Have Laptop; Can Travel [and Earn Income]

what I do instead

Written By Lynn Dorman, Ph.D. | Wealthier | 0 Comments

It’s THAT time of the year — again [sigh]

My inbox and social media feeds are filled with mail/posts selling me on the advantages of:

planners
courses about planning
products on how to use AI to make my year “better” “great” “etc.”
health-related info on starting the year off the “right” way
making resolutions [personal and business]
and more…

Except for the AI which is sort of new this year — the posting and the emails are the same every December and January.

But last year some of it started back earlier in the Fall because everyone knows:

“I have to get your attention about January 2024 in the middle of the summer or early fall or else you won't buy my product.”

It’s fine if you do the above - and even better if making resolutions works for you…

I no longer make them.

I used to.

I’d read a lot of that “how to succeed” stuff, that “guru” stuff, that “my friends say this works” stuff, and would make a list of what I would accomplish in the upcoming year….

Then at some point during the year, I’d look at my resolution list and laugh [or cry] as so little of it ever got done! Or done with any degree of consistency.

So I stopped making New Year resolutions. It seemed to not be good for my mental health OR my productivity. My brain doesn't like lists!!

I've discovered that I am not alone. Many, if not most, people did not follow theirs either.

Especially these:

"I am going to exercise every day” resolution or “I am going to lose X pounds this year” or “I am going to lose 5 pounds a month.”

And work-related resolutions?

The “I will write a post a day,” or “I will write a book before Summer,” or I will do X by Y time frame.

Ditto the very popular “I will be making $XXX a month by the end of March or April” type of resolution.

These resolutions generally do not work.

Why? We tend to set impossible resolutions or standards for ourselves. They are often more wishful thinking than actual planned-out behaviors. Not sticking to these resolutions may make us feel like failures so early in the new year, and yes, the ad people play into this guilt.

Watch ads early in the year and note those aimed at making us feel guilt and shame over NOT keeping resolutions. They may not be direct, but they are aimed at guilt making!!

my insteads

With two major professional degrees and several accolades, I know I am not a failure.

I actually CAN and DO accomplish things - but I have ceased the resolution-type thinking and adopted a more casual approach to my life. It took some hard work on my part to re-think the business/life model that keeps telling us we “need” to make a yearly, monthly, daily plan… or else!

I choose "or else"

Opting for the “or else” works for me!

Every choice can be the “correct way!"

I let my mind wander!

I now enjoy late December/early January as we get an added minutes of daylight every afternoon.

I use this light/dark scenario to reflect, have fun, and think about my work - but not make any of this into resolutions,
to-do lists, or anything tightly scheduled!

I do a non-journal kind of journaling

I call it my mental meandering but it’s more like a brain dump. This is one activity I do most every day but without the “I must do it” kind of thinking, so I often don't do this. And that’s okay!

Apple has made this easier for me as they released a journal app and I have started using that app - but still not every day - I figure a few days a week [maybe] works for me.

I have a laptop. I got the laptop so that I can take it anywhere with me and work from anywhere. That is a lifestyle that is kind of fun. As long as I can get an Internet connection, I can do what I do which is right create courses and sell things. All I need is a connection and that is easier to get in most places these days.

Today's post is about having a lifestyle that allows one to work from anywhere. I am more or less develop that lifestyle a long time ago and even in the days before laptops. Even now with the laptop because I like where I live I often take it up onto one upper deck and sit out in the sun or take it to a coffee shop or take it to a different room in my house depending on where I feel like sitting.

I also have an iPhone and an iPad. In total the three of them would basically allowed me to go anywhere that I have a connection and continued to work. Continue to earn money. Continue to have fun.

Today's post was supposed to be imagining where I would like to beat to have this kind of lifestyle and it was suggested that Portugal was a nice place. I've never been there and it's on my list of places to get to. But instead of me picking the place to go my ideal in terms of traveling and working is to have someone else pay for it. That's why am working on the aging project. In my mind, I will be the go-to person in terms of speaking and teaching about the aging process from the point of view of someone who is actually there. Then I will be able to be invited to universities, talks, symposia, etc. And the interesting places in the world. Then someone else will pay me to travel put me up in a nice hotel and offer me an honorarium or a speaking fee.

I actually spent a lot of my earlier life doing this kind of thing and I would like to do it again. I worked on government contracts and projects. I taught and was invited to be the keynote speaker for different organizations, and I presented research at professioanl meetings around the country. It was nice to be able to do all of that traveling basically for free. I did reach a point where I got tired of always getting on an airplane but I think I'm ready to do that again.

Comments? Thoughts? Thank you!!

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 9

Do you make resolutions? Do they work for you? Or if not - what do you do - if anything? Please comment below and thank you for reading.

Have Laptop; Can Travel [and Earn Income]