Benjamin Franklin once said, “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail", and I couldn’t agree more. As we continue our journey I’,ve noticed that plans had to be altered in order for us to succeed and sustain operations. This process is not without its challenges, but all success comes at a price. First, we had to save money, which meant and still means forgoing extracurricular activities and entertainment with your peers, family, and even your lover. Second, we have created passive income streams that cover our overhead costs, living expenses, and our meals. Last, we have been blessed to stand on the shoulders of our family that was willing to share their resources in order to help us achieve our collective dreams of building our sustainable community.

Currently, we are engaged in an online import export business, as well as a small gardening operation that provides a portion of income by selling our surplus greens and edible flowers. We came into the California high desert and the situation thinking we could accomplish everything immediately, which just wasn’t possible. Since building our Rome in one day was not the case, we had no choice but to push building off while we create larger passive income streams. Our dream is to live fully sustainable, yet we understand the importance of energy (finical and/or physical), so we must create the necessary energy before moving forward.

Ultimately, starting, creating, or undertaking any task and succeeding at it will always require some form of planning, sacrifice, and energy. For example, if we set out to create a garden, we could pay for it completely and have it installed, barter and free source material and complete it ourselves, combine both philosophies and buy and free source martials, or wait for someone else to come create a garden for us for free. Nevertheless, we understand that no matter which route we take, we must plan, sacrifice, and acquire the necessary resources and energy to be successful. As we restructure our plans, I believe setting our goals and plans so high wasn’t bad, but if we didn’t have proper planning and resources, we would have failed already. In closing, I wrote this article with the hopes that I would inspire individuals to follow their dreams and create a lifestyle that inspires others, but also see the importance of planning for multiple scenarios.