The Video Update
Hi-de-ho friends. Allyn Bryce here, and welcome to my DAOpunks cohort_3 update video #3.
The 'Fairly Accurate' Transcription
Today we are here at Balanced Rock in southern Idaho. First, a little techincal difficulties update. I forgot my camera kit a home, so we had to shoot this on smartphones. Seemed the focus liked the rock better than my savage mug. Oh, well. We're gonna role with it
In the last video, I talked about the 'work game' and whether you are playing the right one. If you are not, well, you need to change the rules or change the game. I believe that kind of embodies the general spirit of what being a DAOpunk is all about – freeing yourself from default work. Many of us are here because we want to change the rules and the game. That’s what Web3 technologies and DAOs are accomplishing, they are disrupting what we think of as default work. We are still in the process of figuring it out, and there are a lot of growing pains, but we are here, making changes for what I hope will be the better.
But what about freeing yourself from default life?
Now, work is a huge component of that for many of us, but it’s not the whole story. Regardless of whether you specifically enjoy your career or not, I believe that, on the whole, most of you probably want to enjoy your life a little bit more.
So, how do you free yourself from default life? The short answer is, I don’t know. That is to say, I don’t know what's right for you. However, I can tell you what I am doing specifically for myself; what I see as my default life. I might actually break this into a couple of posts; we'll see how it goes.
In the last video, I mentioned the importance of writing down your values and being brutally honest with yourself. Now, I want you to overlay or compare those values with the kind of lifestyle you want to lead. It's crucial to take some time for deep introspection and jot down your thoughts. Author Cal Newport really dives into the concept of value-based lifestyle-centric career planning. I highly recommend checking out his work, as his books are fantastic, and his podcast is equally insightful. His influence has been significant for me. You can find a link to his work in the description of this video.
I often return to the ideas of health, wealth, and relationships as the core pillars of my life. From there, I break these pillars down into more specific components.
As an example, a very important component that has emerged in my life over the past decade or so has been mobility—not only social mobility but the ability to move around freely. My wife is Japanese, and I am American. We aspire to spend time in both countries with our three children. This requires a lot of mobility and flexibility in our life. This entails the freedom, confidence, and capability to relocate based on what's best for our family. I'm not referring to 'van life,' but I think you know what I mean.
As I contemplated all of this, every pillar and nearly every value led me to a similar conclusion, and again I am talking about me: cutting loose the excess baggage in my life, both literally and figuratively.
I was playing the wrong game, so I decided to change the game.
Now, let's dive into some possibly confusing imagery, but we're going to explore it nonetheless.
It's as if I've been dragging along this really long-ass freight train for years when, in reality, all I truly needed was an engine, a boxcar, and a caboose. I mean, think about it. Carrying all this baggage, stuff, unnecessary emotions, and worries everywhere, all the time. It was really weighing me down and really affecting my ability to pursue this value of mobility, and, basically every other value I wrote down for my life.
So, I let go of most of it. To be honest, I envisioned this as two separate trains—a freight train and a passenger train, the freight train being the stuff, and the passenger train being more of the people and relationships. Yet, in many instances, they're essentially one train. So yeah, stuff…
Buying things I don't actually need, using money I don't really have, all to impress people I don't even know. Done playing that game. All those collections, clothes, and the things, and just-in-case items? Done with that game as well. Keeping up appearances, maintaining shallow and draining relationships, caring too much about the opinions of others—by the way, those others don't even notice you because they're far too preoccupied with their own concerns, much like you are.
And, by the way, if we want to discuss a genuine superpower…
Being able to detach yourself from the opinions of others (save some) is just that. 99% of the people you put in your life, you really don't need to concern yourself with.
So, to provide some clarification, I significantly pared down my 'stuff.' I sold or gave away most of it, retaining only the truly meaningful items that align with my values and lifestyle. Again, important to write stuff down. I'm actually planning to take this a step further with a personal challenge soon, but that will have to wait until I'm back to Japan. #alpha
I applied a similar approach to many of my relationships—letting go of the superficial ones and keeping the meaningful ones. I made a conscious effort to reclaim time for my family. By the way, everyone often talks about family being a value, but how many of us truly follow through? Just something to think about.
So, yeah, superficial... This allowed me to shedding the superficial aspects of my life—the unimportant things. I'm approaching this with a sense of ruthlessness and being unapologetic, not in a mean way, but in a purposeful manner. It's like uncoupling the majority of those train cars that I have been transporting and that have been weighing me down. That's key here: uncoupling those cars that you don't need.
This shift has allowed me to embrace greater mobility (which is one of my core values), feel lighter, and gain more time. With that extra time, I've been able to enhance my health and foster more meaningful relationships. While my wealth is a work in progress, when it comes to the overall quality of life, I can confidently say it has improved. And when I say 'wealth,' I don't solely mean finances.
Keep in mind, this is just one aspect, but its impact is huge—a huuuuge positive impact.
To be clear, I'm not suggesting that you should get rid of all your shit and delete all your contacts. What I'm sharing is simply what I did for myself. If you want to keep your action figures, your Blu-ray collection, a closet full of clothes, and a gazillion Facebook friends, go right ahead. Just ensure you understand why you're making those choices and whether they align with your framework. And, once again, be brutally honest with yourself. Are you pursuing what you truly want, or are you sticking to the default because it's easy, or what you've been told to, or it's what everyone else is doing?
So, take your list of values and desired lifestyle, and try to identify at least one 'train' in your life that you could possibly uncouple a few 'cars' from. See how far that takes you.
And much like this rock behind me, try to find a little more balance in your life.
Well, that's a good place to conclude this video. Thanks for staying with me. I'll also provide a transcript of this on my blog, and I'll link that in the description, along with the reverse for the blog post.
Looking forward to the next video. We'll likely expand more on this train idea and continue sharing what being a DAOpunk means to me.
See you then.
Later taters,
AB
P.S. Stick around until the end of the video for some sweet spy action.
