How many lives have you lived?

As we prepare for the big lifestyle change, sailing on a boat for years, the fear of leaving the old comfortable life creeps back in. When surveying my life, I've had a few different "lifes": compulsory schooling, military, college, and professional. With the exception of the compulsory schooling phase, each time I left a phase, I wondered if I was doing the right thing ... leaving something I was extremely good at.

In the military, I went from the lowest possible rank to Sergeant in less than 3 years, and I was awarded multiple ARCOMs in that time. My military future was very bright and people continuously told me I was a lifer. The military was the sure road. When re-enlistment time came around, the gentle nudge of my beautiful wife helped me understand that it was time to try something new.

In college, I was a star student. I graduated with a 4.0 in my major (Physics), was tapped into Phi Kappa Phi (a collegiate national honor society), and pulled in 2 minors (Mathematics and Computer Science). I followed this up with a curve busting graduate student stint obtaining my Master's degree in Computer Science. The follow on Ph.D. and a life in academia was the sure road. The gentle nudge of my beautiful wife helped me understand that it was time to try something new.

In my current phase, professional, I'm doing just fine. I'm a Vice President at a 20 Billion USD company (and it isn't a bank!). My road to a CIO position in 5-10 years is looking sound. I love my current job, and I love the people I work with. What I do doesn't feel like work. The road forward is a sure one. The gentle nudge of my beautiful wife has helped me to understand that it is time to try something new. Not today, but within another few years we need to be in a new phase.

With each phase shift, there is a fear of leaving the known, the comfortable, the sure. Yet, each new phase we try, we seem to do just fine and we grow in new, unexpected ways. In the past, it was just my wife and I. Now, we have kids to consider. It will be all 4 of use making the phase change.

The next phase is the World Explorer phase. The phase of living on a boat, making our way around the world, sampling different cultures at each port. The phase of learning how to live more grounded to the world.

Does this fear paralyze? In many it does, but not us. Part of the excitement we get is from that fear. It is the challenge of learning how to stabilize life in a new environment. It is all about the nuances a life style offers. It is about tacking on experiences that we would not otherwise have.

Was any one phase better than another? The compulsory education phase was atrocious, but the others were special and valuable in their own way. No one phase could be rated better than another. Where one lacked, money for example, it make up for in experiences, like throwing grenades, firing an M-60 machine gun, and working at the National Security Agency.

Many people live 1 or 2 "life"s. Some get 3. We are greedy, we want to life many "lifes"! Not 1 or 2. Is there fear with this next life change? Absolutely! Will it deter us? Not on your life!

Now it is time to get back to learning how to tie knots.

Happy Birthday America!

If you are living in America and/or are an America citizen, take advantage of being free to pursue whatever makes you happy. Life is short. We can all plan for retirement, we can all set the best plans, we can all someday enjoy life ... but we can all have something bad happen along the way. That would suck. What a waste. Go for life now! On the death bed, you never hear anyone say, "Damn, I wish I had worked just one more day!"

I once read something to this effect:
Plan like you will live forever, live today like it is the last day of your life.

Happy 4th of July!

Desires Help Highlight Your Consumerism

Every day we are inundated by our money enemies. It can be surprising how insidious they are and how deep they burrow into our psyche. So, how do you measure their incursion? You do this by asking yourself, "What do I want?"

For example, take a few minutes and describe your ideal home. What did you describe?

Was it made out of brick? Did it have 4, 5, or 6 bedrooms? Did it have a big back yard? Did it have a dinning room? Did it have a large kitchen with an island in it? Was it 2 stories? Did it have a large master suite? Did it have a jacuzzi? Did it have a 2 or 3 car garage? Did it have automatic garage doors? Did it have a family room?

Now that you have your ideal home described, let me ask you why you did not describe a cave? Or a tree house? Or a boat? Or an RV? What has driver who says what your ideal house is?

This exercise can be applied to all sorts of things. What is your ideal mode of transportation? Did you happen to describe a fancy name brand car? Or did you come up with something new or different?

Remember, your money enemies want to make you desire things that they sell. When you want something, be sure to check deep inside to see if it is something you want, or something your money enemies want you to want.

When is your Independence Day?

In a few days, the USA will be celebrating its Independence day. Our family will be right along all the others, eating hot dogs, watching fireworks, lighting a few sparklers, and popping firecrackers. The USA became independent of England. That meant it no long depended upon it, it no longer needed it, it no longer wanted to be controlled by it.

What controls you? When will you be free of it?

In our society, with consumerism the biggest driving force, money is the main shackle that binds. When will you be free of money worries? How much money do you need to have to be free? Consider the following:

1. If an investment earns 5%, then $100,000 invested would give you $5,000 per year.
2. If you had no debt, could you live off of $20,000 per year?
3. If so, then $400,000 would set you free.

Did you know that there are inflation adjusting government bonds that earn around 5%? Nice. There are tax free municipal funds that earn just over 5%.

Imagine, for the rest of your life, being given $20,000 every year, inflation adjusted. You could still work if you so wanted. Or, you could sit around and read all day. Or, you could paint. Or you could play with your kids. Whatever. It becomes your choice. By it becoming your choice, you become independent. You become free from control.

How much do you really need to live? Not what the magazines say you should spend, but what you really need. Compute that, then reverse engineer how much you would have to put away so that the interest off an investment meets your minimum. Run to that point of wealth as as fast as you can so you can have your true independence day.

Beans Beans the Magical Fruit, The More You Eat ..

... the more you save! Yeah, I know, my version of the catchy song isn't as rhymey ... but it is so true!

As we studied how people provision their boats for long journeys, we learned that a lot of folks stock up on beans. Not only do beans last a long time. beans are incredibly healthy for you and they are

C-H-E-A-P!!!

We bought a book titled The Bean Book by Rose Elliot and we have become true beanophiles! We always liked beans, but now we love them. There are so many ways to enjoy them, and the varieties are so varied. Beans have been a staple for our family for about a year now and other than a few comical gaseous moments, there have been no downsides. Get this book, learn how to really enjoy beans, improve your health, and save money. Beans are a beautiful food.