We all love to think about what it would be like to not have to depend on public service companies, making the grocery store a convenience and not a necessity by growing our own food and living a more self-reliant life in general.

All this sounds great, but what would it take to go completely off grid? And how hard would it actually be?

The truth is, most of the real work goes on behind the scenes and never makes it to the internet. You won’t find many videos of people pulling weeds (unless you’re looking for it) and you won’t find many videos of people cleaning up after their animals…The dirty work.

With that being said, here’s the good, the bad and the ugly about what it would take to go completely off grid.

Keep in mind, I’m not talking about erasing your footprint and hiding from the alphabet agencies, I’m talking about living a more self-reliant lifestyle.

The Right Attitude

Regardless whether you decide to become a full scale homesteader, or make some changes to live a more self-reliant life, you need to go all in…or don’t go at all. This video from An American Homestead talks about what it takes to live off the grid.

If you go into a venture like this halfcocked, or on the fence, you might find that after you have taken all the steps to get there, it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. To be a successful homesteader you need to not only be willing to do the work, but actually enjoy it.

When we enjoy doing something nothing can stop us. When we enjoy doing something, the challenges that pop up along the way are just inconveniences. We all know that with the right attitude, anything is possible.

Willingness to Sacrifice

As a society we have become pretty dependent on our technology, but even out where I live some sacrifices have to be made…and were not off the grid yet. This doesn’t mean you have to give up the internet and your cell phone, but it does mean you might need to find an alternative.

Not only will we need to make sacrifices when it comes to modern conveniences, we might not have access to all the stores and shops that are 5 minutes away. This is not necessarily a bad thing because you would know what’s in your food, and there is less stress when you are not constantly connected to everyone.

Even if you can order something off the internet, you still might have to go to the post office to pick it up, believe it or not, there are some places FedEx won’t deliver to. As I said earlier, with the right attitude, this is just “something I have to do.”

Getting Your Hands Dirty

One part of homesteading or living off the grid that can be the most rewarding, and your biggest challenge at the same time, is the fact that you are responsible for everything. There are bound to be situations where you are going to have to bite the bullet and call in some backup, but for the most part you are responsible for your own success or failure.

Getting food in the refrigerator won’t be as easy as heading to the grocery store, it takes hard work all year long to make sure you have food, and even more hard work to make sure that food lasts throughout the winter.

Even though it will be hard work, the sense of satisfaction you get knowing that not only can you do it, you don’t need to depend on a 9 to 5 job or others for your survival.