Win Back Your Freedom!
Today and every day, you are bombarded with some 5,000 advertising messages. That’s nearly 2 million ads per year, every year of your life – and the volume is accelerating daily.
Not to mention, your neurons are being overloaded and overrun by a growing variety of modern gizmos and gadgets: mobile smart phones, computer tablets, apps, and much more.
Yes, all five of your senses are under siege from a noisy, over-communicated world; a world where there seems to be no method of escape...no way to unplug from the overwhelming, far-reaching grid of modern life.
So how do you break free from life’s commotion and clutter? How do you recharge your soul and relax your senses?
Getting unplugged cannot be achieved simply by “cutting back” on technology. Your modern life is too connected for this strategy to work. And long-lasting relief won’t come by visiting some plastic-coated theme park or run-of-the-mill vacation hotspot that’s overrun with sun-drunk tourists. Not gonna happen.
So what’s the solution? How can you truly break free?
The solution becomes clear when viewing the work put into the Emerging Terrain’s Boca Chica Island project in Panama. My partner Josh and I had both become disillusioned with the world around us. The mundane and overbearing aspects of life forced change.
I realized that in order to facilitate growth within myself I needed to reach beyond the cookie cutter aspects of modern residential properties, those carbon copy dwellings stretching far and wide inducing a coma of routine.
Our journey took us straight into the heart of Latin America. We visited hundreds of properties, riding horseback along Costa Rica’s lush jungle trails and boating off Panama’s southeast coast near Chiriqui Gulf National Marine Park.
The end result was a unique experience that inspired us to relocate our families to the area
— a place free of the hectic schedule of an overly connected world.
Boca Chica Island is one such area, the perfect place to wind down while leaving behind the overbearing daily routine. It is absolutely amazing to see the positive changes in those that own property on Boca Chica; we have come to agree that relaxation in the natural setting is unlike anything else.
There is undeniably a recipe for finding this “peak level of relaxation.” A level of relaxation unlike any other, finally free from the trials of the modern world. However, there become certain steps you must take to fully wind down from the stress of the everyday.
Here are 5 surefire steps to unplug from the commotion and clutter of modern life:
1.) Go naked. No, I’m not suggesting you undress and discard your clothes...I’m simply suggesting that you ditch every tech device you own. At least temporarily.
Think about it. How can you possibly hope to unplug and unwind with a smart phone practically sewn to your ear?
You can’t. The temptation to check voicemail and respond to email will overcome your sensibility. And it only takes a single, loose stone to burst open the entire dam.
2.) Unplug your alarm clock. If you’re like most modern mortals, the demands of modern life have left you sleep-deprived. No – sleep-starved. And lack of sleep may be affecting your work performance or relationships at home.
Allow yourself to fall asleep and wake to your natural sleep cycle. Doing so will help you fall into a normal rhythm, and you’ll awake feeling refreshed and energized.
3.) Spurn the masses. No roller-coaster rides at Disneyland. No beach-bathing in Cabo San Lucas. No double-decker bus tours in London or Rome.
As I previously mentioned, it’s impossible to break free when you’re steeped in some sterile, plastic-coated tourist destination that’s overripe with crowded beaches and bars, faux costumes and customs and cheap souvenirs and trinkets.
4.) Revisit nature and embrace the natural order of things. Allow sounds and skies of nature comfort and cleanse you as you lie in your hammock and sway between two coconut trees. Chop wood with nothing but a sharp ax and your bare hands. Fish and catch “The Big One” from a sandy seashore. Cook dinner over an open campfire.
Return to a simple life, and do things as they were done in ancient times – no matter if it’s only for one or two weeks out of the year.
5.) Push past your boundaries. A daily routine brings focus and clarity to a chaotic life. These reoccurring patterns of activity help you organize and complete tasks with efficiency. Without a routine to add structure and to guide you, very little would get done.
But instability results from too much of one thing – good or bad. And strict adherence to a routine wilts creativity and withers inspiration. Achieving balance requires that you break from your routine, temporarily, in order to recharge your creativity.
So try something new, exciting and different. If you’re not pushing past your boundaries then you’re operating in “robot” mode, and you will be truly unable to break free.
Truth be told, just following one of the aforementioned steps will help you recharge. But hands down your greatest chance of success – the secret sauce of unplugging from life’s commotion and clutter – comes when you adhere to all five steps for a minimum of one week straight, a formula made possible on Boca Chica Island. Only then will you reach a point where you are ready to plug yourself back into the grid of modern life.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Author: Park Wilson, co-founder of Emerging Terrains, has been living and actively investing in the Latin American real estate markets since 2007. His boots-on-the-ground approach to scouting and choosing properties has led to more than $8 million in real estate transactions. Park spearheaded projects on more than 200 real estate transactions in four markets, and has consulted on similar projects in yet another three markets. To reach Park Wilson, please e-mail him at info@emergingterrains.com or learn more by visiting the Emerging Terrains website at http://www.emergingterrains.com.
