Quotation by Seth Godin.
I don’t covet vacation days. I don’t work for the weekend. I don’t need alcohol to alter my reality.
I can’t imagine ever retiring. I have the best job ever, how could I ever retire from doing it?
I have a life I don’t need to escape from.
Of course, setting it up took a long time. Nine years, to be exact.
That’s how long it took after Kim and I got married to build this business to a point where we could support ourselves, buy a home, have kids, and say no to most of the work we didn’t want to do. Nine years of trial and error, amassing debt, and watching my younger brothers build houses and start families while we sweated it out in a crappy apartment with no air conditioning and a monthly grocery budget of about $100 a month.
How did we do it?
We just decided.
A long time ago, we decided that we were going to do whatever it took to create a life we didn’t need to escape from. There was no backup plan. We had faith that God didn’t put us on this earth to bury our talents in a job that sucked the soul out of us.
Once you decide, the rest is easy, because no matter what obstacle presents itself, you’ve limited your options to just two: give up or keep going.
Once you’ve decided, the choice is clear.
It’s so true. I see so many friends “investing” in bigger and fancier (i.e. expensive) baubles, vacations, etc. to reward themselves for sticking to jobs they either don’t like or are too afraid to leave. We’re still in the early years of our home business, so we’re cautious with money as you were: not subscribing to TV service even though technically we can afford it, cooking most of our meals at home, vacationing to visit family and friends rather than booking luxury trips abroad. But like you, we don’t feel we’re missing out on anything. We’re doing what we love, working dang hard at it, but enjoying every minute of the journey. You’re so blessed to have learned what you wanted so early in your life and marriage … and that you have a spouse who feels the same! That alone is an amazing feeling. And we’re all blessed to have you and Kim here to urge us all on! :) Happy New Year!
Suzanne,
It sounds like you are on the right track (although I’m sure it feels a little bumpy at times!) I am INCREDIBLY grateful to have Kim with me on this journey! Not sure what I did to deserve it, but is the bees knees. People often ask me how I can work with my spouse (“We’d kill each other!” they say), but I can’t think of anything better than working with my best friend every day.
Keep on keeping’ on. I just read a quote from Warren Buffet the other day that said, “Really getting to do what you love to do everyday – that’s really the ultimate luxury.” I couldn’t agree more!
This post spoke to me as I was up in the middle of the night. You basically just described me and my hubby too…only we haven’t gotten over that hump yet. We’ve been struggling to make it for the 8 years we’ve been married…living for the weekend…dying for ANY chance to escape. But we’re tired of living a life that we have to escape. We have declared that 2013 is the year we re-mold our life into one we love. We want to be abundant in freedom, we want to have KIDS, we want to be happy on our terms so that everyday is our vacation.
Thank you for sharing. :)
Tamara,
Ah…middle of the night blog reading. Been there! Hang in there. Keep persisting. Keep taking little steps in the direction of your dream.
My wish for you is that 2013 would be a major turning point and that you are blessed with exceeding levels freedom and awesomeness!