Vision

Loosing sight of your goals can happen to anyone. It's really hard to live on a budget that will make those goals a reality. If delayed gratification was easy, we would not have a negative savings rate in this country. What I do to keep myself motivated towards achieving my dreams is to have a vision book.

My goal is to live a nomadic lifestyle. I want to travel the US visiting every Jewish community and learn their history and local customs. I may or may not write a book about it. Making that dream, or any dream, a reality though can take some serious motivation.

So the vision book. It's nothing fancy. Just a regular binder. Inside are some pictures of RVs and converted vans that I think will work, along with ideas for turning it from a vacation space into a full time home. I've also included some ideas for location independent income and other sites I'd like to see (I'd really like to make another trip to Chaco Canyon).  When life seems to get in the way of pursuing my dreams, I pull out my vision book and it motivates me to get back to work.

How do you motivate yourself?

I want more

Minimalism is not always about less. Sometimes it's about wanting more and creating the space for that to manifest. Here's my list of five things I want more of:

1. Art, music, and creativity
2. Charity
3. Experiences (but only those that enrich or empower my existence)
4. Friendship (for me, as for many other millennials, the line between friendship and family is blurry. I love having an expansive and eclectic family)
5. Contentment

What do you want more of? How are you working to make that a reality?

Goals

A dear friend on Facebook asked me to write this post. It's a subject I commit to paper regularly, but not one I generally share publicly. Here goes.

My personal goals change periodically. Historically my goal has been to lead as self sufficient a life as possible. A life really rooted in natural experience with permaculture and homesteading, all designed at lowering my effect on the environment. That goal no longer resonates with me.

Over the past several months my long term goal has evolved into seeking a life of increased connectivity~to people and to the universe. I want to travel, and to learn. For the time being I envision this life manifesting through a nomadic existence (more than likely via an RV or similar setup).

That is my long-term goal. In the shorter term my goal is to pay off all my consumer debts. While I am making progress in that regard, I would prefer to do so much more quickly. Minimalism has greatly enhanced my ability to meet this goal. Lowering my living expenses and my needs allows me to put more towards my dreams. Selling random stuff I have no use for also helps.

In the slightly longer term, I hope to enter semi retirement early. Generally much sooner rather than later. I'm not sure when it will happen, but I have no intention of waiting till I'm 70 to follow my dreams. Largely the achievement of this goal depends on how quickly I can renumerate my consumer debt as well as how quickly I can develop a location independent income. Admittedly, reducing my needs helps achieve this goal more quickly. I'm hoping to achieve all three goals within 10-15 years (although the debt elimination goal I hope to achieve within 3 years). 

What are your goals and how are you achieving them? Do you have any thoughts on my goals? Please comment below.