This week I’ve got a three new podcast interviews related to becoming a digital nomad and launching new ventures to share with you (plus a crazy love story).
What’s it like becoming a digital nomad these days?
In the past, one of the biggest challenges of becoming a digital nomad was finding a way to make money without being tied to a single location.
Now, since the pandemic hit and remote work has become much more common, there are new challenges and opportunities for those who want to go nomadic.
What is it like becoming a digital nomad these days?
Over the past year, Justin Gary ditched his office, moved out of his apartment, and got rid of his car to become a digital nomad. Now Justin runs his businesses while traveling and living around the world.
Justin Gary is an award-winning game designer and entrepreneur.
He started his career in gaming at the age of seventeen when he won the Magic: The Gathering US National Championships. Justin then escaped from NYU Law School to pursue his dream of becoming a professional game designer (we discussed Justin’s journey in a previous interview on Never Normal).
He’s since made games for global brands including Marvel, DC, World of Warcraft, and Bakugan. In 2010, Justin founded his own publishing company, Stone Blade Entertainment and released the hit deck-building game, Ascension.
Justin has also taught creativity principles at the Wharton School of Business and to companies including Twitter, Zillow, and Google.
Earlier this year, Justin and I launched Quality Questions together, where we collect and send questions that help you apply the key lessons from self improvement books and lectures to your own life.
If you are a Software developer, it’s easier than ever to become a millionaire. What most haven’t figured out yet, is how to become wealthy without working too hard.
It’s full of life, career, and investment advice, plus little gems like this:
Money is literally defined as exponential so, don’t sit on your linear ass.
But the idea that stuck out to me the most is this:
When making life decisions, going in the direction of more money can be wise. However, we must keep in mind that when we choose money, we don’t choose much. We just decide to decide later.
That’s a really good way to frame it. Reminds me of the “deferred life plan” Tim Ferriss wrote about in the Four-Hour Work Week.
That kind of logic also reminds me of this bit from Family Guy. It’s silly, but: How often do we make ‘mystery box’ decisions in our own lives?
In academia, tenured is shorthand for “unfireable.” In this case, Sam is pointing out that there is now a big group of young and very smart people who have made enough money in the last few years (thanks to building or betting on crypto) that never need to work again.
That gives them the freedom to work on whatever they want to, without worrying about pleasing a boss, hitting quarterly numbers, or needing to make a profit ever.
When I read the phrase self-tenured, the first person who comes to mind is Elon Musk. The story goes that after Elon netted $180 million from selling PayPal to eBay, he invested $100 million in SpaceX, $70 million in Tesla, $10 million in SolarCity, and had to borrow money to pay his rent.
Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, you might say that those were obvious/easy investments to make, but at the time, they were anything but.
I wonder what interesting things will the new self-tenured generation will build?
Which Should You Choose? Advice from a Billionaire…
You could read the two sections above as somewhat conflicting advice about work and wealth.
One is saying, “don’t waste your life working too hard, just earn enough to live well” and the other is saying, “if you make enough money early on, you can spend the rest of your life doing whatever you want.”
So which should you choose?
Enter Ray Dalio (billionaire and head of the world’s largest hedge fund).
In his best-selling book, Principles, Ray encourages us to, “figure out how you can have as much of both as possible”:
How can we apply that logic here? In this case, choosing both means:
Ryan Hoover, founder of ProductHunt, recently asked on Twitter:If money was no object, what would you do with your life…
It’s fascinating to read the responses. Especially the number of people who said something along the lines of, “the same thing I’m doing now.”
honestly i think about this often and it’s exactly what i’m doing now which sounds so pretentious but it’s true! i need the chaos and the insane highs and lows of startups and crypto it’s so fun
If your answer is something other than what you’re doing right now, then:
a) Good for you for being honest b) Good for you for having some ambition, and c) You should ask yourself: Is there some way I can do that thing now?
Even if you can’t magically flip a switch, closing the gap between how you spend your days now and whatever you’d like to do instead should be at the top of your to do list.
Is there something holding you back?
Send me a DM and let me know. I’d love to hear from you. Maybe there’s some way I can help…
That’s all for this week. More soon!
Featured images courtesy of SpaceX
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I write occasional emails to share what I’m thinking, learning, and doing. It’s all related to the idea of breaking free from the “default plan” in life.
Want to learn along with me? Join my Never Normal Newsletter:
This week I’m excited to share a new episode of my Never Normal podcast with Paul Millerd.
In 2017, Paul decided to leave his successful, predictable corporate consulting career (working for the likes of BCG and McKinsey) behind to embark on what he calls “The Pathless Path.”
In addition to writing about to breaking free from the “default life plan”, I also like sharing what I’m thinking, learning, and working on…
Last week I sent my latest long-form essay on What’s Worth Owning. It’s an open-ended piece; I left off talking about blockchains and NFTs.
This week there’s been some heated debate on twitter about the value of NFTs, and whether they even constitute “ownership” at all.
I couldn’t resist weighing in myself here, here, and here:
The same people who convinced us to buy: – Rare sneakers (made in sweat shops) – Limited edition $80 Disney VHS tapes – Blood Diamonds from their vault & – $100 college textbooks (that you can't resell)
Are now trying to convince us that digital assets we control are all scams. https://t.co/fUl5kofARn
In the last email I wrote that I believe the “New American Dream” is getting paid for being yourself — and that the way to do this as a creator working online is to build a Personal Monopoly.
“A Personal Monopoly is the unique intersection of your knowledge, personality, and skills that nobody else can compete with.”
David Perell
This is something that I’m actively in the process of discovering for myself.
Tom Hirst consistently earns over $100,000 / year, even though he’s never had proper job. Tom’s found success as a freelance WordPress developer, working on projects for the likes of England’s National Health Service, sportswear brand Umbro, and Facebook.
Tom also writes about the business of freelancing and mentors other freelancers. Tom is the author of two eBooks: 10 Steps To Becoming A Better Freelancer and Pricing Freelance Projects, and the creator of the video course, The Personal Website Playbook.
You can find all of these resources and more on Tom’s website.
By day Alex is a fractional COO who helps technology companies grow quickly without falling apart.
By night he’s a “curator of people” who builds communities wherever he goes around the world, from impromptu 14-person dinners at conferences to a pop-up co-living space in Colombia.
Jonathan Stark is a former software developer who is on a mission to rid the world of hourly billing. He is the author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts, the host of Ditching Hourly, and he writes a daily newsletter on pricing for independent professionals. That may sound like a a very esoteric topic, but…
If you are a freelance software developer, designer, copywriter, photographer, videographer, editor, or anyone else who works with clients, the ideas in this episode could change your business and your life. That’s what happened to me after I discovered Jonathan’s work.
Niall Doherty left his last office job in 2011 and set off on a mission to travel the world while making money online. Since then he’s been to over 50 countries, written a couple of books, and started several businesses. His website, eBizFacts is the best place to find information, reviews, and a much more to about making money online.
