GOALS
I recently did the Self-Authoring program by Dr. Jordan Peterson, and holy crap, it is amazing! Here's how it works: There's a past authoring section, a present authoring section, and a future authoring section.
- In the past authoring section, you divide your life into seven epochs. You detail significant experiences from each era, then you analyze how each experience impacted your life.
- In the present authoring section, you identify your faults and virtues. Then you develop strategies for setting your life up in a way that minimizes your faults and maximizes your virtues.
- In the future authoring section, you describe a "heaven" and a "hell" for your life in 3-5 years. It helps you clearly imagine an ideal to strive for, and a monster to run away from.
I paid $15 for the program (they have 2-for-1 deals constantly), and it was completely worthwhile. It forced me to sit down, learn about myself, and envision what I wanted out of life. Best of all, I have way less anxiety about the direction of my life!
That said, here's some of my goals:
- Reach FI through real estate investing.
- Operate a profitable market garden
- Exercise each day
- Write each day
- Read 5 books a month
I'll break these down into 2 sections:
A) FINANCE + RESILIENCE
B) EVERYTHING ELSE
FINANCE AND RESILIENCE
Jacob, Richard Heinberg, John Michael Greer, and Jean Laherrère have got me seriously concerned about peak oil. Originally, I wanted to invest $400k+ in index funds and transition into part-time work that would cover low/as-much-homesteading-as-possible expenses. But the potential end of infinite growth and modernity as we know it has thrown a wrench into this.
I'm still trying to hash this out, but this is what I'm thinking so far:
1. Save $50k and move to a rust belt-type city with good urban fabric.
2. Use an FHA loan to purchase a value-add duplex, triplex, or 4-plex [and preferably a side lot!] in an appreciating neighborhood with 3.5-5% down.
3. Rehab and rent the other unit(s). Tenants eliminate my housing costs.
4. Start a SPIN (small plot intensive farming) operation out of the backyard + side lot. I like Curtis Stone's model. If you leave your social justice ideology at the door and combine sustainable business practices with hustle, it is possible to generate a middle-class income doing this. There are particularly ass-busting entrepreneurs that have started with less than $10k and cash flow quickly (3-6 months.)
5. Recycle the money back into cash reserves, accelerating the mortgage payoff, and/or other investments.
6. You can do 1 FHA loan/year. When I find another good deal, I could repeat the process.
With this setup, I could live extremely inexpensively AND offer goods that people need! Worst case scenario, I think, I'd have to get a job at a local school. I'm roadtripping to do some boots-on-the-ground research in Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Detroit (7Wannabe5, your posts have been super helpful!), Cleveland, and Pittsburgh in April when I have a week off work. All of them, except for Cleveland, show projected population growth and seem to be in the early stages of gentrification.
At my current setup, I could get here in roughly 2 years. I only have one income stream (my job), and I need to change that.
Here's my current financial setup:
Current net worth: $366 (I'm debt-free now!)
Monthly after-tax pay: $2600
Expenses: $400-ish/mo
- $100/mo to cover my rent + utilities, cell phone, food (I dumpster dive a lot of my food

- $198/mo for car insurance (I know, I know. I plan to sell the car and convert to bike + bike trailers when I'm settled.)
- $30/mo for a BiggerPockets (real estate investing resource) membership. Well worth the education, access to the rental calculators, webinar archive, etc.
- $30-$60/mo gas for my Toyota Corolla.
- $30-$60/mo for whey protein. I plan to hunt and process deer to lower protein costs.
EVERYTHING ELSE
Since October, I have been weightlifting at 5:30 AM on MWF. But alas, I need to do cardio into the off days. I joined this forum to help with my writing goal, and I plan to write or reply to 1 post a day. For the five books a month, I block out 90 minutes each day to silently read.
For books this month, I've read "The 12 Week Year" by Brian Moran and "Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman" by Yvon Chouinard. I'm halfway through "The Long Descent" by John Michael Greer, "Extreme Ownership" by Jocko Willink, and "The Art of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo. They're all great books.