Great article Patrick!

Thank you, and thank you to people like yourself, who took the plunge, and are living life to the fullest - how you want to live it, not by someone else's story or expectation. For realizing the true meaning of freedom, and passing it on to those of us yet to experience it!

I've long known that I have the chance to live an incredible life. I am lucky enough to have the skills and intelligence to earn sufficient income and have the flexibility to model my life pretty much however I want.

For a while though I've been stuck in fear, holding on to the old patterns of doing what society expects me to do - work a 9-5 in a startup. Not to say that those experiences were a waste. I had some incredible moments in startup and corporate life. But I think it's coming time that I move on. I was lucky enough to have dated an avid nomad in my last relationship. Together we went on so many adventures and saw so much of the world. I got a taste of how much I can get from the world and how it's totally within my grasp. She also opened me up to my creativity and ability to express myself, be truthful with myself and the world, about what I want and what I feel. She showed me how fulfilling it is to share my gifts, my insight, and my experiences, and to help others on my path. I feel so much inspiration from those experiences of the last 10 months, finally experiencing for myself a a taste of all these things I "hear" about people doing and living - on instagram and Facebook. And proving that I could do those same things quite easily.

I've been in stages 1-2 for a while, gathering a lot of knowledge from courses and other various sources about what is possible, and working on my mindset to believe that it's possible. And I've had elements of stage 3-4 sprinkled throughout my life, especially recently. A lot of interesting people who I admire have entered my life, showing me even more directly what is possible, making it more than just an idea. Inspiring me. Having these people in my life, is a totally different feeling than intellectually knowing this information. And I'm so excited for stage 5 - actually getting out there, having my own adventures, and releasing my creativity onto the world. It's beginning to happen, trickling out bit by bit, and I know that soon the floodgates will open.

I'm looking forward to reading more about your story and sharing more of my own as it unfolds.