Being able to take care of yourself is liberating.
The tag line at New Hampshire Man is Personal Freedom through Lifestyle Design. A critical part of freedom is being able to live without depending on other people and businesses. Not to be confused with living life without solid meaningful relationships, but rather developing the habit and confidence to solve our own problems.
Discussing resilience is really my opportunity to draw attention to the physical domain. I want to convey the idea that you should own the things around you, not have them own you. The majority of our time, energy and money is spent on our home, vehicle and property. Those expenses are probably the reason you work as hard as you do. The first step is to shift our mentality to view these possessions as assets rather than liabilities.
Resilience at Home
There are so many systems that make a house work. From the roof to the well, and everything in between. They all have a finite life expectancy and most require some routine maintenance. You can skip the maintenance, and pay someone to repair everything, or you can start figuring out how to make your things last longer, and fix them yourself when they fail.
I’d really like to help you grow the courage to at least TRY to fix your things when they break. USUALLY, fixing a dishwasher, stove, dryer and computer is not that hard, and if they’re already broken you have nothing to lose. You are almost never the first person to have the problem you’re having, and the internet is awash with good and bad advice on how to fix things. It can also be very lucrative to learn how to solve your own problems.
To learn more about how I solve problems at home, and for some encouragement to try it for yourself, follow this link:
Becoming Resilient Around the Home
Resilience in the Car
Modern cars are an incredibly complex system of systems. Some of those systems cannot be repaired, some can only be serviced by people who have appropriate credentials, and some can be serviced by you. The first thing to realize is that cars are NOT too complicated to work on. That is a crutch that people use as an excuse for not wanting to work on their car. That said, not everything is appropriate for the shade-tree mechanic, some things are better left for the pros.
I’ll share with you my own insights from doing almost all the work on my cars. Still, sometimes they go to the shop. It does take tools, time and experience, but if you never start, you’ll never gain any skills. I like to say that the first bolt is the hardest, and that’s because of the courage you need to find the confidence that you’ll actually be able to figure out what you’re getting into.
Becoming Resilient with your Vehicle
Resilience on Your Property
For many of us, our property is the first place to start turning our liability into an asset. Maybe it’s growing timber, or maybe it’s just getting a few chickens to get some eggs, or maybe it’s renting out a room. I’ll concede that it’s a long shot goal, for most of us, to generate enough money to offset even the cost of taxes, but the way I see it, every little bit helps, and once you get started, the creative juices start flowing and before you know it you’re hosting campers for a few bucks on the side.
Maybe you’re also the type that spends a lot of money having other people work on your yard. From mowing the grass to installing a patio. All that stuff is high dollar and requires a limited skill set. You can save a lot of money doing those jobs, gain some skills and experience, and you’ll have a great feeling of pride when you show it off.
I dedicate a lot of my time and energy to growing food and optimizing my property, and I really look forward to sharing what I get into. Follow this link to learn more:
Becoming Resilient with your Property
Even If You Think This Isn’t For You
Maybe you’re the person who will forever take your car to the shop for an oil change, you’ll never try growing any food and you’ll always call the appliance service technician. My point is still valid that if you learn to take care of yourself you’ll at least have the option to liberate yourself from your binding possessions. You’ll exercise that problem solving muscle and have the confidence to tackle a problem for those times when there is no one to call, or when the person you call will take too long to fix your problem for you.
It’s a noble journey and it cuts somewhat against the grain of modern American culture. That doesn’t matter, though. What matters is your commitment to yourself to learn how to take care of yourself, and the people that matter the most to you. If this idea resonates, please sign up for my email list for occasional reminders, ideas and encouragement to live a life of freedom.