Mind the Beginner

A lot of blogs I follow seem to be doing an end-of-the-year review. I myself have been thinking about this a while now and see no reason not to do one. When this year started I didn’t own a blog, I wasn’t active on social media and had never earned a single dollar through online sales (not counting ebay, but that’s not business).

Three small things but I started in all three and combined they made a huge difference. It began with reading the four hour workweek. As I have the habit of writing down the date on which I bought a book inside it’s cover I an tell you that I bought it on October 28th 2008. I read it the following days and reread sections over the following months. The first thoughts about lifestyle design were born and I started reading blogs. A few months later I decided to start blogging over at mindthebeginner.wordpress.com (March 13th 2008). You might recall the adres, it’s where I build this blog to it’s first 100 subscribers. I was doubtful about starting a blog for a long time, thinking I had nothing to write that people would actually want to read. I was wrong and Taking part in probloggers 31 days to building a better blog challenge helped me get into the ways of blogging.

Blogging is not the only thing I started as said, I also got into Project Mojave thanks to my friend Carl. Although I didn’t stay there it did open my eyes to the possibilities of inernet and that things really aren’t that hard if only you believe in yourself and your own capabilities. With so many people online there are bound to be people who want hear what you have to say.

Right now I’m still not completely happy with my blog though. The look isn’t to good and reader interaction isn’t what I’d like it to be. So there we have a goal for the next year. But there are many more goals for the new year. 2010 Will be a themed year for me: freedom. Freedom in many ways, and of course something this vague needs measurable goals so let me give you an outline of what I’m going to do this year:

The Goals

Most significant of all I’m setting the goal of a monthly income of at least $500 a month through online ventures to be reached by the end of 2010. Combined with this the total spendings for 2010 will not be more than the total income. I could try and do that on a monthly basis but I pay my tuition in one go and that will most certainly be more than my monthly income. Freedom of finance.

My second area of goal setting is this blog. I want to reach the 300 subscribers mark by the end of the year and give you at least 100 blogposts over the next year, spread evenly. (So no overload of blogposts in December just to reach this goal.). Also I want to redo the layout and provide you with a better blogreading experience. I might just start using “headway” but I’m still on the fence about that one. A blog to write about freedom, minimalism and zen-inspired life.

In the computer area I have three goals. First off, touch-typing in qwerty. I type a lot of course. Not only in blogging but I’m almost always behind my computer and touch-typing will improve my speed greatly. My education is training me among other things to be a programmer and it’s silly to have to keep watching the keys and be slow just because I use six fingers and cant’ find the [, \ , ; and ] without looking. Secondly I’m going to set up my desktop to be a Linux-only computer. Not because I’m anti-windows (actually I think Win 7 is very good) but because I want to challenge myself and I can see only advantages of knowing how to work with more than one OS. Lastly I want a laptop, so I can properly blog and work/study wherever I am. Something highly portable but capable, like a thinkpad T500. Of course this will run on Linux. The sidenote here is that I’m not going to pay for this laptop with anything else but the income I plan to make through online ventures. Freedom to work/study/play where I want.

In the category of brain-development and useless skills I have another nice set of goals. I want to be able to solve a Rubik’s cube in 60 seconds or less. (Of which I will be posting a video on this blog as soon as I reach that goal.) I know it’s completely useless but It’s something I’ve wanted to be able to do for a long time now and it keeps bugging me.
I want to be able to juggle three balls, yes it’s completely useless, or so you might think. But its a great way of training the brain and developing hand-eye coordination. Together with the cube it’s something from my childhood I never learned and watched others do. Who said every goal needs to be useful.
Speedreading, you’ve probably heard of it, is something I’ve also wanted to be able to do. Although I can reach roughly 600 wpm (words per minute) right now I want to raise this to over 1000 wpm both in Dutch and English. Thicker books will not hold me captive for countless hours anymore. Information is freedom and more information is more freedom.

The minimalism goals are next. A long long time ago I blogged about the 100 items challenge and I must confess that I’m still not there. Why would I want to do this? I want less clutter, more space and a serene living space. I will have to get rid of dozens of books, and all those things that represent cash value but are a total pain to get sold for a descent price. It’s to cluttered right now and have more things ties you down and limits freedom.

Last but certainly not least we have body and mind developments. Five points here, but three are things I’m already doing and need to keep up. (Okay, it’s more of a want but feels like a need)
I want to keep meditating daily for 20 minutes using the methods of zazen. Combined with this it’s always a good idea to take up physical activities so I’m going to run, continuously for an hour somewhere between two and three times a week. I’ve been running for a while now but it’s hardly consistent. The last physical thing I want to keep doing is continue training t’ai chi. Following a weekly class every Thursday evening and I will stay at that for as long as I can, which is probably until I finish university.
As mentioned there are five points, so two are new ones. The first is a huge things if you know anything about personal development and productivity. And of course…. it’s something I’m not doing right now so here it is: I want to become an early riser. Getting up at 6.30 Monday through Friday consistently. Seeing as I live about 15 minutes by bike from Uni and we never start before 8.45 am that leaves me with enough time to write blogposts and perhaps even go for morning runs and/or meditate in the morning as well. We’ll have to see how that goes.
The last goal on this extensive list is something I’m absolutely not sure about if I will be able to do but I want to take up Aikido. Again this is a weekly course but the timing is horrid. Mid-day somewhere and that might interfere with my roster. I just hope it’s possible.

There you have it, my 2010 shortlist:

“Freedom”

• Financial

*Monthly “internet income” of $500
*Live below means

• Blogging

*300 subscribers to this blog
*100+ blogposts in 2010
*New layout

• Computer-related

*Touch typing in qwerty
*Having Linux as only OS
*A laptop (Payed for with internet income)

• Brain development

*Solve Rubik’s cube in 60 seconds or less (and post a video of it here)
*Juggling with three balls
*Speedreading 1000 words a minute in Dutch and English

• Minimalistic living

*Complete the 100 items challenge

• Body development

*Continue meditating daily for 20 minutes (zazen)
*Continue training in T’ai Chi
*Run more consistently (2-3 times a week, one hour at a time)
*Become an early riser (6.30 am Mon – Fri)
*Take up Aikido if possible

An almost insane list to complete and I forgot one essential thing: Do all this AND get proper grades! In the new layout this list will get it’s own dedicated page so you can keep track of the developments. I’ll also be making a so called bucket list (Things to do before you kick the ..) and that too will get it’s own dedicated page. I’m sure this list will develop a bit over the year, but nothing will come off, if anything, things will be added.

With that being said all that is left is to say Thank You! for making 2009 an awesome year where I learned loads of things and finally found my path in life. I couldn’t have done it without you. Enjoy these last days and I hope to see you in 2010

Greets,

Christiaan

There’s a buzz in the lifestyle design sector the last few days. Clay Collins is about to re-open Project Mojave to the public. For a modest fee you can take part and learn how to build a “freedom business” in 3.8 months.

But what is it exactly. What I can tell you is that the project is a collection of people who have combined their skills in teaching people how they can set up an Internet business with the goal of making an income that’s automated leaving you with enough time on your hands (because you no longer have to work) to do what you really want to do. You’ll be freed from the bonds of the 9 to 5 till 65.

Sounds great doesn’t it? Well, yes it’s a sales talk of course it sounds great. But does it really work?

No! it’s not a magic program that will get you up to speed and guarantee you your freedom business. For Clay it’s a business and as any business it earns him money. 200 people, times $99 a month or something like that equals buckets full of money, split in several pieces to pay all the other stakeholders and it’s still a lot of money every month.

But you know what? That’s perfectly alright, it’s a get rich scheme for Clay but at the same time its a wealth of knowledge brought together in one place. All the knowledge is out there on the Internet but most people can’t find it. At Project Mojave it’s all there in easy bite sized bits and easy to follow tutorials. Setting up a business really isn’t that difficult, save for one single thing everybody seems to keep forgetting:

It’s damn hard work! Hundreds of hours you need to spend staring at numbers until you find a niche, hundreds of hours working on an information product. So in the end it’s not a get rich quick scheme. It takes many many hours of dedicated work. On both sides… You get a lot back for your $99 a month, knowledge painstakingly gathered and tested over and over to give you the best possible chance to make it through and be successful. All it takes is a lot of perspiration, some inspiration and a modest monthly fee.

You’ll be in there with people like Jonathan Mead, Johnny B Truant, Laura Roeder and Carl R Nelson, all discussing their take on things and helping you get through the program through discussions on a lively forum.

If you’re up to it and believe this is the path for you, click the banner below and take part on the project, I promise you that if you do the work you’ll make it through. Just don’t underestimate it…  Good luck!

Chances are that you’ve read the four hour workweek, it’s also very likely that you know who Seth Godin is and the name Leo Babauta might even ring a bell. Just a few resources (almost) all people into lifestyle design have heard about.

But names these to just about anyone in daily life and they will have no idea what or who you are talking about. The whole idea of Location Independence (after all, a goal for most lifestyle designers) is completely unknown to them and they are certain you are out of touch with reality. Or at least have very romantic views on how the world works. The possibilities of Internet in the field of generating passive income streams is shrouded in mystery and above all, in disbelief. What are the actually chances of setting up such an income?
Maybe 1 in 1000 people will find a way to generate such an income, and just a few of those will be able to life from that income alone.

Blogging isn’t the way to make loads of money, we all know that right? Yes there are a few bloggers out there who have managed to do very well indeed. (Leo and Darren for example) but most Location Independent Professionals (LIP’s) have different ways of generating their income. Through sales on their blogs/websites, through affiliate programs and general advertisement.

Although I don’t have exact numbers (if you have them, please do share them) I like to believe that it’s not that hard to set up a passive income online. They key here is knowledge.

• Americans under age 60 with incomes under $30,000 per year and those with a high school education or less are considerably less likely to use a computer than their higher income and more educated counterparts
• 49% of adults say they’re keeping up (with computer development); 49% say they’re being left behind
• 75% of Americans use the Internet and spend an average three hours a day online
• Only 30% of cell owners send text messages – but that’s double what the number was two years ago
• One in three cell owners doesn’t know how to use their cell properly (that is, simple configurations)
• a new blogger [joins] the crowd every 40 seconds
• 94 % of high-school seniors have Internet access

A few random statistics that tell us that certainly not everyone is keeping up with all the online developments and there are enough people who -quite harshly said- simply aren’t tech savvy enough to make full use of the networks on offer. Yes, there are millions upon millions of bloggers out there. But what percentage of those bloggers has heard of lifestyle design? It’s a small niche. I’ve been asking around in class and nobody seems to have taken a serious look at things. (and mind you, I’m talking about future software engineers and information scientists here)

If you think what you know about lifestyle design is general knowledge, ask around on the following topics: polyphasic sleep, speedreading, outsourcing, raw food, flashpacking, purple cows, tribes and vagabonding to name but a few.

Grasping the possibilities

If these people, who spend almost every waking hour in the vicinity of a computer with Internet access don’t seem to grasp the full potential of the passive income stream chances are very few people out there really give it a go. Of those who try, most will fail, quite simply because they haven’t done enough research to find out how things actually work. Finding a niche is one of the toughest things you have to do if you want to be successful at this game. Mind you, although in your real life you might be the only one thinking about these things (I know I am…) there are thousands out there trying to do the same. Of those thousands there are a few hundred with enough knowledge to make it work, of those a couple of dozens found a viable niche….

Now putting it all together: Although the Internet is huge and expanding faster than the universe right after the big bang there is just a statistical handful of people who seriously explore the possibilities of lifestyle design and location independence. We’re right there at the front edge of the field, the early adopters. And being here gives us a huge advantage. We know what others don’t know yet. If you’re able to put all the knowledge to action and really give this a go you’re a very rare breed indeed.

You can be the one type, those who don’t try and those who don’t know are the other. Who do you want to be?

As you might now I ride a rather old motorcycle that’s not very fuel efficient (Roughly 42 miles per gallon if I converted it correctly.  18 km/l). As I was riding on the highway last Saturday my fuel ran out, thankfully I have a reserve in the tank so I switched to that. An additional 3 liters of fuel (0.8 gallon) to get me home. More than enough range but as I rode off to uni today I was feeling a bit uneasy as to how much fuel was left, I didn’t fill up yet. Would I run out halfway and have to walk?

This wasn’t the case, but after class I walked back to my motorcycle wondering if I could make it to the gasstation. I can tell you, it’s very unpleasant riding like that. Anyone driving a car with the fuel light on can tell you that.

Well, now something interesting happened: I started holding back. Easing down on the throttle, trying to predict/time stoplights and even shutting down the engine entirely on a long stretch downhill, all in the name of fuel economy. This huge change in style got me thinking, how much effect can you have on your mileages if you change your driving style. I usually tend to gun it a bit.

A short internetsearch later I ended up with a frequently used term on the internet although I’ve only found it in combination with cars (and hybrids in particular) “hypermilers”. A phrase used to describe those people who try to squeeze every last inch out of every gallon while using street-legal production cars.

Although not all tactics are usable on a motorcycle there is one main tactic that is more important than all others combined: stay calm and relaxed. This means no sudden changes in speed or direction, also described as “Foot control, hand-eye coordination, and anticipation”. One study found that jackrabbit starts and hard brake stops reduce travel time by only about 4 percent—that’s 75 seconds on a 30-minute trip. And we didn’t even factor in tire, engine and brake wear. A few tactics applicable to motorcyclists  are:

• Stay off the brakes
• Accelerate as slow as you can without causing problems for other road users
• Idling is zero miles per gallon…. stay moving if possible
• Stay out of puddles and grooves
• Uphill: gather momentum to take you over, you’ll slow down at the top. Time it so you barely roll over and start gaining momentum again on the downhill.
• Turning off the engine and rolling (Can be illegal, check local laws)
• Tailgating/slipstreaming (Again, can be illegal)
• Get your tuires up to proper pressure, perhaps even a bit harder
• Clean out the air filter
• Check and clean your oil regularly
• Keep the chain properly lubed and at the right tension
• Try to minimise drag
• Try to minimise weight

Try these tactics at your own risk of course, and please do put on a high-vis vest, you’re vulnerable as a motorcyclist even without doing these things. And of course, if you can do something on a bicycle or by walking, don’t use something with a combustion engine.

Now if you’re wondering why I would like to save gas, I have exactly one reason for it: Frugality. If I calculated this correctly I filled up my gastank today at the cost of $7.31 per gallon. (€1.32 per liter). Thankfully it’s a small country and my average trip is just over 40 miles but still, it’s no fun seeing all that money just evaporate so some frugality is in order. I’m not one for extreme green thinking, I wouldn’t mind solar panels on my roof and a windmill in the backyard but it’s not a must for me. Just by being a minimalist I find that I’m greener than most, no need to overdo it and build a composting loo as well. When the time comes for a “new” car I’ll go for a prius or some other hybrid but for now, it’s an old ratbike and doing everything I can to save money on gas.

Stay calm while riding and control your right hand, slow down and enjoy the view at the same time. It’s a true challenge to get as many miles as possible, treat it as a game and constantly try to get the new highscore.

Good luck and remember: relax, focus and have fun!

Not to long ago I got a mail from Jean asking me how I handled food and eating. She herself found that “a simple (mostly raw) seasonal consumption of food works best”

I have just one guideline I try to follow in all food:

Concerning food that I buy/prepare myself. If I can’t tell what’s in there I probably won’t eat it.

I try to stay clear from processed stuff, canned things and anything in a plastic bowl you need to nuke for a few minutes. Come to think of it, I have a disliking for nuked food in general. Yes it’s flaming hot, but it’s also limp, tasteless and most times if there is any flavor involved everything tastes the same. I don’t read labels a lot (the only time I do is because my girlfriend is a vegetarian and they put meat in the oddest things lately.

If someone else is cooking I generally don’t look to close, I’m not a fussy eater at all and will eat anything you put in front of me. If we ever meet face to face, just try me.

In general, I eat because my body needs it, either food because my stomach is growling or something protein rich after running. I hardly ever eat because I like to or as comfort food. Needless to say I have no obesity issues. A nice “benefit” is that if there is anything that’s the opposite of a sweet tooth, I have one. I drink a lot, a lot of water and tea, no soda’s for me… hardly any coffee. To make sure I don’t have to buy drinks while not at home I always have a 16 oz Nalgene bottle with me, filled with water. I top it up every chance I get. A simple but very effective way to save money and healthy too.

Well, that’s it in a nutshell for me. If you have more questions, please do ask them.

In the mean time I have a question for you: What is your take on food?

Every day we make choices in our life, what to drink what to eat, where to go and what to do. But those are not the choice I want to talk about here. I want to have a closer look at those other choices otherwise known as taste or value.

As soon as we value something there are things that “better” or “worse” than that thing. In short we’re constantly comparing whatever it is that crosses our path and it limits us, it limits us severely.

Picking flowers

If a flower is less beautiful than the one you saw yesterday, is it a lesser flower? How about this blogpost, how does it compare to other blogposts, not only on this blog but compared to all other blogposts out there. Do you see the limitations? We find it harder (or even impossible) to appreciate what’s in front of us because something else has a higher assigned value.

It’s impossible to stop comparing but it’s not impossible to stop choosing the one over the other. Why wait for something better that’s out there when you have something great in hand. To many opportunities go passed this way just because they don’t compare favorably to your golden standard. To much time is wasted in hunting down these golden standards when something lesser (again, an assigned value) is right in front of us.

You loose a lot of opportunities and time this way.

Letting quality slip

Am I advocating no longer chasing quality? Certainly not! Yes that newest model phone is better, even the best out there but isn’t your current model almost as good? After all, you were happy when you first got it right? The quality of what you have hasn’t changed, the assigned value changed, you choose to make something else your golden standard and now are no longer content with what you have.
It’s an ongoing cycle, the search for ever greater things and always looking to the future for opportunities when they are in fact, right under your nose this very instant.

Why hunt for the better *insert something here* when the one you have is just fine as it is.

The freedom bit

The title of this blogpost mentioned being free and so far I didn’t write about it yet. What does freedom have to do with it all. As soon as you no longer waste time you have more time on your hands to do the important stuff, there’s some freedom right there.But there is more.

As soon as we assign values like beautiful, tasty and pleasant we immediately give birth to ugly, disgusting and unpleasant for the one can not be without the other. We chose to call that flower pretty and so other flowers are lesser flowers. As a direct result the other flowers will give us less pleasure. Congratulations to us, we just cheated ourselves out of pleasure. Way to go!

Assigning value leads to a diminished capability of enjoying what’s right here, right now for you can not enjoy fully what is here if you’re thinking of a golden standard elsewhere.

And so, when you stop choosing, you gain freedom to enjoy whatever is right here.

I just got back from a two week vacation. There were three of us and we had a car at our disposal. Although I consider myself a minimalist I still was packing a big weekend bag, a backpack (my laptopbag) and my mediation mat (even rolled up it’s still quite big). My in-line skates were thrown in the trunk as well as a jacket.

All in I had filed the trunk of the car for about 1/3

After everything was packed the three of us wanted to take along, not only the trunk was full, but the back seats were covered as well, leaving a niche for the backseat driver to fold in to.

Something went wrong there, don’t you think?!

Here I am, blogging (among other things) about minimalism and I need 1/3 of a car trunk to haul everything! That’s just wrong. Upon getting home I did what everything does when home: unpack. But I did it consciously. Not just stuffing everything back to where it belongs, but looking at it and asking myself “did I use this?” and in several cases following the answer with a second question “Then why the *bleep* did I bring it along?!”

Going through my bag this way took some time and served the dual purpose of being my meditation for the evening. Meditative unpacking, give it a try.

In the end I had a nice pile of stuff I actually didn’t use in the whole two weeks. Among them: a pair of shoes, two books, 2 shirts, 2 pairs of socks and a math book I’m supposed to be studying to get ready for University. Unlike Pareto’s law roughly 60% of the content of my bag got serious use, the rest was fluff. I used the skates, but only once. I used my meditation mat every evening and the jacket was used almost every day.

All in I could have packed a lot less and still be on vacation but I need to take this packing more seriously if I’m ever going to be truly location independent. After all, everything has to fit in a carry-on, even if the vacation lasts for  year.

If I dropped the skates AND found a portable solution for my meditation mat AND didn’t pack the fluff I think I could have gotten it all in a single bag.

Sorry for the rambling post but there is a message here, a lesson: Next time you unpack your bag after a vacation do it consciously. Ask yourself if you used it and if not why you brought it along. After a few passes I’m sure you’ll be packing far less next time.

Thanks everyone for the nice tweets and comments the past two weeks, I’ve been far less active than I was hoping to be but I’m back home now and read to start kicking again.

I’ve had several questions lately about what certain terms are that I’ve been using here. Well, to make things a bit clearer I’m going to provide you with a post on  terms that are being used in the personal development and lifestyle design niche. It’s by no means complete though and I urge you to add more in the comments.

• Let’s start with some names first

Tim Ferris This name really should ring a bell. It’s the guy that started it all (for me at least) He’s the author of “The four hour workweek” and blogger writing about “experiments in lifestyle design”. He’s living the life so many of us want to. It’s probably why his book is so popular, it talks about a something that seems a fantasy and he claims can be reality. However, there are those who believe the four hour workweek to be a lie.

Leo Babauta Blogger over at zenhabits.net and author of the book “the power of less”. Has radically redesigned his life to what he wanted. I could explain it all but it’s easier to read this page.

Jonathan Mead Blogger over at Illuminated mind and author of “reclaim your dreams”. He also writes for zenhabits and lateral action. Someone who really kicks ass in the virtual world stating what it’s really all about without being gentle. He regularly kicks against what people think is reality and gets your head back out of the clouds.

Carl Nelson A friend, blogger at slacker reform, professional lindy hopper, vagabond, philosopher and rising start in the location independence world.

Corbett Barr Blogger at freepersuits writing about lifestyle design, another rising start in the community.

Rolf Potts Author of “vagabonding”, the second book that’s an essential read to anyone who wants to become location independent. Not from the perspective of how to get there, but on what to do when you’ve got it.

Darren Rowse Also known as problogger. A full time blogger making a six figure income through it and a huge name in the blogosphere. Anyone who takes blogging seriously has heard is name and has probably visited his blog as well. A great resource for anything blogrelated.

Seth Godin Writer of a lot of (11 so far) books on diverse subjects in the direction of market development and business.  A name you’ll see pop up from time to time, so I thought I’d mention him.

Steve Pavlina This guy might just be the original personal development blogger. He’s been blogging since 1 oktober 2004

• Some essential literature

The four hour workweek (4HWW) The book that got it all started, or at least put things on the map. In a nutshell this book teaches you how to find an online market, set everything up, automate it and reduce the number of hours you work to the bare minimum while keeping a descent income so you can spend your time on other things.

The Power of less Leo’s book, a nice summary of all his blogposts that will get you up to speed on minimalist thinking when it comes to daily life.

Vagabonding The book about extended world travel or how to “live out of a backpack” for months or yours. Perhaps even giving up a home and constantly traveling the world.

Reclaim your dreams An  eBook on getting away from the 9-5 till 65 life. You can read my review of it here

• Some often used terms

Lifestyle design Everything that has to do with living your life like you want to live it. Severing the ties that keep you from doing what you want to be doing. For most people this means quitting their job (a major timesuck where they are not in control) and setting up an alternative income through Internet. This frees up time so one can do all those things that one dreams of but never does. It’s getting rid of preconceptions that life has to be a certain way just because your parents lived that way or the education system has taught you how to live.  In short: It’s thinking for yourself on how you want to live your life and doing everything you can to live that life right now! Corbett over at Freepersuits has dedicated a blogpost to the subject that’s far more comprehensive that the definition I give here. If you’re interested you can find that blogpost by following this link. It’s a great read and will get things crystal clear.

Muse. A term used by Tim Ferris to describe the thing that generates the Internet income. His muse is a food supplement he’s selling online. Probably by now it’s also his blog and his book.

Vagabond. A person who travels for extended periods of time where not the destination but the travel is important and where at times there is no plan on where to go or on how long to stay there.

Digital Nomad. A vagabond with a laptop and other technical devices who has an Internet income and manages that through his laptop while vagabonding.

Location Independent Professional (LIP). A professional who isn’t bound to a location in order to make an income. More often than not these people generate their income through Internet and might just be called digital nomads as well. That is, if they choose to travel. Being location independent means you can go wherever you want, it doesn’t mean you have to.

Freedom business. This term is used in Project Mojave to describe an Internet business (selling an information product) that generates an income that’s significant enough to quit ones dayjob and become free. This means it consistently generates an income of some 2-4k a month depending on your needs. Also, this business requires little “maintenance” so you have an income that costs little time as well. Although you might not reach the 4 hours a week, it’s definitely doable with about 10 hours a week.

Project Mojave An online program where Clay Collins and some others teach you how to set up a freedom business, in three months or less.

Personal development The ongoing effort to develop oneself and keep learning. Learning new skills, keep questioning ones thoughts, beliefs and habits. You probably know people who do the same thing every day like clockwork. Have a dayjob, don’t read, don’t try new things or whatever. These people don’t develop any further for they don’t expose themselves to new things.

Well, that’s it for now, I hope you will all contribute to this blogpost by adding more names, blogs and terms to the comment section.  If you have any questions or if what I’ve written in this blogpost is just pain wrong or hopelessly incomplete please do let me know.

If you liked this blogpost please to give it a “thumbs up” on stumble, digg it, tweet it and use smoke signals to tell others. I’d really appreciate it.

To help bring the community together Corbett Barr from Free Pursuits and Lea Woodward from Location Independent are hosting a “Location Independent and Digital Nomad Survey.” This survey is made for both those who are already location independent and those who aspire to be.

Seeing as I somewhat write about lifestyle design and have touched the sbject of digital nomads and vagabonds on several occasions I consider this blog a part of that community. So naturally this blog -as part of that community- and through that you as my reader would benefit from the results of this survey. 

What’s in it for you?

• A better blog here at Mind the Beginner
• A better blogging community
• An understanding of the community
• The opportunity to be recognized (with a link to your Twitter page or website) in an upcoming post about the survey results at freepursuits.com.

You can find the suvey by following this link Thanks for participating and stay tuned.

In addition you might want to visit the other participating blogs on Lifestyle Design:

WebWorkerDaily, Digital Nomads, Nomadness, Slacker Reform, Muselife, Mind the Beginner,Technomadia, Exile Lifestyle, Intrepid Lifestyle, Jet Set Citizen, Live Uncomfortably, Mine Your Resources, Thrilling Heroics, Most Likely to Die Alone and Vagabonding 

(and the hosts, Free Pursuits and Location Independent).

The Survey is an opportunity for the growing location independent and digital nomad community to understand more about the group (and those people who aspire to become location independent).

Do you ever wonder what other location independents do for a living? What about how many hours they work and whether they make more or less money than when they worked a regular job? What about where they live, how much time they spend traveling or whether they maintain a permanent home somewhere?

This is the type of information we will gather with your help. Answers to these questions will be indispensable in helping all of us better understand who makes up the community, and how we can better serve them.