Life Hacks

Why Life on Your Own Terms Should Never be a Phase

By
Eric Aguirre
on
January 16, 2024

“What are you going to do after you're done traveling?”

This is a question I get all the time. From strangers, to co-workers, to lovers, and family.

I travel a lot. In the last month, I’ve been to 5 different countries.

Many people see my lifestyle and perceive it as a fun but unsustainable phase that is unrealistic to keep up for a long period of time.

But why?

One word: society.

Society has conditioned us to believe that the life you want to live can only be achieved after 40+ years slaving away working for someone else's dream. The idea of traveling the world at 23 years of age and not slowing down any time soon makes people uncomfortable, confused, and even jealous.

life on my terms.jpg
“If you don’t build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs.”

As one of my role models puts it, why trade your present day happiness for ‘happiness’ in an uncertain and unpredictable future?

In other words, why wait?

Do It Now

Life CAN BE lived on your own terms despite what society may condition you to believe.

I'm not saying that I want to continue to be a nomad for the rest of my life but I want to shake people out of their assumptions that I will soon be returning to a life that society encourages me to live.

I’m not going back to a desk job in a cubicle. I have chosen to live life on MY terms and it’s not a phase. 

It’s a lifestyle.

Everyday I am meeting amazing people, traveling the world, and working as a digital nomad from a laptop because it is how I am choosing to live my life. Of course, I had to work hard to get here but my job is doing the things I love.

Why should it be any other way?

Travel has become part of my identity & I love it. Waking up in the morning and strolling down to a beachfront cafe in another new country is the greatest office in the world.

“What are you going to do after you're done traveling?”

My lifestyle is not a phase.

I don't plan on going back to a cubicle anytime soon. If I choose to, there may come a time where I want to call one place home but the freedom I have in my life right now is an irreplaceable lifestyle that I am not trading for a desk no matter how incessant ‘society’ is.

I say all of this not to toot my own horn but to show you that if you want a certain lifestyle, go live it. If you want to break free from a cubicle, do it! All you need is the courage to take action towards your dreams.

You may be thinking, how could I possibly do that? There are many ways but I will share with you how I did it.

After figuring out I wanted this lifestyle, I looked to the people who were doing it. Under30Experiences travels around the world, promotes a healthy lifestyle and always looked like they were having a lot of fun doing it. I was in the financial corporate world at the time and booked a trip with them to see what they were all about. The trip was amazing and the community was great.

When the trip ended and I went back to the corporate grind, I reached out to them to see how I could become more involved. I devoured books and content on how to live like a digital nomad and started to develop a skill set that allowed me to work anywhere.

It wasn’t always easy coming home from a job that I didn’t enjoy and then jump on a computer to learn how to do business development for a startup, but I knew what I wanted and I chose to work to get it.

Before I knew it, I was traveling around the world with Under30Experiences and even published two books

Again, I say this to motivate you, not gloat. Last year I was in a job I didn’t enjoy and chose to change that. Now, I have managed to make the things I love my lifestyle.

So what's my plan for the future?

To paraphrase boss man, role model, and man-crush-supreme Tony Robbins: don't plan to maintain your lifestyle, plan to IMPROVE your lifestyle.

I wake up every morning with the intention of growing in every area of my life. That growth can be--and usually is--miniscule. That's okay because every day I am moving in the right direction.

Plus, growth works like interest on a credit card: if you compound consistent growth, you'll see exponential returns.

One year ago I set the intention that within a year I'll be waking up from different and beautiful places around the world working from a laptop. I'm grateful to say, mission accomplished.

What's next? IMPROVEMENT & GROWTH.

Not only will I maintain this lifestyle but I'll be improving it daily.

Will you join me?

Eric Aguirre
I'm Eric, I aim to inspire and lead fellow and future thought-provoking leaders around the world. I love geeking out on Personal Development and strive to make myself and the world around me a better place. You can find my published books and articles at erichristian.com

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