Hello again my friend,
When you think about a nomad what comes to mind?
A Bedouin in the desert? A world traveler who lives out of a backpack and sleeps under the stars?
I admit when someone uses the term “nomad” my mind instantly goes to an image of a Tusken Raider. You know, those weird sand people from Star Wars.
Ok, so I’m a bit of a nerd.
If you look up nomad in the dictionary it says,
“A member of a people who have no fixed residence but who move from place to place, usually seasonally and within a well defined territory.”
Like a gipsy they move from place to place without regard for king or country. They are a country unto themselves. They live by their own rules.
I admit this idea fascinates me. But today I want you to rethink what it means to be a nomad. A new kind of nomad. The 21st century kind.
A 21st Century Nomad
Although I don’t write about it much, my political views are very libertarian. I prefer peace and kindness to war and hate. I think every person has the right to pursue a fulfilling life, no matter what that is, as long as they don’t prevent someone else from doing the same.
Matt Kibbe, President of Free the People said it best with the title of his book “Don’t hurt people, and don’t take their stuff.”
Simple, yet powerful.
Freedom and Liberty are words that get thrown around a lot. So much so that they have lost their meaning. Most of the time we talk about them within the context of political power. It’s rare to hear anyone discuss them with regard to our individual power.
What is Freedom?
To me, freedom is about autonomy. It’s about getting to do:
- What you want,
- Where you want,
- When you want,
- With whom you want,
- On your Terms,
- Without consideration for the financial cost.
Can you imagine anyone being more free?
But how do we get there? As I said, most people choose the political route. They join political parties, attend rallies, debate what governments should or shouldn’t do. Entire lives have been wasted trying to move the political football an inch forward or backward.
In the end, it’s all a distraction.
What Does it Take to Be Free?
To be free you must have power. Power to control your own life and, if necessary, the lives of others. To have power you need influence and there is no quicker way to gain influence than with wealth.
Wealth, Power & Influence. (Man that sounds like a killer name for a podcast.)
This is why I spend so much time talking about income and wealth. The are the cornerstone of freedom. If someone wants to control you these are the first things they will take away.
But earning a high income is not enough. It can take a lifetime to build the wealth necessary to earn the kind of autonomy I’m talking about. So we must do more.
Not only do we need rare and specialized skills that will allow us to command a high income, we also need to be in control of that income. Yes, I’m talking about entrepreneurship.
Everyone’s an Entrepreneur
Whether you like it or not, you are an entrepreneur. We all are. We are all focused on building the best life possible for ourselves and our families. You, are in the business of you and that makes you an entrepreneur.
So I want you to start thing about the company you work for as a customer rather than an employer.
As an entrepreneur, how comfortable would you be if you only had one customer? Even if that customer pays you handsomely, how confident would your be in your business?
If that was me I’d be waking up in cold sweat afraid that one customer would decide to take their business elsewhere.
One, is the scariest number imaginable. Yet that is how most people live their lives, under a false sense of security.
To be free you must control the source of your income. You need many sources of income. That way if you lose one you aren’t left standing in a food line.
For most people, earning a high income while working for themselves would be enough. But not for us. There’s still one piece of the puzzle we need to discuss. Mobility.
Mobility is freedom. What good is a palace on the hill if it serves as your personal prison.
There will always be people who are more powerful than you. Governments will always exist, and when they become oppressive you need the ability to pick up and move.
So in addition to a high income that allows you to build wealth and controlling the source of that income, you also need “income mobility”.
That means focusing your efforts on work you can do from anywhere.
This wasn’t possible a generation ago. Today it is. Today the internet gives us the opportunity to work digitally from anywhere in the world. And it’s only getting better.
Ready to Go Nomad?
To me, a Nomad isn’t someone who wanders the earth without a place to call home. A nomad isn’t a man without a country. A Nomad is simple someone who isn’t beholden to anyone.
A 21 Century Nomad has a home, a family and a country. But he has “income mobility”. He has the ability to build wealth from anywhere.
He has achieved freedom in his lifetime. Something no political party or activist group has been able to do in two centuries.
If that life sounds appealing to you, go here now. https://www.stapletonagency.com/survey-results
Talk soon,
Jason
English