Follow Your Passion: Five Simple Ways to Find Deeper Meaning in Everyday Life

Crazy. Busy. Turbulent. Fast-paced. Chaotic. The world we live and work in is increasingly hectic.

Social Media. Offices. Meetings. Family. Friends. From these oft-crazy environments, it’s more important than ever for us to pause to connect to that deeper meaning in our everyday life.

To help counterbalance the daily stress and uncertainty, it’s safe to say that we have a need for self-empowerment and true emotional connection, everyday. Who We Are, is the single most important thing we have with us at all times, whether we are at home or at work or anywhere in between. To ensure happiness and a genuine sense of worth for ourselves and those around us, let’s make a commitment to be who we are at all times.

If you find the days seem to slip away and life’s hurried pace to be draining, it’s time to find some simple ways to add some meaning back to your daily life. Here are five ideas for nurturing a deeper connection with yourself and others:

1. Reconnect with your passion
Did you enjoy painting when you were younger? Have you always wanted to take a photography class? Do you love to travel? It’s important to recognize and nurture those activities you love most so that you’re able to go out and do what you’re great at in the world. This isn’t to be taken as “now go start a business” around your passion…but rather meant to help reconnect you to what you love to do with your time. New York-based yoga instructor, Tara Stiles has infused her passion and energy into her work as a yoga, meditation and wellness instructor. “Passion is really about going after what you want to achieve in your life,” says Stiles. Whether it’s cooking, writing, coding, painting, hiking or gardening, make time for what you enjoy doing, rather than just doing what you have to. Try to dedicate four hours a week to your passion, and see how it makes you feel more centered and grounded.

2. Express your authentic self. 
Individual beliefs and values make us each unique, and you can express those ideals through your choices in friends, activities, fashion and overall attitude. Don’t forget that people are drawn to you, for the genuine essence that is you – so let them know it in every way possible. Take some time each day to be the most raw you with someone else, whether at home, at work, or out in public. NOTE: don’t take this as consent to be rude, obnoxious, or just plain thoughtless. Be genuine and authentic.

3. Give back
Volunteering in your community is a great way to connect with others and find deeper meaning in the everyday. Leila Janah, a social entrepreneur based in San Francisco, traveled to West Africa at the age of 17, and volunteered in a school for blind children. The experience led her to found Samasource, a nonprofit organization that helps individuals living in poverty. Janah recalls that “[Volunteering in West Africa] was a time of incredible personal growth and it set me on the path to do what I do.” Whether you choose to help stock a local food shelf, supervise at your children’s school or travel abroad to help build houses for the poor, volunteering is sure to make you feel more connected with the world around you.

4. Find “me time”
Our lives can be very busy with every hour in every day dedicated to some activity. This can take its toll on your body and your mind, so it’s important to remember to take care of yourself, even if you’re taking care of others. Find your own way to relax and rejuvenate. This may be spending a few minutes each day balancing the mind and body through stretching and meditation. It might be taking a quiet walk, reading a book or having a cup of tea while journaling. Whatever you prefer, make sure to take “me time” throughout the day. Every day.

5. Be an ambassador for what you believe
What truly ignites your creativity? It may be your passion for green living, healthy eating, or the challenges you are trying to solve in your business. Whatever your beliefs, it’s important to show the world who you are and what you believe in. Penelope Jagessar Chaffer, an award-winning filmmaker, shares her beliefs and connects with others through her work. “I’m always trying to find that common thread between myself and someone else when I’m interviewing them,” Chaffer says. “I find that love, and talking about love, is this thing we can use to help connect us.” Talk about your beliefs and values with others; you might be surprised by what you find.

Rather than getting swept away in a hectic schedule, try focusing on what truly matters to you. These simple ways to add meaning to your life will help you reconnect with yourself and with those around you to live a more Passion-Driven Lifestyle – (BPT).

Follow Your Passion: How to Find Freedom of Location

You’ll be much more successful if you follow your dreams and follow your passions.
~ Jay Weatherill

1. Are you a wantrepreneur looking to find that “freedom of the office” you heard existed, only to find yourself in another office or out of a job decent paying job?
2. Ever wanted to escape from the confines of your location, and be able to do your work from anywhere in the world?
3. Are you looking to find your passion in life and then remove everything that distracts you from it?

Well good, because this is just for you. If you answered no, then this still might be for you. Here’s the foundation of understanding balance, minimizing and the freedom of location:

• Noah Kagan of AppSumo does a great job of de-mystifying what it means to be an entrepreneur and providing a toolkit to get off the ground.
• In the Four Hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss covers a lot of ground in the way of examples for getting out of the office and liberating your life from major time wasters.
• Programs like SproutCamp help guide you to build something sustainable with happy customers that focuses on your passions.
• Books from Cyan and Collis Ta’eed will help teach you how to be a rock-star freelancer anywhere in the world.
• Brad Feld & Amy Batchelor offer real life insights on what it takes to make it in a relationship with an entrepreneur, which requires your presence more than your company does.
• And, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson gave us the first blueprint for working from anywhere in Remote. Amazing book.

Of course, many more great resources both old (the best to date – Henry David Thoreau’s Walden) and new (Jonathon Mead) exist and are created all the time to inspire and guide us, but this list is something that millions, including myself, have read and adapted in our lives.

This year I completed my biggest dreamline yet; to pursue Minimalism with my family and be able to move anywhere I want and still do the work I’m passionate about.

Why would someone want to make becoming “Location-Independent” or “Becoming a Minimalist” one of their top goals? Well, the reasons vary for every person, but here are just a few really good reasons:

1. You can travel anytime, anywhere. Who doesn’t love to travel? Even though some people might not (but that’s not you), being able to see the country you live in or the world is a desire of many people (myself included). By freeing yourself from location, you can work part of the year and take mini-retirements, or several mini-vacations, working vacations, or work completely on the go.
2. You can live anywhere. Why do you live where you live? If you said because that’s where you work, keep reading. It is possible to live in an RV, in hostels, in the Caribbean, in South America, in Europe, in Japan, in Southeast Asia, or on a boat? YES! If you are dedicated to achieving independence.
3. No boss with bad breath. I don’t know about you, but bosses who are breathing down your neck non-stop, are wasting your precious time. You can live without them. Or, you can even be one… from the road.
4. Set your own hours. Yes, this is my favorite. Some companies have a not-so-hidden rule of 8-5, or something crazy like that. Not me, I like to work early and be done early, and others like to burn the midnight oil. I like 4 days a week, and strive for less than 25 hours a week. Still others prefer to work in batches, or not work at all for awhile and then pull a long haul. Why should one schedule be preferred over another? Let me tell you a secret that no client, no boss, no customer, no employee, no partner, and no 21st century normal human is going to argue with… **_As long as the work gets done, that’s all that matters_**. This doesn’t mean be late, it means be early, efficient and conscious of expectations, but don’t constrict your schedule into some time box.
5. Freedom! Freedom really means Freedom in every way, not just these mentioned here. Freedom to choose the kind of computer you use, the outfit you wear, freedom to choose what you work on, the clients you work with, the users you attract, the things you write, the things you create, the mode of transportation while you travel, and of course – where to be and where to go next.

There are several drawbacks that can occur during the process of redefining your freedom and balancing it with being an entrepreneur, of course! Some big issues are greater expenses, less security, problems of administering a business and a whole lot more. Each one can be but for some of us, the opportunities and freedom of being free from an office have too great an appeal to let those drawbacks stand in our way.

Career Options for Freedom

One of the great things about being free of the office is that it doesn’t just come to one type of occupation. There are about as many options as there are people who have this goal. Even though this lifestyle choice does rule out many traditional careers and jobs, such as mechanic, lawyer, doctor or utility worker, many varieties of 21st century careers in the information, technology, or creative fields are within your reach. Some great examples are:

• Freelancer. This is my fall back. I know that I can always freelance as a writer, editor, photographer, reporter, designer, or developer if I abandon all other endeavors. Freelancing can be done in many different professions, even the movie business.
• Blogger. I am finally doing a lot more of this. But remember, the revenue for bloggers are usually not that big, especially for the first year, and most blogs don’t earn very much or anything at all. It’s more likely to be a source of side income than your main source of income. Dan Martell of Clarity has a great step-by-step guide on How To Promote Your Blog And Get 250k Visits a Month.
• Small business owner. Have a small business already? It’s possible to run it remotely. Sure, you might see some loss of revenue, but it’s a matter of priorities: do you want growth, or freedom? If you want freedom, you open up some interesting options, especially if you automate it.
• Consultant. I do a lot of this, and it works very well for a lot of people in a lot of different fields. Similar to freelancing, but more lucrative with less overhead. However, this requires a great network, serious expertise and hard-earned experience.
• Contractor. Overlaps quite a bit with the title of “consultant” or “freelancer” but there are different options here, too.
• Salesperson. If you sell ice to Eskimos, you don’t need to go door-to-door anymore. There are other methods you can explore using the vast ocean of visualization, worldwide.
• Online business. If you create a totally virtual business, your physical location doesn’t matter. Nicely done!
• Telecommuter. This can work for many employees in traditional jobs. Many companies today now only allow remote work, but help you be the best at it and provide all the necessary tools. The key: you have to be so valuable to your boss that he will allow you the freedom to work from home (or from wherever). Of course, you have to be dependable and able to self-manage not only your work, but your team’s work.
• Create a product. Creating a product that you can sell online is by far the most rewarding choice. This model scalable, can run virtually on its own, and has the potential to bring in considerable revenue; if done right. It takes a big initial investment of time and energy, but once you’ve got the ball rolling and the sales are flowing, it’s mostly maintenance work from then on.
• Expert speaker. Travel from city to city to speak or conduct seminars about whatever you’re an expert at.
• Author. Self publishing will definitely be the the one that gives you the most freedom from location, but even with traditional authors and book tours, etc, freedom is the center of this profession.

One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.
~Oogway

Useful Tips

So exactly how do you achieve this dreamline? Just as there are many options for becoming free from the office, there are many roads to getting there. In one on one session, we help lay out a blueprint for you, but right here I can share some things I’ve learned and still learning along the way, and some things I’ve learned from others that doing the same thing. These are not tips that will work for everyone — they are ideas, things that work for some people, and things to consider for others.

1. Define your dream. The thing that holds most people back is that they don’t allow themselves to dream, of worse, pursue the dreams they do have. Sure, it might seem like a passing fantasy, but they don’t give their dreams a serious thought. But what’s to stop you? Money? Fear? Time? Naysayers? That’s where dreamlining comes in to play, by helping you to overcome obstacles and allow yourself to dream, then follow it. Reward yourself, and humanity, by doing.

2. Discover your passion. Many times, it’s not enough to just do a job from wherever you please — it’s best if it’s a job you love to do. Many of us get stuck in a job just because it’s what we’ve been doing … without thinking about whether it’s something we love to do. This year, I’m pursuing my passion of writing and traveling, and I’m working to turn this passion into the way I make my living.

3. Do your research. Read about how others have achieved this dream, what steps they took to get there, and what their lives are like now. I left some of the greatest road maps at the very beginning of this, so don’t say I didn’t tell you so. Every resource is written by someone who has or is actually living the dream.

4. Explore your options. What are the various roads available to you to get to your dream? Keep your mind open (the most important) to opportunities, to new ways of doing things you’re good at doing, or that you love doing. Think about ways to add income streams into your life, instead of relying on a single income stream. Look at ideas that others are implementing successfully, and see if those are good options for you. In the early stages, it can be useful to look into many more options than you’re actually going to choose in the end … and even give a few of them a try to see if they might work for you.

5. Lay out your plan. Once you’ve begun to explore your options, you can start laying out a roadmap to get to your dream. Now, understand that this roadmap will change as you go along — think of it as a living document rather than anything set in stone. You’re exploring new territory … it only makes sense that you’ll discover new things, learn as you go, change your mind about some things, and find new options you didn’t even know existed. But the key is to write your plan down … so you have a guide to keep you on track. Try the fully customizable dreamline template from Tyler Goelz as a working road map, then add narrative to the facts. Tyler modified this from the original by Tim Ferriss. Also, I highly recommend reading Tyler’s tips and stories from his first complete dreamline, A Beard Across America.

6. Consider a gradual transition. Don’t just quit your day job and start something new all at once. You need to work smarter, not harder, and this will leave you scrambling. Wean yourself from the job one day at a time, over the course of 3 months or a year. The 4HWW has some great tips on how to do this. Gives yourself the chance to adjust to all the changes of quitting your job and going remote.

7. Action: motion ≠ progress. It’s all well and good to make a plan, and to allow yourself to dream, and to consider options and to tell your friends or loved ones — these are necessary steps — but the best-laid plans sitting on a shelf don’t do us much good. We’ve all heard that life happens while you’re planning. You have to take action….today, in this moment, and each moment thereafter. Passion + Persistence. Don’t put it off until next week, next month or next year … do something today to get yourself closer to reality. Make micro-movements, each day. Then tomorrow, another micro-movement. But without a first step, you’ll get nowhere.

8. Reduce your needs. This isn’t as necessary for some as others, but it’s a life changing option to consider. Let’s consider minimalism … > Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from it. It requires a conscience decision. It is a counter-cultural lifestyle that stands against the culture of overconsumption we live in. > ~ Joshua Becker

The world we live in is not friendly to the pursuit of minimalism. Its tendencies and relentless advertising campaigns call us to acquire more, better, faster, and newer. The journey of finding simplicity requires consistent inspiration. I talk about this as a pure and simple practice in Freedom of the Hills: Leaving It All Behind, and a wholly worthwhile practice. You can also try these great articles of inspiration out.

If you don’t have many expenses, or distractions, you don’t need as much of an income … and that means that your dream is much easier to implement. My favorite book on this, Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel, is one of the most amazing travel and life-changing books you can read if you want to travel for a living, and Rolf Potts has some great tips and how-tos on traveling on a minimal income. And, if you have a family, it is just as attainable as if you didn’t. Plenty of families, including mine, are examples that it is possible and very rewarding for our children. My friend Bartosz and his family, are truly a Very Interesting Family in this sense, and are constantly on the move while maintaining a solid family foundation and a multitude of new experiences. Ponder this: Are you willing to work extra hours for the things you buy and spend your money on, or would you rather use those hours doing other things, like traveling?

9. Simplify your work. This, of course, is one of the over-arching themes that Leo Babauta tirelessly writes about at Zen Habits (to start with: one, two, three, four, five, six) … and of course, every other reference and author I have mentioned here. If you want to work on your own, and liberate yourself from the office, you’d be wise to simplify what you do. Eliminate the non-essential tasks, streamline your workflow, focus on the tasks and project and clients with the absolute biggest potential and long-term benefits.

10. Outsource and automate. One of my biggest sources of inspiration, Tim Ferriss’ excellent book The 4-Hour work Week, gives you some great tips on how to eliminate the non-essential and focus on what matters most. But some of the most interesting parts of the book are the sections on outsourcing your life and automating your business. Those parts alone could have been a separate book. They’re not something that everyone will want to implement, but they’re most definitely interesting options that can help many people achieve their dreams.

This, of course, is just the beginning for you. Many of the sources I have cited and provided links for will help you with more inspiration, ideas, details, resources, how-tos, roadmaps, tips, tricks, and so much more …

but I would love to hear from you on this subject.

Feedback and Get Featured in Our Upcoming Book

• Is anyone already working on a dreamline, or already living one?
• Are you pursuing your passion already, or about to start?
• What are your tips? What is your Story?
• Are you a family who has ditched the conventional and is happily living life on your own terms, from anywhere, and loving it (we also want to hear your greatest challenges!)?
• Tell us about it here in this form
• Share with us in the comments

Thank you all so much. Enjoy & Prosper!

Photo Credit: By Pavel Trebukov

Freedom of the Hills: Leaving It All Behind

At the end of this summer my family and I relocated to the Smoky Mountains to pursue new ventures and adventures. To get to this Adventure Cabin & Hostel we run called We Blew Inn, you make a journey through twisting bumpy rising falling mountain roads, and then you’ve arrived to more of the same. We also brought a small vintage fibreglass RV made in 1979, and every week we venture farther into the mountains for what we call Freedom of the Hills, and we leave it all behind. It seems that everywhere we go is the same journey: twisting bumping rising falling, leaving it all behind, and then we’ve arrived.

What a place to arrive at, where each journey takes its own course, and no amount of expert navigation can predict the surprises and wonders along the way. I find that each place is a place of peace, with a silently gushing river, creek or branch, animals and insects moving about, trees swaying and leaves rustling in the wind, people meandering through the woods all the time, everyone walking slowly and deliberately; no distractions, with constant gratitude and mindfulness just to be here. This is a beautiful place of peace.

As I contemplate the peace of leaving it all behind, I am constantly wondering why we need a place in the mountains for this kind of peace.

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity…”

― John Muir

I’m no stranger to work overload, long days and weeks and months of hustle, racing to finish lines while constantly changing the starting lines, and wondering if there were any reprieve around the bend. I’m also no stranger to building a community or participating in one, being available for questions or lend a helping word or hand, or being available for friends or colleagues that require insight or inspiration. But at the end of these long days, you find that giving is hard work, it is draining, and it wears on your soul like the rivers seem to wear on their rocks. We need to sharpen ourselves.

And so I’ve been practicing minimizing to bare essentials and leaving it all behind, no matter what I’m doing, every day. What is this like?

Imagine you’re going to meet with someone, but you’re still thinking about the project you’ve been working on. You’ve brought the project with you. It distracts you so that you don’t fully hear the person you’re with, and they can sense your lack of attention, your lack of presence. This hurts the relationship. It stresses you out, because you’re working on the project and talking with someone at the same time. You are less competent with one task because you’re still thinking about another.

Stress, less competency, and hurt relationships. This is what we have when we bring everything with us to every activity. This happens social circles, teams, companies and communities, every day. It happens in our government’s quarters, and our family’s den.

But if you can leave the project or burden behind, the talk will be much better, the time fulfilling and rewarding. You’ll be fully present, fully engaged and less stressed out.

A place of peace. This is what we are really after, and what I have found, nestled between these mountains. 

“Great things are done when men {or women} and mountains meet”

― William Blake.

How to Find Your Freedom of the Hills and Leave It All Behind

So how do we leave everything behind, so that we can find peace? 

It’s not easy. It’s not a one time decision or action, it is pure and simple practice; then more practice. But it’s a wholly worthwhile practice.

Not everyone will take such extensive measures as I have and sell everything, become a minimalist in thought, possession and action; but everyone can find peace within their path.

Here’s are some simple steps to practice I have found:

• When you arrive in a new place, or talk to someone, or start something new … just pause.
• Then take a brief moment to journey through the mountain road, leaving behind the rest of your life. Just let go, by loosening your grip, by relaxing instead of grasping; then see it fall behind.
• Then arrive in the new place. Look around, smile, and enjoy. Inhabit the new place and give thanks for being there.
• Then put your attention on this new place. This new person. This new activity.
• When you notice your attention wander, just return to that mountain road and find yourself in this place.
• Let go of the need to check, to constantly be busy with something else, to know what’s going on or to do everything. This is our vice. Then remember…

I am just here.
And here is great.

“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.”

― Nelson Mandela