But there’s more to the story.
Let’s go back in time. 3 years ago, something was very wrong …
For years, we’ve hustled to start businesses, invest in real estate, and find creative ways to afford a lifestyle that is usually reserved for the ultra-rich. We hosted parties for our friends who approached life the same way. And frankly, didn’t think much of it.
I mean, life was good. We lived in a beautiful place. We had good friends, had some successes (and failures), and generally held control over our respective lifestyles.
Then something changed.
By 2015, Dana felt stuck.
Unhappy in his work, he was juggling interests in 6 businesses and needy clients. He spent his day on the hamster wheel, answering emails, fielding calls, pushing money from one business to another, juggling priorities and trying to hold it all together.
How can someone who has spent a decade making money from side gigs and business end up feeling like their time is not their own? Yeah, even with a lifetime of business experience, and income from multiple sources, Dana was at his wits end.
Dana did something many people wish they could do…
- He decided to sell his possessions and stick a few things in a storage unit.
- He put the businesses on auto pilot.
- And he moved to Bali for a year.
Lucky for all us, Dana took advantage of his time in Bali to write a book. It details not only his bold choice to move to Bali for a reset, but also exactly how he’s managed to create a life that enabled him to go from busy entrepreneur to digital nomad, and return to the States with a new lease on life.
Writing his book helped Dana step back and see what he had done right, and what he’d done wrong over the years.
One day he handed Nate the book.
“I’d like you to read it,” he said to Nate. “It’s about people like us.”
First . . . a little background. Nate had opted out of a previous life he didn’t want to live, in a place he didn’t want to live.
But that big “move” had cost him. He walked away from a job that paid more in a month than most people make in a year.
The money wasn’t the important part, though. Nate had wanted something different: to choose his destiny. To work for himself, but not like some Silicon Valley entrepreneur, sleeping under his desk, or hustling VC money to fund his business. Nate was like Dana, subversives who were doing things unconventionally.
That meant making the tough decision to walk away from millions, and move to California.
Nate launched his own ventures, and has learned the secret to entrepreneurship was to create ventures that work for him, and to make himself dispensable; not to spin his wheels raising money; to grow small, profitable ventures that empowered him to travel, spend time with his family, and to invest time into side gigs.
Let’s just say the term “Opt Out” immediately perked his ears. With no other expectation, he read the book.
The book really was about people like them! About Nate and Dana and so many people they had known and become friends with over the years.
The Opt Out book was describing a whole culture of people who were flying under the radar.
Rogue entrepreneurs who didn’t do things the conventional way.
Yeah, they still got busy from time to time (like Dana was before Bali). They still ran into money problems here and there. They still had to deal with the problems life dished out.
But, they had the freedom to do things their way.
Some had bailed for the beaches of Central America. Some were making $10K a month from a one-man business in a garage. Some were running little agencies with a small staff. A few had sold a venture and made some cash…maybe a base hit, a double, or an occasional home run. Birds of a feather flock together…and Nate and Dana’s network turned out to be birds of a feather.
“What if we bring in some of our friends, and talk about how they live their version of Opt Out?”
Nate and Dana made a quick list…who could they interview that was living the Opt Out Life?
The list was long.
They started those interviews, and the podcast was launched. If you haven’t listened, you should. It’s going to inspire you…to Opt Out.
And, in 2019, they launched the Tribe…a platform just for people who are opting out. For a small membership fee, members get access to Nate and Dana, as well as monthly calls with experts (and a bunch of other benefits, you can see HERE).
Enough about us. What about you? How will you Opt Out?
What we love about the Opt Out Life is that everyone’s a little different.
Sure, the narrative is familiar. (Once you’ve heard a dozen of our podcast guests, you’ll see what we mean.)
It’s not what you hear in the mainstream. It’s also not like we are selling snake oil. There are principles, yes. But, not a one-size-fits-all formula. We get that, and we aim to help our people find THEIR version of the Opt Out Life.
It’s a journey.
And, here’s what we think it can mean for you.
You. Your Opt Out Life. Not ours.
Travel? We love it. And, our Opt Out Life brings us all around the world every year. Dana spent 14 months in Bali. Nate will be on two separate 3-week trips this summer. Our buddy Zeev spent a decade vagabonding. Tanner moved out of the country forever. Maya went from Manhattan to Maui for good.
One of our tribe makes $10K/mo on just one of his side gigs. His other time goes into a music venture, which is his passion.
One of our tribe cut his teeth on content websites, and now runs a profitable sweepstakes business. He walks to his son’s school for lunch from his funky office down the street.
These are just some initial examples of the powerful stories we’ve uncovered on the podcast. There are even more in Dana’s book.
Now what?
This is where the fun begins. We want you to join the Opt Out movement. We want to help you live the Opt Out Life.
And the easiest way to take a baby step in the right direction is to get on our email list.
Enter your email below . . .
to open up a one-on-one conversation with Dana and Nate.
We’ll talk to you soon!