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Traditional notions of work have vastly restricted your sense of what is possible.
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Imagine a life of no bosses, no schedules, no alarm clocks, and no commutes, in which you’re free to work wherever and whenever you want.
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Such a life might strike you as the substance of fantasy, but in fact it has never been more possible to create this situation for yourself.
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The rise of ubiquitous Internet access has fundamentally changed the world of work. “Software is eating the world,” as Mark Andreessen famously put it.
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The increasing automation of traditional physical labor—combined with many people’s inescapable feeling that cubicle life is a wasteland—has birthed a new class of workers who are hungry for the freedom of remote work.
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These workers realize that many jobs are now online, and they see the emerging potential for higher autonomy in work and life.
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One study projected that 40% of the American workforce—over 60 million people—will be freelancers (contingent workers) by the year 2020.
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These numbers suggest the enormity of the shift that’s taking place—a shift with implications which promise to reverberate for centuries to come.
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In short, the world of traditional labor is crumbling.
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And many are saying “Good riddance!,” recognizing that the disciplinarian restrictions that come with traditional labor are also fading away.
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A new echelon of work freedom is being realized.
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This echelon is perhaps best exemplified in the emerging “digital nomad” class of workers.
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Digital nomads are freelancers, entrepreneurs, and/or remote workers who work entirely online while traveling the world.
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Having been a digital nomad for about one year now, I can tell you that the radical degree of freedom is quite liberating and intoxicating.
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It’s hard to imagine returning to the world of traditional work anytime soon.
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As I write this, I’m staring out over the Mediterranean Sea from the balcony of my beachside apartment in Durres, Albania.
View from my “office.”
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I’ve been backpacking Europe for nearly 4 months now and have made it to the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Greece, and Albania.
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This apartment in Albania cost me a mere $440 for the month via AirBnb.
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This is one of the keys to digital nomadism: If you live where the living is cheap, you don’t actually need to make that much money to sustain the lifestyle.
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“But how in the world do I go about finding online work?” you might ask.
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In short, begin by honing some of the following practical, marketable skills: writing, graphic design, illustration, animation, programming, copywriting, SEO, social media marketing, project management, blogging, viral content creation, growth hacking, email marketing, podcasting, basic business skills, WordPress, data analysis, copyediting, and/or customer service.
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In theory, becoming excellent in any one of these areas is all it takes to find online work, though you’ll be more effective and have more luck by becoming proficient in a number of these areas and excellent in at least a couple.
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This doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Gaining proficiency in a few of these areas is something you can easily do in your spare time.
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You need not attend university to train in these skills.
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You can use the Internet—the greatest learning resource ever created—to teach yourself virtually all of these skills for little to no money.
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Use No Excuse List, Coursera, Kahn Academy, and Lynda to get started.
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I’ve found that the best way to really learn these skills is to actually build things.
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Build a website, start a podcast, make YouTube videos, launch a blog, start an eBay business, release some music, run a Facebook page, publish an eBook, create an app, start an online store, draw a webcomic—the possibilities are truly limitless.
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In the ideal, one of these side projects will take off and become a profitable business that can form the foundation of your career as a digital nomad.
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Though to be honest, that’s not likely to happen with your first or even your fifth project. Persistence is absolutely indispensable.
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The key thing to realize is that with each project, you’re honing your existing skill set, gaining new skills, and building your portfolio/resume.
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Once you’ve built up a marketable skill set, a fair chunk of experience, and some kind of resume/portfolio (or simply are able to demonstrate your expertise), you can begin hitting job boards, listing yourself on freelance sites, or attempting to launch a small business/company.
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It is beyond the scope of this article to go in-depth about the particulars of how to find an online job or start a successful online business.
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Luckily, you have the world’s knowledge at your fingertips. As an aspiring digital nomad, this is perhaps the most crucial thing to remember.
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Knowledge truly is power, especially in an age in which intellectual/creative work is becoming more common than physical labor.
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At every step of the process, Google is your best friend. Ask questions continuously.
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Read loads of material on entrepreneurship. Start with this longer guide I wrote and expand outward from there.
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For good measure, here’s one of the best no-nonsense articles I’ve seen on navigating a job search (read the comments too); here’s one of the best introductions to entrepreneurship in existence; and here’s the greatest series I’ve found on the ways in which software/the Internet are changing the world of work.
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Don’t forget to balance all your reading with action and experimentation. Again, learn by doing.
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If you’re dedicated and smart about how you train, it’s possible to start from square one and gain the skills necessary to find online work in roughly 6 months to one year.
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It’s likely, though, that it will take a minimum of a couple years before your online career is really up and running.
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Don’t let this discourage you. As Bill Gates put it, “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”
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If you’re serious about becoming a digital nomad and/or entrepreneur, you should be thinking long-term. “Overnight successes” do not exist.
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In my experience, the journey—the gradual process of learning, experimenting, and finally, succeeding—is extremely worthwhile.
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You probably don’t want to have this life handed to you on a platinum platter. It’s more meaningful to earn it.
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The reward for all of your hard work is among the sweetest nectars in the human experience: freedom.
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A life of freedom, flexibility, self-reliance, independence, self-direction, and mobility.
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For a certain type of person who thrives on structure and familiarity, this life won’t hold that much appeal.
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But for those who crave the opposite, such a life will seem more than appealing; it will seem like everything—a High Existence.
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It seems appropriate, then, to end this article with a single question: What type of person are you?
Further study:
The Great Rat Race Escape, by MJ DeMarco: This book by MJ DeMarco is widely regarded as one of the greatest books ever written on entrepreneurship. If you’re interested in pursuing this lifestyle, it’s a must-read. You can read this 8,000-word breakdown of the book for free on the Stairway to Wisdom.
The Dark Side of the Digital Nomad: If you’re considering pursuing this lifestyle, it’s worth understanding that as with any lifestyle, there are downsides. This article of Mark Manson’s is a great summary of the shadow aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle.
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