My Self Reliance — The Roadmap
Your Path
Out.
A week-by-week membership for people who've decided they want a different life — and need someone who's actually lived it to show them how.
⬤ Founding member rate — locked for life
Start the RoadmapIncludes everything in Hearthside and Timber Frame — one membership, the full picture.
I didn't have a plan when I left. I had a decision. That's not the same thing — and the gap between them cost me years.
I know what it's like to want out and have no idea where to start. To feel the weight of debt, the pressure of a mortgage, the quiet voice that says — this is just how life is. I ignored that voice. But I did it the hard way, making expensive mistakes on land that didn't forgive them.
This is what I wish someone had handed me. Not inspiration — a roadmap. Debt first. Then the land fund. Then how to find the right property — and it doesn't have to be raw bush. A small rural home on five acres is a perfectly good starting point, and it's financeable like any other house. Then the tools. Then the first season. Week by week, the way I actually did it.
You don't need to build a cabin from scratch. You need a plan that fits your actual life. That's what this is.
This isn't about escaping your life.
It's about building one
you don't need to escape from.
Not a course.
A living curriculum.
Most courses are finished before you buy them. This one is built week by week, in real time, as the land changes and the world changes. You're not buying a static product — you're getting a guide who's still on the journey, documenting it as it happens.
One lesson, one video, every week. You're never overwhelmed and never ahead of yourself. The curriculum grows with you.
Not theory. Not research. The things Shawn figured out the hard way, on land that didn't give second chances.
Monthly live chats and direct email. The questions that don't fit a lesson get answered by someone who's actually done it.
There's more than one
way in.
The self-reliant life doesn't begin with a chainsaw and raw bush. The roadmap covers every realistic entry point — so you can find the path that fits where you actually are.
The long path. Lowest entry cost, highest skill requirement, longest timeline before you're truly settled. Deeply rewarding for the right person.
A small home or cabin on acreage. Financeable like any mortgage. Livable from day one. The fastest path to the life for most people — and exactly where good debt earns its keep.
Raw land with something already standing. A middle path — livable sooner than a full build, more affordable than a finished homestead. Some renovation likely.
Consumer debt — credit cards, car payments, lines of credit at 20% — keeps you trapped. That debt needs to go first. But a mortgage on productive rural land at a reasonable rate is a completely different instrument. It's an asset that feeds you, shelters you, and appreciates. Most financial advice lumps all debt together. This curriculum doesn't.
Good debt builds the life. Bad debt prevents it. The Roadmap teaches you to know the difference and use both levers correctly.
Where the
curriculum begins.
The first four lessons are waiting when you join. One new lesson and video every week from there. You'll always be working through real material — and you'll never be left waiting long.
The invisible forces that keep people exactly where they are. Comfort, identity, sunk cost. Name them first.
Every debt, every obligation, every asset. One page. You can't plan a route without knowing your starting point.
Real numbers. All three entry paths laid out honestly. The one that fits you is probably not the one you pictured.
Eliminate what traps you. Use what builds you. The debt plan most courses are afraid to give you.
Set the target. Calculate the timeline. Most people are surprised how achievable it is once it's written down.
Realistic options for replacing city income while building a rural life. No shortcuts. Just honest options.
Water, soil, access, zoning. What matters, what's negotiable, and what's a dealbreaker before you see a single listing.
The property you want probably isn't on the first page of any listing site. Where rural land actually gets listed — and how to search for your region specifically.
What to bring, what to check, what to walk away from. Most people don't know what they're looking at. This fixes that.
Not a complete list — a sequenced one. What to have before you arrive, and what can wait.
What to do in the first 90 days. Understand what you have before you change anything permanent.
Take everything from weeks 1–11 and build your own specific plan. Not a template. Your actual plan, in your own handwriting.
The full membership.
Nothing held back.
A new instructional article every week. Practical, honest, sequenced. The curriculum grows week by week for a full year and beyond.
Filmed on Shawn's land, paired with each lesson. He walks you through it the way a knowledgeable friend would — applicable to any property, any size, anywhere.
Direct access to Shawn. Submit your questions in advance. Get real answers from someone who's done it — not a community manager.
For the questions that can't wait for a live session. A direct line — not a support ticket.
Every physical product in the My Self Reliance store — Chaga, provisions, everything that comes after — at 10% off, always.
The podcast, dispatches, members-only videos, skills downloads, Q&A archive, physical mailings, Built by Hand roll. Everything.
This membership is for
a specific person.
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You've made the decision — not a wish, a decision. You don't know the path yet, but you know you're going to find one.
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You have debt. Maybe a lot of it. You're not waiting until it's gone to start planning — you're smart enough to know the plan is how you get rid of it.
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You don't want to build a cabin from scratch. You want a life that makes sense — and you're open to whatever path gets you there fastest.
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You want to learn from someone who made real mistakes on real land and is honest about all of it. Not a course creator. A practitioner.
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You're willing to do the work. You just need someone to tell you which work, in which order, and why.
The founding
member rate.
First 200 members get the price locked. Not for a year — for as long as you stay.
Regular price: $45/month
⬤ Founding spots remaining — first 200 only
Start the RoadmapCancel any time. No questions asked.
But the people who need this don't cancel.