In 2008, I stumbled across one of the most influential books I’ve ever read: The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss.

The premise of the book is a little goofy: setting up a business that only requires four hours of work a week is practically impossible, but the ideas inside? Absolutely transformative.

One of the most powerful was the idea of lifestyle design. Ferriss argued that the traditional life path – work for decades, retire when you’re worn down – is fundamentally broken. Most people spend the prime of their life bypassing what they actually enjoy, saving it all for some distant future that many won’t reach in time to enjoy. This lesson hit me hard; my father died at the all-too-young age of 55 and missed out on the rewards for his life of hard work and sacrifice. This traditional life path is obviously problematic.

Ferriss’ solution was simple, even radical:
Live the life you want now.

Ferriss proposed strategies like passive income streams, remote work, and what he called “mini-retirements”: extended breaks that let you recalibrate, explore, and reconnect with what actually matters.

But his most profound insight was this:
Most people don’t want to be rich. They want to be free.
They want the experiences, flexibility, and fulfillment they assume money will buy.

And it turns out you don’t need millions for that.
You just need courage. Creativity. And a willingness to question the script.

As it turns out, questioning scripts is one of my best skills!

I was about 32 when I read that book. At the time, I was working full-time as a high school teacher. If I stuck with it, I’d retire in twenty years. But I was already burned out. The idea of doing the same thing for two more decades felt like a slow, painful death.

So Shelly and I left.

Over the next few years, we became “professional” runners, wrote books, lived as MMA fighters and jiu jitsu players in Southern California, became cops in Western Colorado, and collected more stories, memories, and meaning than I ever could’ve imagined.

It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t always easy.
But it was real. And I have zero regrets.

For the past fourteen years or so, we’ve lived a pattern:
Do what excites us for as long as it excites us. Then move on to the next adventure.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

But there was one cost.

Each new chapter meant starting over.
New places. New circles. New roles.
And when we moved, the relationships we had, no matter how deep, often faded.

That’s the shadow of lifestyle design: freedom without continuity.
Adventure without a long-term tribe. The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve felt this lack of continuity.

So I started building a Tribe.

The Tribe is my answer to that problem, and my attempt to evolve the idea that changed my life.

Because here’s the truth:

Everything in life exists in containers.
Where we live. Who we love. What we do.
But growth often means leaving those containers behind.

But what if there was one that could grow with you?

The idea started with Shelly, my co-conspirator in all of this. Having her by my side has made every chapter deeper. And in looking back, I realized something:
The people who stayed through all the changes?
They made the journey more meaningful than anything else ever could.

So why should growth come at the cost of connection?

Why should becoming who you’re meant to be mean leaving people behind?

Modern life assumes that it must.
The Tribe says it doesn’t.

At its core, The Tribe is a container built to evolve, a living system designed for people who want to keep growing, without letting go of the bonds that give life its meaning.

If you’ve ever felt like you were too much for the world you were given…
If you’ve tasted freedom, but felt the ache of doing it alone…
If you’ve started over one too many times, and you want something that stays…

Then maybe you’re not just looking for a lifestyle.

Maybe you’re looking for a Tribe.

Ready to build a life that doesn’t force you to choose between freedom and connection?
Start by joining the conversation. Read The Book. Shoot me an email (jason@tribeofthefire.com). Take the first Trial. Or just come sit by the fire and see what kind of people gather there.

Your next container doesn’t have to be temporary.
You just have to be willing to build it on purpose.
Let’s design a life worthy of your fire.

~Jason