Uncertainty rules.
You could be forgiven for thinking a time is sneaking closer, where we’ll arrive at a crossroads. A point where a decision will have to be taken to avert the tragic moment when your bills will total more than your available income.
Everything is pointing in this direction. It’s not a matter of catastrophising; it’s happening on a scale larger than anyone wants to admit.
Stress
82% of Australian households are now in financial stress, meaning they have less than 5% of their earnings left after paying rent and essentials. (ABC – 4 Corners) Feb. 2025. This is serious.
A.I. is coming, ready or not.
The exponentially looming spectre of artificial general intelligence (A.G.I.) breathing down our necks only adds to the gravity of the situation. Big change is coming, quicker than we think.
Can you imagine the ‘haves’ issuing the ‘have nots’ with a universal income that we are going to so desperately need when most of our jobs are usurped? Fat chance.
Your decision.
A crossroads means there are only a limited amount of decisions to be made, either go on down the road as if nothing untoward will happen and everything will be alright, or decide to take a sharp turn and a new direction. Decide.
Will you let fate dictate your future, or will you make things work to your advantage? I know which has to happen, but you are the only one who can make that change.
Grab the bull by the horns.
You need to take matters into your own hands and protect yourself against what’s happening and the only way to do it is to prepare. To prepare early. As in now. If you think someone else is going to do it for you, you’ll have another think coming.
He/She who hesitates…
If you leave it until you no longer have the means to afford to act, then it’s too late. Sadly but inevitably you will become a victim of your own tardiness.
So.
Having made the decision to act in your own interests, what to do next?
I think you know where this is going.
Simplify.
The big change is to start thinking small. Start figuring out real quick how to downsize your entire life. Start thinking different as Steve Jobs would say. Differently Steve, differently.
Change isn’t easy (until you embrace it) and the hardest thing ahead of you at first is the wrestle with your own mind, your own ego.
Unlearn / Relearn.
All the expectations that you’ve come to believe through your formative years, your schooling, your gaining of maturity, your work-life, right up until now must be unlearnt. Deconstructed. And relearnt.
You ego will nag and insist that you’re making a big mistake and you’re a fool and you need to have a long hard look at yourself and wake up.
Why aren’t you listening to your friends and family and employers and politicians? What is this hare-brained bullshit you’re thinking? Yada, yada, yada…
No.
It’s not bullshit. It’s survival. It’s taking positive steps to ensure your immediate future is under your control, instead of out of control in a society that’s lost its way – big time. It’s adjusting your expectations to match what’s realistic in these times of uncertainty.
Maybe things will turn around and you can re-engage with life v. 1.0 again at a later time. Maybe they won’t. Perhaps you’ll find life v. 2.0 so appealing that you decide not to go back.
At least give yourself the choice. Don’t wait for circumstances to drive you into the dirt.
The climb back up from nothing is not something you want to inflict upon yourself.
So, small it is.
- Small but secure protective shell.
- Few possessions – ie. super-useful possessions only.
- Income when you can get it + low, low costs
= a lighter, more carefree life.
Lightweight life.
With your newfound lightweight life you will be more agile, you’ll have the ability to move more quickly, to find opportunities and pounce on them. Different horizons, new acquaintances and friends. A fresh new way of existing.
Take inspiration from the backpackers, they know something many of us don’t.
The lightweight life is a life of freedom. No need to cart your world around with you.
Notice something you like the sound of? Go and check it out. Experience it, good or bad. Easy or difficult. At least you’ll know next time. And you won’t die wondering.
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“The secret to happiness is freedom… and the secret to freedom is courage.” – Thucydides
Wandering
