentality, it also requires a genuine understanding of self-worth and self-reliance. Throwing fear aside and yelling “It will work out!” isn’t going to cut it. There’s still a lot of work that goes into finding your path by building yourself up to the point where you believe in yourself, and your capabilities to execute.

The Sleep in Your Car Test

Praxis calls this The Sleep in Your Car Test. Basically, who has the desire, self-confidence, and belief in themselves to choose the unknown path. The people who want to travel the path less traveled are the ones who understand life isn’t a guarantee, and they are the only ones who can live life their way.

The world is awash in guarantees.  Those who seek guarantees, and worse those who trust them, are not the sleep in your car type.  The reality is that there are no guarantees.  There are only varying degrees of probability.  And the things with the highest probability of leading you to a life identical to the crowd’s idea of success are often those with the lowest probability of leading you to being fully alive.

People who can pass the sleep in your car test are the people who understand that the unknown path may induce fear, but the guaranteed outcome won’t be fulfilling. “It’s not fearlessness – we’re all afraid – but the way in which fear isn’t treated as an insurmountable obstacle, but a game.”

Living Free

You will never be able to live free if you don’t take risks. Part of personal growth and self-belief comes from taking the unknown path to see where it goes. The “it will work out” approach is about taking your confidence and determination to push yourself into the unknown. Taking the unknown path is a risk. Even if you’re afraid, with enough hard work and tenacity, the right path will show itself. Living free can only be accomplished by forging your own trail, not following the footsteps to guarantees.

How do you execute on your big goals? Execute on small goals.

Zak Slayback has an excellent post titled “Why I Spend 10 Minutes Every Day Making Coffee in A French Press.” In the article, Zak states that by creating something early in the morning you’ve already achieved something.

The idea is simple: if you start your day by getting something done, you’ve already started with an accomplishment before you even get in the shower.

Although creation, and accomplishment, is a stellar way to start your day, teaching yourself how to make a good cup of French press coffee teaches execution on bigger goals.

Perfecting French Press Coffee

Okay, that’s a pretty small goal, making french press coffee every morning. But try perfecting it, and perfecting it for your taste-buds. I guarantee you can’t do it on your first try. But when you start trying, you start realizing all of the factors that go into a perfect cup of coffee.

What kind of bean should I get?

How many coffee beans should I grind?

How much should I grind them, is that even an option?

How hot should the water be?

Should I pour the water over the beans fast or slow?

How long should the beans steep?

When should I start pressing the coffee?

Do I pour all the coffee at once or should I leave it in the press?

These are only a sampling of the myriad of questions you’ll ask yourself. But on your first try, you weren’t even aware these questions existed. You wanted coffee, so you made it the best way you could. Without a starting point, without trying to execute once, you never would’ve known these questions existed.

The only way to realize your path to perfection is to start executing.

Big Goals? Start Executing on Small Ones

Much like perfecting a pot of French press coffee, any big goal you want to achieve is not going to be simple. It might be fun to dream up something you want to do, but it’s really hard to execute on it. Instead of trying to achieve your dream at one fell swoop, try taking the French press approach. Make it your goal to execute on something simple, something on your path to your big goal, but something you know you can achieve.

Eventually, you’ll perfect the smaller goal, raising your competence and confidence, and the next step to achieving your big goal will reveal itself. Without starting, you won’t know the questions to ask or the path to achievement. Start small, figure out the path forward, and work your way up. It’s fun to build castles in the sky, but you won’t build your castle until you sit down and do the work. Your path to achieving your big goal starts from executing on small goals.

The Minimalists, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, have a documentary out (yes, it’s on Netflix) about living a minimalist lifestyle. For most people, when they hear “minimalist” they  probably conjure up an image of owning ten articles of clothing, making their own hand-soap, and living in a cabin in the middle of nowhere.

Although that’s one form of minimalism, it’s not what Millburn and Nicodemus preach. Instead they preach a life without excess, less societal manipulation, and less reliance on material purchases to live a fulfilling life. For a lot of us, living a completely minimalist lifestyle isn’t something we want to start today, but, the documentary did hint at a starting point. Below are actionable takeaways to start taking excess out of your life, and creating your bubble.

1. Cut Out the News

It was never explicitly stated in the documentary, but cutting out the news is the first start to eliminating societal manipulation. I have previously blogged about it, and think it’s highly important to living life your way. If it sounds hard to do, take the 10-day news diet. No news, no articles, no Crisis News Network (CNN), for 10-days. You can do it!

Cutting out the news doesn’t mean you won’t know what’s going on in the world. It means you don’t get inundated with news stories 24/7. There are tons of places that news will seep into your bubble. For me, even my anti-news curated Facebook feed still gets plenty of news into my bubble. For instance, I know there’s a circus arriving in Washington D.C. today…

2. Throw Out Your TV

Okay, so maybe this is minimalist advice. But really, you don’t need a TV. With the amount of content on the internet either with a subscription (Hulu, Netflix, HBO Now, etc.) or to buy (iTunes, Amazon, etc.) there really is no need for cable. Yes, there are still commercials on streaming sites like Hulu, but nowhere close to the abundance of cable.

Also, getting rid of cable and getting Netflix doesn’t mean binge-watch all the Netflix originals. It might feel nice to sit and binge, but you’re going to experience remorse a day or two later. Whenever you get a binge-ing urge, get up and read, go outside, or  stare at a wall. It’ll be much better for your mental health.

3. Turn Off Notifications

The only notifications I get on my phone are vibrations if someone’s texting or calling me. I’m not very popular so it’s not often, and normally when my phone rings it’s either a telemarketer or my mom.

There’s a sequence in the minimalism documentary where a guy is talking about that nanosecond during a conversation when you receive a text and all of the sudden forget what you were talking about. You’ve all been in that conversation where checking your pocket is more important than the person sitting next to you. Don’t be that person. When you’re in a meeting, or getting coffee with a friend, put your phone on silent and forget about it.

I also turn off all notifications from outside apps. No Facebook notifications or email notifications for me. When I want to check them, I check them, but I don’t have a never-ending stream of vibrations. Only text/calls get the privilege of notifying me.

4. Unsubscribe From Emails

I did this a couple of years ago and it was extremely liberating. My personal inbox always got over-cluttered with emails from companies I bought a product from once, or accidentally signed up for a newsletter to. Some of the newsletters I get I actually want to receive. I don’t unsubscribe from those.

My unsubscribe rules:

1. Do I automatically delete these emails when they come into my inbox?

2. Do I skim through the email to look at product offerings but don’t really care?

3. Is this something that wastes my time with very little value?

If I answer yes to any of these then I find the “Unsubscribe” button and get it out of my gmail. This helps keep my email decluttered, and keeps me from un-needed distractions.

Creating Your Bubble

These are all steps to creating your bubble. Within your bubble is everything that brings value to your life. Outside your bubble is the marketers, big companies, media outlets, and the mainstream society the rest of the world lives in. With social media, and our interconnectedness, the important stuff will still penetrate your bubble. You’re not missing anything. If anything, you’re improving your life hundredfold.

You can start creating your bubble today. Cutting out the news, canceling cable TV, turning off notifications, and unsubscribing from necessary emails is a small step towards a minimalist mindset. Putting these takeaways into action will help you live life the way you want to live it, it’ll help you live free.