People ask me how I "designed" the life I have now like there was a blueprint. There wasn't. There was a series of honest audits, uncomfortable decisions, and a willingness to rebuild the plan every time it stopped fitting. Here's the actual framework, not the highlight reel.
Start with an audit, not a fantasy
Before I touched anything about my career, I made an honest list of what was actually working in my life and what wasn't. Not what I wished were true. What was measurably, specifically true. Fifteen years in agency work had built real skills, a real network, and real financial stability. It had also built a life with almost no connection to the natural world I cared about. Naming both sides precisely is what makes the next step possible.
Design the life, not the Instagram caption
It's easy to design for how a life looks from the outside. A dream life that only works as a highlight reel isn't a dream life, it's a performance you'll eventually resent. When I mapped out what I wanted, I deliberately excluded anything that only made sense as content. If it wasn't worth doing with no one watching, it didn't make the list.
Find the gap between where you are and where you want to be
Once I knew what I wanted, the gap between "corporate strategist" and "expedition co-founder" was enormous. I didn't try to close it in one jump. I closed it skill by skill: learning to swim, then dive, then dive well, then dive professionally, while still working. The gap only feels impossible when you look at the whole distance instead of the next honest step.
Design the business model alongside the life
This is the part most "follow your passion" advice skips entirely. I didn't quit my job to fund conservation work, I built a business model where the two fund each other. Edges of Earth works because it's a real consulting and media operation, not a passion project subsidized by savings that will eventually run out. Design your revenue model with the same care you design your calendar.
Expect to redesign it
The life I have now looks nothing like what I sketched out in year one. Three years of expedition work across 50+ countries changed what I wanted, not just how I got there. A dream life isn't a document you finish. It's a practice you keep returning to, honestly, as the person living it keeps changing.
If you're at the start of this, the advice is simple even if the execution isn't: audit honestly, design for substance over appearance, close the gap one real step at a time, build the model alongside the life, and expect to redesign the whole thing more than once.
