The Ideal Life

I read a lot on the internet. It’s an amazing place that contains the cumulative knowledge of mankind. Lately, the topic of dream lives funded by passive income streams via internet business has been attracting a lot of my attention. I will be adding a “Resources” page to this website soon to include links on a variety of topics, this one included.

An interesting practice is to sit down in a quiet room, alone, free of all distractions, and type out what would be your ideal life, in full. No holds barred. Let your imagination run wild. If you could live any kind of life, what would it be like? How would you spend a normal day if you had your ideal life?

I’ll describe mine for you, as of 8-13-13. The details change all the time, and this ideal life I thought up is quite different from the ideal life I imagined 6, 12 months ago. The description is in the present tense in order to make it more real in my own mind.

First and foremost, I have no “job”. I don’t work for anyone, so no one owns me and my time. I’m not confined to a flourescently-lit cubicle on days I’d rather be outside enjoying the beauty of this world. I make money via a few successful internet businesses I’ve set up to provide me with streams of passive income. That means I don’t trade my time for money. I go to sleep and wake up with more money than I had the night before because these businesses don’t require any work beyond routine maintenance. I hold no inventory, I don’t handle customer service, I don’t deal with logistics. It’s hands-off beyond the initial time investment.

Note to readers: As I set up these businesses, I will write about them here on dingtwist.com. I expect to go live with my first one in the coming weeks.

Because I’m self-employed via the internet, I’m completely mobile and can live where I choose, when I choose. If I’m in Connecticut and it starts to get cold, I can go live in Costa Rica for a few months. Maybe I’ll tire of the constant sunshine and beautiful beaches (doubtful) and decide I want to spend a month skiing in Jackson Hole. I go there. All I need is an internet connection.

As I travel and learn more about life, the world, myself, I document my lessons on this site to help you learn what I’ve learned, to provide you with inspiration, to entertain you with fiction, to awe you with beautiful photography, and other shit I haven’t even thought up yet.

I live in Costa Rica on the Pacific Coast, and what follows is a very typical day.

I wake up not to an alarm clock, but to the early morning sun pouring in through the curtains of the beachfront house I rent. I smile because I’m completely free to do what I want with the day, yet it’s no extraordinary day. This is my life. I walk the hundred yards down to the beach, lie down in my hammock and meditate for an hour. I have a profound out-of-body experience during which I gain deep insights into life and the universe. I return to my house to document the experience while I enjoy a fresh brew of the Costa Rican coffee I picked up from the local vendor yesterday.

I wake my girlfriend up and we have passionate sex, then cuddle and rest for fifteen minutes. Then we go for a long walk down the beach, naked, and I think deeply about how best I can relay my newfound meditative insights to you. When I return, she prepares a big breakfast while I start writing my post for the day.

The rough draft is written, breakfast is eaten, the sun is rising high and there isn’t a cloud in the sky. All I can hear is the surf, the rustling palm fronds, and the occasional monkey chatter high in the trees. It’s the ideal environment to cultivate my creativity, completely free of stress and any sounds of civilization.

We walk to the local gym and have an intense 45 minute workout. After drinking our post-workout protein shake mixed with a bunch of fresh, local fruit, we cool off in the ocean and swim and sunbathe for an hour or two. I return to the house to edit my rough draft and publish it while she naps on the beach. I publish the post, check my online businesses to make sure everything is running smoothly, and glance at my bank account, which has hundreds more dollars than when I checked it yesterday. The cost of living in Costa Rica is so low compared to the States. I think back to the time I used to wait for a paycheck and it seems so long ago that I can’t even remember how it felt to support myself in that manner. Life is so good that I pause to consider whether I may be dreaming.

Nope, it’s all real. As real as “real” gets, anyway.

We walk into town for a late lunch at our favorite local restaurant and are greeted by the owner, who has become a good friend. We have a nice, lighthearted conversation in Spanish, in which we have become fluent over the several months living here. Including a few Imperials (Costa Rican beer), the tab comes to $5.50 USD. Instead of heading back home, we decide to do a nice hike through the jungle to a spot that overlooks the ocean where you can see miles down the coastline. As we soak in the view, an absolute feeling of peace and contentment overwhelms us.

Upon returning home, she goes to check on her businesses and I go out in my motorized canoe to catch some fish for dinner. I catch a nice one quickly, put it on ice, then catch and release a few more just for fun. The sun descends, the air cools, and the breeze dies down. I fillet my fish, she prepares dinner as I hit some floating golf balls into the ocean, paying a local kid to fetch them for me in his canoe. He’s a great kid and I’ve become sort of a mentor to him, in addition to helping his family with a tough financial situation they’ve encountered.

When I’m done, dinner’s almost ready, and I check email and facebook, coordinating some last-minute plans with some friends who are coming to visit next week. I can’t wait to show them the area.

After dinner, we spend the evening reading and talking, then we go to sleep. Another day in paradise, another normal day in the life I’ve made for myself.

Now, back to reality. I currently have a great life. A great job, great family, great friends. I’m truly blessed, and I try never to forget it. However, life can get better. I intend to find out exactly how much better it can get. The timeline I’m looking at to achieve the lifestyle I outlined above is two years, give or take a year.

Does this seem like fantasy to you? What’s your fantasy life?

Of course the above description is just one day of living in Costa Rica. The same day over and over would probably become boring, and there are many other places I want to experience. It does sound like a pretty nice day though, right?

Of course this type of life may not appeal to you. Maybe your ideal life is very different from mine. That’s awesome. Who’s to say you can’t achieve it? All of the limitations that spring forth when you consider your ideal life, all of the obstacles, they’re all in your mind. They’re not real, and they can all be overcome. You can release them right now simply by deciding to. What you truly believe is possible, truly becomes possible.

Our mind is the limit.

In my mind, the life I described is already real in a sense. It’s just a matter of time.