268_A 12 Month Plan for Sovereign Living Part One

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 268

A 12 Month Plan for Sovereign Living Part One

As you well know, independence, self sufficiency, and sustainable living are at the heart of much of my life.  I talk about it, write about it, podcast about it and live it everyday. But I also accept the fact that if everyone lived the way I do, our society and economy would simply not work. Furthermore I realize that how and where I live is not possible for most people in our culture.

But what is possible for everyone is what I call sovereign living. This is simply a philosophy of self-ownership, where we take full responsibility for our lives, our values, and our decisions. It is about independence and not dependence. So join me for E268 A 12 month plan for Sovereign Living.

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E268 A 12 Month Plan for Sovereign Living.

Once again, this topic is extensive enough that I am going to divide the material between two episodes. If you are not familiar with some of what I am going to present, it is going to seem overwhelming. You may start to think that you can never accomplish this feat. However, what I am going to present here is attainable for anyone who is truly interested in not allowing someone else to control your resources. As you have likely heard me say to many times, as long as someone else is in control of your resources, they are in fact in control of your life.

So, that being said, before we jump into this week’s material, let us first discuss the good news story of the week.

Expansion of Solar Plant in Sunny Sonora

In the Mexican State of Sonora, the government is working on an expansion of their solar electric plant that will push the operation past the point of 1 gigawatt of electricity production. And while there are other solar electric facilities that are much larger, this is the largest in Latin America.

Sonora is one of Mexico’s sunniest states, receiving on average between 300 and 350 days of dawn-to-dusk sunshine a year.

The expansion will also include battery energy storage that will eventually amount to 30% of total capacity, and all phases of the expansion are slated for completion by the end of 2028. There are also two additional sites that will soon load 556 megawatts into the national power grid and three other sites are being explored.

According to Mexico president, “We are delivering on a strategic objective: ensuring the country’s energy sovereignty through orderly, clean and sufficient planning.”

And this is yet another example of how it is entirely possible to transition away from fossil fuels.

Now, let’s move on to this week’s episode.

After having the cabin property for nearly 30 years, I often think back of how and why I moved onto the property. I think about  my particular motivation at the time, what I have accomplished on the property since day one and what I would do differently if I had to do it all over again.

In so many ways, my choice to live on this property and the time I have spent there has defined much of my adult life. That being said, the world we live in today is much different than what it was when I first started out on the homestead nearly 30 years ago. It is still possible to do so much of what I did. However, it would require living somewhere remote or at least live in a county so rural that no one really cares what you do. And that is becoming more and more difficult to do these days.

After thinking carefully about the last 30 years of my life, there are a few things I know for certain: 

1. There are few people in the world that are able to build their own log cabin from scratch.  I personally do not know of anyone. But there are also only a small percentage of people who are skilled enough to build a regular framed house from scratch. In the world we live in today, I think few people are even interested.
2. There is no one that I know that would be willing and able to live over 10 years without electricity and running water and be okay with that.
3. There are few people willing to learn how to design and install a full solar array for their home.
4. There are few people in the world that are willing and able to live completely off the grid.
5. There are few people in the world that are in control of the majority of their resources.
6. There are very few people that truly appreciate sovereign living and everything that comes along with the decision to do so. 
7. There are few people in the world today that feel in control of their life.
8. There are very few people that would know what do to if our society were to suddenly change our way of life.
9. The world is a completely different place than it was 30 years ago when I first moved off the grid.
10. Off-grid living today means something completely different that it did 30 years ago.

There was a time in human history when everyone lived off the grid because there was no grid. People were dependent on local resources and local community. They had no concept of what was happening a hundred miles away nor did it make any difference to them.

But now with our global community, all it takes is for one military conflict in one small county on the other side of the planet to destabilize the entire global economy. And to me, that sounds like a ridiculous way to run a society. And yet it is the direct product of globalization.

Due to our global economy, far too many of us are dependent on supply chains that we have absolutely no control over. So much of what we depend on these days is imported. Consequently, any one thing that affects the global economy and supply chain, immediately affects the price of most of the basic essentials we need to survive.

Furthermore, we have absolutely no control over whether or not a world leader decides to take aggressive action against another country. Most recently that has more to do with a personal agenda that has absolutely nothing to do with national well being. Such actions tend to destabilize the world economy and once again we have no control over what such leaders choose to do. Yet we pay the price.

In addition to that, any national leader must consistently display honestly, integrity, and transparency in all their actions and communications in order to gain the trust of the nation. When that does not happen, it is not possible for any of us to have some sense of safety, satisfaction, and trust in our own social system.

And these are all solid reasons that for the sake of your own personal well being you need to develop a sovereign lifestyle. And that is what I am going to focus on in the next two episodes,  a 12 month plan for sovereign living.

There is no doubt that the world is a much different place than is was 30 years ago when I first moved off the grid. I do not expect anyone to emulate what I did. Additionally,  I readily admit I would do things differently. The point being, you do not have to go to that extreme.  There is a much easier way to have a sovereign lifestyle. I am going to give you a plan that you can tailor to your own life.

The goal here is to give you a 12-Month Independence Blueprint designed to gradually reduce reliance on mainstream institutions while building a stable, resilient, self sufficient  lifestyle for yourself and your family. While you are most likely not going to be able to completely avoid the impact of all the goes on in our world, you will be able to produce a significant amount of personal security.

12-Month Independence Blueprint

Overall Goal

Build some level of independence in five core areas:

🌱 Food Independence
🏡 Shelter & Energy Independence
💰 Financial Independence
📡 Digital Independence
🤝 Community & Local Resilience

This plan is organized so that each month builds new capabilities while strengthening and building on accomplishments from the previous months.

Month 1 — Life Audit &  Reset

Objective: Understand where and what you are dependent on. It is important to first understand where you are right now in order to get a sense of direction on where you need to go to be more independent. 

Actions

• Write a personal sovereignty statement

If you do not know what that means, allow me to give you an example. This is of course a very personal thing and will be different for everyone. But, the underlying theme is the same.

🌿 Personal Sovereignty Statement (Example)

I affirm that I am a sovereign individual—self-governing in thought, action, and responsibility. My life is guided by conscious choice, personal accountability, and alignment with my values rather than passive acceptance of external influence.

I take full responsibility for my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. I recognize that my health, decisions, and direction are ultimately within my control, and I act accordingly with intention and discipline.

I choose to live deliberately. I will question systems, norms, and expectations that do not align with truth, sustainability, or integrity. I reserve the right to accept, reject, or modify any belief, structure, or agreement that is put before me.

Even though I value independence, I will engage with other people in my community voluntarily, through mutual respect, transparency, and shared benefit—not obligation, coercion, or unconscious conformity.

I will commit myself to reducing dependence on systems that compromise my autonomy, including those related to food, energy, information, and finance. I actively pursue self-sufficiency, resilience, and local interdependence where possible.

I will operate with integrity. My freedom is not an excuse to harm others, but a responsibility to act with awareness, fairness, and respect for life and the natural systems that govern our world.

I am the ultimate authority over my decision and I accept the consequences of my choices. Sovereignty requires accountability, and I embrace both the risks and rewards of living freely.

As you can see from the above statement, this declaration of sovereignty is far reaching.  It is sort of like a personal declaration of independence. While most of us seem to passively accept our fate in this world, a statement of personal sovereignty is the exact opposite.

Most of us think food comes from the supermarket. Most of us feel as if we have no control over what we pay for utilities.  The price of gasoline and other commodities is always on our mind.  We think we have no control over the very things that govern our daily lives. Yet nothing could be further from the truth.

While you may not be able to side step everything, you can gain a lot more control over your day-to-day life than you ever thought possible. It starts with first determining how and when you depend on our system of society. The very first step is to map your dependence in the following areas:

• Map your dependence in these areas:
• Food
• Energy
• Water
• Income
• Technology
• Banking
• Healthcare
• Identify your top 10 vulnerabilities.  Begin by asking yourself how your life would be affected if something changed that was out of your control. For example:

-What would happen if you had no access to a supermarket for two weeks?

-What would happen if public infrastructure shut down for a month due to a severe storm? How would you get water? What would you do for electricity?

-What would happen and how would you function if you had no access to the internet? What if phone communications were down for weeks? 

Practical Tasks

📊 Make an independence audit:

Category

Current Dependence

Desired Independence

Food

Grocery stores

Garden + local farms

Energy

Grid electricity

Solar

Finance

Bank accounts

diversified assets

Communication

Big tech platforms

private channels

Outcome of Month One

Clear picture of what must change and then spend the rest of the year changing it.

Month 2 — Reduce Consumer Dependence

Objective: Stop feeding the consumption system. This topic was extensively covered in my last two episodes, which focused on the 30 day stop the consumption challenge. But, let’s revisit this topic for a quick review.

Actions

Adopt a low-consumption lifestyle

• Cancel unnecessary subscriptions
• Reduce retail purchases
• Repair instead of replace
• Start buying second-hand
• Use a 72 hour rule: If you think you want or need to purchase something, delay that decision by 72 hours and reevaluate. This will greatly reduce your impulse buying.

Build skills

🔧 Basic repair skills such as plumbing and carpentry
🧵 Clothing repair
🛠 Tool ownership

💻Take an online class and learning something completely new. Maybe even take an in-person workshop.

Outcome

Reducing financial drain related to items that are truly unnecessary and or course increasing your self-reliance. I once received a quote of $25K to re-do a kitchen in a house that I used to own. I learned how to do it myself and completed the job for $3500.

On a personal note, after 30 years of living on the homestead, I am still learning new things. All the skills I have learned in the process are things I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Month 3 — Build a Foundation of Food Security

Objective: Begin your food independence program

Actions

Start producing food.

Build a small garden system:

🌱 Garden beds such as raised beds or even something as simple as a container garden.
🌿 Herb garden. These plants can be grown year round because many of them do well in pots on your window sill.
🍅 Fast growing crops

Example starter crops:

• lettuce
• radishes
• beans
• tomatoes
• herbs

Food storage skills

Learn:

• freezing: which is quick and simple
• Dehydration. This is also very simple but requires a little financial investment
• Fermentation. This is also very simple but again has a small learning curve
• Canning. Home canning is also very simple but does require some investment in equipment and there is a definite learning curve.

Store Surplus Foods

Every time you visit the supermarket, buy a few extra items. Initially it is a good idea to stick with basic staples and canned goods that have a long shelf life. The object here is to get to the point where you have at least one month of food on hand at all times, preferably three months.

Outcome

First layer of food sovereignty.

Month 4 — Build Local Food Networks

Objective: Depend less on industrial food systems. Most people never realize that 59% of our fresh fruits and 35% of our fresh vegetables are imported. Just think what would happen if there truly was a global crisis and the food supply chain was cut off. How would that affect your life?

Most of the essentials that we need to live day-to-day can be found locally.  Instead of relying on long supply chains that have a significant environmental impact find local food systems. This is the best way to have control over where your food comes from and how it is produced.

Actions

Develop relationships with:

• farmers
• farmers markets
• local ranchers
• community gardens
• food cooperatives

Practical Steps

Join or create:

🥕 CSA membership
🌽 local food buying club
🐓 egg supplier network

Outcome

Locally resilient food supply. Combined with your food storage efforts and home garden, it it not difficult to imagine creating a significant level of food security.

Month 5 — Focus on Financial Independence

Objective: Reduce dependence on employment systems. Now this is truly something that most people never even consider. I have known several people who have been financially devastated by the sudden loss of employment.

Actions

Create multiple income streams.

Ideas:

• consulting
• online courses
• digital products
• Contract yourself out to provide small services depending on your skill level
• barter economy participation

Build emergency buffer

Goal:

💰 6–12 months living expenses

Outcome

Less vulnerability to job loss.

On a personal note here, I have had a diverse source of income for over 25 years and I would not have it any other way. It provides me with a reasonable amount of financial security.

Month 6 — Digital Independence

Objective: Reduce dependence on surveillance technology ecosystems. A simple fact of our modern culture is non-stop surveillance of everything we do through the technology that we use everyday. All the data collected is used to push advertising and get you to spend more money. Although you may not ever be able to completely eliminate this, you can reduce this to a great degree.

Actions

Switch to specific privacy tools:

Browser:

• Brave
• Firefox hardened
• Tor

Search:

• DuckDuckGo
• Startpage

Email:

• ProtonMail: a privacy focused email provider based in Switzerland.

Messaging:

• Signal
• Session

Additional steps

• password manager
• Offline encrypted backups for your computer, iPad and phone instead of depending on cloud based technology.
• Remove all unnecessary apps from your phone and iPad.

Outcome

Reduced digital tracking. Now you may think this sounds ridiculous, digital tracking is a significant invasion of your privacy that happens every day without your consent.

Conclusion

Now I hope that what I have presented here so far makes you realize that nothing here is out of reach for anyone. So, I hope you will join me for part two and have a complete picture of how to develop a sovereign lifestyle.