“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” – Les Brown
If you had said to me a year ago that I would have a blog, be writing nearly every day, have self-published my first book, and had traveled the world continuously for 6 months actually living my dream, I would have said, what are you smoking?! But that is my reality and I couldn’t be more blessed. My journey from being a blue collar worker in the welding industry in Australia to where I am now didn’t happen overnight, far from it. But I had the plan and I made it happen, it took a lot of hard work but it was all worth it. The journey really started in my mind when I was 21 and I made a goal to be financially free by the time I hit 30. I love real estate and this is what I planned on using to reach my goal. I bought, renovated and kept houses over the years making plenty of mistakes and kind of meandered along slowly building up my portfolio until I was at the point where I could no longer take it any more at my current job.
Taking the Leap
To walk away from my job of 10 years was a HUUUGE step for me. After 10 years you get very comfortable and view your job as part of you and you start thinking; “I could never really leave here, what else would I do?” I’m sure plenty of you have felt the same. But taking that step and quitting my job was the most liberating thing I’d ever done. I had cut the strings of my well-being, everything I had known in the employment world, and I couldn’t have felt better.
“Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.” – Farrah Gray
Especially since I knew that I had 6 months of travelling the world ahead of me. I moved out of my house so I was officially homeless, sold a lot of my stuff and stored the rest. I felt free. My possessions where few, I had cash in the bank, a small income from my property portfolio and a whole heap of excitement ahead of me. I had also said quietly to myself in my mid-twenties that I would never work in the current job I was in past the age of 30. I quit 2 days before my 30th birthday and I never looked back. I’ve found if you put dates on everything, your travel plans, income goals, fitness goals and you make those dates and dreams public then you end up working like a mad man to make it happen. It works for me anyway. The transition from worker to travel bum/entrepreneur/professional bludger has been an amazing journey full of ups and downs, but all totally worth it.
“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” —Nelson Mandela
The thought of going back to normalcy kind of scares me. I think there is a way for all of us to live our dreams. It doesn’t have to be to quit your job, you may love your job and if you do then that’s awesome, you would be one of very few that do enjoy their career. But for me, after 10 years the time had come when the monotony and repetitiveness of my work had hit a point that if I stayed any longer I would have gone insane and tried to blow the place up. Ok probably not but I was getting close.
What is your dream worth?
For the next 6 months I knew my life was going to change, and that it did. I now had the TIME to pursue the things I wanted to do. I could get up early (yes I still get up early), work on my book, my writing, my blog and keep up my fitness every day. I was making a whole lot less money than I was than when I was employed but I was a whole lot happier. Why? I now had bought myself TIME and FREEDOM.
“What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.” —Bob Dylan
These things are very important to me. Health is important, we only have one body and I want mine to be the best it can be. We only get a certain amount of time in this world and I don’t want to spend a big chunk of it helping someone else get wealthy. Money is important too although I think that more people get these mixed up and focus too much on the money making part.
“Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
With a job and the normal constraints of working for someone else, it puts a lot of your time at the mercy of someone else and I don’t like that. When you cut the strings of the majority of your income it really puts things into perspective as to how you’re going to survive and what you’re going to do about making a living for yourself. Traveling gives you plenty of time to clear your head and start thinking about the things in life that really matter to you. But if I hadn’t cut that cord I can guarantee I would still be there welding away and wondering what was on the other side. I’d be getting more miserable, grumpy and thinking that the world owed me something. The world doesn’t owe me anything, I had to go out and make my own luck. I had to make the hard choices and just hope like hell that I had made the right decision. I had to make sure that I was prepared for the unexpected. I had to make sure that I was going to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. And you know what? I did the right thing.
About the Author
Adrian Landsberg started The Lifestyle Compound for his love of entrepreneurship and travel. In October 2103 he quit his job of ten years to chase his dream of going on a multi-country, bucket list smashing mission. Recently he has bungee jumped naked, walked the most dangerous hike in the world and trekked to Mount Everest Base camp. Adrian enjoys writing about building passive income, self-improvement, travelling and living a life full of fun and passion.
