Published on
February 5, 2010 in
truth.
Tags: #befearless, #findsatisfaction, #pursuingtruth, dream, excited, fearless, habits, how to, mind-mapping, question, truth.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about life and living. After moping for a while I realized something simple and profound. It hit me like a bright light shining in my face: you have to be excited about your life. Perhaps I can help you with getting there.
1. Answer a question
Start with this question you’ve likely heard many times before: “What would you do if you woke up with a million dollars?”. Don’t laugh it off. It could be the most important thing you will do. Take as much time as you need to think about yourself while answering. In my case, I don’t care about living long but I while I’m here I would like to fly and make music (among other things). Don’t forget to dream big. What you say will determine what you will be able to accomplish. If you don’t dream big for yourself do you think that someone else will do it for you?
What do you really want to do? Who do you really want to be?
2. Write down your answers
Grab a piece of paper and jot down your initial 
goals. Then expand on all possible avenues you can use to get there. To put my thoughts down I use a free mind-mapping program called Freemind but a pen and paper will do. Make sure you don’t throw away what you write! You and your dreams might change over time so don’t forget to keep reviewing and modifying your plans as you need to.
Where there is a will there is a way.
3. Learn to become fearless
You must become fearless in order to face two obstacles: yourself and the people around you. If your plans for life don’t intimidate you at all then you’re not dreaming big enough. After fighting my fears for the last six months I have begun to reap its rewards. To learn more about how I started read this entry.
“There is nothing to fear but fear itself” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
4. Get started and keep going
Even though you have big dreams make sure you start small. This is essential to build up your confidence and experience. As you inch towards your goals you may have to work hard and face failure but if you are excited about where you are headed you will be able to endure. If your dream does not excite you then don’t waste your time pursuing it!
Don’t forget to continually track yourself. Write down what went wrong and how you can improve. For goals that involve developing a daily habit keep a journal or use a tool such as Joe’s goals. Benjamin Franklin is famous for using charts to track his virtues. Finally, when you hit a milestone don’t forget to note what you have accomplished. This will help encourage you when you are feeling down.
Reach for the stars. Even if you fail you’ll land on the moon.
What are you waiting for?
Update: You can view a mind-map that I’m using on this page.
NOTE: This entry is part of a series in which I fly over 40,000 miles in two years. Read the introduction here.
I would never have done this a few weeks before. After flying through six American states and touring Seattle in three days all I can say is that the experience was incredible.
Its amazing how travel can bring out so many emotions in a short span of time: fear, happiness, loneliness, excitement and everything in between. Living out of a backpack for a few days helps you look at life differently. I recommend that you try it.
Trip summary
- Routing: BUF-CLT-PHX-SEA-SFO-PHL-BUF (plus driving YYZ-BUF and back)
- Mileage and Cost: 6899 miles for $244 equals 3.54 cents per mile (target: less than 5 cpm)
- Remaining: 33101 miles in 1 year and 279 days
- Goofs: (1) Climbing onto an empty, unfinished train platform and getting stared at by a hundred people on the other side. (2) Dropping my transit ticket and having to give the guy who found it a dollar to get it back.
- Travel tips: (1) Don’t forget to take the charging cable for your phone. (2) Pack much lighter than you think you need to. Your backpack will start hurting after a day or two. (3) If you get caught by a long flight delay ask the airline for an alternate route (I flew CLT-PHX-SEA instead of CLT-SFO-SEA and saved six hours).
- Soundtrack: Bhangra
- The great: Washington State Ferries, Museum of Flight, Pike place market (and the very first Starbucks)
- The good: Seattle pub crawl tours, Laser dome (and the Space Needle), Central Library, US Airways and United Airlines.
- The bad: The large number of homeless people on every block in downtown Seattle. They were harmless though.
Would I do it again? Well, I’m off to California in a few weeks! This time my stay will be longer and less comfortable.
To read detailed trip notes for this journey please click here to continue.
I’m going to fly 40,000 miles in two years.
Since I was little I’ve always loved anything that has to do with flying. Having had family that worked in travel and access to cheap tickets didn’t hurt either.
I’d like to get myself into the air. Now, I could simply go over to Expedia and start booking tickets.
But that would be unrewarding and way too expensive. There must be a better way.
Ready, Set, Read
Internet forums are the best place to connect with people and information on any topic. I spent days browsing the ones at FlyerTalk and Airliners.net. I brushed up on my knowledge of mileage runs, airline alliances and more.
Aim for something
All the information I gathered helped me to set two goals:
- Spend less than 5 cents per mile of flying. In other words, flying a hundred miles must cost me less than 5 dollars including all taxes and fees. The cheaper the better.
- Achieve Star Alliance Gold status. There are many ways to do this but the easiest and cheapest is to join the frequent flyer program at Asiana Airlines. I get gold status by flying 40,000 miles over the next two years on any Star Alliance airline (there’s 25 of them now).
Why I’m really doing this
To be honest, what’s pushing me more than flying, adventuring or acquiring status is the chance to face my fears including:
- Traveling somewhere unknown all by myself
- Being stranded in the middle of nowhere
- People thinking that I’ve lost my mind for doing this
- The same people telling me that I’m wasting my time, money and effort
Its time for me to go. I’ll see you in the sky.
In the three weeks since I wrote “how to become fearless” I’ve put my words to the test. My accomplishments may seem trivial but each of them required me to step out of my comfort zone. I have:
- Negotiated more suitable hours at work
- Flown half-way around the world on a whim
- Found and caught up with friends I hadn’t talked to in ten years
- Handed out business cards to people I met
- Held many “uncomfortable conversations” with others
- Let myself go and have fun
Here’s what I’ve learnt: fearlessness is very addictive. Its also self-reinforcing: the more you face your fears the easier it becomes.
Want to be as fearless as 007 or Gandhi? Fearless people are rare but extremely effective in changing the world around them for better or worse.
1. What do you really fear?
Know what the underlying reason for your fear is. It’s not a person or thing that causes you concern but what you’re afraid to lose. If you’re afraid to mention something to a friend, you don’t fear him or her but the loss of your pride, friendship or something else you have that’s important to you.
If you want to be fearless you must have nothing to lose.
2. Consider both sides, then decide
Fear is natural and is a good thing. It is a warning that you may be negatively affected in one way or another. Again, you may be affected, not will. We assume that our feelings tell us what to do, but they simply provide us with information. Weigh your options, think about what you can or cannot lose and then make a choice.
If you don’t think before dealing with fear, you’re neither brave nor cowardly; you’re stupid.
3. Do what you’ve decided
If you decide to fight your fear you might face failure, but the sting of failure is better than the deep wound of regret you will have for not having tried. You may not get a second chance.
Once you’ve made your choice stop thinking and just do it.
Am I fearless? A lot more than I was a few years ago. I know what I’ve lost to get this far.
“A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” – Timothy Ferriss
