Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

It Is About Lifestyle Design (Part One)

June 17, 2009 | Opinion

One of the most powerful overall concepts which came out of Tim Ferris’s 4 Hour Work Week was the idea of lifestyle design. The concept might have existed previously (I really don’t know), but it was Tim’s book which first brought the concept into my own world.

Lifestyle design is simply creating the life that you want and doing the things which are necessary to empower you to have the life you want.

For me (and many, I assume), the beauty of internet business is that is empowers lifestyle design.

We don’t live to work. We work to live.

The standard template of life looks something like this:

  1. Grow up in suburbia.
  2. Go to college.
  3. Get a job.
  4. Get married and have 2.5 kids.
  5. Retire at 65.
  6. Play a little.
  7. Die.

    cubicle

This is, in effect, the 7-point checklist for normalcy. If you want to be normal, follow that checklist. Be at the mercy of circumstance. Hate your job. Have spousal problems. And generally be bored out of your ever-loving mind. But, take comfort in the fact that you’re normal.

Unfortunately, the very concept of lifestyle design in our society makes it a practice of the non-conformist. Lifestyle design means that you do what is necessary to CREATE the life you want. You actively take life by the reins and guide it to what you want it to be rather than becoming a mere reactive footnote to what life dictates for you.

For me, a big part of lifestyle design is having no J-O-B. It wasn’t something that just happened. I very consciously made the decision out of college to NOT look for a job. Up until that point, I was following the standard template. The moment I decided to not seek employment, I was on my own.

Do you remember the freedom you felt when you got out of school for the summer? It was as if freedom began at that point. And when the next school year began, it was like you were going back to prison. Similarly, when I find myself in Tampa on a workday, I watch all the 9-5’ers come out of their cage at noon for lunch. The restaurants all become really crowded. Then, at 1pm like clockwork, they are all back in their cubicle farms. Back in prison. It is as if they simply replaced one prison with another one.

When you’re normal, you can’t do whatever you want because you’ve got to work. You’ve got bills. You can’t retire until you’re 65 because you need to build up a retirement nest egg. Once you leave prison at 65, you’re supposed to be able to enjoy your life. But, by this point, you’re 65. 65 years of your life were spent in the rat race.

Why wait to live?

An Exercise in Lifestyle Design

island-picture

Cutting that umbilical with the security of the J-O-B is often pretty hard for people. It is really hard to disagree with the template which our society imposes on us. B

ut, let’s put things in perspective and see how hard this really is.

Let’s say that you want to live on a tropical island. You do want to have a family because kids and your wife are important to you. You want to drive a decent little car. You don’t want to work all day. Maybe half a day works for you. You want a boat so you can go out and fish whenever you want. Alright, great. Let’s itemize the approximate costs associated with creating this lifestyle that you want. You want the island life. Great!

If you want a nice place in a gorgeous Caribbean island, lets throw out a number of $1 million to buy a home. You could go higher, but you could also go cheaper. At a 7% interest rate, a monthly payment might be in the neighborhood of $6,500/month. You could also rent an apartment. A decent size apartment in the Virgin Islands (big enough for a family) might run you around $3,000 per month. BTW, I’m looking at figures here from the Ultimate Resources for Moving To and Living in the Virgin Islands.

Rather than get specific on the costs, let’s estimate that it would cost you about $12,000 per month to have a decent lifestyle on St. Thomas, in the Virgin Islands. Divided by 30 days, we’re looking at $400 per day. This might be a high estimate, but let’s just assume it for now.

Let’s say you created and sold a product for $100 on the Internet. You would only need to make 4 sales per day.

Better yet, you build a continuity program (aka membership site). You price it at $20/month for members. If you get 600 members, you’ve hit your mark.

But, on the Internet, you usually are not a one trick pony. You’ll probably have a few small products out there. You’ll have several different revenue streams. Each one wouldn’t need to sell that much for you to add up to $12K per month.

These figures might be ballpark estimates, but do you see the process? Do you see how it really doesn’t take a superman to create the lifestyle that many dream of? There’s probably a lot of people who would think living on a tropical island in the Caribbean would be the ultimate dream life. It really isn’t that hard.

We’re talking 4 sales. 600 members. When talking about something as big as the Internet, these numbers aren’t huge. But, they’ll work for you.

It is about starting out with your ideal life, then working backwards to see what you have to do to put the money there to live that life.

By coupling this exercise with the action of not committing to things that would keep you from realizing that lifestyle, you’ve got yourself there. And you don’t need to wait until you’re 65.

More on that one tomorrow… ;)

UPDATE: Here is Part Two.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

  1. It Is About Lifestyle Design (Part Two)
  2. Becoming a Better Problogger By Becoming a Better You
  3. Getting a Great Blog Design For a Brand New Blog [#22]
  4. Behold – New Blog Design
  5. An Analogy in Site Design [#14]
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  • Peter
    Great article. When I quite my job 2 months ago, I had the exact feeling of getting out of school for the summer. I'm now working 1/4 less at 5x my old rate. Tim's book definitely opened my eyes.
  • jerky_dehydrator
    You are right. Sadly, that is the template that we Americans are taught right from the start. I really like the 4-hour work week concept.
  • I would love to lose my boss. I have tried for months to make it online.
  • I fit in to the category highlighted by Greg above - I'm not after anything at all flash like an island lifestyle, just a little more flexibility and no boss!
  • Yup, over in Orlando! I'll be at IZEA Fest, always a crazy weekend when you have Ted planning an event with crazy internet marketers, booze and Sea World!
  • Hey David great post. Didn't relaize that you lived across the I-4. We should def grab lunch and a beer someday.

    Love your points here. What is even more inspiring is that many do not want the island life, but just a life where they no longer have a boss, TPS reports and the headache of traffic every morning and afternoon. This is the allure of the Internet Business.

    The continuity idea is fantastic and is the basis for my lifestyle design. I have 2 sites going up in the next 30 days, both continuity. One to pay the bills and one to try and build into something huge. The great part. I don't need 6,000 - 10,000 a month to live. I only need about 3,000. This means that I only need 100 people paying $30/mo to hit my benchmark. Sounds a lot easier than 600.

    Either way, it is possible through hard work and mental toughness. The Internet is not a fly by night business if you want to make it last. Thanks for the inspiring words this morning.
  • Hey Greg,
    Orlando I assume? Yeah, man, I'm down. Next time I'm in Orlando will be for Izeafest. You should come out for that.
  • David, this is coooool.

    My own definition of J-O-B is Just Over Bored..That is what JOB does.

    I have written couples of posts about JOB and business. My recent is a post on financial freedom test. It is here for anyone that wants to check it out
    http://adesojiadegbulu.com/financial-freedom-test/
  • I am in pursuit of a lifestyle like yours. I have reached the phase where I don't want to work for others but work for myself and help others to do the same. I have been acquiring the skills required to do that in fine style & with the wisdom, help n guidance from senior gurus like you I am sure that I can be the greatest man in my own unique way.

    Many thanks for this inspiring and motivated post.
  • Who would want to have a small car? :)

    I definitely get your point and it is very true that if you break everything up in small pieces it seems a lot easier to accomplish. For most people you would still have to work consistently on getting to that point because even though 4 sales a day or 600 members doesn't sound like that much you'll not go from being a "nobody" to being a "superstar" in a week :)
  • "For me, a big part of lifestyle design is having no J-O-B. It wasn’t something that just happened. I very consciously made the decision out of college to NOT look for a job. Up until that point, I was following the standard template. The moment I decided to not seek employment, I was on my own."

    The graduating college point you are talking about. I am at that point right now. I have a BFA from a very prestigious Art School. I don't want to get a 9-5 job, I don't want to follow the 7 point checklist. I know I can benefit other people in better ways. I've been busting my ass for last 8 months on developing my website and its working, but very slowly. My money is running out and if I need to I will get a job temporarily, but man do I want to do what you described here. The thing is I know that given the time I will design my lifestyle. Its just a matter of time.

    What you and Tim talk about, is inspiring. It has changed my life last summer. Now that I am out in the world, its scary but it is far more painful for me to get a 9-5 job.
  • I have an issue with the 1st point on the 7 point checklist but I can look past that. I understand you need to make a change to live the lifestyle but how do you do that once you have reached point 4. At this point you have responsibilites bigger than yourself and you have to take those into account also which can actually impede your willingness to jump or your progress after you have already jumped.What if they don't want to jump with you?
  • Christian
    4 sales per day at 100 $ or 600 members sounds not much... for amazon.com really it isn't much... but for one person it is much. I mean, I would be happiful, if I would sell something 4 times a month. I tried Affiliate Marketing, got around 40-50 Visitors a day with my blog, but nobody bought one thing of my Affiliate Products! I don't know, I live in Germany, I think there is another culture, here the people are not giving there money away so quick... I think nobody would pay 20$ for a membership per month! Really, I know a big site in germany, with a cool show about macs, the owner can live of that show, but many say that the 6 € are too much per month! Real big blogs can hardly live of the money, but they have not much money. The most they get from networks, who pay for blog-posts... I don't know, I think in the USA it's easier or when you blog in english. But my english is not so good, how you can see, it would not be good for a blog.
  • That 7-point checklist bothers me so much, because it is so true. What you said there is dead on. People are often horrified when I talk about my desire to not get a "real job" and make my own way on the internet.

    I like the way you broke down the money situation also.

    Lifestyle design is a HUGE part of having an online business and I think that many entrepreneurs overlook this. Great post, looking forward to tomorrow.
  • David,

    Fantastic insights. (You're talking my lingo now lol)

    You've made it completely realistic what society (TV) says is a "dream." The problem started for the masses when they got taught to not think for themselves.

    It starts with parents, teachers through school and then college. I have nothing against education, as you know I'm a book worm and a half these days. My challenge is that our infrastructure as a society teaches people to be "sheep walkers" as Seth Godin calls it. Not independent thinkers & big dreamers.

    People are so afraid to break out of that 7 point check list (Which I thought was brilliant by the way) because they've been conditioned to do anything but.

    I think you just opened the door in this post for many people to see whats truly possible with enough thought, effort and inspiration.

    Looking forward to Day 2.
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