Create Your Reality: The Remote Lifestyle with Jordan Carroll

Unlock the secrets to creating freedom and living the remote life. In this episode of Best Year Ever, Rob Cressy is joined by Jordan Carroll, aka The Remote Job Coach. From awareness to lifestyle design, learn how to take control of your life and make it exactly what you want it to be. Discover the power of intention, flexibility, and the right mindset to make the impossible, possible. Join us on this journey to freedom through structure and big leaps to new levels of freedom.

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(note: what follows is an AI-generated transcript from this video. Please be mindful that the transcript may not be 100% accurate)

First question, tell me one thing you do to create your best year ever. Yeah. So for me, Rob, and thanks for having me on. Appreciate it. Uh, my, uh, my one thing is getting a spa membership, , an unlimited spa, access to a local. that I now go to every single day to make sure I get my damn money’s worth . That that’s the best year.

I mean, it’s hard to, hard to not have a best year ever when you know, every day I’m able to regulate my nervous system in the cold plunge, go to the sauna, go to the steam room, you know, do all those things. So giving myself the time every single day to do that is really, I’m sold. I’m signing up immediately.

I didn’t know unlimited spa memberships were a thing. like you are blowing my mind right now, cuz usually it’s like, oh, we’ve got a spa day and you’re gonna be dropping a couple hundred bucks to be doing this. And you’re telling me in some parts of the world you can have a spa membership. . Yeah, it’s, uh, yeah, spa life maybe, uh,

It’s, uh, so y what’s funny is even what you just said, which was yeah, spa day might run you a couple hundred bucks by, by the time you’re done in a lot of different places. But I live down in Blalock, Garman, Mexico, and here there is a place that’s about 10, 15 minutes walking distance from where I live.

And it’s about 200 bucks a month. And you can go as many times as you want. So I go every day. My friend, that was the best answer in the history of this podcast. Yes, and what was the best year ever? A podcast designed to inspire growth and impact so you can create your best year ever. And I am so excited because today joining me is Jordan Carroll, the remote job coach, author of Remote for Life, a book on how to find a flexible job in fast forward in freedom.

Jordan Carroll is also a friend of mine. He is someone that you need to know. He does life and business the right way. Jordan, great to have you on the show. Thanks, Rob. Great, great intro. Really appreciate it. You’re welcome and I appreciate you and, uh, this is not your first time on one of my podcasts, and, uh, you and I created a relationship where our energies synced together on LinkedIn.

Since then, we have both been very value driven pouring into each other. We have a scheduled quarterly call so that you and I can design and make sure that we check in on each other’s lives to support each other any way that we can. And what I want to talk about today with you is all around creating freedom because you being the remote job coach and the lifestyle that you live, and you just talked about it, having a a year, a monthly spa membership and where you’re living.

You are someone who is the epitome, the example of creating freedom in your life. And what’s unique about this is I am also that in my own unique way, having worked from home for more than 15 years and gone from Cincinnati to Chicago, down to Sarasota, Florida and working from home and doing more of what I love and what I would love to, uh, talk about today is how other people can create this in their.

And this is less about finding a remote job and more about the mindset, the lifestyle, and the way of being that we’ve created in you can too, to allow you to create this freedom and essentially anything you want in your life. Yeah. Uh, yeah, I appreciate you mentioning that and, and clarifying that the freedom can start in a whole bunch of different ways, right?

Because people. People have different situations. People have families, people have obligations, people have certain types of jobs, and it’s not like you need to get up and move and live in Mexico like I do. Like that, that that may not be feasible, may not be desirable. So I think for everyone that wants more freedom, starting off with awareness is one of the biggest things, and just figuring out where is it that you’ve, you currently feel constricted.

Where is it that you want more freedom? Start with small steps, right? So let’s say that you’re working in a very synchronous work environment. You work in an office, you, you know, have to go in every day. You maybe don’t have complete control over your day cause there’s certain calls that are scheduled for you and all these different things.

Like someone like that. It, the, the first step for them may be just having one day a week without meetings or something like that, right? Like, like saying, oh, like requesting from, from management that hey, you know, Friday. I would love to have without meetings so that I can do these specific work tasks that take more of, you know, maybe deep work time, right?

Or figuring out how it is that you can maybe even work remote one of the days a week. So like taking stepping stones towards freedom starts with awareness of where it is that you feel like you don’t have that freedom and where it is that you, you can kind of get the low hanging fruit and then it can work up.

The different levels, right? Where it’s full location independence, where you can move wherever you want. Or maybe you start where you have a job that you can work from home, but it’s in the same state, right? Because there’s a lot of remote positions that have, uh, restrictions. So I think just getting that awareness first is really big.

And then figuring out what’s that next? What’s that first step? What’s that taste of a little bit more freedom? That gives me some momentum that can, that can get me. Yeah. And Jordan Carroll, I think this, this conversation is more than just about business. This is also about life, and you and I have both lived the corporate life and also not lived the corporate life in what we’re doing right now.

So we can certainly relate because we’ve all been there before and I really encourage people when you think about freedom to. To holistically think about all the areas of your life because we have the ability to create freedom anytime that we want, because there is nothing that is stopping someone from saying, all right, I go to work at eight, I’m going to the spa before work, or I get off at six, I’m going to the spa after work.

You can create that freedom in yourself and for me, this is where Lifestyle by design starts to come in, that yes, we can audit the areas in which we don’t feel. But I find for a lot of people, myself included, uh, this is where doing more of what you love creates more of the freedom because you’re gonna be more in flow.

And when you’re doing more love by design, all of a sudden you’re gonna feel different. You’re gonna have a different energy and a different vibration about you. And this is something that you and I take very seriously because it’s very formulaic that if you want something in your life, let’s design how we can make it happen.

Yeah. And I think the, the, the reason I had brought up the professional piece is because often that’s the one that is typically driving a lot of what people feel like they can or can’t do. It’s because mu, you know, to live in society, money’s necessary. So figuring out like, , what, what, how is it that your work week starts and what are the places where you already have pockets where you can go pick up your kids, or you can go do something for yourself in the middle of the day, or you can go to the gym or, you know, figuring out how you build in that autonomy around something that is a current quote unquote obligation is like one of those first steps.

And then figuring out how to pair down some of those obligations so that they can be a little bit more flexible. Yeah, there. I mean there’s so many different ways you can, you can go about it, right? But it’s really up to the individual to determine what those things are for them. And you know what I think is super important here, Jordan?

And it is one word. Possibility. Being open to the idea that some of these things are possible, and this is where I think a lot of people don’t even give themselves this gift to say, oh, I could never do this, and the story that they tell themselves shuts the door down before it could ever happen. But if you just start with planting a seed and being like, I wonder if this is possible, and I wonder if this is possible as something that has essentially had both of us, uh, build lives, that we absolutely love doing things that, uh, we actually imagined happening.

And I’m curious your thoughts on how possibility originates for you in how you intentionally create it, and someone can do that for themselves. Yeah. Yeah. It’s, I mean, it’s a good, it’s a great point, and I think we all have limiting. And those limiting beliefs from the subconscious can really drive our vi our version of what’s possible.

So for me, it’s always been about putting myself around people who are already not only thinking in the terms of possibilities, but they’re living in ways that I only could imagine maybe possible, right? So when I first started traveling the world, for instance, I decided to do that with a group. Like I went on a remote year program and I surrounded myself with other people who are also traveling the world and doing all these different things cuz I knew if I’m surrounded by 40 plus people who are doing this consistently long term also for these four months.

I’m gonna be able to pick up things from them and I’m gonna be able to figure out things from them. So it, it doesn’t have to always be in person too. It can be online, right. It can be virtual, and that’s why anyone who’s looking to change careers or they’re looking to start a, a, a new discipline or a new hobby or whatever, it’s like the first place I would go personally and that’s really helped me is communities.

Like finding communities where the, these possibilities that you’re, that you’re just dreaming of already exist in the minds of these other. 100% because I think what you identified there is a limiting belief. That a lot of people have are a challenge. And I even know on my end being an entrepreneur, I look around and I have very few friends who do what I do.

I have family members who don’t even understand what I do. So I very much live a one of one lifestyle where I march to the beat of my own drummer. And that’s okay, but that’s also why I’m a part of a lot of online communities where I find a tribe of good vibes. People that get down, like I get down. One of the big challenges in all of this is, uh, when you feel alone and there’s no one to be a champion for you in this journey, and you’re starting at zero, and because it’s new, there’s gonna be some growing pains and it may take a day or two or a week or month for you to start building this momentum.

And everybody starts at a different spot. And ultimately what we care about is the end result in creating this freedom in our. And not allowing the things that would limit us, like what you talked about at the very beginning. Because I think a lot of people would be thinking right now, Rob, Jordan, I am not dot, dot, dot.

I’m not like you. My circumstances are different. Oh, I could never dot, dot, dot. And I think this is gonna take us to the mindset side of things and it goes to the possibility as well. But this is for people who want freedom, who want this lifestyle by design, who want to do more of what you love. So while, yes, we have self-limiting beliefs and thoughts and challenges and obstacles that come into our life and our path along this journey.

We don’t give them, uh, any supporting weight. We recognize them. We’re a witness to them, but we sort of throw them to the side in the name of the truth and the power of what it is that we want to create. Yeah, and a couple of the things you mentioned in there were really powerful about the language that you use, because that’s one of the quickest things that you can change.

Again, it goes back to awareness first, but even just catching yourself say, I could never. Uh, kind of bringing this finality to the, the sentences and the, and the affirmations that you’re giving and placing an identity on those things can really, really keep you stuck. So if instead you worked from a place of possibility and just focused on changing your language, uh, that language can start to actually change your belief over.

Even. Even just by opening up your language so that you could think differently and yeah, it almost works outside in for me sometimes cause I have to tell myself that I have to tell myself certain things to reaffirm it to my inner beliefs and, and use those to kind of flush out anything that’s limiting.

Well, and Jordan Carroll, you’re gonna get to the next part now. So, uh, I really like to think of this in terms of there’s three superpowers that we have among other things that allow us to create anything that we want in our life. Step one, intention. Step two, awareness and step three, consistency, because you nailed it.

I was not the person that I am today, more than a decade ago, nor were you Were these habits, routines, ways of being, ways of speaking to ourself were foreign to us. But instead, we sat there like creators with a tool belt and we said, all right, what would serve me to create. And speak to myself or create a practice or read something every single day to get my mind right so that I can take the actions, that’ll create the outcomes that I’m looking for right there.

And it’s actually very formulaic and process oriented, and it’s one of the things that I love about you, Jordan. It’s what you and I very much jam about Aton, and what I’ll call this is freedom through structure. It’s saying, all right, I want to be intentional about, insert whatever it is that I’m working on.

All right. What is my awareness practice that I’m seeing it more often and it’s why a lot of people are challenged with, um, new Year’s resolutions. They make it one day, then they never look at it again. Oh, there’s a lack of awareness. It’s why we have pieces of paper or little mantras all around where we live or work so that we see them.

And then number three, what is the consistency practice? Alright. Now that I’m intentional about it, now that there’s awareness, how can I make this part of who I am every single day? Cause I know what it creates inside of me, and then I show up as that person, that energy, that frequency. I attract more of that in my life and I become an am that person.

Yeah. And to go to, to add on to what you’ve. . I think one of the big distinguishing factors for me, especially when I’m working with clients or I’m looking from the outside in, is going from a mindset of this conditioning that I would call have do be. So I have to have this thing before I can do this, so I can be this person, so like have do B.

Um, but that way of thinking is very counterproductive because. in have, do B. You’re always waiting for this external factor to change you, and you get stuck in maybe a loop of inaction. An example might be, I need to have this money to be able to do this coaching program, to be an entrepreneur that makes a lot of money and it ends up creating a lot of limitations and doesn’t allow you to be empowered in your resourcefulness.

But if you looked, if you flipped it around to be, do, have, and instead you. acted as the person that you wanted to be by doing the things that they would do, then you would start having the things that they have. So it’s kind of flipping the way that we think and, and looking at what’s that version 2.0, like what’s Rob 2.0 look like?

There’s a next level version that already exists in possibility, and it always requires you to act like that secondary version before you’re ready. Some people might call it faking it till you make it. . The reality is, is like if you act a certain way long enough, you just become that way . So it’s like those actions end up becoming the, the needle mover at the end of the day anyway.

And I think the more that you can connect to that 2.0 version, the more you can make those decisions based on what that 2.0 version would do. It almost also relieves the pressure from, from. . Yeah. And I’m gonna yes, in what you said, and I very much think about, uh, one of the things that I coach around is creating your perfect day.

And I sit there and I’m like, all right, what’s your perfect day look like? And have you ever lived your perfect day? And most people are like, Uh, what are you talking about? No, I’ve, one, I’ve never even designed a perfect day. Two, I’ve never lived it. I was like, all right, cool. Step one, let’s design what your perfect day looks like.

You can do anything that you want, and this is something when I was feeling a lot of resistance in my business as an entrepreneur, um, I had a scarcity mindset and a a not enoughness in a lot of different things, and I said, you know, Boom, I am wiping everything off and I am doing whatever I want tomorrow.

This is gonna be my perfect day. So I wake up and I go and play basketball, and then I went ahead and I recorded four podcasts and three videos, and then I went for a walk, and then I went and kicked it with my friends and I was like, wow, this was absolutely the best. This is sort of the pinnacle of me living, that I got to do whatever I wanted today, and I loved it.

And for that day. I lived my perfect day. So on that day, one of one on perfect days, and once you understand this concept, you say, wait a second. I can now design and live perfect days or elements of them to be in action as that person, because I completely agree with what you’re saying, Jordan Carroll, because I don’t even see this as fake until you make it.

Because a lot of that comes from a, a lack of action and a lack of. And in the journey of anything. So like if you were gonna go climb a mountain, you’re not faking it until you make it. When you’re just at the very beginning and you go and buy your gear from r e i and you’re super excited. No, that’s part of the process.

So that’s step one. And then you go and you do your first training hike and you keep on moving up and up. And it’s not only when you get to the top of the mountain that. A mountaineer or whatever you would talk about, it’s really the actions that you’re taking as that person to achieve that thing. So therefore, the actions you take are so important in creating everything that you want to be.

Yeah. Yeah. Those actions are, uh, absolutely critical and I, I look back at all the different times in my life. Big leaps have happened and I’ve been able to acquire certain levels of freedom and be able to do things that I’m proud of. And I was never ready, but I took action anyway. And that action was the thing that subsequently gave me the feedback loops that I needed to know which was the right direction to go.

And I don’t think there’s really any wrong direction. Like if you think about your freedom and you think about what it is that you’re trying to achieve in your life, just taking some. To get the feedback can be the right move in that, in that time. Right. And, and so I think it’s important what you said is that yeah, there has to be a lot of aligned action.

And Jordan, you just mentioned, uh, a subtle thing that I think is very important. Levels of freedom. And in this game, that air quote game that we’re playing, there are levels to self-awareness. There are levels to freedom. And I’ve always thought about, uh, creative freedom, freedom of time, freedom of choice, uh, freedom to essentially do whatever I want whenever I.

And I actually discovered self-awareness the very first day when I had left my corporate job and became an entrepreneur and full-time creator. And I’m just standing there in my living room and I said, holy crap. There is no one to tell me what to do, when to do it. Do I go to the gym? What do I eat? When do I wake up?

When do I go to bed? Every single decision is on. And for a lot of people that’s paralyzing because it’s now completely on you. But Jordan Carroll, for people like you and I, when we get to that point where we initially discover self-awareness, It is a freedom unlike anything that you’ve ever experienced before.

But that’s then when we go on the levels of this game to where we know, uh, a lot of what it becomes is inner freedom and the perspective and lenses that we create for ourselves in the stories that we tell ourselves. And this is essentially, What I’ve built my entire life in coaching around is our ability to create these things, this self-creation perspective for ourselves that when we take that lens, it tells us and creates who we are.

And that creates our actions and it creates our results. And we can literally do anything. And this is where the various levels of freedom get unlock. . Yeah. Yeah. And I think it’s, it’s great that you mentioned that it’s something that I talk about in my book and it’s also within that, uh, I actually have a whole section on the perfect day as well, so we definitely agree on, on that.

And it’s funny how the perfect day and designing and having the autonomy and designing what that day looks like is very dependent on some of those factors that you spoke. Just leaving the corporate world and then being at home, being an entrepreneur, it’s like you have a lot more autonomy, but there’s also so much more responsibility in making sure that that autonomy is used wisely so that you actually get the results that you want.

So it, it’s, it’s a given give and take. Right. For some people that level of quote unquote freedom can actually be the noose that hangs them. It’s like, it, it’s, it’s crazy how we’re all different in those ways and being able to apply your differe. And apply your strengths in ways that support whatever level of freedom it is that you want is really important.

So, Jordan Carroll, last thing that I wanna talk about with you is, uh, a lot of people assume remote life, uh, doing whatever you want. That means that we’re playing naked laser tag every single day. And it’s like, oh, you guys are just so loosey goosey. You’ve got no structure. You just hang out on the beach and do whatever you want and just post a picture or two on Instagram and it’s like, wow, look at my amazing.

But the reality is this lifestyle mindset and way of being turns you into a high performer because of the accountability that you create for yourself. Because you know what your old life looks like, and at least from my perspective, And I know what I am willing to do and be to never going back to working in that cube farm at Fifth Third Banks call center, slinging home equity loans.

And one of the things that has been extremely valuable for me, Is creating non-negotiables. And Jordan, both of us have various ways that we create structure in our life and our business to create more of what we want in our life. But in seeing the lens that we operate in the world, there’s just certain things that we say these are non-negotiables.

And I know Jordan, even on, uh, Instagram this week, you talked about, uh, being somebody who lives with a lifestyle of not wanting to drink. And what do you do when there’s pressure from other people who want to do. And when I was seeing that, uh, I knew the conversation you were having or other people were having there because.

Uh, if you’ve ever experienced it for the first time, when you go from being somebody who drinks to not drinking, whether it’s a complete lifestyle change, you’re doing 75 hard, whatever it is, but what it really teaches you is your non-negotiables that like when I was on 75 Hard and Jordan, you did 75 hard as well.

Drinking was a non-negotiable. It’s like, no, this is not happening. And the same structure can be created for yourself in building this freedom and remote life for yourself, however it is that you want it. Can you talk a little bit about non-negotiables and what that looks like for you? Yeah. Well, uh, funny enough, I’m actually working on, uh, I’m a little, a little overdue.

I mean, I know some of the non-negotiables that I want for this year. I had an idea that, Create that, that list. And what I came up with was calming my nervous system, moving my body, clearing my mind, feeling nature’s power, connecting with others, having fun, expressing creativity, uh, and learning and integrating.

So those were all the different things like buckets. Now, what that looks like in practice is calming my nervous system through breath work every single day. Cold exposure in sauna every single day, moving my body through, getting a lot of steps. I walk a ton here. In Ply del Carmen. It’s a very walkable city, which I love, and it’s always sunny.

So I, I don’t have to worry about the fact that, uh, you know, some people are in snow right now. That’s not the case for me. , I’m obviously wearing a, a jersey, so, uh, uh, getting, you know, playing basketball, lifting weights, all those things, clearing my mind through meditation and walking without technology, uh, connecting with others, going to multiple social events, having.

Intentional time with my, my girlfriend, making sure that we’re going on dates each week, having fun, whether that be dancing or going out and, and just doing something that’s, uh, that doesn’t need a plan. Right. Expressing my creativity through writing, recording videos, learning and integrating, whether that’s reading or having certain calls like this, podcasts and other ways where I can talk about my learning.

So I have a lot of these different things that show up every single day and having the freedom to be able to incorporate them at the times that I. is, is phenomenal. And as you said, like there’s a, there’s a misconception maybe that certain people that, not even just that work from home, but I definitely get it cuz I live in a place where certain people come here to vacation.

Like I live on the Caribbean coast of Mexico. So people literally come here and take time, take a week off and sit on a. And drink, and that’s what they associate this place with. But for me, I’m just living my life in this place. Yeah. Every time I leave my apartment, it’s a little mini vacation for me.

That’s the freedom that I have chosen in my life and really want in my life. But it doesn’t mean that there’s not a ton of structure to all the things that I do, and it doesn’t mean that I don’t care about getting things done. And in fact, it’s the opposite. It’s like to, I know that to maintain this lifestyle, I really have to be.

And Jordan. I love the way that you said that because I also live on vacation. I live in Sarasota where people come to Siesta Key Beach, and this is the thing, we don’t need a break from our life. Then it’s like, oh, when are you going on vacation? You’re like, uh, you mean my everyday life where I do what I love every single day with the people that I love?

Like literally for me being on this podcast with you, Jordan is a 15 out of 10. This is everything that I dreamed of in my life to be having a conversation with an awesome person who’s a friend of mine, about how we can help other people based on the way that we’ve designed our. It is just a pinnacle of everything.

And I wanna wrap a bow on all of this because Jordan Carroll, what you talked about with your non-negotiable and your non-negotiables, and boom, you got them out really quick like that. All of that is invisible. It’s free and it’s accessible to you right now. So whether you’re in a corporate job, you have no job, you’re working remotely, whatever it is.

If you don’t have a list of non-negotiables, hey, how about thinking about what are the things that I stand for that are who I am? That’s the lifestyle that I wanna. And start living them. Boom. That costs nothing. You don’t have to be or do or have anything different there. And then perfect day. Hey, what’s your perfect day look like?

Start by designing it. Maybe this weekend, go and live it, and then check back in with Jordan and I and let us know what you think, because there’s a crazy thing that’ll happen if you hit up Jordan or you hit up. We will get back to you because we’re champions for you. We want this for you. And we’re leading by example, sort of sharing what we’ve lear learned along our journey.

Oftentimes the hard way to help you on yours. Uh, Jordan, do you have a bow that you wanna wrap on this? Yeah, I think freedom a lot of times starts with that small step that we were referring to earlier. So if you can look. , look at your day as it currently is, and just find that one little pocket, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, whatever it is that you want to incorporate, some type of freedom, exercise, some type of symbol of him for you, and go after it.

And, and don’t give away that freedom. Negotiate for it at all times and, and find out what it is for you are your non-negotiables. Jordan Carroll, I absolutely love that. And I’m gonna, yes. And you, uh, my symbol of freedom is playing basketball. That when I shoot hoops, and more specifically when I do my free throw challenge, I don’t leave the court until I make 10 in a row.

Once I hit 10 in a row, I go until I, uh, miss. And for me, I am in flow. Just hearing, man, that jumper’s wet, just that swish of the net. It is the pinnacle of freedom to. And I just want everyone to be able to see that all of this is accessible to you. It could be a pen, it could be going for a run, it could be shooting hoops.

Whatever it is, freedom is accessible to you if you open your eyes and you’re willing to create that perspective. So Jordan, you’re someone that the world needs to read your book, uh, be a part of your community, follow you on LinkedIn. Where can everybody connect with you at the remote job coach.com, and right on that front page, you can find the link to my book as well.

Yeah, I really appreciate you having me today, and I want to hear from you. What does freedom look like in your world, or what is your symbol of freedom? Hit up, Jordan or I, you can hit me up on all social media platforms at Rob Cressey. Sending tons of good vibes your way.

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