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Idiot.

Lantern.

No, I’m not calling anyone an idiot nor am I calling myself an idiot for something stupid I’ve done (even though I’ve done a lot of idiotic things).

  And lantern is indeed relevant to this post, just not apart from the first word.

Put these two words together and they perfectly describe the most life-sucking (my opinion) thing humans have ever invented. Can you guess what I’m referring to?

Idiot Lantern. You’ve also heard it called the boob tube, the telly, and most commonly, the TV.

I’m going to stick with the Idiot Lantern because I firmly believe that’s what it really is.

Before I go any further, let me throw a disclaimer out there before everybody goes irate on me and start calling me a hypocrite.

Yes, I do watch some TV. Yes, I enjoy a mindless show occasionally…usually Family Guy. Yes, I do tend to waste 3 hours every Saturday in the fall watching the Ohio State Buckeyes. Yes, I do tend to waste 3 more hours the next day on Sundays in the fall watching the Cleveland Browns (truly a waste of time). And, yes, I sometimes watch, and thoroughly enjoy, Project Runway with my fiancée/wife.

There is nothing wrong with a little down time in such a busy world…

…BUT, make no mistake; it’s still an Idiot Lantern and a time/life waster.

For example, if you replace your nightly hour on the Idiot Lantern with reading a book on you passion, over the next year you will have accumulated…..X. You will be in the top X% of that subject. It’s also the equivalent of X college credits. (jack canfield/b tracy).  Think about all that waste.

Ok, back on track.

Unfortunately, I was not clever enough to come with such an accurate description for the TV. Jake actually found it in a book he was reading and read it out loud to me. It’s from a book by Susan Griffith and it’s called Work Your Way Around the World. I haven’t even read it and I already love it.

The quote that it was mentioned in phrases perfectly my view on this life. It comes down to the idea that I only have a “finger-snap of time”, and wasting even a fraction of time on the Idiot Lantern is taking time away from walking my talk and accomplishing the dreams I’ve imagined for my life.

The quote is from one of the book’s contributing authors and can be found on the book’s very first page.

“I think it comes down to the fact that we are only on this planet for a finger-snap of time and if you have any kind of urge for a bit of adventure, then my advice would be to go for it! And even if it goes all horribly wrong, you can look people in the eyes and say ‘Well, at least I gave it a try.’ You can work 9-5 in an office or factory all day, come home, switch on the Idiot Lantern and sit there watching Michael Palin travelling the world – or you can be bold, seize the day, and do something amazing. One thing I can guarantee: when we are lying on our deathbed many years from now, we will not be saying to ourselves ‘Oh, I wish I’d spent more time at that dead-end job and had a little less adventure in my life!’

Phew! Reading this out loud and typing it at the same time has a lot more power than I realized. I literally stopped for a second and said, ‘phew’ out loud. That wasn’t for writing effect; I’m not creative like that.

Now go re-read that quote.

Maybe you don’t want to travel the world but maybe you want to be a sick nasty DJ or maybe you want to own a tea shop or even own a costume store. I don’t care what it is. We all have something.

For me, I want to travel the world and never stop, and sitting down to watch the Idiot Lantern will hardly, if at all, help me do that.

I actually have a big screen projector with surround sound, but the screen is rarely down for a few reasons. One, I don’t have cable to watch ANY tv and, two, we have massive whiteboards on our wall and we’re constantly using them to help us walk our talk (see photo, jakes post).

Instead of watching TV, I now focus on my whiteboards and how those are going to help me get what I want in this life.

When I used to watch tv after work I’d always find myself dreaming about the things I wanted to do, but instead of actually working towards them, I would continue to flip the channels between Seinfeld and one of Jerry Bruckheimer’s 17 shows that have the same overall theme.

Sometimes I’ll look back at all the time I’ve spent watching the Idiot Lantern and ask myself, ‘How much closer to the life I imagined would I be if I eliminated 80% (80/20 rule) of my time in front of the TV?’

How much closer to the life you imagined would you be if you eliminated 80% of the TV you watch?

Does your significant other “fan your flame?”

Mine does.

  I cannot express to you in words how important that is in helping me walk my talk.

To the family and friends who know me well, I talk about a lot of things I want to do…and I’ve been wanting to do these things since like, 5 years old. I have a friend who jokes with me about this all the time. We’ve been friends for about 10 years now and he knows very well that I want to experience everything under the sun, and that I’ve been thinking of these things since I was kid.

I want to surf in Fiji, hike Mt. Everest, ride a bicycle across the United States, ride a raft down the Mississippi River, skydive with a wing suit…and the list just goes on and on.

These days, my friend and I will sit and talk about life, the things we want to do, and he’ll mention something he’d like to experience and then smugly remark, “Let me guess, you’ve wanted to do this since you were like 5 years old?”

He says it EVERY time.

80% of the time he’s right…I’ve already thought about it.

I’m currently writing about this as I plan a fall wedding.

And guess what? Nothing will change about those dreams.

I’m still the 5-year-old kid who dreams big dreams and wants to experience as many things as possible while I’m alive on earth (which is about 71 more years)…and I’m still going to talk about them, and I’m ACTUALLY going to DO them!

Some of you, probably most (80/20 rule) of you, are scoffing, “Yeah right! Not after you get married. Once that happens you start to take on more responsibilities, then you have a family, house, cars and all these things you wanted to do won’t happen. Those dreams were for your youth; she’s going to want you to settle it down a bit. Sorry Chad, your time has passed.”

On the contrary my fellow dreamers! (with an English accent).

I’m marrying this woman because she fans my flame.

What do I mean by this?

I’ll do my best to explain. Everybody has the burning desire within them to some degree. Whenever you think about the thing that you’re passionate about or that which excites you, your heart starts to swell and the desire begins to burn. Think of it like a fire in your soul, right at the center of your heart. When you think about immersing yourself in your passion, that flame within you burns brightly.

Trying to write about it is tough, but you must think of those times where you imagine that passion and your chest burns with excitement with that overwhelming intensity, as if you are already there experiencing what you’ve dreamed about.

It’s amazing to experience that feeling on your own, but what if there was somebody who made it burn hotter and brighter? How amazing would that be?

Let me tell you something. It’s A-MAZING!

Even though there are times when I sound ridiculous with my ideas, those ideas are still a part of who I am, and getting the chance to accomplish those ideas lights that fire in my soul.

Stacie, my soon-to-be wife, is like a lifelong fire bellow. You know, the old school fan that people used to make a fire burn hotter and brighter (See Here)?

She fans my flame by intently listening with genuine interest in EVERY dream that I have, even if she might think (at first) that the dream is a bit outrageous (see wing-suit skydiving). She at least let’s me feel as if my idea is just as valuable to her as it is me.

She goes beyond listening by actively participating in my dreams by asking me questions and discussing the ways we can accomplish my dreams together.

Taking it another step further, Stacie will start to take action herself on my own dreams. These actions can be as simple as paying attention to things she finds in a store, in a book, online, or another resource that she thinks will help me accomplish this dream.

Finally, she helps me take action and preserve through adversity to accomplish these dreams by helping me solve problems and providing words of much need encouragement.

On my own, I believe that I can accomplish all the dreams I have.

With her fanning my flame…I know I will.

And trust me, she wants me to accomplish what I talk about because if I don’t walk my talk then she’s gonna look like the fool for marrying me. This doesn’t help (funny photo of us).

The fire in your soul may burn hot today, imagine what happens when you have someone next to you helping you fan your flame.

I already know. It feels like THIS.

Now I’m not saying you have to be with anyone to accomplish your dreams. See Jake and Paul.

What I’m saying is this, whether you dream of being a baker, a writer, or a chef I hope the person you’re with is fanning your flame…and vice versa.

Stacie loves me for my dreams. More importantly she loves me because I ACTUALLY attempt to accomplish them. Most importantly, she loves me because I fan her flame to help her accomplish her dreams, too.

Anxiety.

I love it and I hate it.

I just returned from the grocery store and my left leg is bouncing up and down like a million times a minute. My anxiety is starting to spike…quickly. Even though I do have a pretty good idea as to why, I’m still not 100% certain, and I actually have little reason to be anxious at this very moment.

  Sure, there are the standard stresses of life, like bills to pay (they’re paid), lists of things to do (accomplishable), and people to talk to (they can wait), and I know others have much bigger concerns to deal with than I do, but right now my anxiety is off the charts, and it’s not about these things.

I’m trying to recall all the times that I’ve had this type of anxiety before and why I’ve had it. My hope is that recalling past anxious moments will help me combat it now and in the future.

I think I know just what my solution is.

I’m 99.7% confident that the cause of this anxiety is the combination of me running out of time to do the things I dream of doing in this life (see 100 Years to Live), currently not being able to do them, and not being able to do them because of some outside factors or past decisions I’ve made.

Right now I want to see the world, but I can’t because the company I currently work for is hindering that opportunity…at least that’s how I see right now. Their lack of training and resources has severely affected my financial goals and I’m becoming bitter towards them, even though I consciously work to look at the negatives as an opportunity (See Adversity).

The bitterness has lead me into anxiety-ridden overdrive in order to produce a product that I believe will get me to my dreams, considering that my current job is not helping.

But the problem is, it’s going to take much longer than 48 hours to build this product and I desperately just want to know if it will even work. I guess this might be the absolute center of my anxiety.

In fact, that’s 100% of it. This is where my anxiety is exploding from.

Will my idea work? Will I get paid to do it? Will it pay my bills and fund the life I’ve always envisioned?

Have you ever had these feelings or asked yourself these questions?

If you’ve ever wanted to be or be doing something other than what you’re during right now, like being a baker, a tea shop owner, a fashion designer, a chef, etc, then you’ve probably asked yourself these questions.

These feelings and questions can produce a shot of adrenaline that we sometimes need, whether we want them or not…and that means we need to do something about it…NOW!

Some say patience is a virtue, but right now patience won’t get me anywhere and the anxiety is proving that.  I know Jake agrees.

I’m going to be flipping this anxiety into some type of positive action. How exactly am I going to do that? I actually don’t know for sure, but I do know that taking action usually curbs this type of anxiety. So, I must find a way to take action.

All I know is that I have to explore – RIGHT NOW – a way to take action on my dreams. If obtaining my dreams can be reached through my product idea then I need to take action on my product idea. If I don’t know how to take action on my product idea then figuring out the “how” is my action step. This is as simple as doing research on Google or by reading books on the process to create and launch my idea.

And that’s what I’m going to do.

I know from this anxious feeling that, right now, I need to test my product idea to see if it is actually going to work. I don’t exactly know how to do that, but I know where to go to figure it out.

I’m going to end this post and go take action. I’m going to start by pulling out the 4 Hour Work Week and follow the book’s process to testing my idea.

I already feel better.

When you feel that anxiety, don’t let it simmer and go away, use it as a driving force to break through to the next step. You’ll be glad you did.

For years I had planned to move to California.

I didn’t care where I moved so long as it was SoCal where I could (try to) surf and wouldn’t have to deal with the brutal grey and crappy midwest/Chicago winter...(which seems to last from November to June).

  I finally decided to pull the trigger in January of 2011 after one of the worst winter depressions I had had in a long time. I couldn’t handle it anymore so I made the decision to move.

I began planning, prepping, and imagining my life on the beach. I would go to work at my easy(ier), laid back job during the week, work on a few micro-businesses with Jake in the evenings, then surf, hike, and explore on the weekends (there’s a lot to do in SoCal).

Jake and I had our micro-businesses planned, I had plenty of money saved, and I knew how to budget, track and manage income and expenses. Based on all these variables I just needed a simple day job to pay expenses and allow me the peace of mind to come home and work on our projects.

Dude. Making your own plans is AAAAAWWWWEEEEESSSSOOOOMMMEE...

…especially when they DON’T work out that way!!!

Of course nothing I planned happened.

All the “easier” jobs, like bartending, didn’t work out. I also didn’t get hired for an inside sales jobs I really (thought) I wanted AND had inside connections for…weird. That company actually told me that I’d get too restless doing inside sales because of my past real estate sales history and expected me to quit (I prefer the word retire) in 6 months. They knew me so well without evening knowing me!

I was then offered a job with a rather accomplished startup. In fact, in December of 2011 it was named in Forbes Magazine as One of America’s Most Promising Companies…not bad.

It all sounded swell. People in my position were supposedly “making great money” (there was some puffery there to say the least) and the mission and the people in their company were just all-around awesome, according to them. I’d actually agree on the latter.

I accepted…with the same mindset, of course, that I would go to work each day, put my time in, make my money, and go home with peace of mind and work on my micro-businesses.

Again! Nothing I planned happened!

There was no training, no proven sales techniques or systems, and they were throwing crap on the wall, hoping it would stick, which is the way you have to do it when you’re building a business…

…but that was ruining everything I had planned for my personal life.

I was 100% commission so I was barely paying the bills, I was dipping into my savings that was running out quickly, and I was lacking peace of mind

Most importantly, I was not working on what I wanted to work on. Jake was doing most of the work and getting frustrated (he was in the situation I was actually hoping for) and I was watching my dreams slowly get more distant while my fall wedding was now more of a burden instead of a joy.

Ever had something like this happen to you?

Adversity.

There’s nothing like a good dose of adversity to bring you back to reality, knock you down, depress you, and try to stop you from pursuing what you want.

What do you do?

Well, turn adversity into opportunity of course!

And now you’re saying, “Easier said than done, Chad.”

Or is it.

There are people who have faced, or are currently facing, much more adverse situations than I am and they’re turning these situations into opportunity.

Some are using them to teach others, some are building businesses to fill a need discovered by adversity, and some are using adverse situations to help others realize there are no limitations in this life.

Aimee Mullins is one example. She has accomplished much more than I have with much, much less. Aimee had her legs amputated below the knee when she was a child, yet she has gone on to be a Division I athlete, a Paralympic runner, and a model.

She spoke at TED and her speech has motivated me to look at, what I perceive to be, a very adverse situation in my life and find the opportunity in it. Watch here, specifically from 7:58 to 9:13.

How are we going to meet adversity?

Personally, I’ve met mine head on with the company I’m working for. I’ve found a way to train myself, improve my own sales systems, and I’ve structured my days around what I’ve been forced to learn and now I’m finding success. Success that could actually go beyond the original plans I had.

I’m finding success in a way that is now being used to train others in my company in the same position. I’m having a direct impact on the growth of One of America’s Most Promising Companies, which is pretty awesome to say the least.

BUT more importantly, I just learned through adversity how to create systems and structures that will significantly impact the growth of the micro-businesses Jake and I are trying to create.

Without the adversity I would have never been compelled to find better methods, been able to build better systems, gain teaching authority on an area important to my company, and I would have never known how to apply all of this to the realization of my dreams.

While it’s not easy, and I will still dislike adversity, I’ve decided to meet all adversity head on and find ways to turn it into opportunities that will help me Walk My Talk.

Where can you find opportunity in the current adversity you’re facing?

100 Years.

That’s all I have.

At least that’s what I’ve been assuming for the last 10 years or so…when I started counting.

If you don’t know me personally, then I’ll tell you now what you can expect. I constantly repeat my 100 years philosophy and I will reference it consistently throughout this site, whether that’s in writing, in video, or in responses I provide to other’s comments and feedback.

  So. What is this philosophy?

It’s simple.

I assume that I only have 100 years to make the most of my life on this earth. I then subtract my current age (as of this writing, 29), which then leaves me with the amount of years I have left to accomplish or experience the things I’ve always imagined or dreamed of doing...

…and that always equals - no matter the number - NOT A LOT OF TIME!!!

That’s it. It’s pretty simple, but it’s also very powerful.

Think about it.

Just assume that you’re going to live to 100. I don’t want any arguments or reasons why you don’t want to, or why you expect to live longer, just humor me, I like to use even numbers.

Imagine living to 100 years old. There’s ONLY 100 years to accomplish things you go to sleep dreaming about at night, things you wake up thinking about before work and then daydream about while at work.

Now subtract your age. What’s left?

I’m 29 so that leaves me with 71 years left to accomplish all the things I want to accomplish in this life, all the experiences I’ve dreamt about having.

Seriously! That’s NOT a lot of time. I’m very healthy today, but that can all change in the blink of an eye. To paraphrase Hellen Keller, there is no such thing as security in nature, which makes your time left even more precious.

So where did my first 29 go!? Look at your number of years remaining. As I look back on the last 29 years I always ask myself, “Where has the time gone?”

Just the other day I thought about my high school soccer team and the run we made to the state semi-finals. It was the greatest team I’ve ever been on in this life. It felt like yesterday but it was actually 13 years ago.

If that felt like yesterday, how quickly is time really moving?

Maybe you’re about to attend your 10-year high school reunion or maybe your 10-year college reunion or your child is celebrating their 10-year anniversary…or something even longer than these!

How often do you look back at a fond memory and say, “Man, it felt like we just did that yesterday!”?

Well, guess what? You kinda did. Time flies people!

If my 29 years have flown by, then how much quicker will the next 71 go? There is no time to dilly dally, there’s no time to say I’ll do this or that once I have my debt paid off, or have saved X amount of dollars in the bank, or after I get this raise I’ve working toward the last 5 years, or after the kids are out of the house….blah blah blah!!!

Don’t give me that crap.

I’m making a conscious effort to make the next 71 years left in my life count. Unlike many things in this life, you can’t get back the time you’ve used, whether you used it wisely or not.

Your time is gone, never to return.

I will always live by the 100-year philosophy so that I’m consciously aware of how I’m spending my time, helping me decide if the activities I’m currently participating in are helping me Walk My Talk.

"Dude, we need more board." - Chad

I have very fond memories of my first whiteboard purchase.  I was a sophomore in college when it finally hit me that I had all my best ideas for my music, my relationships, my future, etc. while lying in bed and staring into the blackness before I fell asleep.

Every night there was at least one moment where I’d be pretty sure I had an idea that would change the course of the world.

And then stage 2 of the sleep cycle would punch me in the face.

Oh, how the lack of effort to get out of bed, put on my glasses, and write something down probably lost the world hundreds of brilliant ideas.

Long story, short… I finally got smart and purchased a small whiteboard to hang on my wall next to my head so that when an idea popped up I would have no excuse NOT to write it down—no matter how close to sleep I was.

All I had to do was search for the marker and whiteboard without opening my eyes or moving any other muscles but the ones in my right arm, and scribble it down.

The next morning, I could read it, remember, and put it into action (or at least write it down somewhere more permanent).

Seven years later, there are nine whiteboards and counting covering my apartment’s walls.  It’s seriously an addiction you won’t want quit… and here’s 6 reasons why:

1)   Whiteboards are like a painter’s blank canvas.  They beg for your creativity. There is something daunting about staring at a blank computer screen or a blank notebook page.  The harsh lines and blinking cursors of death scream, “You better not screw this up… the clock is ticking!”  A whiteboard has no rules and exudes no pressure.  You can spill your creative guts all over a whiteboard and it will thank you.

2)   Whiteboards organize the chaotic mess you call your brain. If you’re anything like me, you have whole armies of thoughts and ideas that like to battle each other for clarity and the right to be remembered.  Some are stuck there, some get lost in the clutter, and some don’t know which side they’re even fighting for.  The joy of a whiteboard lets you relieve the burden that is your racing mind.  Organizing your thoughts in a visual format lets you make the connections between thoughts and ideas that you just couldn’t see before.

3)   Whiteboards hold you accountable. Let’s say you’re driven and have plenty of goals to accomplish, but sometimes procrastination just won’t leave you alone.  Its easy to ignore what you’ve written down on a computer file or in your notebook, because you have to turn on things, open things, flip through things, and a bunch of other nonsense before you can even begin to make progress.  However, if you have a whiteboard on your wall it will stare you down like Big Brother until you comply… that is, with your own hopes and dreams.  A whiteboard is your procrastination’s best enemy.

4)   Whiteboards spark more creativity and help solve problems Sometimes, just having a visual representation of your thoughts helps to create more ideas.  Sometimes, being able to walk away from ideas that are incomplete helps you bring a fresh perspective to them the next time around.  With a whiteboard, you can pass by it—without pressure—every day, and maybe in a week, or maybe in a month, you’ll find the missing piece you were looking for.  Whiteboards allow you to step back from the issue at hand without letting it ever leave your mind altogether.

5)   BIG whiteboards might make you look like a genius to your friends Or like you’re schizophrenic.  Any time there’s a bunch of scattered drawings, ideas, and maybe some pinned up materials on a wall, I automatically think of “A Beautiful Mind.”  The guy in that movie was both a genius and crazy at the same time, but a whiteboard might be just the thing that will help you balance that fine line of “insanely awesome” that makes others think you’re onto something legit.

6)   Whiteboards will save paper Go green.  Write, erase, reuse.

Whiteboards can change everything!  Share your whiteboard love stories in the comments!

I’m restless beyond belief….

Maybe it was the Coke I stole from the fridge coupled with the iced coffee from 7/11… which came after the hot coffee.  (Note: The 7/11 on the corner becomes my favorite hot spot when I all of sudden don’t have much going on.)

Or maybe it’s the fact that the excitement of moving to Southern California is starting to wear off.  Don’t get me wrong, I love it here… but the newness and novelty of it all is fading away now that I’ve found a groove with work and whatnot.

Clearly, Stampabout is my main driving force right now, but with Chad dealing with his engagement and a wedding in four months and Paul trying to edit and salvage a few terribly shot hunting shows for NBC Sports to earn his income, the throttle has been pulled back a bit.

So I need something to do.  I’m starting to make some videos of my new music, but I’m growing impatient with my subpar recording skills.  I also may have bit off more than I can chew by setting up an assortment of five cameras to capture it.  (Editing five camera angles from five different types of cameras is a difficult feat.)

Maybe it’s the fact that its absolutely beautiful outside and everything I want to work on involves me sitting in my room.  Bedrooms are a haven for restlessness.

I swear, if I refresh Facebook one more time….

It also doesn’t help that I stare at a world map in my bedroom every morning I wake up and then a world map above my desk at work.  Then I look up all the cool places I want to go and stumble upon all the places people on the Internet have already gone. 

Sometimes there’s a fine line between motivation and bitter jealousy.  The key is to realize, “Hey, they did it… so can you.”  Walk your freaking talk, Jacob, don’t throw a pity party for yourself….

So I want to travel the world.  Instead of dreaming about it like its some unobtainable goal--even though I’m currently staring at the accounts of hundreds of people who have already done it--I should probably do something about it.

I just looked up this book.  Consider it bought.

So when?  I’ll say one more year—no, I’ll write down “by the time my lease is up next fall (Nov 1st-ish, 2013), if I’m not already traveling the world via Stampabout or something else, I need to just go and travel it.”  Enough excuses.

Just vomited stomach butterflies.  They taste like a mix of fear and excitement. 

So, by November 1st, 2013… what will I be giving up?

·      A 1984 Honda Magna I just bought to save on gas and to look cool. 

·      Gas and looking cool, in general.

·      A car that needs to be sold anyway.

·      A daily commute.

·      $700+ in rent and utilities.

·      A lot of crap I don’t need, can put in storage, or sell on eBay.

·      A job (Bookkeeper)

·      A job (Cater-Waiter)

·      A job (Promotional Rep)

·      Social network slavery

·      Watching Cleveland sports teams choke year after year, after year, after year….

What will I be gaining?

·      Stories

·      Experiences

·      Skills

·      Knowledge

·      Broader Perception

·      Friends

·      Passport Stamps

·      A Dream Fulfilled

What I’ll be giving up (is definitely) < What I’ll be gaining

That equation just made me ask myself why I’m waiting a whole year….

I just stole one of Paul’s (camera guy/editor/roommate) Sam Adams Summer Ale just so I could try to slow myself down.  It may have reversed the physical part of my restlessness, but there’s no stopping the runaway train that’s chugging full speed right now.

I think sometimes restlessness reveals the hidden monster in your brain that’s been dying to throw out everything you think you should be doing and replace it with everything you’re meant to do.

I swear my monster is having a field day right now.  Can’t say I mind….

When will I realize that what seems like a possibly risky or “bad” idea keeps gaining traction because it’s the only true idea that’s worth my time?

Do you know this feeling?  Have you suppressed it like I have?  Like most people have?

I think I’m going to go watch reruns of “The Amazing Race” right now and give my monster a healthy dose of steroids.

Tick tock.  Tick tock.

There’s a really, really easy first step to take when you want to try anything new.  In fact, some might call me Captain Obvious after reading this post, but what’s not easy is trying to explain why more people don’t do what is, indeed, so obvious….

I find that the most common excuse for why someone doesn’t attempt something is because they simply “don’t know how.”  The funny thing is, its EXTREMELY EASY these days to find out how.

I’ll cut straight to the point.

  THE (NOT-SO-SECRET) SECRET WEAPON TO USE WHEN TRYING SOMETHING NEW: GOOGLE.

  (I apologize if I just wasted your time, but it had to be pointed out.)

  There’s a reason “Google” comes from the word “Googolplex.” Seriously.  Google ANYTHING.  There’s literally no reason not to.

You want to be a movie extra? Google it.

You want to start a business? Google it.

You want to learn to fence? Google it.

You want to apply for American Idol? Google it.

You want to do parkour? Google it.

You want to climb Mount Everest? Google it.

Chances are, if you want to do something, somebody else has probably already done it.  And chances are, one of those people was kind of enough to post how to do it on the Interwebs.

(In the rare case where NO ONE has done it, then I suggest you dedicate some time in learning how to do it first, because you A) might make history and/or B) become very, very rich.)

At the end of the day, the first step in doing pretty much anything is to research how to do it.  Luckily, we’re all spoiled by having the Internet at our beck and call and sadly our childrens’ children won’t know what a book is or who Dewey Decimal might be (its a joke, guys).  Either way, researching something new keeps getting easier and easier by the week.

However, the caveat to all this is that succumbing to the tools that “The Man” (i.e. Google) has so kindly provided for you, DOES NOT mean you’ve done anything yet.

Now that you know how to do something, you actually have to do it.

Your friends are already excited and/or bored with the thing you keep telling them you want to do so badly.  Now its time to really shock them by actually coming back with a story of real live events!

And the first step lies with a blinking line that waits for you in a blank rectangular box.  Give it a shot.

There is seriously no easier first step on this planet, which is why its shocking when so many people think that because they “don’t know how to do something,” that they actually can’t.

Think about what you’ve been dying to do lately and let us know how simply Googling it started you on a path to trying something new!

A few years ago, I attended a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn with some friends.  It was an invitation only showcase for some bands and it subsequently had a raffle drawing in which everyone was automatically entered.

Long story, short… I won the raffle.

While the child in me was freaking out, the cool in me was like, “Ahh, no way, bro….”

After I returned from the stage with a bag full of goods, two of my friends half-jokingly muttered, “Of course you would win… that type of thing always happens to you….”

And I was like, “What the what?!”  If only they knew how scarred I felt as a kid for never. winning. ANYTHING.

So I asked them what else I had “won.”  They proceeded to list off a few things that I had done or had been selected to do, but not necessarily won.

I remembered getting a little angry, because those events or opportunities they listed were things I worked my ass for, or at least put myself in position to get.  I’ve never been rich and I’ve never been handed anything so I was pretty offended.

After reading a quick Gary Arndt post from his blog Everything Everwhere about this exact scenario the other day, I was reminded of all the times I was jealous of others’ “luck” and others’ were jealous of my “luck.”

But the truth is, the only lucky moment in my life was that damn raffle.

As a kid, I remember how jealous I was of my friend Brian.  He put in the time to dominate school fundraising in elementary school and win the biggest prizes.  I just hoped my parents would buy enough stuff from me so I wouldn’t have to go door-to-door (which never worked out…).

Brian also won Cleveland Indians tickets and clubhouse passes, because he worked hard on an essay writing contest.  I just remember complaining to my Mom about how I never won anything.  And she said something to the effect of, “You can’t win if don’t enter the contest.” 

And now that I understand that, I feel that everything I’ve been fortunate enough to do (ie. travel, music, work opportunities, etc.) was because I “raised the odds” in my favor.

I believe that “raising the odds” by dedicating time and hard work toward a goal is often misperceived as “luck.”

Here’s the analogy I now visualize:

There are four lottery balls numbered 1-4 in a drawing.  Each number represents one of four individuals trying to “win” the lottery, or maybe in this case, “accomplish a goal.”  However, the more time and effort you put into accomplishing your goal, the more of your number you get to put into the lottery.

  So lets say person #1 earned 500 more balls to put into the drawing because he or she decisively made it a point to put in time and effort to accomplish his or her goal.  Persons #2-#4 didn’t do much to “raise their odds” of winning and earned two or three more balls each to put into the drawing.

At the end of the day, wouldn’t it actually be “unlucky” if person #1 didn’t win?

I often daydream about what it would be like if I lived on a boat that was constantly sailing from place to place.  Everything I need would be on that boat, and I could call any location my “Home.”  What would it be like to live life without an anchor? (Ha.)

So why does living on a boat intrigue me?  Because I’ve realized that over the course of my life, I’ve grown more independent, earned more money, and consequently, accumulated more crap I probably don’t need.  First-world society tells me that because I have a smartphone (with a talking aide), a car, a decent apartment, and not one, but TWO computers, I must be doing pretty well for myself.  In retrospect, every time I’ve moved from one place to another, I wish I could fit my entire life into a backpack.

Do I need a laptop AND a desktop computer?  Do I need a car?  Do I need three keyboards to make music with when all I use is one?  (It makes me look cooler.)

It feels like every time I “improve” some aspect of my life, I’m just moving further away from the freedom of time and money I crave.  And its not just the physical weight and space of everything I own… its all the mental stress that comes with keeping track of it and protecting it.

Because I’m a visual learner, I went ahead and drew out a super business-y looking chart that kind of looks like a stump (me) with a whole lot of deep roots (my shit).  Each box below the intial item is something I had to add in order to “improve” or “protect” the box above it.

It would be tedious to go item by item, but I think you get my point:

The more stuff I own or “improvements” I purchase, the more restricted and tied down I actually feel.  I even put a question mark next to “Promotions” under “Jobs,” because unless I’m working toward a passionate goal, a promotion may mean more time dedicated to something that doesn’t get me closer to that goal.  But depending on how you look at it, maybe it’s a necessary step… ugh. 

For example, if I wanted to move to Australia tomorrow (because world travel is my dream), its daunting to think about what I would do with all my stuff....

I’d have to:

·      Pay for rent when I’m not even here (or find a long term subletter)

·      Find a place to store everything

·      Cancel or adjust my car insurance, health insurance, all my insurances

·      Break my cell phone contract (and pay a heavy fine)

·      Keep track of my loan payments no matter where I was

·      Cancel my credit cards or find new ones that could be used internationally

·      Store my car somewhere

·      Cancel my Internet and any other subscription services I’ve signed up for

Luckily, I’m not moving to Australia any time soon.  But wait… if I didn’t have all these things to worry about, would I move to Australia?  That’s the freedom I wish I had!

I know for some, their goal may not be freedom, but rather a stable foundation.  I can dig that… “to each, his own.”

But in my mind, “Home” is where your stuff is.  If my stuff was contained on a boat, my “Home” could be everywhere.  Therefore, I want to buy a boat so I can put only the stuff that’s important to me on it and leave the rest to those who really want it.

I challenge you to take a look at the things you own.  Do you need all of it?  Does it help you reach your goals?  Where can you trim the fat so that you’re not fighting through it?

(Sadly, at the end of all of this, all I can think about is how grateful I should be to have the ability to own all of this stuff.  Instead, I’m whining about what to do with it. #Firstworldproblems)

If you ever get the truly enriching opportunity to hang out with my brother, Chad, you’ll quickly come to realize his favorite pastime of “repeating himself.”  He’s a dedicated professional at repeating things… like stories (past and present), what body part currently pains him, or how awesome or terrible his last dump was.

But more than all of those combined, he loves to repeat inspirational quotes and personal philosophies.  He’s seriously like my own personal motivational speaker, whether I care to listen or not.

For example, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard the following principle paraphrased from Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “Outliers,” which is about the science behind success, at least 7 BILLION times in the last two years:

It takes 10,000 hours, or 10 years, to become an expert at something.  Are you currently mastering what you love?  Can you do what you’re doing now for the next 10 years?

I usually block out Chad’s brotherly heart-to-hearts about success and life and goals and blah, blah, blah… but this specific principle finally started to sink in about two years ago.

After graduating from college in 2010, I suddenly found myself as the stereotypical starving New York City musician who was paying $500 a month to split a basement bedroom in the questionable neighborhood of Bushwick (aka “Bushwhack”), Brooklyn.  And even though I worked my ass off with multiple jobs, I soon found my college-graduate pride dressing down for the occasion of waiting in line and hoping for food stamps.

If you were curious, Humble Pie tastes terrible.

The whole next year, I worked and worked and worked, and suddenly found myself in that position of which Chad always warned me.  My Plan ‘A’ (Music Career!) was suddenly switching with my plan ‘B’ (Professional Cater-Waiter!).  I felt my 20’s wasting away by waking up each morning trying to figure out how to pay for each new morning….

And then all of a sudden, I heard Chad creepin’ in my ear, repeating, “…Jacob, do you want to spend the next 10 years of your life doing this?”

He finally got me.

So how did he know this would happen? In a nutshell, Chad is an expert at making mistakes first so I can learn from them later.  (Such a nice guy….)

Out of college, Chad followed a similar path of work hard now, live your dream later. Unfortunately, Chicago Real Estate and Mortgage Banking didn’t play nice for anybody in the late 2000’s.

It took a six-year ride on an emotional and financial roller coaster for Chad to finally follow through with his own advice.  In 2010, somewhere in rural Romania, between his mountain village wanderings and eating sausage on a flowered hillside (true story), Chad decided to drop his burdening job, for which he had no passion, and pursue his dreams....

As fate would have it, my brother and I are on the same page when it comes to our greatest collective dream.

After an absolutely ridiculous trip to Costa Rica, where the good times were Bear Grylls-worthy and the bad times made for fantastic stories, we learned that if we could jointly follow one passion, it would be to experience everything and anything that makes this world amazing. 

While that may seem easier said than done… lo-and-behold, here we are.

What follows will be a world of discoveries, brotherly cheap shots, and a bunch of “Oh, S***” moments.  What follows will be the result of looking over a cliff for far too long and finally getting the nerve to jump.

So welcome to Stampabout.  The catalyst and driving force behind two brothers’ dreams, and hopefully, a spark for someone else’s. 

We hope you’ll join us for the next 10 years. 

A few weeks ago my mom flew into town for a visit, and I decided to run a few new blog post ideas by her.  I figured “Mom knows best,” so why not get her thoughts?

As I walked up to our beloved whiteboards and started explaining some post ideas on the list, I realized I was suddenly approaching a title that was going create some drama.  (I’m gonna go ahead and chalk it up to not rebelling enough as a teen, but I started getting anxiously excited to read it off.)

You see, at Christmastime, when my brother, sister, and I were kids, my mother used to give us keepsakes that either encouraged us… or strongly hinted at improving our character flaws.

For example:

One year, Chad received a glass desk piece that simply stated:

“Perseverance”

My sister, Katrina, unwrapped an image of an eagle with “Strength” inscribed above a verse from the book of Isaiah.

…and for me, I scored a heavy black plaque that blatantly called me out with:

“Patience is a Virtue”

Subtle, Mom… subtle….

Ten years later, as you can read at the top of this page, I took that solid advice and crapped all over it as I happily read off the title of this post.  It only took a whopping 1.4 seconds for her to register my Krazy (with a capital ‘K’…) rebellion and throw out a very discerning, “Wait a minute… what?”

So I explained:

In my short time here on Earth I’ve realized, yes, patience is indeed a virtue… but more so when you’re trying to humor an overly talkative relative or trying to refrain from sucker punching a cop who just gave you a $191 ticket for jaywalking (true story, ask Chad)….

BUT, in terms of opportunities, success, and dreams… I’d have to say that chronic impatience works fairly well.  I mean, you can’t honestly tell me that Einstein, Mozart and The Little Engine That Could just hung out until results came there way, can you?

On a personal note, I can also blame impatience on one of the biggest decisions of my young life:

(I’m about to get real.)

I really had no plans to drop everything and move across the country for the past six years while living in New York.  I graduated from school, I had a decent following in my music endeavors, I had an easy job, and I had an adequate social life (which means going to the bar after work once in awhile).

Even after a music publishing deal had me at my highest point only to deflate me when they folded months later, a new opportunity arose to work with a music producer for free soon thereafter. (FOR FREE.)  So why the hell would I leave?

The truth is, none of these cool and promising deals were sure things… they dragged on and on with no sign of a goal to reach.  And while a relatively comfortable lifestyle and flexible job are usually looked upon with envy at my age (no complaints), I had nothing to look forward to.

I grew antsy.

I was blindly working to work and living to live… or at least it felt that way.  So when Chad came to me with the general idea for this site, I called him soon after on a dreary January day locked in my basement room and said, “Let’s make that move to California we always talked about and do this thing for real.”

I could have waited for opportunities to pan out (or fail), but becoming comfortable was turning into a terrible feeling.  I needed a change… so I picked up and changed. (Now I’m just pissed that I haven’t become a California surfing legend yet.)

I could go on and on about opportunities that have come and gone because I “patiently waited” (i.e. apartment listings, holiday sales, freaking eBay auctions, etc.), but I guess my lesson learned is this:

Until the money is in the bank, until the contract has gone through, until my dreams have been realized… I’ll keep working toward my goals and be as impatient as I can possibly be.

Listen, I know my Mom wasn’t telling me to wait for opportunities to come.  I’m sure she was hinting more toward simpler things like earning the privileges of growing up or hoping a Cleveland sports team might win something someday….

Or maybe it was because I used to weirdly run everywhere as a kid.  Either way, I guess my point to my mom was… if you can get to where you want to go faster… why walk when you can run?

She didn’t argue.

Here’s the deal.

I honestly try to keep a small bank of simple questions at the top of my head so I don’t look like a lost puppy when my go-to friend leaves me alone at social gatherings. Unfortunately, I usually find myself weirdly surprised and unprepared, and instead of striking up a conversation with some stranger, my eyes pinball around the room until I find somewhere definitive to go (ie. the bathroom, where the food is, out the door, etc.).

So during a slew of holiday gatherings in December, which inevitably brought on nights full of the stuff, I curiously tried to figure out why small talk is mostly the devil.

What I found was that the key to avoiding awkward moments boiled down to how both I and the other helpless soul answered these three standard small talk questions:

1)    What’s your name?

  2)    Where are you from?

  3)    What do you do?

  So my examples of the “small talk vs. awesome talk” case study are as follows:

1) What’s your name? Unfortunately, there’s not much I or anyone else could do with this one.

No one blinks an eye with “Jacob” (except for those who thought I was automatically Jewish…).

On the other hand, if my name were “Jacobus Maximus,” it would’ve been one hell of a conversation piece, yeah?

2) Where are you from?

I can’t tell you how many times people answered with, “I’m from here.”

While “here” might be true, for the love of God, at least give “here” a name, or give the reason why you’re “here,” or give your history with “here.”

I found that the people who didn’t care where they lived lacked a desire to talk about it.  Makes sense, I guess.

Alternatively, I talked to a guy from Hawaii who moved with his band to LA in order to see what they could make of their music.

(First of all, the guy looked very un-Hawaiian.  Maybe it was my naive Midwest upbringing in a state of confusion, but I seem to always expect Hawaiians to be tan and wearing shelled necklaces.)

Second of all, what an intriguing story he had.  It was like a breath of fresh air.  He possessed a distinct reason for being in LA and it was “awesome talk” from there on out.

3) What do you do? My all-time favorite answer to this question was, “Same shit, different day….”

SERIOUSLY?! I was about to slap the guy.

First of all, I might as well do some shots of tequila in order to survive this doozy of a conversation.

Second of all, if you can depressingly say, “Same shit, different day….” without a single reason for doing that same shit every day, then you seriously better check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Then again, I did have many conversations with people who were passionate about what they did.  I talked to a web designer, a filmmaker, a musician, and a health specialist who all couldn’t stop talking about what they were doing and why they were doing it.

I even met a girl who wanted to be an event planner so she’s now renting a loft with some other girls and using the extra space to host events.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, would be my type of (independent) lady….

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In the end, it was a rather simple conclusion...  Successful conversations were carried out because either A) our answers were out of the norm, or B) we were passionate about our answers.

  Unsuccessful conversations on the other hand, were only brought on by complete apathy for questions like “Where are you from” and “What do you do?”

While small talk was often necessary in some circumstances, it didn’t have to be boring, awkward, or evil.  There’s always a way to make awkward talk grow into awesome talk.

So alas, here’s a toast to next year’s holiday party… where the champagne will flow, where the food will be delicious, and where I’ll be going as Jacobus Maximus, the dragon slayer from Easter Island.

Bring it on.

I’m human.  I like things that most humans like.  Unfortunately, what most humans like are things that are completely counterproductive to their goals.

Its weird to think about how the simplest addictive pleasures tend to be the exact opposite of what we need in order to lead a healthy and fulfilling life.  Take what we eat for example:

We like sugar.  Sugar causes obesity (and cavities).

We like cheap and delicious food.  Cheap and delicious food causes heart attacks (and terrible flatulence).

We like caffeine.  Caffeine works… and then works too well.  Then we need more caffeine because we didn’t sleep because it worked too well.

We couldn’t care less for fruits and vegetables.  However, fruits and vegetables will make us live to 100.

So why is it that what we want now directly works against what we want in the future?

I don’t have an answer.  If I did, I wouldn’t be eating some delicious Taco Bell right now.  All I know is that the same type of thing happens when I’m trying to accomplish something meaningful in my life.  In order to accomplish something meaningful, I need to stop destroying my motivation with these short-term pleasures that have no valuable affect on my life:

1) Damn you, Social Networks!

Sometimes I get some really great ideas for my projects when I’m driving home from work.  My mind is racing, my heart is beating, and I just need to spit it out on paper or write it on a whiteboard.  I get home, take of my shoes, and drop my bag in my roo—Oh, hello computer screen!  How I’ve missed you for the past 15 minutes between work and home!  Like a magnet, I open my email.  Like a homing missile, I open Facebook.

And its over.  All those brilliant ideas are now lost because I’m addicted to what everybody else is doing that I’m not.  Do you know the feeling?  Feels good now, depresses you later?

Instead, make it a rule to do something else before you hit the interwebs.  Lately, I’ve been doing a small work out when I get home so I can foster my ideas while accomplishing something at the same time.  What can you accomplish?  Cooking?  Reading?

2) Damn you, Cable-Netflix-Hulu-Redbox!

When I moved to my current apartment, I took the first step in saving some brain cells and didn’t sign up for cable.  I’ve found it pretty liberating actually.  Sometimes I pace around my apartment because I’m not sure what I want to do at first.  Usually, in past households, this would lead me to the TV—the natural choice.  Now, I don’t have that option so I either A) do something that gets me closer to accomplishing some personal goals, or B) head straight for Netflix.

Ugh.

Netflix and Hulu are now the lovely bane of my existence.  Netflix is easy to get rid of.  Just cancel it and/or pretend you don’t actually know your friend’s account sign-in information (or force them to change it and not tell you what it is).  Hulu, on the other hand, needs to be used sparingly.  As with social network magnetism, simply make it a rule to accomplish something before you sit down to watch.  Write the rule down.  Have someone else enforce it and hold you accountable.  Its time to give your will power a workout.

As for the Redbox machine at the corner of my block… I think a cocktail bomb will do the trick.

3) Damn you, Accidental Naps!

If you’re anything like me, a quick collapse on the bed when you get home always seems like a harmless idea.  Besides, you’re not that tired.  Two hours later you wake up in a dazed and confused state with no idea what just happened.

Sometimes naps are necessary for productivity, but only if you have the mental awareness to get up after twenty minutes.  Too bad that pillow is mighty comfortable.

If you know you won’t wake up in an energized and productive state, then you must… not… lay… down.  Easier said than done, you say?

Try pulling off all your blankets and pillows.  A bare bed is much less inviting than a bed that looks like a comfy cloud.  If that doesn’t work, put something large and obtrusive on it.  Its very hard to collapse on a desk drawer or an office chair (my object of choice).  If that doesn’t work, avoid the bedroom altogether.  Take your computer, book, etc. to the kitchen table.  The proximity of your bed is your worst enemy!

Grogginess is not conducive to motivation.  Go to bed earlier if you can’t avoid napping.  Simple changes in how you go through each day can create energy that eventually adds up in the form accomplished goals.

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At the end of your life, you’re not going to care about what your “facebook friend” had for lunch or how cute your “actual friend’s” baby looks in 200 nearly identical photos (it’s a baby that can’t open its eyes yet for Godsake’s).  You’re also not going to remember how terrible the Twilight movies were either.  And lastly, you’re not going to recall anything from your two-hour naps, because… well… you were asleep.

Time is ticking and there is absolutely so much you can do….  Avoid short-term pleasures so you can enjoy long-term accomplishments!

A powerful message of wisdom and truth to all of us in the stage of our lives where we should be going after our dreams the hardest.  Don't wait until it's too late.

A quote from the #1 most common regret: