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I’ve Gotta Get Out of the Basement
Note: Today’s post is a guest contribution from David Utke.
I’ve gotta get out of the basement. I’ve gotta see the world.
Everyone thinks the devil is some sort of blood red monster, a fallen angel and mythical beast who will ensnare you with chains and wips to an eternity of doom and misery, laughing rapaciously as he tears your liver out with a pitchfork. A creature of unending evil and misery with a skin problem who breaths fire on the damned.
No.
The devil is the morning commute when you want to be in bed. The devil is that cheap breakfast of ego waffles you cooked with the iron while staying at the discount motel by the 6 lane highway. The devil is that insincere smile from the bank teller informing you that your over draft fee WON’T be revered. He’s that rich asshole in the late night TV infomercial sporting the million dollar smile while promising you wealth and a carefree life for only $299.
The devil is when you run out of money and options at the same time. The devil is when you have your hopes and dreams pinned to a lotto ticket. The devil is when you give up on yourself.
Reminder: Don’t pin your dreams to a lotto ticket
So can you do it? Can you make an income online? Can you travel the world and explore exotic locations? Can you live an extraordinary life, one that is filled with freedom, purpose, and mobility? A life where you wake up and come alive?
It’s true, YOU can do it, you can build a business online into a powerful brand, you can travel to far off places your friends only read about. You can do work that actually matters a damn bit more than shuffling paper all day for some big conglomerate. You can do it and no one can stop you from doing it except yourself…or as Jacob says “your story on why you can’t”.
We all fear failure, we all fear being poor, we all fear losing the money we stole or borrowed to chase our dreams. We all fear the financial coup de grâce that failure can bring.
But it’s not so much the fear of failure that’s the problem, rather, the real bastard is the paralysis that comes with the fear that grows into a mountain we shrink like cowards from climbing. That Sensophizers, is the source of mediocrity.
Mediocrity
Mediocrity is really a lack of courage. It’s when we insulate ourselves from fear by overemphasizing the importance of personal security when it comes to life work and adventure.
Instead of deciding how you want to live your life, instead of giving conscious thought to what it is you’re doing with your life, instead of making ballsy plans and big personal goals, instead of driving after them with shear force of will, you fall back and play it safe.
You keep at that stable job though you want more, you stay in that relationship though you want more, you become content with two weeks vacation and living for the weekends though you want more. You become OK with having a ceiling on your potential income. You build structures in your life that serve to reinforce your set mediocrity over the years:
- I can’t quit, I have kids
- I can’t lose weight, I have fat genes
- I’m too old to do change careers and do what I want, my ship has sailed
It’s true, it never gets easier than now, particularly as a young person with little to lose who can recover in a way an older person can not…but the years will pass regardless of what you do. 5 years… 10 years… 20 years, one day you’ll wake up and realize not a whole lot has change. You’re still no freer than when you started and now you must truly be content with what decisions you have made for yourself as your time is nearing an end. Eventually you will settle into the ground where true security, the kind you knew as a child will be finally achieved.
Look, I sincerely believe that any reasonably intelligent person lucky enough to be born in a western democracy, given sufficient motivation and application of resources both internal and external can make the life you want… but ONLY if you’re determined enough (no half measures).
Risk and Reward
My Dad was a city employee who did the same job at the same place at the same time for 35 years. It’s obvious today that we can’t follow our parents career path anymore because:
- It doesn’t work- the old models no longer reward the majority of us
- There is no reason you have to be attached to a single location for 30 years so why would you choose to do so?
- You can make an income from anywhere in the world
- Only risk leads to rewarded
This isn’t rocket science and I state patently obvious truths that are admittedly very easy to write, and very easy to get excited about yet so difficult to truly master, internalize, and execute on.
I get emails all the time along the lines of: “yea dude, having a job totally sucks, I would love to do something else”. This reminds me of how we all know the principles behind the old models don’t work, yet paradoxically we’re still clinging to them. We’re still relying on them. We still believe in them:
- Start at the bottom and climb your way up the corporate ladder
- Have the same relationship as everyone else
- Take the same vacations as everyone else
- Seek self employment the same way as everyone else
- Follow the same paths as everyone else
Reminder: There is no path
The paths are in your head, they don’t exist in reality. They were put there by other people who themselves did not have a path and had to figured out a way to find their pot of gold. Now observing them from a distance you see a path…but it’s not yours, it’s theirs and it does you little good.
So yes, as if existence was not enough, we are all forced to contemplate the whole point of being alive. This does a nice job of overly complicating the business of the human experience, but tough shit, just how it is. If it were merely about survival we would all be doing great. But no, we are forced to comprehend our existence and find meaning in it. The beautiful thing however is you are free to define yourself as you wish, free to constantly remake yourself as you destroy your past lives and move into the future of you.
Some may lead you to believe it’s easy, but it’s not
You will have to suffer. You will have to get hurt. You will have to fight your past with everything you’re made of to become someone new. You will have to constantly break down your programming again and again.
It’s not easy, it’s hard, and it’s the only way.
Get out of the basement
When Jacob invited me to write for Sensophy he was curious as to how I broke out of the stereotypical real world. Currently, I make my living as a search engine marketer. I build websites and rank them for search terms. I then convert that free traffic into product sales. I also run a limited number of PPC ads on Facebook, I occasionally buy and sell websites on Flippa, I’m teaching English in Thailand till October, and of course my main digital presence, the Edge of David generates a few hundred dollars a month (which I enjoy working on the most and hope to grow it into my main income source by the years end).
Note: The scope of what I do from a technical standpoint is beyond this post. I wrote a 2,000+ word guide here on the subject if you’re curious.
For me, it all started with finding a mantra for my life.
Everyday my life is challenging, fun, and interesting. I wake up happy and feel alive. Even the simplest things are joyful, like strolling thorough the open market of the Asian city I am calling home for the next 4 months, eating exotic fruits, meeting cute Asian girls, learning how to speak a new language, making friends with people from all parts of the world like South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia.
This is a far cry from where I was in 2007, overworked in a job I did not want, unfulfilled in a relationship that was lacking, wanting and hoping for more in life. Feeling lost as to the direction of my future. I remember reading an interview with the Gerard Way, the lead singer of My Chemical Romance (my favorite band). He was talking about how he was working a nice job as a cartoonist in New York on 9/11 and how that event caused him to change the direction of his life. He said to himself:
“I’ve gotta get out of the basement. I’ve gotta see the world.”
He then quit his job in New York City and started a rock band of all things that eventually became MCR, making him wealthy, worldly, and happy. This blew me away because I’ve gotta get out of the basement too. I’ve gotta see the world NOW. Not 30 years from now, but now when I’m handsome, strong, and young…the seed was planted.
I went to work for the next few months thinking this…I’ve gotta get out of the basement, I’ve gotta get out of the basement, I’ve gotta get out of the fucking basement and see the world!
I have been involved in Internet marketing since 2005 when I was introduced to it by a fellow Air Force Reservist who was also a computer hacker. He at first showed me how to get stuff for free online, that evolved into understanding the technical side of computers and eventually moved into how to use the web to make a small income online and grow it.
I decided to quit my job in 2008. At this point I had a decent amount of savings, and a small passive income online (not enough to live on). My original intentions we’re to quit my high paying high hour job and get another position that did not require me to work literally 65 hours a week including Saturdays. So I quit…and the economic meltdown in the US occurred one month later, preventing someone with my background to reclaim a decent paying job. So here I am a college graduate who worked for a prestigious company for a year unable to secure a decent job. My back was against the wall and I had to re-think my approach.
I was a minimalist before it was cool to be a minimalist
I decided to adopt a minimalist approach to my life in 2008, I cut out everything non essential from my budget. I got a bunch of stupid random jobs for $10 an hour in warehouses and mail-rooms and whatever else I needed to do to support myself as I worked to grow my income online. Eventually I started to make breakthroughs and my income grew and grew to be a fairly substantial sum.
With the high cost of living in the US, and my strong desire for adventure and travel, I decided to look elsewhere to live, somewhere where the income online (which comes in the form of US dollars) could be leveraged to a greater extent somewhere else, and not be gobbled up by the ridiculously high costs of rent, food, gas, and utilities in the USA.
So I just up and moved my life to Asia. I left everyone and everything behind. I live in a place where I have more freedom because my money goes so much farther. I am in a new culture and am constantly challenged. I wake up happy and I feel truly alive. I’m growing my business. I’m doing what I love. Life is amazing.
So that’s it, I’m unrecognizable from where I was even 5 years ago. I surprised everyone. I plan on doing it again. You should too. Now tell me how -
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David Utke is a coach, blogger, speaker, drinker of tea, search engine marketer and traveler working in the personal development and digital lifestyle business space. He helps people evolve into the future of life and work at EdgeOfDavid.com. (photo credit)
7 Responses to I’ve Gotta Get Out of the Basement
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Where was this 20 years ago…Come on!
I jumped out of my comfort (well uncomfortable) zone when I decided NOT to stay in a secure unhappy marriage with a man I did not love.Now what…Haha…I'm ready. Just wish knew what I was good at…so I could get out of the hamster wheel of working crappy jobs low paying jobs.
On the good side, I have never been more happy than I am right now.
I am on the basement stairs…heading up and out…I just don't know what to do once I get that handle in my hand.
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Dawn, everyone runs around doing stuff they think they should be doing. Trust me, I had no idea I would be here today even 3 years ago, and I think that's what makes life more fun…and don't worry about the 20 years, I'm sure you have had tremendous life experience that helps you today.
As I said at the end, I'm going to be unrecognizable a few years from now, I'm going to defy everyone. You can too, tell me and everyone else reading how…seriously!
Also, to get more practical, dream line your life, it might help. Here is a good resource for that:
http://www.technotheory.com/2008/03/dreamline-wor…Email me if there is anything specific I can help you with.
Cheers,
-David
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First off, I loved this post…I think we all need to get out of the basement! I think I got out of the basement a year ago when I decided to move across country and start a graduate program in a city I've never been to. It started me on the path to recognize how different life can be, and how many options there are to live the life you've dreamed of. I know am working on ways to create passive or non-trad-job forms of income in order to get myself out of the stairwell or whatever metaphor you'd use at this point….out the front door?
For me, it's been a process and I'm eyeing that front door…looking at the world outside, wondering which direction I'm going to run once I hit the door.
BTW I subscribed to your emails after reading this post- I dig your blog!
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Thanks I like your blog as well. I think YOU should write a guest post next as your story sounds very interesting, or maybe do an interview for my site :) Email me if you're interesting
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It's stories like these that let me know that I'm not too crazy. lol. It's not so much about quitting his job that excites me as much as it is about the moment he made the decision that he was getting the hell out of the basement and going to see the world. It's that moment when we make up in our minds that – come hell or high water – there's no turning back.
Will Smith says in an interview that when we make a decision to this caliber that the universe rallies behind us in support. This is taken from the book, "The Alchemist". I think we all have to come to that moment or decision several times in our lives. It's sad that most people fall prey to fear and remain where they are all because they're afraid to decide. Obviously, people don't want it bad enough. When the life you desire becomes more important than the air you breathe, that's when things really begin to shake up.
Thanks David for sharing with such conviction. :-)
You are LIVIN IT UP DAVID… Thanks for giving us this insight to your life…
If you want your dream life you HAVE to be willing to throw away some comforts in the mean time. It is SO tough to see people living "comfortably" around me, but I know that when my dream becomes reality… I will feel bad for those people…
Surfs up,
That intro was RIVETING btw…