The freedom of a life without purpose.

When you come to accept that life has no cosmic purpose, no great scriptwriter, no grandiose plan where the punchline gives meaning to everything that came before — you come to see the infinite freedom available in the universe.

I went from being bed-ridden on a couch my senior year of high school to living internationally in a city I love, experimenting with lifestyles, businesses, and hobbies. The irony is that when I believed that my life had a grand purpose from the divine that I had to live up to, I was the most enslaved I have ever been. It was only when I accepted that all value and meaning is created that I found freedom in life — not driven by the ideals of religion, corporations or family.

I didn’t set out to start a company or live in Europe or learn how to make my own wine. I only set out to live where and how I am most free. And I knew it wasn’t ever going to be at the 9–5 ladder climbing career I was in 3 years ago. It didn’t happen overnight, and it took a lot of maneuvering and intricate strategy to make it happen. (I didn’t even have a passport until 4 years ago.) But once I saw that the cage I was living in was imposed upon me and not of my own making, I couldn’t resist seeing where I could go.

If you feel stuck in your 9–5 living in the city you went to high school or college, commuting to work every day, round, and round, and round again, there’s hope. It may not be by becoming a digital nomad. And it may not mean starting your own company. But I can tell you this: unless you stop and look past your current situation and begin questioning where you are most free, you’ll never find it. You’ll stay in the cage and never break out.

Freedom is out there to be had. True, creative, self-gratifying, purposeful meaning that you can make for your own life. Not in some “Sign up for the 10 secrets to success!” online course bullshit sense, but in the real sense of living a lifestyle designed around your health in a city (or cities) that stimulates your creativity doing work that not only brings success to you but value and betterment to others.

Step 1: are you free now? If not, what is it you hate about your current situation? Start there, and see where it takes you.

You create your own meaning. So make it worth something.