🎙️Episode 9: Freedom by Design

By Ángel Luis López – The Nomad Build
Category: Mindset / Self-Mastery / Freedom
Location: Andalucía, España

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Freedom by Design

Most people let life happen to them.

They grow up where they were born.
Work where they’re hired.
Live where they can afford.
Retire where the system allows them to.

No real say.
No real design.
Just… default.

But if you’re reading this, there’s a part of you that knows:

You weren’t put here just to wake up to alarms, live on someone else’s schedule, and hope the system takes care of you in the end.

You were meant to build something.
On purpose.

This is what I mean by freedom by design.

Not freedom as a quote on social media.
Freedom as your actual, day-to-day reality:

• Waking up when you choose.
• Deciding where your life happens.
• Having options even when you’re not actively working.
• Being able to move, relocate, and stay where you feel most alive.

My life isn’t perfect.
I’m still in the middle of the build.
But nothing about it is accidental.

Right now:

• My daughter is in Florida.
• My wife is in Morocco.
• I have homes in Puerto Rico, Morocco, and Spain.
• My main business engine still runs out of Florida – but I don’t have to be there full-time.

None of that came from luck.
It came from refusing to live on default settings.

In this episode (and this article), I want to share the 5 pillars I use to design my freedom — so you can start designing yours too.

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What Freedom Really Means (For Me)

When I talk about freedom, I’m not just talking about being rich.

For me, freedom looks like:

• Not waking up to a damn alarm every morning.
• Not being tied to a storefront or office that I secretly resent.
• Not having my life dictated by someone else’s schedule.
• Having the mobility to say, “I’m going to Puerto Rico for a few months,” or “I’m heading back to Spain”… and actually be able to do it.

Yes, money matters.

Real freedom is when:

If you stop working for a season — you’re still okay.
If business slows down for a bit — you’re not in panic mode.
If you need time to think, heal, or reset — your world doesn’t collapse.

That’s the kind of freedom I’m building.
Not perfection.
Not fantasy.
Just more of my life back, one decision at a time.

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Why I Didn’t Buy the “American Dream”

I’ve spent a lot of time in Florida.

It’s a powerful place to make money.
If you’re an entrepreneur, it’s one of the best places to work, build, and hustle.

But here’s the flip side:

When everyone wants to live somewhere…
prices go crazy.

Rent goes up.
Housing goes up.
Cost of living goes up.

And before you know it, people are locked into 30-year mortgages in cities that drain them emotionally and financially.

I looked at that typical “American Dream”:

• Huge financed home
• 30 years of payments
• Locked into one place
• Hoping the market doesn’t crash

And I realized:

That’s not freedom for me.

So I made a decision:

I wasn’t going to chain myself to a house in the States
just to “look successful” while feeling stuck.

Instead, I started asking a different question:

“Where in the world are people running away…
that I see long-term value in?”

Because here’s a principle I’ve watched play out in both markets and life:

When everyone is comfortable and confident — I’m cautious.
When everyone is scared and running away — I pay attention.

Opportunities are often hidden inside chaos.

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Pillar 1: Preparation – Don’t Pass Over Opportunities Repeatedly

Opportunities don’t schedule appointments.
They don’t text you before they show up.

They appear when they appear.
The only question is:

Are you prepared when they knock?

I like to say that “POOR” can stand for:

Passing
Over
Opportunities
Repeatedly.

Most people aren’t poor because they never saw an opportunity.

They’re poor because when opportunity came, they:

• Had no savings
• Had no skills
• Had no margin
• Had no courage

So they had to pass.

For me, Preparation is the first pillar of freedom by design.

Before I bought anything:

• I was working.
• I was stacking money.
• I was learning skills.
• I was paying attention.

So when a real opportunity finally appeared, I didn’t have to say, “I wish I could.”
I could say, “I’m ready.”

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Pillar 2: Timing – Finding Opportunity Inside Chaos

When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, a lot of people left.

The island was broken.
The infrastructure was damaged.
The news made it look like a place to escape from — not a place to invest in.

People were scared.
Families were giving up.
Properties were sitting.

But I’m Puerto Rican.
I know my people.
I know the island’s heart.

I always wanted to own something in Puerto Rico.
After Maria, that desire finally lined up with an opportunity.

While many ran away, I stepped in.

I didn’t see “cheap property.”
I saw:

• A chance to own something in my land.
• A place I could live in.
• A place I could later rent out.
• A way to build, not just complain.

That’s Pillar 2: Timing.

Not trying to chase every trend.
Not FOMO-buying whatever is popular.

Just understanding that in almost every crisis…
there’s also a window.

And those who are prepared — and aligned — can move while others freeze.

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Pillar 3: Vision – Buying What Can Grow, Not What Just Looks Good

My mentality has always been simple:

“I’d rather buy something cheap now
that has room to grow,
than something that looks impressive today
but drains me tomorrow.”

I’m not interested in paying top dollar just to be in a flashy zip code.

• Puerto Rico after the hurricane
• Morocco when it was still very affordable
• Spain beyond the big tourist centers

In all those places, I didn’t just see what they were right now.

I saw what they could become.

Most people only buy what looks good on Instagram today.
Builders, investors, nomads — we buy what we believe will become obvious to everyone else later.

That’s Pillar 3: Vision.

You don’t need a crystal ball.
You just need the ability to see beyond the moment — and the courage to act before the crowd.

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Pillar 4: Alignment – When Vision, Faith, and Action Sync Up

Spain is a good example of alignment in my life.

I’ve wanted a place in Spain for years.
Not as a tourist — as someone with keys.

For about two years, that desire was mostly internal:

• Visualizing
• Seeing myself living there
• Imagining the streets, the culture, the rhythm of life

Then for about one year, I went from dreaming to working:

• Researching
• Traveling
• Learning systems
• Doing paperwork
• Adjusting plans

And at a certain point, it stopped feeling random.

“Coincidences” started lining up:

• Border trips between Spain and Morocco
• Meeting my wife
• The right place appearing at the right time
• The numbers finally making sense

Call it destiny.
Call it God.
Call it alignment.

For me, it’s all three.

That’s Pillar 4: Alignment.

Not just hustling blindly.
Not just “manifesting” without movement.

Vision tells you where you want to go.
Faith allows you to believe it’s possible.
Action turns that belief into momentum.

When those three line up, doors you couldn’t have forced open by yourself suddenly unlock.

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Pillar 5: Design Over Default – Choosing the Hard Tradeoffs

Here’s the honest part:

The nomad life is not some perfect postcard.

Right now:

• My daughter is in Florida, going to school, living with her mother.
• My wife is in Morocco while we navigate the visa process.
• I’m moving between Puerto Rico, Spain, Morocco, and Florida — keeping business, properties, and responsibilities in motion.

There are months where:

If I’m with my daughter, I’m not with my wife.
If I’m with my wife, I’m not with my daughter.

We talk daily.
We connect often.
My daughter spends summers with me — and that time is deep and intentional.

But this is the cost side of freedom nobody posts about.

You don’t always get to have everyone in the same room.

So why do it?

Because what I get in return is something I never felt when I was stuck in one place:

• I get to live like a local in multiple countries.
• I can change weather, cultures, food, and languages.
• I don’t feel trapped by a single job, single city, or single script.
• When I land in Puerto Rico, Morocco, or Spain — I’m not a guest. I’m home.

I feel like I stepped outside of what society told me life “had” to be.

That’s Pillar 5: Design Over Default.

You don’t accidentally wake up in a life you love.
You build it — one tradeoff, one risk, one decision at a time.

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What “The Nomad Build” Really Is

When I say The Nomad Build, I’m not just talking about country-hopping with a laptop.

For me, it’s:

• A mindset – refusing to accept a life that makes your soul tired.
• A lifestyle – making decisions that give you more time, mobility, and options.
• A growing movement – because more and more people every year are saying:
  “I don’t want to live and die on somebody else’s clock.”

You don’t need three properties across continents to live this.

You can start right where you are:

• Pay off one debt.
• Save your first $1,000 intentionally.
• Start a small service business online or locally.
• Relocate to a city that actually supports your growth.
• Buy your first asset in a place everyone else is sleeping on.

The point is:

Freedom is a blueprint, not a wish.

It’s not “one day when I’m rich.”
It’s the accumulation of today’s decisions that create tomorrow’s options.

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This Week’s Exercise: Design One Piece of Your Freedom

I don’t want this to just be a nice story.

I want you to change something — even if it’s small.

1. Define what freedom actually means to you.
Not what Instagram says.
Not what your family expects.

Write down, in one paragraph:

“Freedom, for me, looks like…”

Be specific.
Time? Mobility? Working less? Living somewhere else? More time with your kids?
Write it.

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2. Identify one area where you’re living on default.

Ask yourself:

• Where am I just going along with the script?
• Where am I staying stuck because it feels “normal”?
• What decision did I make out of fear, not vision?

Circle one area.

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3. Take one action toward design.

Depending on how big your situation is, this might mean:

• Starting a dedicated savings account for your “freedom fund.”
• Paying off one small debt and closing the cycle.
• Researching a new city or country and learning what it would take to move there.
• Starting a simple side service you can offer online or locally.
• Saying no to one commitment that keeps you stuck.

It doesn’t have to be dramatic.
It just has to be intentional.

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Final Thoughts

My life isn’t finished.
I’m still building.
There are moving parts, visa processes, responsibilities, emotions.

But I can tell you this:

I feel more alive now — with all its complexity —
than I ever did living a “stable,” predictable life that didn’t fit my soul.

You don’t have to live like a nomad to design your freedom.
You can start locally and expand outward.

What matters most are the principles:

• Prepare before opportunity arrives.
• Look for timing inside chaos.
• See beyond what something is today.
• Align your vision, faith, and action.
• Refuse to let life stay on default.

Because at the end of the day:

You don’t have to stay where the world placed you.
You can design your own path.
You can build your life —
and you can build it anywhere.

If this message resonated with you, share it with someone who feels stuck in a life they didn’t consciously choose.

You’re not behind.
You’re not crazy for wanting more.
You’re just ready to start living by design.

— Ángel Luis López
The Nomad Build: Rebuilding life from the inside out.

🎧 Listen to the full episode: Episode 8 – The Spiritual Side of Success
(Available soon on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.)

Listen on YouTube Music: @TheNomadBuild