In this grand opening episode, Chuck Wilde discusses what THE NOMAD THEORY is, and illuminates some of the core principles residing within its complicated origin. Namely, the backwards higher education system and our unnecessary habit of jumping into obligations and debt without knowing why.
100 years ago, kids found themselves in a different situation. They graduated highschool (if it was available) and began directly moving into a variety of occupations, usually ranging from what your parents did, to what your neighbor did, or perhaps, what you saw in the local newspaper. The majority made their choice based on necessity and what was available.
What’s crackin’ kids, I’m Chuck Wilde, and this is THE NOMAD THEORY.
Today, especially for us in The United states, essentially every option is available. So how does one take a step in any direction? Let alone the right decision.
We graduate from high school with an immense pressure coming from our peers, teachers, parents and well, everyone, to find our passion and be “successful”. Generally this is by means of an outrageously expensive college education, internships, and finding “a secure job” (I hope you heard the heavy air quotes) Infinite possibilities and visions of the future sit readily at our fingertips, literally, at our fingertips. It can often be more overwhelming than exciting.
It’s a paradox of value to feel optimistic and pessimistic about this, in that, we have vastly spanning options, but it’s harder to make a decision because of said options. Which is where I believe a majority of our anxiety comes from in The First World - That is, the desire to succeed, but only dimly understanding what success means to us.
A small percentage of people know exactly what they want to do from a young age, and that is fantastic, but this isn’t always the case as we can see by the millions of people, like me, who felt vocationally lost after highschool.
So how do we get out of this generational stuckness? My proposal is a guilt-free gap year.
Average price for tuition in the United States for one year at a University is over $24,000 with private school running upwards of $70,000 a year. Let’s just say you took the middle of the road and chose a school that costs $35,000 a year including all expenses. Believe it or not, that’s enough money to travel anywhere on planet earth and do virtually anything you want for an entire year, and then some.
Other countries, especially in Europe have this “gap year” idea but for whatever reason in the U.S. the trend is to jump right into the debt and commitment of a college education without taking some personal time to make sure we know why we’re going.
When Tim Ferriss, one of my heroes, asked Kevin Kelly, another one of my heroes and lead maverick at Wired Magazine, “What advice do you have for twenty somethings wondering what the heck they should do with their lives” He responded “give yourself some slack”
Sounds weird coming from Kevin Kelly, as this principle of “slack” is commonly seen as giving up or failing, but I don’t think of it that way, and nor do I look at moving on from something as giving up. You know in yourself when you’re “giving up” or “moving on”.
This distinction is a lot messier as a young person, but as the skills you pick up begin blending together, a “path” seems to present itself. As long as you show up, have guiding principles make decisions, and do something that was important to you at the time – valuable lessons are always learned.
“Be prolific”, Kelly goes on to say. But how can somebody be prolific while staying free from extended obligation? I believe the answer lies with projects and an untethered mindset. Projects with a beginning and end. This podcast, for me, is a perfect example of this project mentality. I’m learning some tech skills, making connections, and each episode has a beginning and end.
Try things out. Start the project knowing it’s ok to move on when you feel ready to move on.
THE NOMAD THEORY is that we can be prolific and give ourselves some slack at the same time.
THE NOMAD THEORY is that we can live a nomadic lifestyle and not go broke.
THE NOMAD THEORY is that people who take a guilt free gap year don’t regret it.
Like my Grandpap always says, “Do your best, learn all you can, and don’t worry about it.”
Subscribe to THE NOMAD THEORY on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you download podcasts and let me know what you think of the show at thenomadtheory@gmail.com.
Stay Wild Folks!