M&R Episode 020: Chapin Update...I'm still working hard on my own life-style design.

In Episode 20 I Chapin Kreuter take a few minutes to talk about where I'm at in my own life-style design process. I recap a bit on past episodes that really inspire me to keep working hard and chasing what I want. Plus give you a little perspective on the finances I'm working with to try to make this all happen. Enjoy!

Show notes: Chapin Kreuter, Get a Misfits and Rejects T-shirt or Tank, Support Misfits and Rejects on Patreon

Welcome to Misfits and Rejects, a podcast about the lifestyle design of expatriates, travelers, entrepreneurs, and adventurers.

I'm your host, Chapin Kreuter. Enjoy.

I didn't fit in America.

With cocaine, there's just always too many guns and too many bad attitudes.

I quit the limiting stories.

Really try to overcome that fear.

And right there, for any of your listeners, a lot of what I was to do in the rest of my life was formulated by the fact that I just went and did it.

Welcome to another episode of Misfits and Rejects. Today is an episode, a milestone episode for me. It's episode 20.

And it's an episode where we're going to reflect and give some perspective on where Misfits and Rejects has come from

and where I'm at personally right now, presently in trying to continue to design my life in the way that I'd like to see my life shaped

and hopefully give other people perspective in the way that you can see that lifestyle design is much like starting your own business.

There is a lot of trial and tribulation you have to go through and a lot of turns and pivots that

you will either choose to take or life will make those decisions for you.

And I think it's going to be good just kind of to check in with everybody and give people perspective on where I'm at and where I hope to be another year.

And I think this is for me just an episode where I get to maybe flush out a few of the things that I need to express.

And just saying it out loud is going to be more helpful to me.

So with that said episode 20, it's been a year. I can't believe that I'm on episode 20.

I started December of 2015 and here I am January of 2017 and almost on episode or doing episode 20 and it feels good.

It's been a long road. I've had to learn a lot of things about podcasting, about technology that never was even interested in.

But due to the choices that I've made, I had to learn these things and it's been up and down hard, super hard for me, like learning a new language.

Never came naturally to me and just had to put my head down and grit and bear all the frustrations and the highs and more lows than I would have wanted.

But it comes with the territory. It's the cost of entry, as Gary Vaynerchuk says.

If you want to play, you have to pay your dues and that is what I'm doing right now, paying my dues.

Because lifestyle design, designing my life in the way that I want is so important to me that I am willing to sit day in and day out and see very little progress.

And just know that this is what I want and I'm going to do what it takes no matter what.

So with that said, just to reiterate a little bit about what Misfits and Rejects about.

You know, it is about lifestyle design and hopefully inspiring people to shape their lives in the way that they want by going around the world

and interviewing people that have done just that and sharing their stories and trying to get some perspective on how they did it.

Not just going out in the world and doing it, but how they did it financially

and how they're achieving what they are achieving to maintain the lifestyle that they have designed for themselves financially.

Because I think a lot of times there's a perception that people who do do this must have a trust fund or must be somehow different than we are.

Which is why I really try to get deep with them and have them give us some perspective on how they are actually accomplishing what they're accomplishing.

Because, you know, in past episodes, I've really gotten to sit down with some of the people I am inspired by most.

You know, like Dale Dagger in episode four, I think it was, and how he left San Diego in a boat with no money.

I think he had less than a thousand dollars in his pocket and he started sailing, started sailing south, not knowing what was going to happen.

And then boom, shipwrecks, accidentally shipwrecks and finds himself stranded in Nicaragua.

Doesn't come back through sheer grit and ingenuity, figures out a way to make it work and develops a very profitable, successful real estate business.

And then there's, you know, examples of Brian Friedrichs, who chose a very different path.

Some, you know, might judge as not a moral one, but, you know, he did choose to become a drug smuggler and at one point found himself sentenced to 10 years in a Mexican prison.

And through those experiences and me happening upon this chance encounter, I found his story to be incredibly inspiring for me and where I was at in life.

The man has, in my opinion, come to a place where he has just accepted his life situation in such a peaceful way because the man is in so much pain.

He had a very horrible accident at one point in Mexico and struggles with some serious nerve pain throughout his whole body.

Not to mention, just sitting in a Mexican prison for two years of his tenure sentence wasn't easy.

And to sit with this man and you see, feel his presence and how he goes through life, you're just like, wow, this guy is switched on in so many ways.

And then there's adventurers, you know, the adventurers like Donna Cuthbert, who teaches herself Mongolian and then her and her husband go to Mongolia and buy horses, train horses to ride across Mongolia.

And here the trials and tribulations that they went through and the experiences that they had and what they came out at the end, knowing after, you know, just going out and trying like it was just so inspiring to continue to strive for the things that I want.

So if you haven't listened those episodes, I highly recommend you do episode four with Dale Dagger, episode five with Brian Friedrichs and episode seven or sorry, eight with Donna Cuthbert.

Amazing stories like these people just are people who go out and do it, put their money where their mouth is and do it.

And that's the kind of person that inspires me to continue to do what I'm doing, trying to shape my life in the way I want.

And so that brings me to where I'm at and what I'm trying to do and how I'm trying to shape my life.

You know, as I mentioned in episode 10, which kind of gave you perspective about misfits and rejects and why I started misfits and rejects and what the point of misfits and rejects is to me.

I kind of give you perspective on, you know, at age 17 or 18, I had a few profound moments that really shaped my path in life, which were one, taking responsibility for myself and going after the things I really wanted in life and shaping it.

And then committing myself to the lifestyle that I want, which is being on the road, traveling, meeting all these cool, interesting people.

And since then, I've really tried to continually design my life in that way.

And it's not easy. There's days where I don't have any money to continue on and I have to make the choice.

Do I want to stay and try to figure it out to make ends meet because I genuinely love where I'm at?

Or do I go home to where I know I can make a quick buck and then regroup?

And the last year, that's what I've been doing.

I found myself having to come back to America because America is a land where if you work hard, you can make money pretty quickly and pretty easily.

I happen to be very fortunate with the situation that I find myself in.

Big shout out to my bosses, Grant and Scott, for allowing me to come and go as I please.

They always take really good care of me when I'm in town and give me work,

which gives me enough to then head back out and give it another go, swing the bat one more time,

because I'm always trying to get out there and not necessarily have to come back for work anymore,

which is why I've concocted the plan to learn this online business stuff and this podcasting stuff

to help me hopefully one day generate a little bit of income while I'm on the road so I can become location independent and not have to come back for money.

I would love to always come back when I want to see my family, spend holidays, birthdays,

or even come back and participate in a life situation where a family member needs help or needs even financial help.

That's the ultimate goal, is to have enough money that I can participate financially in my family's life when I'm needed to

and not just always out there scraping by to keep myself above water.

You know, I did that for a long time and I could have done that for forever,

but life kind of is a funny thing in that you might find yourself in a job that you actually love

or in a life situation that you actually are very happy with and have no desire to change it,

but that's not always what life has in store for you,

and life at some point is going to make that change for you and push you into a situation that you had never realized you wanted,

and it's going to probably be very uncomfortable,

and there might be situations where you didn't really feel that this is at all where you needed to be,

but then as you start to accept the situation and go through it, you start to realize that life maybe had something else in store for you,

and you were excelling in what you were doing and not necessarily pushing yourself that little extra bit to maybe grow as a person

or grow in a way that you really have within you to grow,

and that's the funny thing I like and really find life so interesting is that sometimes you can be totally happy,

blissed out with what you're doing, and life itself is going to just say,

you know what, we're going to see what you're made of and we're going to actually help you grow because that's what you're ready for,

and sitting here is doing nothing for you anymore.

So that really struck me too was being pushed into a situation that I didn't really want to do

because I was so happy with what I had, and here I am a few years later

and learn a tremendous amount about online business, apps that I never ever had any desire to know,

and I'm struggling, I'm fortunate enough to have a family that supports me,

so I get to come back and contribute in any way I can, whether it's a few hundred bucks a month here

or taking care of my niece or they're willing to help me out for the period of time in which I need to struggle

and figure this stuff out, but I'm always striving to continue to shape my life in the way that I wanted,

which was to be out on the road, location independent from America, making money,

fulfilling the hopes and dreams that I have of just continuing to learn new places, new cultures, new languages,

and push myself in that way, and yeah, so I guess because I am trying to always give a perspective

on like the financial situations of some of these people and where they're at,

it's going to be nice to maybe give you some perspective on where I'm at financially,

and so I'll start with just my bank account, which is at this point my checking account has $559 in it,

my saving accounts has $15 in it, I've taken out a small business loan, which I owe about $8,000,

I have credit card debt about $1,400, and what that all means is that I have to be very careful with what I do

and how I make these moves to continue to shape my life and design it in the way I want,

and so in the past I've always been very comfortable leaving with $2,000 in my bank account,

that was all I ever needed to hit the road and I could go for a long period of time with just two grand,

that was comfortable, and then after mom got sick and she had passed away, when I was in Nicaragua,

I couldn't get home, I literally did not have the finances to come home and be a part of her passing process,

so I had to borrow money, I had to borrow $2,000 from my dad just to get me home,

and that wasn't a feeling that felt very good to me, I wanted to be on my own two feet able to come home

and participate without having to do that, so it's nice to have that support, I love my family for that,

I don't think people can really get through life without somebody helping them get to where they want to go,

and I'm fortunate to have a family who is willing to support me like that,

but after that experience I made the decision that I wasn't going to allow that to happen again,

I was going to become more financially independent, and again like I mentioned earlier,

hopefully create enough of a financial cash flow that I can support myself and contribute at some point in the future

if somebody might need that help, so that's been a really big important motivation for me to kind of make this life pivot,

and not just only focus on keeping myself on the road, but focusing on getting that bank account to a point where

I can kind of contribute and come home whenever I feel like it without having to be somebody who's like,

oh I can't make it to that birthday, or I don't really have the finances to come home right now for Christmas,

maybe next year, I'd like to be able to either swipe the credit card comfortably or have the cash and jump on that flight no matter what,

so with that said, now I need $4,000 to leave, that's my comfort zone, $2,000 to hit the road,

once you get there I try to figure it out, hopefully with this online thing I'll be able to start generating some kind of income,

but if not, I know I have the capabilities to wherever I land I can usually figure out a way to make ends meet,

but always have that $2,000 safety net to sit there in my savings account, so when it is time to come home,

I can pull the trigger and get that ticket, and so with all that said, I think that again it's just,

Misfits and Rejects is about lifestyle design, people who make the choice to shape their life in the way that they want,

and it's not always going to be easy, it's not always going to work out in the way you wanted,

but I do guarantee that something will work out in a way that you had not expected,

and be extremely and profoundly fulfilling in a way you had never felt or expected before either,

because by going out there and opening doors or having doors open for you that you'd never even thought of creatively that you wanted opened,

just all of a sudden changes your whole being into something and someone you never knew you could be,

and it's beautiful and it feels amazing, and yes it's scary and yes it's all those things that come with just taking a leap of faith,

but you have to take the leap in order to find those things within yourself, I feel,

So with that said, I really hope that everyone out there listening finds some benefit to the people that I interview,

maybe even my story, and gets out there and just mixes it up a little bit,

whether it's you taking your first trip or you finally making that decision to go out into the world and grab what you really want, that's the goal.

So much love to all of you, best wishes in 2017, looking forward to many more episodes of Misfits and Rejects

in crazy places with interesting people telling their amazing stories, and I will see you soon, ciao.

I hope that my interview inspired you to go out and spread your wings and try something new,

to live a different lifestyle that maybe your whole life people were telling you was the wrong one, but when in fact it's the perfect one for you, and I'll see you next time.

Thanks for watching!