The number one worst thing about sharing publicly about my personal location rebellion?
Having to face you all when I fail to reach a goal.
I’m climbing the staircase, slip, miss a step, fall flat on my face, look up . . . and you’re all standing there looking at me. Everyone saw it happen. I said I was going to do something. But didn’t. Embarrassing, to say the least.
The number one best thing about sharing publicly about my personal location rebellion?
Having to face you all when I fail to reach a goal.
Some people seem to never struggle with this but, in certain areas of my life, I sometimes find it extremely difficult to hold myself accountable for decisions I make or goals I’ve set. This “location independent” thing is something that I am 100% intent on attaining but, even though I’m committed, this is still completely new, completely uncharted territory for me. It’s impossible to know for sure what’s going to happen a year from now, after I’ve turned my current state of things on its head. I’m leaving the model that I’ve lived by for 14+ years, to give it a go with a model that I’ve only dreamed of in the past. Nothing is concrete. It’s kinda scary downright terrifying. Sort of that whole fear of uncertainty that Sean’s mentioned a time or two in the past.
Would you be mine, could you be mine, won’t you be . . . my accountabilibuddy
The beauty of Location Rebel is that you’re here, I’m here, Sean’s here. Matt Koenig and Jenny Blake are here- as are dozens of other incredible people who, although perhaps having quite different end goals, share a common interest in reaching a level of location independence.
To make this happen, we all need to participate by cheering each other on, lending a hand whenever opinions, advice or other help are needed, and by providing a swift kick in the rump when necessary.
I, for one, definitely need [and welcome] said butt kicking when I’ve gotten off-track and am not making progress. I need accountabilibuddies! (btw, don’t even think about snagging that URL . . . I just did) Not doing what I said I would be? Let me have it in a comment, email or tweet- and please don’t take it easy on me.
———-
With that, let’s take a quick peek at the goals I laid out in my last post:
1. Be down to 100 personal possessions by the end of last month.
Status: FAIL
I can think of two or three good excuses why I didn’t quite get this accomplished but, when it’s all said and done, they’re simply . . . excuses. But I did do some dejunking. After taking several piles of clothes and other whatnot to a local donation center, I went room-to-room, gradually making a physical list of every item I still own. Total count = 234. Not bad. But not yet 100.
2. Get my personal assistant up-to-speed on booking group programs and handling other undesired tasks.
Status: 50/50
I didn’t get my PA any further along on what she needs to know about booking my programs. I did, however, get her working on the task of helping to digitize a number of documents and music-related papers that I will need in the future.
———-
Progress? Yes. Quite where I’d like to be on things? No.
So, this month’s goals (which, unfortunately, are not a whole ton different than last):
1. Complete the dejunking process and reach my target of 100 things.
2. Continue having my PA work on digitizing. This has proven to be time and money well spent- creating an archive of important items (which I’m backing up and uploading to the cloud) that is helping me go “paperless.”
3. To help attain goals, and give quality time and focus to current projects that I want/need to have taken care of before my lifestyle becomes more mobile, I’m also going to cut back for a little while on time-eaters such as Twitter. I find great value in social media and other digital gadgets and services every single day. But I also find that I (too often) get wrapped up in them (for too long) in less-than-productive ways. I will not be unplugging entirely. But I am really going to monitor and limit my usage.
———-
There you have it . . . an official invite to be my accountabilibuddy and help me stay on track. I am here and happy to do the same for you. The more of us location rebels out there, roaming around, supporting each other and making plans to meet up on our travels around the world, the better!
Do you struggle with crackin’ down on yourself, as well? Have a friend (or group of friends) that is there to give you that kick in the pants when needed? Leave a comment and let me know how you keep yourself accountable for the goals you set.
‘Til next time . . . hit it hard!
Make sure you check out Mark on his personal sites The Donating Drummer, Powers Percussion, and BDay DDAy.
Leave A Reply (12 comments So Far)
Caleb Wojcik
270 days ago
Some notes on your goals:
1. Getting down to 100 is pretty hard, especially if you count kitchen/bathroom stuff and individual things like underwear, socks, etc. My goal for my upcoming travels across the U.S. & Internationally is 50, but that is not counting all of the possessions my wife and I will be leaving behind at her parents (kitchen items off registry, furniture, electronics, etc.).
3. Wrangling the “time-sucks” as I like to call them really opens up time to be truly productive. Block them if you must, but teaching yourself control independently is best.
Good luck Mark!
[Reply]
Mark Powers Reply:
August 24th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Hey, Caleb- awesome that you swung by! Correct you are about 100 being a difficult goal; it’s amazing how quickly things add up. As far as the time-sucks go, I completely agree that it’s important to develop control. That’s why I definitely plan to limit the time I allot to them, rather than eliminating them entirely.
Thanks a ton for dropping a line- I look forward to learning more about your travel plans!
[Reply]
Caleb Wojcik Reply:
August 24th, 2011 at 2:01 pm
Seriously. I don’t know how you can realistically get to 100 if you live in an apartment and are counting all of your kitchen/bathroom stuff.
[Reply]
Mark Powers Reply:
August 24th, 2011 at 7:39 pm
Totally understandable how you would feel that way, but it is possible. I certainly do not count consumables, because it’s hard to really justify them as a “possession.” It makes sense to say, “yeah, I own a bike,” but, “yeah, I own . . . bread?” Not so much.
I’ll be posting more about the gradual shrinking of my entire list in the future but I’ll share now what I do have in those two rooms. I am gone from home, performing a ton, so don’t do much cooking at my place. What’s feasible for me may not be for the next guy/girl.
Bathroom (2 items): one towel and an electric razor. That’s it. I swear. Nothing else needed. My roommate probably thinks I’m nuts. No, I’m sure she does.
Kitchen (25 items, for now): red plate, red bowl, red cup, glass mixing bowl, plastic silverware organizer, 2 knives, 2 forks, 2 spoons, wooden spoon, spatula, can/bottle opener, peeler, kitchen knife, 1/4 cup measuring cup, 2-cup measuring cup, plastic ‘Tupperware’-style container (with lid), tea kettle, frying pan, cookie sheet, medium sauce pan (with lid), ceramic ‘Corningware’ serving/storage container (with glass lid), wine opener.
And several of those kitchen items (ie., one each of the silverware, organizer, etc.) will be being ditched soon!
Mark Powers Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 8:51 am
Addendum
I’ve heard good arguments both for and against inclusion of various items. When it comes down to it, we each have to set guidelines/rules for ourselves that feel right. There certainly are no Universal Rules of Minimalism that state what is right or wrong to keep or count. And I am definitely still smack dab in the middle of figuring all of that out for myself. Based on our Twitter exchange this morning with @BekkaScott, I do think that I’ll add a toothpaste to that bathroom list. Disposable, yes. But I agree, not as “consumable” as toothpaste and other similar products. So, the bathroom count just increased to 3. Doh!!
Tristan
270 days ago
Hi Mark,
).
Good to see you still pushing hard and I really like the whole focus on accountability. (Yes, I clicked the link to the URL and got suckered in, too
Hope it goes well and keep it up, it’s interesting reading and we’re all cheering you on!
Tristan
[Reply]
Mark Powers Reply:
August 22nd, 2011 at 10:14 pm
Ha- gotcha!
Thanks for reading and supporting. Are you working toward some location independent goals yourself?
[Reply]
Tristan Reply:
August 24th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Got me indeed, a few others by the look of it
For me, I’m just looking to open up more freedom and make a living doing what I love (stuff to do with foreign languages). I’d love to have the ability to travel more, and to escape the office. I’m taking steps as we speak (blogging, writing, putting a short book together and a few other things) so we’ll see how it goes. Good luck with yours!
[Reply]
Kaari
270 days ago
Hi Mark! I find this one really interesting. I’m big on cheering people on to their goals, but I really don’t like other people doing it for me. Well, not so much don’t like as feel really uncomfortable about it. Maybe that’s something I need to push through? It’ll be interesting to see where you go with the new site. And yes, I clicked, because I wanted to see what you’ve done there rather than because I didn’t believe you!
A while back someone (it might have been Travis Robertson) talked about setting up a mastermind kind of group of other entrepreneurs to help keep on track, which is similar. Haven’t done that yet either, although I’ve looked for freelancers in complementary fields.
Definitely good food for thought, thanks!
[Reply]
Mark Powers Reply:
August 22nd, 2011 at 10:32 pm
Kaari! Speaking of cheering people on, I have to give an enormous public “thank you” to YOU for all of the encouragement you’ve given me in the last year. Be it regarding blog posts or swimming endeavors, you’ve been keeping in touch and sharing your thoughts (and expertise) every step of the way!
So yes, you need to work on allowing others to cheer you on, as well. It can be educational (by tapping into other people’s experience and insight) and motivating. On top of that, those other people often feel good themselves about being able to share and assist.
The mastermind group is absolutely a fantastic idea. Honestly, that’s really what I feel this whole Location Rebel site is to me. On the “inside,” in addition to being a stellar how-to resource, it’s more importantly a community of like-minded individuals, committed to working hard and egging each other on to reaching their respective goals.
I am also part of another, super small, mastermind group of sorts, made up of peers who all met for the first time at the World Domination Summit. We expect each other to post about goals and progress on the 30th of every month. We’ve turned it into somewhat of a contest between the four of us- creating prizes, “punishments” and razzing anyone who isn’t on top of things. Simultaneously lots of fun and highly motivating!
[Reply]
Matt
270 days ago
Mark!!! Bravo on a great motivational update. I have to say you have this knack for creating new words. Acountabilibuddies!?! Pure genius!
Seriously though, I think we all need real friends to not only support our dreams and goals but to help pick us up when we stumble and keep us on the straight and narrow when we start to waver. I know you’ve been doing a bit of that to me and it’s made a real difference. We all need a virtual ass kicking now and then. So count me in as your accountabilibuddy although I feel more like your accountabilibrother.
[Reply]
Mark Powers Reply:
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:40 am
Ha! Really wish I could take credit for the term but it’s actually a word I overheard two girls use at a bar once. They were talking about being “accountabilibuddies,” keeping each other in check so that neither made any stupid decisions after too many drinks.
But accountabilibrothers . . . now THAT’S a good one!
[Reply]