If you are not living the life of your dreams, then let me share how you can do that…
Today I’m sitting on a beach in Tugan, Queensland. I am living the life of my dreams. It’s a delightful 21 degrees. The sun is shining, and the day is full to the brim with promise. I can do whatever I want.
What I do for a living isn’t work, but many people might call it that. I teach Neuro-Linguistic Programming. I love it. I teach coaches how to coach and set up a successful lifestyle business. I love that too. I work, if you can call it that, three days a week doing what I love.
You might be asking; how did I get here? How did I get off that hamster wheel to create a life of freedom? Let me start when my life was anything but free.
Twenty years ago, I worked in a busy office. I had no idea how to create the life of my choosing. I did what everyone else did. I got educated and got a job where I could earn the most I could. I’d worked for way too long with the same old belief that this is what people did.
With no hope in my soul…
Each morning, with crusty eyes, thinning hair and a look of bewilderment. I would wake up at 6:30 am and stumble into the shower. After a rushed breakfast, I brushed my teeth and jumped into my car. Screeching into bumper-to-bumper city traffic, I turned on the radio. I listened to the same old DJs talking their usual superficial drivel. I lived for my weekends. This was not living the life of my dreams by any stretch of the imagination.
I was a part of the human race, but I felt like I was coming last.
Arriving in the office an hour and a half before I needed to be, was the norm. Leaving work at 7 pm or sometimes 9 pm was typical. Finally, at home, around 10 pm, I was too tired to talk to my wife. I was always too tired to do anything but have dinner and go to bed.
The highlight of my weekends was breakfast out somewhere. Then later, a zombie stroll through the Botanical Gardens. Life, at the time, felt like sliding down a cheese grater. I used to think, “Is this living? There must be more to life?” I was a part of the human race, but I was coming last. This was not living the life of your dreams.
The thoughts in my head weren’t pretty, but no one but me heard them. I had to start asking myself better questions, but I wasn’t. It was actually my wife Rebecca who did.
It was a Saturday, and I was laying on the couch. I waited for my family to get themselves ready to go out for breakfast. I was thinking, “Another weekend and all I want to do was rest.” When my wife said, “You know how we love going to warm places near beaches on our holidays?” At which I agreed in a drone. She continued, “What if we lived that resort lifestyle now? Instead of reserving that lifestyle for our holidays?” To which I replied, “How?”
Sometimes, when your energy is low, the last thing you want to do is work out some complex problem. On reading my response, Rebecca lifted her tone. She began reciting some of our friends and even two of my mentors who had created freedom in their lives. She then set the challenge.
She said, “Why don’t you ask them how they did it?” Not a bad strategy, I thought. So, I did and here is the advice I got. To cut a long story short, I followed it, and that is why I’m writing to you today.
Have you ever been sick and tired of being sick and tired?
I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I decided that I’d had enough, and from now on, it was going to be “Beach or Bust!” Let me share how I did that in five simple steps. Not easy steps, but simple to do, and you can do them too.
STEP #1: How much money to survive, not thrive?
Tony Frederick is my best friend; he is also a clever man and mentor with a ‘can-do attitude. I shared Rebecca’s idea with Tony, and he said, “The first thing that you need to do is do the numbers. Work out how much money you need each month to survive, not thrive. Get rid of all those needless expenses that are not needs but wants. You know, the extravagances that are nice to have but not necessary. Reduce your overheads so that the transition is simple.”
It was great advice, and in the first month, I marvelled at how much more money we had in the bank. Tony said, “Build a financial buffer that might equate to about half a year of your normal income.”
STEP #2: Research your ideal mobile business.
These days, there are so many ways to make money without having to go into an office or live in one spot. You can search Google for “mobile business ideas”, and you will get over one billion results. I decided to learn how to become a coach. You can coach anyone, and you can coach from anywhere that has an internet connection. Coaching is a mobile business. (In fact, today, from the beach, I’ll be coaching a client in China this afternoon on Zoom.)
STEP #3: Start your mobile business as a side hustle.
This was sensible advice. Tony suggested that I continue my job AND build my mobile business in the evenings and on the weekends. Sure, I was going to be one busy guy, but the mission, after all, was “Beach or Bust.” Tony insisted that if it was a true mobile business, I would be able to create it from anywhere at any time. Life Coaching was perfect because most of my clients wanted to work with me outside of working hours. I banked as much of my fulltime income as I could and all my coaching income.
STEP #4: Prove your product and master the marketing.
Starting a business is one thing and building your skills is another. That takes a commitment to practice. The next skill you need to build your business is to master getting clients or customers. Now I was already a good marketer, yet most of my skill was offline, not online. So, I did extra study to master the online game. In four steps, I was ready to launch my laptop lifestyle. But Tony suggested one more step.
STEP #5: Make a third of your current income in your side hustle.
In 3 months, I had money coming from everywhere! I had my regular income and my business income coming in. I did what Tony suggested, and I banked the money from my side hustle and built a buffer. After six months of starting my new venture, I was ready to quit my job. I remember it was March 2004. It was the first day of my new life. It was scary. Though I felt free for the first time in my life. No bosses. No bureaucracy. No reports and I could design my business and my life my way.
It’s now October 2022, and I am still living a life of freedom, and because of our business model, we continue from strength to strength. I went on to complete my training in coaching and NLP. Today I am a Master Trainer of NLP, Coaching and Ericksonian Hypnotherapy.
You can too – if you want it. Follow these five steps to freedom, and who knows; we may bump into each other at the beach.
R!k Schnabel
R!k Schnabel is Australia's #1 Brain Untrainer and Life Beyond Limits Life Coach Trainer, and Master NLP Trainer. He is also an international multi-best-selling author.
