Navigating Coordinates
I recently stumbled across an article about Paraguay's residency program and how the country is trying to attract digital nomads. You can live comfortably on under $1,000, and Paraguay ranks 68 on the Global Peace Index, one behind France and ahead of most South American nations.
Paraguay is a land-locked country in the middle of South America, making it the perfect base to explore the vast continent.
Most passport holders can enter the country and stay visa-free for 90 days. After arrival, you can apply for temporary residency to stay in Paraguay for up to two years. You can then apply for permanent residency and get citizenship within five years.
The capital city, Asunción, is the most popular digital nomad destination. The city offers rich culture, museums, art galleries, active nightlife, and restaurants.
Other destinations where you'll find smaller nomad and expat communities include
📍Ciudad del Este
📍Encarnación
📍San Bernardino
📍Areguá
Paraguay's low cost of living makes it a perfect geo-arbitrage destination. Expect to pay around $500 for the basics (groceries, eating out, utilities, etc.) and $250-$700 monthly for rent—you might pay a bit more through Booking.com and Airbnb.
Consider using a consultant to process everything if you're a non-Spanish speaker. They handle the paperwork, book your appointments, etc. I don't have any personal or secondhand experience, so I don't know who to recommend, but you'll find several Paraguayan visa consultants with a quick Google search.
Keen to hear from anyone who's been to Paraguay? Let me know in the comments or reply to the email ✌️.
Navigating Life
This year, I've become obsessed with life design—thinking about the next 10 to 20 years and reverse-engineering the outcome. Instead of setting specific goals, I look at my life as a mission with milestones.
The mission dies with me, and I can keep adding milestones until that happens. Goals are too final. What happens after you reach your goal?
I've read a lot about highly successful business people and elite athletes who reach the pinnacle of success, experience brief euphoria, and then depression. They achieve their ultimate life goal, often in their 20s or 30s, and don't know what to do next. They have no purpose beyond their goal.
Whether you have $5 in your bank account or $5 million, if you don't have purpose, you're lost. You're probably worse off with $5 million in this case because you have five million ways to get into trouble.
I've borrowed Rob Dyrdek's approach to life design. He lives years and decades by themes. 2023 was the year of life design for me—designing what I want to do for the next ten years. 2024 is laying the foundation, implementing the first projects to take me into 2033 and beyond.
When I think about years and decades this way, it is much easier to focus on what's most important right now. Bill Gates famously said:
"Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years."
I keep this in mind whenever I look into the future. We're impatient beings, and when things don't happen as and when we expect them to, we give up.
This newsletter is a great example. I don't check the subscriber count or worry too much about where it is now. I only focus on writing an edition every week, and I'll keep doing that for the next decade.
I know the compounding effect of time and consistency will lead to a larger audience sometime in the future. If that doesn't happen, I'll improve my writing and thinking, so I win either way.
How much of your life is by design, and how much are you leaving to chance? Your time is precious. Take control of it. Don't allow chance to dictate your future.
Navigating Remote
Business Insider published an article last week about three young ladies on TikTok talking about the working-from-home slump. One talks about barely leaving the house and not wanting to engage in social activities with friends anymore.
What's disturbing is how many people commented on LinkedIn that they were unfollowing Business Insider—some explicitly blaming the company for being against WFH/remote work or having a hidden "sponsor," "Daily dose of insider's anti-worker freedom propaganda."
These are important conversations that many in the remote work community don't want to entertain, even at the expense of people's suffering.
We have to explore the pros and cons of remote work. Remote work has many problems, and if we ignore them, they'll only get worse.
I am a big advocate for people's freedoms, but I also look at the bigger picture and am not afraid to explore both sides of the argument.
You should always be looking for why you might be wrong rather than finding ways to justify why you're right.
I talk about this topic a lot because loneliness, isolation, and mental health issues are where the suffering is. Remote work is a luxury.
I worry about people like these three young ladies (and there are many, many more) who are experiencing real issues. I worry because these issues lead to bigger societal problems—some we have yet to see!
I don't have the answers to people's mental health issues. Nor do I have the solution to fix remote work challenges. But I'm certain that things will get worse without an honest conversation and meaningful intervention.