If you do tomorrow what you did today, you will get tomorrow what you got today. – Benjamin Franklin
Saturday, April 4, 2015 (DAY 1,125)
I think one of the most disappointing things in life is when people willingly accept complacency in life, to me this is forfeiting the possibilities that are innate to you–to each and every person. Living a melancholy carbon copy of each day that, when people are truly unsatisfied with their life, and therefore, they just continue to go through the motions of routine is sadly disappointing. Trust me, I've been there myself. Therefore, I'm not saying that everyone needs to live a life full of adventure and excitement by being a global traveler, but there are plenty of people that "talk about what they want or hope to do" and those that actually act upon it. I hope that you are the latter. One of the largest annoyances that my great friend Andrea, from Colorado, and I shared where those individuals that would complain about their; job, girlfriend, boyfriend, living situation, etc. and never be doing anything to change it! I know we all complain or vent from time-to-time, which I feel is both natural and necessary, but if you are one of these types of people and it has been months or maybe even years that you have had this constant complaint–it's time for change my friend! Shake things up! Take risks! I think that encouraging others is one of the greatest aspects of humanity, and yet, we often become so-called too busy with our own lives to pause and notice the difference–even in the slightest of gestures–of what we can do to help inspire or just help make another person's life a bit easier, because to me this is a true sign of a person of character–one whose true desire is to try and do what they can for others above his or her self.
I think one of the most disappointing things in life is when people willingly accept complacency in life, to me this is forfeiting the possibilities that are innate to you–to each and every person. Living a melancholy carbon copy of each day that, when people are truly unsatisfied with their life, and therefore, they just continue to go through the motions of routine is sadly disappointing. Trust me, I've been there myself. Therefore, I'm not saying that everyone needs to live a life full of adventure and excitement by being a global traveler, but there are plenty of people that "talk about what they want or hope to do" and those that actually act upon it. I hope that you are the latter. One of the largest annoyances that my great friend Andrea, from Colorado, and I shared where those individuals that would complain about their; job, girlfriend, boyfriend, living situation, etc. and never be doing anything to change it! I know we all complain or vent from time-to-time, which I feel is both natural and necessary, but if you are one of these types of people and it has been months or maybe even years that you have had this constant complaint–it's time for change my friend! Shake things up! Take risks! I think that encouraging others is one of the greatest aspects of humanity, and yet, we often become so-called too busy with our own lives to pause and notice the difference–even in the slightest of gestures–of what we can do to help inspire or just help make another person's life a bit easier, because to me this is a true sign of a person of character–one whose true desire is to try and do what they can for others above his or her self.
Upon leaving my previous 12-year career in broadcast television, I never thought of it as retiring, until receiving this farewell card from my colleagues in Denver that mentioned "Now that you're retiring..." It's funny because I suppose until reading the front of this card I never entirely thought of this as retirement, but maybe a long sabbatical or hiatus, because I always knew no matter how long this journey of global travel may be, that at some point I would need to work–whether that was returning to a career in broadcast television or continuing to be an aspiring entrepreneur. I suppose that after more than three-years, I've come to the conclusion that, not only have I continued to gain more skills (that can easily be translated to professional skills, which I wrote about 10 Life Skills Acquired Through Long-Term Budget Travel) and fine tune those I already had, but just as an ordinary life does not interest me, the same philosophy when it comes to earning a living. I would much rather be–in a sense–in more control of my life by working for myself than to work for someone or some company, at least at the current moment. It's funny because I've met people from around the world that have all said that they want to start or own their own business, yet when it comes to the "actual hard work and investment of time and possibly funds," they are too afraid of leaving the comforts of a so-called job where they are employed by another. This, however, is not me. Some may often view me as having an arrogant attitude, while I see it as being confident in my decision-making and more importantly the follow-through in making it happen.
Another lesson I have learned has been to free myself of negative people. For the most part, I have met some amazing people that I consider wonderful friends, however, there have also been a handful of people that lack character, integrity, and motivation, and for myself personally, I choose to avoid or cut-ties, burn bridges (in a sense), or whatever you may call it in order to achieve success by surrounding myself with positive people that aren't dragging you down or discouraging you by stifling your dreams.
One question I often pose to people is; how do you define success and what are you passionate about? Think back to when you were a child and imagination seemed endless... Well, in defining success, of course there are numerous answers; money, a better job, achieving higher education, having a family, etc. but for myself, I measure success in the value that I can hopefully instill in others by encouraging and supporting them through effectively changing the way that they think by challenging their previous ideals and notions. Just as the quote I recently used, "Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."
As a follow up to this quote, I'd like to take one more from Steve Jobs in an interview with PBS in 1994, where he said, "When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money.That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is - everything around you that you call life, was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.
The minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will, you know if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it. That’s maybe the most important thing. It’s to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you’re just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it.
I think that’s very important and however you learn that, once you learn it, you’ll want to change life and make it better, cause it’s kind of messed up, in a lot of ways. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again."
As a follow up to this quote, I'd like to take one more from Steve Jobs in an interview with PBS in 1994, where he said, "When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money.That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is - everything around you that you call life, was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.
The minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will, you know if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it. That’s maybe the most important thing. It’s to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you’re just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it.
I think that’s very important and however you learn that, once you learn it, you’ll want to change life and make it better, cause it’s kind of messed up, in a lot of ways. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again."
Finally, I just want to encourage you to discard a life of complacency–take a risk, aspire to be more and achieve more with the talents you have been given–and seek out even the simplest ways to effective change another person's life.
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