Why Freedom Without Structure Becomes Your Prison

Most people think freedom means doing whatever you want, whenever you want.

I used to think the same thing.

I ate whatever I wanted. Stayed up late. Never exercised. I thought I was living freely.

Then one day my four-year-old son wanted to wrestle with me on the bed. We were rolling around, playing, and I got winded within minutes.

I couldn't keep playing with him.

In that moment, I realized something that changed everything. I wasn't free at all. I was a slave to my body.

My unlimited freedom had become its own prison.

The Structure That Sets You Free

The truth is that to have ultimate freedom in your life, you have to actually have constraints or structure. Structure gives order to the chaos of freedom.

If you let freedom go unchecked, your life devolves into chaos.

This applies to everything. Your health, your relationships, your work. Especially your work as a digital nomad.

When I started putting constraints in place, everything changed. I began walking for an hour every day. I limited my calories and carbohydrates. I ate only one or two meals per day.

These constraints didn't restrict me. They liberated me.

I could finally play with my son without getting exhausted. I had energy for the things that mattered.

Why Digital Nomads Need More Structure, Not Less

As an entrepreneur and digital nomad, I have a high degree of potential for not being disciplined. I'm the only one in charge of me.

I have to put structure and discipline in place to get the work done that needs to get done. Otherwise, it won't get done and it's all my responsibility.

This isn't unique to me. 74% of digital nomads actually report increased productivity while traveling. The successful ones understand something counterintuitive.

Freedom requires frameworks to function effectively.

The 18.1 million Americans now calling themselves digital nomads represent a 147% increase since 2019. As this lifestyle becomes mainstream, the strategies that separate successful nomads from struggling ones become clear.

The successful ones don't wing it. They create intentional constraints.

The Big Rocks Principle

I learned this from watching Stephen Covey demonstrate something brilliant to an audience.

He had a jar, big rocks, little rocks, and sand. First, he had someone fill the jar with sand, then little rocks, then try to fit the big rocks. It overflowed. Nothing fit.

Then he switched it. Big rocks first, then little rocks, then sand. Everything fit perfectly.

The big things in our lives are our health, relationships, work, and hobbies that give us enjoyment. The sand represents answering emails, surfing social media, and wasting time.

If we fill our days with the small things first, there's no room for what matters.

This is the biggest lesson I ever learned in my career.

How I Apply This as a Digital Nomad

When I'm working from Bali or Prague, I don't view it as being on vacation. It's just part of my life.

I schedule the big rock things on my calendar first. Important meetings. Health routines. Date nights with my wife get blocked off in Google Calendar so we prioritize our relationship.

You have to calendar block the big things in your life to prioritize them.

Being a slave to your work means working more than you should without balance. The ironic part is that to have more freedom, you need more structure.

This transcends every aspect of life. Health, relationships, work. You need structure and discipline to work on these things consistently every day to meet your goals.

The Constraint That Creates Freedom

Like everything in life, you need balance. I'm strict with my eating when I need to be, but I allow myself indulgences so I don't feel deprived.

I eat until I'm full. I'm kind to myself. I remind myself often that the reason I'm doing this is to be healthy and be there for my kids.

I keep that vision of how I want to live uppermost in my mind.

The same principle applies to work. Successful nomads use productivity tools and establish clear deadlines. They create asynchronous work strategies and build daily routines even when changing cities weekly.

The constraints aren't punishment. They're the foundation that makes everything else possible.

Your Freedom Framework

We've been conditioned to believe that our life has to look a certain way and that freedom is only available to a select few lucky individuals.

That's wrong. We can all create our own luck. We can all create our own freedom by removing the constraints that say we can't do what we want to do.

Then we add back the constraints that actually serve us.

The structure that keeps us focused on work that needs to get done. The discipline that gives us the freedom we're after.

True freedom isn't the absence of constraints. It's choosing the right ones.

Start with your big rocks. Schedule them first. Everything else will find its place around them.

That's how you turn structure into the ultimate freedom.