Live Limitless

Adventure, Business, Travel

Personal Development

How to Create Your Own Burning Man Experience Without Going to Burning Man

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Wow. What can I say.

Burning Man was fantastic. A journey more than an event. Truly a “life” experience.

68,000 people camping in the middle of an inhospitable desert.

Dirty. Excited. Open.

Dressed in costumes, people parade around proudly gifting things to one another and appreciating the generosity of others.

Massive art projects give an impressive life to the playa, mesmerizing people by day and dazzling them with neon lights at night.

Seminars and workshops around everything you can imagine go from dawn til dusk. Sex, spirituality, flexibility, change, dance…you name it.

But not everyone wants to make the journey to Black Rock City. Not everyone wants to live on a desert for a week. Not everyone wants to go without a shower for 7 days or wait in a 12-hour lineup to get in.

If you can’t make it out to one, you could always create your own at home. You’d simply have to…

  • Organize space for a large gathering of open-minded people from all walks of life.
  • Arrange for massive, expensive and extremely detailed art projects to be lined up all over the community. I’m talking about large climbable 30-foot iron statues of wolves, 20-foot tall human hands that can cup you like a baby and big tents with the most insane psychedelic paintings known to man-kind. This is just a start.
  • Find extremely generous people who are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of effort to transform their vehicles into giant mutant flaming octopuses, disco-dance floors and double-decker armadillos.
  • Encourage generosity amongst all participates where people gift everything from hugs, kisses, food, alcohol, and even free plane rides.
  • Organize hundreds of “seminars”, “meet ups” and “talks” around subjects of all kinds. Things like samba dancing, female masturbation classes, yoga, unconditional love, TEDx talks, erotic massage, improv, Michael Jackson Thriller dance sessions and so forth. Yup, anything goes.
  • Set up massive parties all over the place every single night that don’t stop until the sun comes up. Bring in DJ’s from all over the world willing to perform for free.
  • Make a human carcass wash come to life with hundreds of naked people cleaning each other just like a car wash. Pre-soak, soap, rinse and squeegee.
  • Create a safe environment where people can try new things, challenge their boundaries or simply be themselves. This includes walking around completely naked, dressing in ridiculous costumes or anything else that participants feel they need to do.
  • Create a large, impressive structure to go with the events theme. Maybe a UFO that people can walk in and play around with. Build a giant “man” on the top of it. Make it beautiful. Then burn it down. Actually, make it explode after launching an insane amount of fireworks into the sky.
  • Build an absolutely stunning temple for people to visit and feel. Here, people can leave prayers for loved ones who have passed away, write down things they wish to change about themselves, share their love for the event, or anything else they feel compelled to do. They can just sit and think about life or make plans for the future. Anything they want to say, think or pray about. The temple is a peaceful place for all. At the end of the event, burn it down.

I could go on. This is just a start.

Then again, you could just make a trip to Burning Man.

Welcome to the playa.

Have you been? Do you want to go? 

 

 

Adding Life to Your Years

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Far too many people these days are concerned with adding years to their life when it would be far more productive to add life to their years instead.

The world is obsessed with extending life. Pills, gizmos, apps, dieting fads – you name it. Everyone seems to crave a longer life. The ironic part is that most of these people don’t even enjoy the life they have.

Why extend it?

Why would you want to continue living longer and longer if you’re not even making use of the years you already have.

This is what we should be obsessed with – Adding LIFE to our YEARS. Forget living a couple of years longer. Let’s actually LIVE in the first place, which will likely lead to a longer life anyways.

I know so many people who agonize over what they should be doing to live a little bit longer. They take all sorts of health and vitamin pills without taking the time to just eat better food. They stay out of the sun in hopes of not getting cancer. They say this and that will avoid getting this or that ailment. They don’t step out of comfort zones for fear of danger. They start diet fad after diet fad only to fall right back into bad habits immediately when it’s over. They buy funny bracelets that gives you ‘energy”.

The list goes on.

I have a lot of older people in my family. Many have lived to be 80, 90, and even 100. Trust me, by the time you hit 80, there is a very high chance you won’t be doing any of the things you’ve always dreamed of doing. It’s just the way it is. Living a little longer won’t help that.

Start adding years to your life now.

Why do you want to extend life?

What is it that you want to do?

What would you hate to NOT attempt before it’s too late to do so?

Who do you want to say I Love You too?

Where do you want to go?

What do you want to accomplish?

What activity have you always wanted to try?

What job have you always wanted to experience?

These are just a few of the questions we should be asking ourselves. Don’t put things off any longer. You’re alive. You’re healthy. Your mind is working. You’re smart.

Start spending 30 minutes everyday on something you’ve always want to do. If it’s starting a little business, spend 30 minutes every day towards it and it will be we’ll on it’s way in a year. If it’s a marathon, get up every morning and jog for 30 minutes. If it’s connecting more with your wife or husband, spend 30 minutes each day on an activity you both enjoy.

Whatever you do, don’t let the life you already have fade away in hopes of a distant future when everything falls into place.

It won’t.

Now is always the best time. Now is the only time.

 

World Domination Summit & What Comes After

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Wow.

Last week I attended the World Domination Summit in Portland , Oregon. It wasn’t my first World Domination Summit but it was every bit as spectacular.

The first WDS I attended consisted of only 500 people. This one was 3000. Six times the size in just two years.

Despite the rapid growth, it was one hell of a show. Kudos to Chris Guillebeau and his team who manage to blow away attendees each and every year.

world float world domination summit 2013
That moment before crushing a Guinness World Record

10 Inspiring speakers took to the stage over two days to dispel their wisdom and motivate all of us to chase our dreams, challenge our fears and live remarkably. The welcome party had 3000 of us take over the Portland Zoo while the closing party had us create an epic dance party at Pioneer Square in downtown Portland. We also broke a world record, took a cruise down the Willamette River and connected with inspiring people from more than 30 countries.

It was a heart-warming, energizing and soul-lifting weekend.

But what happens after?

Someone I spoke to a few days later mentioned different sales conferences they used to attend. Sales conferences are different from World Domination Summit but still filled with motivational speakers inspiring people in their particular field. She mentioned how much she enjoyed those conferences and how inspiring they were but was always disappointed in the months that followed.

I understood what she meant. She was talking about all those crazy dreams and ideas that are born during the conference but slowly wile away as time goes on. Maybe she set her short-term goals too high or maybe she just didn’t work hard enough.

This happens to many people after a conference / summit. It certainly has to me. We hear all these amazing stories from people who have been primed to give mind-bending talks. They come out on stage and blast us with an hour of well-rehearsed and coached talks that fill our hearts and souls with all kinds of dreams and aspirations. We come home ready to tackle the world head on only to realize a few months later that nothing has happened or that our goals were not reached to the extent we had dreamed.

Did we fuck up? Were we tricked?

No, it’s just us. We can be motivated and inspired all we want but unless we actually take action, we won’t see any results. If we do take action, we need to realize that we are likely to fail along the way. The important part is to not let that stop us. We must learn from it and fail again, becoming “professionals” as we go.

Don’t let that inspiration fade away. We need your project.

Chris Guillebeau world domination summit 2013

Here are some quick tips for what should come after the World Domination Summit:

1. Set some time for yourself to write down your thoughts after WDS. Try to capture that inspired version of yourself so that you can continue to look back on it when the WDS-momentum starts to fade. Jot down everything you can. Small ideas, big ideas, outrageous ideas. Everything. Use this as your starting block.

2. Get started on your project immediately. Don’t worry about it being the “right” one or not. Just get started on step one and move from there. If the idea changes, that’s fine because you’re learning as you go. If you never start, nothing happens. Even if you start with just 15-30 minutes per day, it will add up to a finished project and it will feel damn good!

3. Stay connected with the people you met during the summit and tell them about your project. This will not only help build the relationships but will also hold you accountable for getting your project out into the world. Another idea might be to form some sort of accountability/mastermind group for further accountability and collaboration.

4. As a bonus, join the World Domination Summit Facebook group. It’s a great place to stay connected with the WDS spirit and also a great place to post your project and get feedback.

Do you have any other ideas for continuing the momentum after a summit?

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Feature photo and photo of Chris courtesy of Chris Guillebeau.

 

 

Can Minimalism Save the World?

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Minimalism has been around forever.

One of the purest forms of minimalism can be found by looking at the ancient methods of North American First Nations. They would set up their tents, create a temporary “town”, hunt for food and then move on to a different location while barely leaving a trace. When they would kill a large animal such as a Buffalo, they would use everything. Nothing went to waste. The skin was used for shelter, bones carved into weapons, fat became grease and all the meat was consumed.

It was minimalism at its finest.

Then things changed. In came industrialization and World War. Machines were developed to make weapons, which then evolved to produce various products. A lot of these products made life easier. Things got cheaper. Fast forward many years later while including greed and engineered marketing and advertising and we’ll, we’ve created a big problem. Now we have mass consumption. Absolutely insane quantities of stuff. Absolutely insane amounts of waste. Absolutely insane amounts of pollution.

We’ve certainly left a trace.

Go take a look at a land fill. Now multiply that by millions. Think of just one city like New York, which  sends 14,000 tonnes of waste to the land fill every day. Yup, every day. Just one city.

Can minimalism save the world?

Take a trip to Wal-Mart. Look at all the useless crap. Stuff nobody ever needs. Stuff that people buy, use once and toss in the garbage, where it will never decompose. If it does decompose, it’s toxic. How much stuff does everyone own that never gets used. Not only did it cost hard-earned money but it also takes up unnecessary space, which costs more money.

Our biological tendencies crave more and were encouraged to do so. Support the economy, right? This is a joke. A bad joke. It’s unsustainable in the first place.  It’s a roadmap for growth, growth, growth and crash. The way we measure growth simply doesn’t work. It’s a relatively new way of looking at things and it’s already outdated. GDP should really stand for garbage, destruction and pollution. That’s really how growth is measured to determine a country’s wealth. How much garbage do we have? How many things can we destroy? How much pollution can we create? The more the better. That is growth. That is money.

Really? Is this progress? Shouldn’t we be measured by our sustainability, happiness, connection, purpose, intelligence, health…..

So where does minimalism come in you ask?

Thankfully, minimalism is growing. It’s still very small compared to the opposite but at least it’s growing. Minimalism is the art of getting rid of things that don’t provide us value so that we can focus more on the things that do. It’s questioning our purchases. It’s thinking about what we really need to be happy and content.

Minimalism has many positives.

  • It will save you money since you won’t be buying useless items any more.
  • It will save you space, which will ultimately save you a lot of money since you won’t need as big of a house to hold all your stuff.
  • It will save you your sanity since you won’t have to deal with so much stuff. Imagine a giant weight being lifted off of your shoulders.
  • It will improve your health as you won’t be eating unnecessary food and you’ll likely be exercising more as you won’t have worthless items grabbing at your attention span throughout the day.
  • It will improve your relationships as you’ll suddenly find more time to spend on the people who really matter.
  • Hell, you might not have to work as much either since you won’t be needing as much money because you won’t need to buy so much stuff.

Maybe this is the most important part – you’ll have more time. Time is life. Suddenly, you can use your extra time to focus on hobbies that add life to your years. Maybe you can focus on a side-business or a different job or more recreational pursuits. Maybe you can use it to spend more time with your kids, your wife or your pets.

With time, the possibilities are endless.

Sure there might be less consumption. Maybe this means a little less money, which doesn’t matter because we don’t need as much stuff. Rather than more money for more stuff, we can have more attention to spend on solving important world issues.

Less consumption will mean less garbage, less pollution and less destruction, which will create healthier cities and healthier countries.

Do we really need another cartoon-inspired USB stick?

No – what we need is more attention to focus on the stuff that really matters.

So maybe, just maybe, minimalism can help save the world.

What do you think?

Seriously – What do you think?

LL 010: A Live Limitless Interview with Colin Wright

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In the tenth episode of the Live Limitless podcast I chat with Colin Wright of www.ExileLifestyle.com.

Colin is an author, entrepreneur, minimalist and world-traveller. After becoming successful with his own design studio in Los Angeles, Colin realized that he wanted to travel full-time and really explore the world. To do so, he became a minimalist, selling everything he owned that didn’t fit into his carry-on luggage while scaling down his business so he could run it from the road. Since then, Colin has really carved out a name for himself, taken nude pictures with his beloved Macbook Pro, written many awesome books and recently co-founded a publishing company called Asymmetrical. Colin is getting ready to launch his latest book Act Accordingly on June 25th.
    In this episode, we talk about:
  • The difference in mindset between L.A. Colin and the Colin of today
  • What some of his initial income streams were when he first left the country
  • Why minimalism is an important skill for anyone wanting a better and happier life
  • Why having a philosophy is important in life
  • Why travel is a great way to change your mindset
  • Some important steps for finding your first 100 fans
  • How writing became such a big part of his life
  • And MUCH more…

Listen below or download from iTunes by clicking here. (Please note: If you’re reading this from email, you may need to visit the site to listen)

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If you’re running short on time;

(1:20): The mindset shift from Colin in LA to Colin today

(4:25): We talk about whether or not Colin ever had doubts

(6:55): What were Colin’s initial income streams

(9:08): Why minimalism is a great philosophy for anyone wanting a better, happier life

(11:40): How writing became such a big part of Colin’s life and how he built his skills to support it

(15:55): Important tips on getting your first 100 fans

(17:25): Whether having a story (such as having readers vote where you travel) is important

(18:40): We talk lifestyle design and how it’s lost it’s way…kinda

(22:37): We talk about philosophy in life and how to develop your own

(24:45): Act Accordingly – Live now, not eventually

(26:38): Why retirement is not the smartest path

(29:50): Why travel is a great way to open your mind and change your life

 

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Hope you enjoyed this interview with Colin Wright.

Please leave a review at iTunes and/or share with your friends.

Want more inspiration to live limitless? Check out this interview with Nora Dunn

8 Adventures that Changed my Life (and Can Change Yours too)

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When I think back to moments that changed my life, many come to mind. These are times when I really pushed myself to do something that scared me. Being able to really push my limits and eradicate some of my limiting beliefs completely changed my mindset and allowed me to become much more courageous than I had ever been. Suddenly, change wasn’t so scary anymore and I found myself actually looking for adventure and embracing uncertainty.

aucklandbungyjumping
With knees trembling and palms sweating, I manage to crack a smile

There are a number of events that had a profound impact on me but the eight mentioned below really stand out.

Moving to a different city

To be honest, I wasn’t going to include this one at first. Moving to a different city seemed so trivial. But as I thought about it more, this was one of the most pivotal moments for me. Not only did I move to a city where I had no friends or family but I was also leaving some toxic friends behind. It was a chance to create a new me without any of the personas or stigmas attached from my hometown. It was also my first time living on my own, which allowed me to grow even further. I ended up meeting so many new and awesome friends, graduating from university, buying and investing in real estate, and ultimately changing my mindset completely. I also learned a lot about myself, such as my ability for jumping into any opportunity that sparked my curiosity. I learned that I wasn’t afraid of putting myself in uncomfortable situations anymore.

biking in Port campbell australia
Finding coconuts in Northern Australia

Travelling solo

This is another thing that dramatically changed my life. Since I was 17 years old, I had wanted to go to Australia and New Zealand. I’m not really sure why but it was always in the back of my mind. Instead of just going, I kept waiting for the perfect moment and for friends to come with me. Finally, at the age of 24, I decided to go solo. As a first step, I went to Boston for a week on my own before visiting family in Newfoundland. I met new friends, experienced solo independent travel and had such an incredible time. After Boston, I completed one more semester of university (which is when I met my fiancé) and then left to Australia for my first long-term solo trip. But before landing in Australia, I did a 3-week stopover in New Zealand, starting with Queenstown and finishing in Auckland. It was one heck of an adventure.

sky diving in new zealand
Shit. Maybe I shoulda thought this through

Sky-Diving

I arrived in Queensland, New Zealand at six in the morning. My cousin had also just arrived, ready to join me for the first month of adventures. We took a taxi to the hostel and signed in. As we were signing in, I noticed an advertisement for sky diving in the area. My hairs stood up and I immediately convinced my cousin to do it with me. Before we knew it, we had booked ourselves to jump out of an airplane the next morning. We had no time to back out. The next morning was an experience I’ll never forget. It was such a crazy feeling to roll out of an airplane at 15,000 feet and fall towards Earth at 200MPH. It was an incredible rush and it gave me the courage to try anything else that came my way. If you’re interested in adventure travel, New Zealand is a great spot. If you’re thinking of going, here are the best times to visit New Zealand.

aj hackett bungy jumping auckland
Jumping off the Auckland bridge and getting dunked into the sea

Bungy Jumping

I think bungy jumping was the biggest rush I have ever had. It felt twice as scary as sky diving but I probably wouldn’t have done it had I not jumped out of a plane three weeks prior. It was so terrifying that I found myself trembling as they strapped on the ankle harness. My hands were sweating profusely and my heart was beating so fast that I thought it might burst out from my chest. When I finally managed to jump off the bridge and fall towards the ocean, an unforgettable feeling of bliss came over me. It was true freedom like I have never felt before. It might have been the first time that my mind wasn’t drifting to other things. I was truly focused on the task at hand. The air rushed by and I got dunked into the ocean before releasing a lever and springing myself upright into the harness. I felt truly on top of the world and was ready to tackle anything.

Snorkelling with whale sharks in Philippines
Swimming by a whale shark in the Philippines

Scuba Diving

Diving in the sea is one of the most magnificent experiences one can have. It’s like entering a new world filled with wonderful and strange creatures of every colour imaginable. Two months into my trip, I found myself signed up for an open water diving course and doing something I never thought I would be able to do. Scuba diving always seemed so “out of this world” for me but was fascinating none the less. Now here I was scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef. I had white-tip reef sharks swimming by and turtles gliding around as the sunlight glistened off their shells. I found myself swimming around schools of multi-coloured fish and starring at massive reef structures that looked like an underwater city. To add to the adventure, we also did a night dive in search of more sharks. As if scuba diving wasn’t already an experience of a lifetime, I was now jumping into the ocean in pitch black with nothing but a flash light in my hand to see what was in front of me. It felt like I was in outer space, surrounded by darkness and strange creatures, while “swimming” around weightlessly. I was really experiencing life to the fullest.

Public Speaking

For some reason, I always wanted to become a public speaker. I think part of it lies with being shy all my life and also with the fact that I have a stutter. Public speaking seemed like such a drastic goal to make and a huge accomplishment if I could pull it off. I decided to take a Dale Carnegie course called Effective Communication and Human Relations. This, combined with practice, really changed my life by giving me a huge boost of confidence and the courage to stand in front of a crowd and talk. It’s an incredible feeling to not feel as nervous anymore and to be able to stand up and say something. I think a motivational speech at a big event would be amazing one day.

White Water Rafting Calgary

White Water Rafting

White-water rafting was one of the first intense activities I put myself through. One of my best friends and I were planning a birthday event for me. Living just an hour from the Canadian Rockies and some world-class rafting, we decided to make the trip. It was an incredible rush as we hit waves that were big enough to cover the raft. The cold water took our breaths away. It became one of my favourite activities and we ended up doing it for my next two birthdays as well. On one particular trip, we did a different river that was much more intense and often closed-off for safety reasons. WOW! It was 30 minutes of pure insanity and moments where I thought we were in trouble. After an onslaught of class-4 rapids, I noticed that someone had fallen out and was drifting by our raft. I managed to think quickly and pull him into our raft before he got pummelled by rocks. The experience was already incredible but being able to “save someones life” made it much more special. I’ve now gone four times and I highly recommend it for that adventurous soul inside you.

body for life before and after

Body-for-LIFE Fitness Program

Last but not least, the Body-for-LIFE fitness program was an incredible source of motivation and accomplishment for me. I had read the book when I was 18 years old but had kept putting  it off for that “perfect” moment. Finally at age 22, I decided it was time. I was just getting out of college and the two years of partying and pub food had really showed up on my body. I paid $35 to get a skin-fold test so I would know how big my changes were in the end. It was 12 long weeks, walking to the gym in pitch black (mornings are dark in the Canadian winter) and getting out of bed when I knew it was -30 Celsius outside. I kept myself motivated though, eating six healthy meals per day and taking one day off per week to eat what I wanted. I worked out six days per week before breakfast, alternating between weight-lifting and 20-minute speed-interval treadmill running. In the end, it all worked out and I lost 23 pounds of fat while gaining 7 pounds of muscle. My body fat percentage dropped from 22 to just 10. My pictures looked incredible compared to just 12 weeks prior. Not only did I feel great but the sense of accomplishment really changed how I looked at life. Making a commitment to something and actually following through to achieve positive results is something we should all strive for. It’s an incredibly uplifting experience.

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There are many adventures and moments that can change your life. The important part is getting out there and experiencing something that excites you. Giving yourself that opportunity. Getting out of your comfort zone and tackling something you’ve always wanted to do.

What adventures have changed your life?

What would like to do next?