The Definitive Guide to the Good Life
Hello everyone. I’m here to tell you I’ve done it. I’ve figured it out. Happiness. I’ve got it. After extensive research, I’ve come with a guide that cannot fail:
Step 1: Get into a decent college. If you’re reading this, chances are you did.
Step 2: Major in something difficult that pays well and has many job opportunities. Examples include engineers, doctors, accountants, and lawyers.
Step 3: Get an internship so you have an in with a company and get a job immediately after graduation. To be even a year behind your peers will result in a slower rise to the top.
Step 4: Work 70 hours a week and take no more than two weeks vacation. Expect a raise every three years and if you don’t get it, work harder.
Step 5: Congratulations, you’ve made it. Retire to a town with a warm climate, play golf, and complain about the AARP and the status of social security. You’ve made it to the good life, and things couldn’t be sweeter.
Welcome to 76 percent of America. 47 percent of statistics are made up on the spot, including the previous two, but you get my point. This is the reality many of us have had forced down our throats. For some this framework is perfect. For others, it may sound about as exciting as Manti Te’o’s sex life. So if you don’t want to fall into the boredom of a Notre Dame football player’s lifestyle(because lets face it, that much lotion can get expensive), I have a few ideas.
Think about what you would do if you had 100 million dollars in the bank. Have you ever really thought about it? We work to get to a payout and we don’t know what we would do if we were there.
A lot of people say they’d travel. Well then why not just travel? Do some research. Its often cheaper to be traveling for a year than it is to live in one set location. I’ll post some links to give you proof.
Go teach English in an underprivileged town in Guam. Take a tour of salt mines in the depths of Madagascar. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather be a tomato farmer in the Cayman Islands than an old fat man driving a red mid-life crisis BMW.
The options are there. We all think about it. We all say what if. But we never do. I’ll do it in five years quickly becomes 10. 10 years then becomes 20 and 20 then becomes a house in Naples with nothing to look forward to but bingo night at the local senior center and a half empty bottle of Cialis. With all due respect, no thanks. I’ll see you all at a Vineyard in Perth.
Recommended Reading:
How to travel the world for 17,000 a year or less
Vagabonding, An uncommon guide to long term world travel
The Four Hour Work Week
#WhatIsTheGoodLife? #Travel #bankhead
(Photo: Tim Ferriss How I Work series)
