Some people don't seem to have any hope — or even any thought — of doing more with their life than they're doing currently. Other people seem to lose themselves in fanciful daydreams while never actually getting anything done. These days, I'm aspiring to walk the middle road: to have a grandiose vision for where my life may take me, yet focus most of my time and energy on what I can do in the here and now.

To support this approach, I've developed The Plan.

The Plan is openly whimsical, especially in some of the later phases. It started with grandiose dreams of high adventure that I would half-jokingly share with a handful of good friends. However, I've refined The Plan into loosely defined Phases that describe where I'm at and what I can do to move forward. This allows me to reflect on my long-term dreams while focusing on my short-term goals.

I share this Plan for your amusement, and to inspire you to make a Plan of your own. After all, what's the point of life if we're not having fun and daring to dream?

I started this phase when I was fired from the Co-op. This initially served as a moment of crisis, but has ultimately been a catalyst for getting out of a rut, thinking outside of the box, and seeking more creative and fulfilling means of gainful employment.

Description of Phase

Bad news? No money! My income dropped to $0 overnight, and it still hasn't risen to match my humble expenses. Therefore, I'm stuck in deficit spending until I can find more income.

Good news? Opportunity! Now that I'm not doing 30-ish hours per week of manual labor, my health has improved. I've become active in community groups again, and I've started pursuing income sources that I'd always meant to pursue, but never had time to: namely, writing, teaching, and computer work.

Goals

My goal at this point is to boost my income to an average of about $1,000 per month, or $12,000 per year. Given the low cost of living in Southern Illinois, this will be plenty to pay my expenses, start getting out of debt, and start setting aside about $50 per month for savings or special projects.

Current plans for increasing my income include writing and submitting more short stories and articles; teaching classes at either Gaia House Interfaith Center or some other local venue; doing more freelance computer work; and boosting traffic and sales to my gift ship and book list.

Even in the presence of deficit spending, I've managed to stay close to my goal of donating 10% of my income to local community groups and causes. Therefore, from this point forward, greater success for myself will translate into greater funding for the local groups that do so much for the community. This is both a form of motivation for me and a way of giving thanks for the fact that I have a roof over my head, food in my belly, and a good community to call home.

As for my health, my yoga practice has been crucial. I'm going to expand it by doing more asanas (poses) outside of class. I'm also going to start including regular cardiovascular exercise (jogging) as soon as my weight is back above 150 pounds.

This phase of The Plan will start when I've achieved a few basic health goals and I've reached my income goal of about $12,000 per year. It will be a time when I continue to maintain this baseline of success while using my spare time and money to expand outward into the world.

Description of Phase

The major outer shift at this time will be transportation. I plan on acquiring an electric vehicle — probably an electric motorcycle — for local and regional transportation. I also plan on making occasional trips outside of Southern Illinois for business and pleasure.

The major inner shift at this time will be in my relationship with money and with the world in general. Once my basic survival needs are met and exceeded, I can switch focus from trying to pull in enough money/energy to get by, and start focusing on achieving things with my money/energy. I've already started this with my Real Life Superhero work — but this phase in The Plan will be when I really start to shine.

My health will also continue improving thanks to yoga, exercise, and outdoor recreation. I like to think of this as my "normal" phase — a time when I won't necessarily be a star athlete, but I'll be able to touch my toes without bending my knees, jog a mile or more without stopping, learn how to swim, etc.

Goals

My goal at this time will be to start reaching beyond my basic living expenses without overextending myself. Therefore, in addition to the 10% of my income that I'm already donating to local causes, I will also be setting aside 10% of my income as savings. This means that the expansion will be slow, and the money tight for quite some time — but it will also be steady and stable with a cushion to fall back on should anything go wrong.

My other goal will be to continue increasing my income. I don't consider myself to be a greedy person, but I've come to realize the vast amount of good I could do for myself, my community, and my planet with even a small amount of money. Therefore, this is the time in The Plan when I'll start shifting my approach from "economic survivor" to "social entrepreneur."

Short stories will start turning into compilations and novels; articles will start turning into regular columns and commissioned writing; community involvement will start turning into community organizing and professional speaking or teaching on social and ecological topics; my website will shift from economically self-supporting to an actual source of a modest amount of income. If I can find a few like-minded individuals, I may start some sort of co-operative or community-oriented business at this time. I already have a few ideas along those lines, but the particulars will depend on who is interested in being involved.

Professional success means that my writing is selling, my teaching is regular and well-paying, and my speaking opportunities are plentiful. All of this will lead to a modest amount of fame, fortune, and a greater ability to travel and take action in the world.

Fame and fortune are relative terms. They're not goals of mine per se, but they're useful tools — and perhaps inevitable consequences — of some of my other goals.

I already enjoy some degree of local fame here in Carbondale, and possibly in surrounding towns. However, one day people in regional cities such as St. Louis and Chicago may take note of my work. I may become known among people who share my diverse interests — environmentalists, Real Life Superheroes, philosophers, Pagans, sci-fi and fantasy fans, and others. It would be very fun to travel to other cities and meet people I've never met who enjoy my work.

In terms of fortune, I don't have an exact dollar amount in mind. These days, anything over $12,000 a year seems downright extravagant to me. That may change if I find a romantic partner, or have a child, or even move to a home with higher living expenses.

Unless the economy alters drastically in the next few years, I'm guessing $30,000 a year and above would qualify as a fortune to me. Given the low cost of living in Southern Illinois, and the relatively low cost of travel by electric vehicle and train, that level of income would place me into a whole new economic and social reality. It would amount to double or triple my comfortable living expenses, thus leaving me with plenty of money to share with local community groups and spend on new forms of adventure-seeking.

Description of Phase

Woo hoo! I'm living the good life! :)

Even if I'm fairly famous, however, it will still require considerable hard work to achieve and maintain this level of income. I will have to continue extensive amounts of writing, and teaching, and whatever else I'm doing at that phase. Otherwise, the income and associated savings will disappear even quicker than they were earned.

By this point, I will probably be spending a fair amount of time on travel. I don't think I'll be ever someone who spends most of their time on the road, but I could see myself traveling fairly regularly to nearby cities such as St. Louis, Chicago, and other smaller towns in the region if there were opportunities for speaking events, conferences to attend, and so on.

My health and fitness from this point onward will only continue to improve. I'll be eating a high percentage of live foods and "superfoods"; I'll be doing yoga every day; I'll be studying martial arts.

Goals

My chief goal at this point in my life will probably be to sustain this fabulous level of success! In my own odd way, I'm an ambitious man — and yet, at the end of the day, that ambition has its limits. If I can find a romantic partner, and achieve this level of personal and professional success, and feel like I'm doing good for the community and causes I support, then I may be content to settle down without pushing any further. Of course, who knows — by that point, pushing further may have become an exciting adventure, and I may be eager to keep working toward the final phase.

In terms of income, my goal at this point is to earn my living through a combination of teaching, writing, and public speaking events or workshops in cities and towns throughout the region. This, in turn, will increase traffic to my website, which will turn my book and gift shop income from a casual amount of extra cash to a genuine revenue stream that must be managed through new book reviews, new designs, etc.

Dare to dream! This is the most extravagant phase of The Plan. Some people don't even dare to dream this big, especially in times of economic hardship. I, however, believe that the sky's the limit — and I'll be pushing my search for high adventure to the limit and beyond!

When I've reached a certain level of fame and fortune, I will acquire an airship and start traveling the nation (and possibly the world) in search of new experiences, new adventures, new connections, new understandings, and new ways of advancing my support for ecological and social causes.

Description of Phase

No matter how rich and famous I become, this phase of The Plan will only be possible with the help of a community of good friends. Some may travel with me as guests, staff, or fellow adventurers; some may be a part of one or more intentional communities that I support or belong to; some may play a variety of roles in my life that can't be laid out in advance.

Whatever the details may be, I intend to uplift as many people as possible — both literally and figuratively — with this life of high adventure. People who aren't directly involved may think it's all fun and games — and at its finest, it will be a very enjoyable and exciting experience for all of us. However, it won't be a purely recreational endeavor. No matter how famous we get, and no matter how wild our adventures become, we will always make sure to do our part for the communities and causes that we support.

In the end, everybody wins, and everybody shares in the adventure!

Goals

If I ever achieve this phase of The Plan, I don't even know where I can go from there! I'll be a new person, and I will surely have new dreams to lead me ever onward. However, for now, this is a big enough dream for me, and my only foreseeable goal at this phase is to continue living the dream.

If I win the lottery, or write a best-selling novel that's made into a movie, I suppose I may just be able to fly around the world without worrying about income. Even in my wildest dreams, however, I still like to think of myself as doing something productive. Therefore, I foresee the airship turning into an enterprise unto itself. We could give air tours to people, offering them a choice of themes, a tour of their favorite city or natural area, and an optional invitation to participate in some Real Life Superhero work when we've reached our destination. This way, we would fly from city to city, enjoying beautiful vistas and partying with rock stars while doing our part to feed the hungry, heal the sick, protect the environment, etc.

That sounds like an amazing life to me. If I can think of anything greater, I'll be sure to add it here.

DARE TO DREAM!

In the meantime, my primary focus remains on Phase 1 since that's where I'm at today.