I write about what it means to be a Sovereign Individual in the digital age. But most people aren’t interested in theories. They want concrete, easy to follow, and actionable insights. And actionable insights come from real experiences. Without first hand experience, our best intentions are easily second guessed.
Authenticity is created from actions that are publicly verifiable, creating evidence that you’re practicing what you’re preaching.
This is true because we don’t live on islands by ourselves. We live in a shared, community based reality. Our actions or lack of action are how the world judges us. That’s part of what makes “building in public” so important.
Building in public is like ongoing community education, authentically teaching the world about who you are and the value of your experiences. Building in public means sharing your trials and errors, the ups and downs, the decisions you make and why you make them. It helps your community feel close to you and it creates a sense of empathy, compassion, and humanity. Most importantly, it allows them to understand that you’ve distilled life lessons into real and actionable insights.
With that in mind, I’ve come to realize that I need to do a better job of building in public. Sharing what I’m doing and why. Where I’m heading and the challenges I’m facing. But most importantly, taking responsibility for authentically showing how I’ve distilled real experience into actionable insights.
It starts by saying that I’m documenting my path to becoming a Sovereign Individual. Sharing the insights and lessons I learn along the way. While I haven’t reached the end goal, I am well down the path towards success. And my writing is a trail of breadcrumbs you can follow to achieve similar results.
The Road to Becoming a Sovereign Individual
A year ago I created a newsletter, The Sovereign Individual Weekly. Many people seem to think this weekly curated post about my interests in personal sovereignty is just for entertainment value. That it’s just more theory on the subject.
Allow me to recalibrate our shared reality: my newsletter isn’t theoretical writing and it’s not a hobby. Everything I write about is something I’ve done or that I’m working to build to get me closer to becoming a Sovereign Individual.
To put it plainly, I started the Sovereign Individual Weekly to document my lessons learned on the path to becoming a Sovereign Individual. I may not be “there” yet but I’ve made considerable progress. And over the course of the next year, I expect to get me most of the way there.
Here’s what I’ve done and where I’m going. And most importantly, why you benefit from following along.
Learning The Foundations of Sovereign Individuals
When I read The Sovereign Individual it changed my worldview (summary here). Because of Covid, the lockdowns, neo-medievalism, and the digital transformation, I decided to work towards creating a life based on the books predictions. A life built around a belief that the world is fundamentally changing and that anyone could navigate these changes by prioritizing self sovereignty.
That meant adapting the lessons from a 25 year old book to a modern worldview and taking action. So I created 10 principles of becoming a Sovereign Individual that I could incorporate into my life. And I began identifying major digital age trends I believe will accelerate opportunities for sovereign individuals.
You can’t become self sovereign if you don’t understand how the world works and where its heading. So I started by making sense of the world, the trends that are underway, how they likely impact society, and how I can build a framework for navigating these changes. I needed a way to document what I learned and wanted a serialized process that I could use to build a routine and foundation for my learning. ie: I looked for areas of opportunity to make money and secure my own future.
This process started as a blog and later expanded to a newsletter.
A serialized weekly newsletter helped me to construct the narrative around what comes next and why it matters. Like popular police procedural dramas, the newsletter emphasizes how the details of weekly events combine over time to reveal a larger story. In this case, that the digital transformation is occurring on a daily basis and converging to bring to life the Sovereign Individual Age.
Becoming a Sovereign Individual in Public
What I’m really doing is becoming a Sovereign Individual in public. Everything I do is a learning process that is documented and shared.
These resources create what I call an information capital asset. Curated information on a niche topic that develops future value. As more people discover, subscribe, and share it, the value of the asset increases.
I plan to continue creating info assets relevant to becoming a Sovereign Individual. For example, the newsletter and blog are early prototypes for an e-book on self sovereignty. As I learn by doing, I document and distill information that is valuable. Writing and sharing weekly provides me with data on readers interests and what they value.
Ultimately, I will use this data to distill the most impactful lessons into other information products that I’ll repurpose at a later date.
I’m not interested in selling my time for money. That’s an income model of the past. Instead, I want to cultivate assets that produce value over time. Building these information assets better aligns with the idea that a Sovereign Individual needs multiple income sources.
In addition to info assets, I built a personal angel fund to create a lifestyle investment strategy. I wanted to use an aggressive investment strategy to create a fund that could shape my own reality. So I set a target investment goal, achieved it, and leveraged this successful strategy to quit my job in pursuit of self sovereignty on a full time basis.
I now work for myself.
It’s not easy. I face recurring challenges adapting my skills to support a growing portfolio of assets. I’m learning to write copy, create lead funnels, and use social media to build a brand. Simultaneously, I’m learning to treat myself like a business. This requires budgeting, planning, and treasury management as I look to build and leverage unique assets to support this lifestyle.
The Next Phase of Becoming A Sovereign Individual
I’m also exploring the various forms of remote work. Like many, I’ve experienced synchronous remote work while at a full time job. But recently, I set out to experience asynchronous remote work including most recently accepting a ghost writing contract. It’s less about the money and more about experiencing and learning the process. The immediate lesson has been that I’m more interested in pursuing income opportunities created from ownership with long term upside.
I’m prioritizing calls with readers from all over the world to better understand my growing community and open myself up to freelance opportunities. My goal is to learn and earn income from multiple asynchronous sources.
I want to become a global citizen. Which I believe is an important opportunity emerging from the digital transformation.
So I’ve begun the process of practicing flag theory and am preparing to settle abroad, gaining citizenship in another country with a target move date in Q1 2022. This process has forced me to come to terms with the realities of leaving town quickly and at the recommendation of a reader, I developed myself a framework for preparing to bug out.
My primary goal in moving abroad is to build more relationships around the world. I’m seeking friendships with like minded people but also pursuing business opportunities. I believe that by living in multiple countries you gain more perspective on the digital and global transformation underway.
Through this new perspective, I hope to increase globalized income streams focused on information based products targeting global audiences. Simultaneously using time based consulting, ghostwriting, and other freelance initiatives to accumulate money in the short term to buy income streams for the long term.
The logic: you can build an income source or you can buy income. I want to do both. So in addition to building information asset income streams, my goal for the coming year is to buy several sources of income via micro acquisitions.
Building a Modern Worldview Piece by Piece
I’m also refining my worldview and developing an understanding of where the world is heading. I’m building a framework for how to make decisions in the digital age and how to identify business trends and white spaces. All of which is to help position myself within these spaces.
My newsletter is my tracker of what’s happening in the world and writing publicly helps me build clarity and allows for serendipity.
I’m writing and learning about the things that are relevant to the digital transformation and the rise of the Sovereign Individual. All for the purpose of positioning myself for success in an increasingly digital and fragmented world. If this resonates with you then we have something in common and you should reach out to me. Making connections from this informational asset is what I think of as a serendipity dividend. A one time benefit of producing an information capital asset for the world to experience.
But the main catalyst for sharing my journey is because the Sovereign Individual can be a bit of a misnomer. Self sovereignty implies solitude. But this is the wrong way of thinking about the Sovereign Individual.
Instead I envision a future community of sovereign individuals pursuing these common ideals. And my newsletter is one of many beacons and a lighthouses attracting and guiding people with common principles and ideals towards a community.
Come Along For the Ride
I don’t have all the answers but I’m seeking them out and learning lessons the hard way. This isn’t theoretical. My writing provides a roadmap full of actionable insights you too can follow to become a Sovereign Individual. And the most important feature of my work is that it’s a two way street. Meaning that a lot of the experimenting I do is at the recommendation of readers.
If you have a question, concern, or want to learn something specific about becoming a Sovereign Individual – all you need to do is respond to my newsletter.
I’m piecing together a new narrative that makes sense of society’s shift into the Digital Age. The goal: to document the paths to becoming a Sovereign Individual. Giving you the facts and tools necessary to successfully navigate an increasingly digital life. I cover topics and narratives you can’t fully appreciate because you’re in the thick of it. Providing insights and analysis that are not always covered or accepted by conventional thought.
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*Photo by Daniil Silantev on Unsplash
