This is a condensed and clarified transcript of a video Bob made one year ago

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IN A SERIES I CALL “Quotes to Live Your Life By,” I discuss change and how to change if you’re not living a life you’re proud of. Are you at risk of coming to the end of your life and realizing you’ve never lived? If you want to follow your dreams and passions and set your soul on fire, then this is how you do it.

The following quote is from one of the famous minimalists of our time, Ryan Nicodemus, The Minimalists. He says, “Imagine a life with less. Less stuff, less clutter, less stress, less debt, and less discontent.”

With change, you need to know what you’re moving away from, but it’s just as important that you know what you’re moving towards. Imagine a life with less. Because you can’t live in a car, van, or RV without a life with a lot less stuff. Imagine the life of your dreams. Imagine a life with less stuff but with more travel. Imagine fitting everything into a van, just getting in and going.  

Imagine a life that is so frugal that you rarely need to work.  You can work two, three, or six months out of the year, or maybe you can work a year and take two years off. Imagine a life lived under your conditions, a life of freedom, and a life of your choosing.

Change is hard; it creates fear, and fear wants to paralyze you into your comfort zone. Creating a mental image of what you’re moving toward breaks you out of your comfort zone. Once you’ve created this image in your mind of what your life could be, keep it in there. Keep it in the front of your mind and say, “I’m going to do that.” Today I’m going to take a small step that moves me toward that life. That life of my dreams.

Create such a frugal life as to not be a wage slave anymore. Not a slave to money, a job, or your boss.  If your boss is awful, you can go to him and say, “I’m done here, you’re awful to me, and I’m not going to work for you anymore.” You can have f-you money because you need so little of it. Imagine living so frugally, needing so little money that you can own and control your life. You can go where you want to go. You can be who you want to be. You can live in a van and have the life of adventure and travel that you long for.

It all begins with recognizing I don’t want my old life. I want this life. Imagine that new life in your mind. A life with less stress, less discontent, and less stuff. With less need for money and more and more and more freedom, you break the chains of the greenback dollar bill. Break those chains!

Create this new image of what you’re moving toward. Be aware of what you’re moving from and take daily steps to move toward the life of your dreams. Living the life that you’ve created in your mind.  It’s out here in front of you. It’s you driving down the road watching the scenery go by. You are in the driver’s seat of your own life. There’s somewhere else you want to be, so GO! That can be you.

I hope you hold on to your dream. You put it in your mind, and you make it happen. Take the actions necessary to make your dream a reality!