The Core Principles Of A Brave New Life
Over the past 6 months, this blog has kind of moved towards a reputation of early retirement. And that’s cool, it’s the shiny object that draws people in.
But a brave new life is more than that. It’s a life that values family, friends, and leisure over hard work and money. It’s a life that values sustainability and self-sufficiency over bigger and better stuff. And it’s one that values understanding of things, rather than acceptance. Early retirement is both a step towards this life, as well as a benefit of it. The ultimate goal, however is not early retirement. The ultimate goal is a positive, joyful, and tranquil life.
In order to pull all this off, I believe there are 6 core principles that must be understood and embraced. Some might seem obvious, some might not be. Some might be easy to accept, while others will not. But each complements an supports the other into a balance that in my experience is peaceful to the soul.
Over the next 2 weeks, I’ll be publishing these core principles, with a detailed description of each, and how they fit into the brave new life.
- Core Principle #1 – Question Everything
- Core Principle #2 – Reject Lifestyle Inflation
- Core Principle #3 – Frugality, Self-Sufficiency, and Sustainability
- Core Principle #4 – Nurture Your Relationships
- Core Principle #5 – Understand The Marginal Utility of Money
- Core Principle #6 – This is Water
16 Comments to “The Core Principles Of A Brave New Life”
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I’ll be interested to see these. About 8 years ago after a particularly rough patch in my life I began a new path which included making amends for past wrongs, being honest all the time not just when it was convenient, paying my debts, taking full responsibility for my station in life and trying to be of service to the people around me. This led to a surprising number of personal, professional and financial successes. Along the way I became debt free except for the mortgage, started living consciously and frugally and am progressing toward an early retirement some day. First I need to payoff my remaining 215k mortgage and then I can start building a stache.
The money stuff is great for specific tangible
goals and actions. However I’m quite interested in your principles to see where we overlap and what I might learn.
Keep blogging. We are out here reading even if we don’t comment much!
Thanks Steve,
It sounds like we’ll have quite a bit of overlap. One interesting thing I found as I wrote these was that I could have easily put down 20+ things, and eventually I probably will. So it may be that there’s more overlap than seen on the surface, just that some might not meet my top 10 requirements.
Also, funny that you referred to your “stache.” MMM has officially created a new word.
Ditto Brave. I look forward to seeing what your 10 core principles are. I, too, am seeking a life of less stressfull work and a simpler life of self sustainability. It makes perfect sense in my head, I wish I could better articulate my desires to my wife.
I hope to get a post out soon on “how to convince your spouse that a simple life is better” or something to that effect. It took me a little over a decade to turn the corner, but I have a few lessons learned in that area. Most of my failures in that area were my fault, not my wife’s.
Excellent! It’s the secret and fun side of early retirement/financial independence. It’s amazing how much this becomes a lifestyle and how it becomes a much better life as well. I’m excited to read more!
Mrs. Money Mustache recently posted..The Foreclosure Project: Final Numbers and Pictures are In!
I’m sitting here in great anticipation for this series of articles. I think its going to be interesting…
I look forward to reading these. Yes, you can technically embrace the advantages of “early retirement” without actually retiring. If you prefer to work, more power to you! It’s about taking control of your life, and I certainly respect that sentiment.
lifeoverwork recently posted..Options for passive income
I like it! Sort of like the 10 commandments of Brave New Life, except without the religion and all the associated debates… Looking forward to the articles!
Neo recently posted..5 Steps to Eliminate Your Personal Debt Quickly
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wonderful series you have here Brave. wish you’d written it decades ago.
It’s not often I read things on blogs and think, “man, I wish I’d come up with that!” but this I do.
It’s not just about money, it’s about freedom.
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