Lifestyle Design

In a powerful book I just read, the Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris, the author makes the case that instead of focusing on money -- a common American preoccupation -- one should focus on "Lifestyle Design."

He argues that the very American promise of hard work in order to one day retire is a mistaken one.

Instead, one should take advantage of the "good years" and take several min-retirements along the way, spending as much time in foreign countries expanding one's direct experience (assisted by foreign languages.)

It's an interesting philosophy, and he has arrived at a point where many Jamaicans reach after a few years of hard work in the U.S. -- the money is good, but the endless grind and commitment to earning more, buying more, discarding the old stuff and putting the new stuff in the home is tiring.  Statistics show that the US is one of the most productive countries in the world, but they also show that it's because US workers put in more hours than any most other industrialized countries.

He argues that money is no proxy for lifestyle.  And, it's nowhere near as important.

Most Jamaicans who want to return know this keenly -- the 5% raise they get from the job does not make up for the lack of fresh fruits, the proximity to family or the "exotic vacation" they'll have to take to merely return to the island they once called home.  (Just tell the average person in the world that you are visiting Jamaica and watch their reaction...)

We returnees know that Jamaica offers a lifestyle that is, in some ways, superior to that of the vast majority of those lived by Americans. The question raised in the book is an interesting one for those of us who are hoping to return.

Now that a Jamaican is living in the U.S., how can they combine their access to both countries to design the lifestyle the want NOW, long before the hills of Mandeville beckon a retiree home?  How does one design and live a life that gives the best of all worlds?

The book gives some interesting tips on exactly how to do that.