Our world is speeding up. Employers want more from us in a smaller amount of time. Competition for our jobs increases. This pushes us harder just to maintain a favorable position. If we slip or fall entirely, there is someone there to take our place. Companies know this. They know they can push harder and we will respond. The fact is, it doesn’t need to be that way. A growing number of people are discovering there is a way out. I was there for years. I worked on weekends. I skipped holidays.
I worked late nights. When I did slip; oh, and I did slip, there was a warning shot of someone else waiting to step up. That is when I started to realize that even though I lived in the land of the free, I wasn’t truly free. I became controlled by the system of working harder for the system, not working for myself.
We all do some sort of work that enables us to make money to, supposedly, live our lives. But, if you take a step back and look, we aren’t in control of our lives.
Living life on your terms tip #1; Figure out what you want.
Figuring out what you want out of life will be your first step. Many of us have spent so much time in the grind; that it seems entirely natural to just keep going. We all want to win the lottery and know what we’ll do with the money once we win it. We dream about the things we want to do, but most of us don’t ever do anything more than dream. For most people, quitting their jobs is the first thing on the list.
What I’m saying is, if you want to quit your job, make a plan and do it. Don’t wait for the lottery winner to sign your permission slip. Make a list of things you want out of life. This list will determine your path to getting those things. If you say, you want to be a millionaire. Do you want to be a millionaire or do you just want the things being rich will give you? If you just want the freedom of quitting your nine-to-five job, you don’t need a million dollars to do that.
What I did when figuring out what I truly wanted out of life is, to write down how an ideal day looks. We all would love to win the lottery; and buy fancy cars and houses. But, when I came right down to it, what I wanted was to quit my job, travel, and live a life where every day when I woke up it felt like a new adventure.
I didn’t need the money to eliminate the need to work; I liked to work. I just want to work on things I wanted to work on which would benefit my family and me more than anyone else. So, I had my vision. Now, I had to get working on my plan.
Living life on your terms tip #2; Coming up with a plan.
The planning phase is next. When I went about figuring out my plan, I knew I wanted out of the daily grind, and I enjoyed working on projects. I see work styles broken up into two different types. They aren’t distinct. Everybody will slide on a meter somewhere between the two.
The first one is a person who likes specific tasks to do every day. They enjoy working in a routine. If you have a checklist of the same things to do every day, just go down the list and check them off. Much of the time the list is the same every day.
Then there are the people who are project-orientated. Each project has an end goal and every day they get up, measure where they are at achieving their goal, and then set out on the path to making it happen. They have lists, but much of the time these lists change every day as they take their assessment toward the goal. I’m more like the second type. That is why the day-to-day routine of an average job, really never worked for me. You will need to take an assessment of the type of person you are and where you fall on the scale between the two. This will weigh heavily on your plan.
The other thing you will need to understand when figuring out your plan is it needs to match with how your ideal day looks. If you want to quit your job and start your own business, the business has to mesh with the lifestyle you want.
Do you want to spend a ton of time with your family or travel extensively? Having a brick-and-mortar business might not mesh with your ideal day. Brick-and-mortar businesses are typically very labor-intensive to get off the ground and can be for several years before they get going. If your life dream is to own a string of bakeries and be the best baker in town, a brick-and-mortar bakery will mesh with your life goal perfectly. For the life I see myself living, a digital business seems like the best option for me. It wasn’t always that way for me. For a while I envisioned myself working in a fabrication business.
Now that my life has changed, the business I want has evolved to suit the lifestyle I want.
Living life on your terms tip #3; Be mindful of those not on the path.
You will encounter people who will try and convince you, that quitting your job is crazy, and you’ll never do it. The best thing to do is not to try and convince them that what you are doing is right. Be respectful of their views. This ‘living life on your terms’ isn’t for everyone. They may be content with the life they are living, and it’s ok to think that way. Their views aren’t any crazier than ours. They have a right to feel that way, and we have the right to try a do something good for ourselves.
I get a lot of eye-rolling and snickering from the other side. It doesn’t bother me too much. I just wish they would respect my views of the way I see life as I respect theirs for wanting to be suppressed by the nine-to-five grind. It’s all about respecting what other people are doing and the way they see the world.
Just keep your blinders on and keep plugging away toward your goal and never mind the naysayers.
Living life on your terms tip #4; It will be a ton of work.
We have probably all heard this before. Just like achieving any goal in life, there will be some work involved. The larger the dreams phase of the life you want to have, the more work it will be. If you want the fancy cars, the mansions, and the extravagant lifestyle, it will take a considerable amount more work than if you just want to get out of the nine-to-five and spend more time with your family. The cool thing about putting in the work is that it will feel better when you achieve your goal.
And, if you’ve done your planning and your lifestyle design right, the work involved will be fun and match the life you want. This is the part of living life on your terms. You get to design your income stream around your personality. The work involved might not even feel like work.
Living life on your terms tip #5; Don’t forget your keys.
Ok, this is the part where you get started. You don’t need anyone’s permission to get started. Grab your keys, get in your car, and start driving on the path. You don’t need to wait for the perfect opportunity. Now is the best time to start at least planning and navigating the direction you want to go. The longer you wait for the perfect opportunity, the less time you will have to enjoy the rewards of your labor. The work involved between getting started and enjoying the award will be the same.
If you start five years from now, that will be five years less and you’ll get to enjoy your success. Time is precious. It’s honestly the only thing guaranteed to run out. That is why it is so important to start now and do the things you want to do, not the things other people want you to do.
Living life on your terms is what this site is all about. Don’t let building your ideal life fall into the pipe dreams of winning the lottery and then quitting your job. There will be a path for everyone, and everyone’s way will be a little different.
Be safe, and we’ll talk soon.
Kevin