A World of Inspiration

The 100th Post, Special Thanks, Helpful Mondays, and Prizes

Tim Ferriss and Matthew G Bailey — With Tim Ferriss

In honor of reaching the 100th post milestone, I’d like to share some thoughts on the potential direction of the site, my new “helpful Mondays”, and to celebrate the people, businesses, or things over the last few years that have inspired me to all new levels. What better way to say thanks than to share them with more people.

To begin, A World of Inspiration has changed a little over the years. I first started the site with the intention of interviewing inspiring people. Although that’s still part of the plan, I realized I also enjoyed sharing my own thoughts and travel stories. Now, after returning from another 11-month trip, I feel the title of the site is fading away. Whenever I think of the name, although I like it, I don’t feel it speaks to me anymore. I have since been creating a “storyboard” of sorts to come up with my vision for the site and a suitable name to carry it into the future.

Ancient Temples, Killing Fields, and Crazy Drivers – Cambodia Part 1

by Matt Leave a Comment

Friendly people, tuk-tuks, floating villages, ancient temples, military, and fried tarantulas are all wonderful images that come to mind when I think back to our two weeks in Cambodia.

We arrived late on January 21st after roughly 17 hours of flying from Canada to China, and finally our destination. It was dark and humid, but luckily we had already arranged a taxi through our guesthouse to pick us up at the airport. The plan was to relax for a day before planning the next couple of weeks.

After waking up, we decided on spending only one more night in Phnom Penh before heading out to Siem Reap. With a full day ahead of us, we grabbed a tuk-tuk and made way to the S-21 Genocide Museum and the gruesome Khem Rouge killing fields.

As great as it was to learn about these tragedies, it’s also painful to imagine the torture three million Cambodians went through just 30+ years ago. In Hitler-esque style, Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge gang ruthlessly murdered millions of helpless men, women, children, and even babies in just 3 short but long years. When one person was ordered to be killed, he would have the entire family murdered right down to the dog.

It’s truly insane that people like this exist today and although horrible, it’s great that places like the killing fields and the genocide museum exist to remind us of such hatred and cruelty. After walking through the killing fields complete with an audio guide (which is highly recommended), looking at the temples of real human skulls, and seeing bones that have been surfacing due to rainfall, we decided it was time to move on.

Cambodia tuk-tuk — Our fearless tuk-tuk driver

After another stop at the national museum, we booked our bus ticket to Siem Reap. Instead of booking the $7 big bus for the 6-hour journey, we got sold on the “VIP” mini-bus which gets you there in 5 hours for $11. Well, let me be the one to tell you that the mini-bus is a bad idea. First off, there is nothing VIP about it. You get a little 25 cent bottle of water and since it’s a min-van, it feels more cramped than a bus. There is also no bathroom, although this is common on many buses here. The worst part is watching the road every minute unsure of when you’re going to get in a head-on collision. People in Cambodia tend to drive a little crazy, swerving in and out of lanes into oncoming traffic and dodging motorbikes by just Cm’s. With a bus, your more of a “king” on the road with more padding and metal to aid in a collision but in a min-van, it’s going to get messy.

Anyways, our 5-hour journey turned into 11 hours because of a religious festival occurring just after Phnom Phen on the way to Siem Reap. Pilgrims, truck-loads of monks, and even elephants were walking towards one of the temples blocking the highway for everyone else. After roughly 5 hours at crawling speed, we finally hit the open now-dark highway and made way for Siem Reap.

After 5 hours of feeling my eyes glued to the windshield as I desperately prayed for not hitting oncoming traffic, we finally arrived in Siem Reap at about midnight. We had arranged for a tuk-tuk to meet us and we were at our new guesthouse within about 15 minutes.

The Bun Kao Guesthouse was welcoming and spacious with a large foyer and very friendly staff. We had booked a double room with an en-suite bathroom for 2 nights but ended up staying for 6. At $14 per night, it wasn’t cheap by Siem Reap standards, but with free breakfast and some good people, we stayed put.

Siem Reap is a touristy town with a nice riverside (except for the brown water), some great restaurants, and really good fish massage parlours. $1 for a beer and 15-minutes of fish nibbling away at your dead skin is a solid deal. After a day of looking around town, we bought a 3-day Angkor pass and started our first temple day off with sunrise at Angkor Wat. The sunrise wasn’t too grand considering the chaos of hundreds of people sitting around the moat with so many camera flashes going off, you’d think you were in a club dancing to a strobe light.

However, the real benefit to sunrise at Angkor Wat is when it is over and everyone goes back into town to eat breakfast. This is the only time of day to see Angkor Wat with barely a soul in sight and we took full advantage of it. Angkor Wat is of course, remarkable. Were not big into little details and deep history but the building is stunning and it’s a fun atmosphere to imagine what life must have been like thousands of years ago. We walk around taking pictures and even snap one of a monk before heading out to see other temples in the area.

On our way out of Angkor Wat, we noticed some monkeys playing in trees and went closer to get a look. Little ones scurried around us chasing after each other and playing games. It was all fun and games until a bigger one approached Karla and grabbed a hold of her pink shiny water bottle. As she opened her mouth revealing her fangs, we weren’t too sure if she was wanting to play or kill us, so we just walked away.

Next, we hit the roads and went to see Ta Phrom, the amazing temple that was made famous by Tomb Raider. Ta Prohm had a very magical feel to it. We walked around the outside of the temples first, taking pictures of the ancient structure while beautiful yellow leaves fell from the trees. The backdrop of the misty bird-singing jungle and the scorpion sitting on the rocks enhanced the feel of a once-remote jungle paradise. Huge trees sprung their roots throughout the temple causing massive damage to the stone walls. They grew inside, outside, and even on top of the magical structure. This really gave it that Indiana Jones “ruins” type of look.

Ta Prohm is also a photographer’s dream. We snapped many incredible photos inside the temple and even ran into a Mexican television actor while trying to take the picture that National Geographic had made famous in many magazines. Afterwards, we headed back to our trusty tuk-tuk and headed to other beautiful temples in the Angkor Park area. If you ever embark on an adventure to southeast Asia, you’ll find many incredibly ancient and beautiful temples.

The Next Chapter

by Matt 6 Comments

When one chapter ends and another hopefully begins.

I wrote about this on the bus heading home from a 2-week job on a military base in Wainwright, Alberta. It was a totally unique experience. I had received an offer to act as a villager in a military role play exercise. This meant I got to pretend to be a spanish villager while watching ground troops and tanks cover the area and humungous helicopters hover overhead. I met over 100 amazing people from all walks of life. Some were musicians, some were actors, and some were just trying something new. Some were Canadian, some were Mexican, and some were Columbian. We became family for 15 days, living in dorm-room type conditions, working together, eating together, and partying together. Some of us became good friends that will continue well into the future.

And yet, despite how cool of an experience this was, the 2 weeks ended quickly, and I found myself on a bus headed back home. Everyone was still sitting around me on their way back home but I knew that for most of us, we would never see each other again. We had just woke up from an amazing farewell party complete with a talent show and a spectacular performance of the Northern Lights (otherwise known as Aurora Borealis).

It was a mixture of sadness and happiness. It was sad to close a chapter on such a wonderful experience, yet exciting to imagine what the next chapter was going to hold.

I’ve felt this so many times as I’m sure you have as well. High school, college, university, trips around the world, hobbies, sports, and new found friends. Each chapter must end at some point.

But the best way to fight the chapter blues is to begin a new one. One filled with new adventures, new experiences, and a new story.

I’m now in Mexico City, a new chapter to finish off the 2011 year. I know next year, I will turn the page to another chapter featuring Malaysia and the rest of SE Asia. I know the location but I don’t know the story.

So although it saddens me a little to finish one chapter, it’s exciting to begin the next.

As long as you keep your curiosity alive and the adventures rolling, you won’t get stuck in one chapter and life will keep churning out amazing stories of unique experiences and new friendships.

Have you started a new chapter lately?

Finding Your Unique Genius | An Interview with Aaron Ross

by Matt 2 Comments

Meet Aaron Ross, the founder of PebbleStorm, which is helping 100 million people “make money through enjoyment” by combining happiness and money. Aaron’s Unique Genius work shows people how to discover their purpose & passions and turn them into a successful business.

Aaron is also the author of “CEOFlow: Turn Your Employees Into Mini-CEOs“, and “Predictable Revenue” which is coming soon.

I’m excited to interview Aaron and surprised I haven’t done this yet. I took the Unique Genius course last September when it first opened. I was just starting A World of Inspiration and his free videos resonated with me so much that I had to give it a try. It was great. It helped me learn some interesting things about myself, introduced me to a community of awesome people that were really helpful (I actually had lunch with two of them while visiting Japan), and made me throw my first rock of creating an ebook. Aaron’s been super supportive along the way with everything I’ve done and I’m honored to introduce him to you.

Welcome Aaron.

What is the Unique Genius Superhero Program?

It’s a group mentoring and educational program, in which people learn how to start a fulfilling business that is based on values such as integrity, purpose, authenticity and making money in ways that are fun and feel good. I want people to be able to make money through enjoyment, meeting other like-minded people and making lots of money at work they love!

What brought you down the path to creating Unique Genius?

I’d been successful in Silicon Valley: I’d been an Internet CEO, built a sales team at Salesforce.com that helped them add $100 million in revenue, and had a job at a venture capital firm where I was getting paid to figure out what company I wanted to start. It was at that point I realized that I felt unfulfilled, that my work didn’t really matter.

Who needs another sales or marketing process app? Was some internet or software app really going to change the world or lives? I knew I was meant for more and that I wanted to make a big difference…and that I didn’t feel like I was going to do it in that world.

This led me to my purpose – to help 100 million people “make money through enjoyment,” combining the best of capitalism (money) and buddhism (happiness). Unique Genius are the methods and principles I discovered to help people do this, do what I did.

What did it feel like when you found your Unique Genius and what happened after?

It felt INSPIRING at first, and then SCARY second – it brought up all kinds of hidden fears and questions like, “Can I do this? Who am I to do this? Will people reject it?” and others. (I’ve since seen this same thing happen with every single student).

Also, I think there’s some misconception that people find their life purpose, or Unique Genius, in some single big flash of light. Really, it comes from a series of breakthroughs and realizations, all of which build on each other, step by step. Also, finding your purpose is one thing…learning how to live it every day, to express yourself fully, is a whole ‘nother ballgame! The Unique Genius work helps with both steps.

In the program, you talk a lot about taking baby steps and throwing rocks. What do you mean and how important are these things?

First of all, baby steps are just so amazingly powerful. I’ll bet you come up with big ideas all the time that you don’t do anything with…they can feel so overwhelming. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you discover what you are meant to do, your unique talents, and turn them into a fulfilling business that can’t fail? One baby step at a time.

Where does all this impatience in our lives come from? Everyone wants INSTANT results, whether it’s with weight, money or love. It’s insane. Impatience to me is a form of unhappiness, as in “what I have isn’t good enough right in the moment, I need something different NOW.”

Look, you can make money very quickly: get a for-profit job. You can find fulfilling work very quickly: get a not-for-profit job. But combining the two in spending the time to discover your passions and purpose, then turn them into a fulfilling business that makes you plenty of money, takes time.

There are probably online courses that promise you a college degree in 30 days. Good luck with that! After founding half a dozen companies and mentoring hundreds of people, I’m here to say there are no shortcuts…so you might as well start now, and you might as well have fun and enjoy the process!

Have your past students had success/breakthroughs with Unique Genius?

Some examples:

1) Jessica Ross, who, as a single mom with no time or money, founded Bond Girl Bootcamp, where she takes women out to be badasses for a day in shooting guns, jumping out of airplanes and learning self-defense.

2) Rich Walker, CEO of a software company, published an amazing book and has started a second fulfilling business as a coach (video of Rich).

3) My mom took the course last year and, at age 67, has started Wheels Up Adventures with a friend of hers.

Marylou Tyler was a client who was so gung-ho and fun to work with that we ended up partnering and created a new business together that she is CEO of. She and I founded Predictable Revenue, Inc., a company that helps businesses multiply sales.

How does it feel to help people find their unique strengths and superpowers?

Incredibly fulfilling. Even better is when clients find them, and then come up with ways to partner with me and stay in the community, like Marylou. And many alumni of the program come back as mentors to new students, which is fun, fulfilling and a great way to build their own skills and businesses.

I think a lot of people think that they don’t have any special skills or strengths and therefore feel they have nothing special/unique enough to form a business with. What would you say to those people?

None of those things are true, and they should watch the videos on www.UniqueGenius.com. EVERYONE is unique, and has a special gift to share with the world. Few take the baby steps and have the commitment to find it and express it in a way that they live every day (and can make money from).

Thanks Aaron for doing the interview. Anything else you would like to add?

Yes – that there are many lies people believe about what it takes to start a business. For example: you might believe that you need money, time, a brand, a great idea, a college degree, to raise money…etc etc. None of that is true. I’ve started and gotten all my current businesses to profitability with less than $100 each. All you need is commitment and a decision, baby steps and patience…and the rest can follow. Unique Genius video #2 is titled “Start A Business That Can’t Fail,” which I highly recommend watching if anyone feels this way.

Registration for this year’s Unique Genius course is July 30th. Note: I am a past student of the Unique Genius program and I am affiliated with it. If you decide to buy the course through one of my links, I will also include 4 hours Unique Genius coaching with myself. As a past student, I will be able to help you through some of the modules and explain anything you don’t understand. We can also talk about cheesecake.

What do you think? Have you found your Unique Genius?

Fate and a One of a Kind Hollywood Experience

by Matt 6 Comments

Ryan Reynolds, green lantern — Even Ryan Reynolds was surprised that we scored tickets to the Green Lantern screening in Hollywood.

Okay, I’ll be the first to say that I’m not a big believer in fate or anything like that. I don’t really think we have a set-purpose in life or a time which we are scheduled to die. I am, however, constantly impressed by the timing of various events that just seem so perfect.

There are so many events that happen when the timing is absolutely perfect. I could talk about the random decision to go to another city for just 1 semester of university which led to meeting my girlfriend of 3 years. I could talk about the group I emailed to help sell some extra books I have which turned into a membership and a free trip to Japan. But since the World Domination Road Trip just ended, it seems only fitting to talk about one of the very cool “fate” type moments that happened While I was in Hollywood.

It was a a very hot wednesday afternoon and we were just finishing up a taping of the Jay Leno show where we had been in the audience. It was around 5pm and since we were already in Burbank, I decided to swing over to Hollywood to show Karla the sights. Considering it was rush hour, we parked in the first location we could find which happened to be a mall right on Hollywood boulevard. We were starving and decided to look for a restaurant immediately. We were eyeing up a pizza restaurant but not wanting to spend to much time eating (and ordering and waiting and so forth), we decided on a little crepe place that looked like it would be quick. After the meal (which was pretty damn bland), we walked out to Hollywood boulevard and noticed the street was closed off and that massive crowds were lining up for something. As we walked closer, I noticed Blake Lively (actress in the Green Lantern) who we had just watched Jay Leno interview earlier that day.

We then realized it must be a screening of the Green Lantern at Grauman’s Chinese theatre. We began to look for more actors and then noticed Ryan Renolds a few feet away from us talking to reporters. Karla was excited to see all this action and of course, to see Ryan Reynolds. I was more excited to see Jason Bateman who was also there for some reason. But seriously, what a cool Hollywood experience for Karla on her first trip to the U.S.A (and for me as well). After some quick pictures, I grabbed her hand so we could move towards the theatre which I really wanted her to see before we left. We began to walk in and around the crowd when someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I wanted 2 tickets. I had no idea what he meant so I just asked “how much?” and he said they were free. “You can have them as long as your gonna use them right now” he told us.

Are you gonna come?

Suddenly I looked down and realized it was 2 tickets to the screening! “Hell yeah!” I replied.

Next thing you know, were following them alongside the red carpet towards Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to watch the Hollywood screening of the Green Lantern. I was amazed. I gave him a sincere thanks, grabbed some free popcorn, and headed into the beautiful Hollywood theatre. A red curtain kept the screen covered while security sat Ryan Renolds and the rest of the cast about 20 seats behind us. Once the cast was seated, the curtains unveiled the screen and the show began.

Such a spontaneous and unique event. An absolutely amazing experience for Karla and myself in Hollywood. Had we chose to eat at the pizza restaurant (which we almost did), we would have missed the opportunity by a few minutes. Had we decided to find parking elsewhere, we would have missed it. Had we not walked past the couple with the tickets at that precise moment, someone else likely would have grabbed them.

The timing was perfect. The moment was perfect. The movie was okay (haha). The stars had lined up and the cosmos were aligned perfectly with our souls. 100% fate.

Nah, it was just a lucky coincidence. But none the less, it was awesome.

Home Sweet Home

by Matt 4 Comments

2004 Ford Mustang GT in Californian redwoods — The beautiful car that transported us to our many adventures

Home sweet home.

Familiarity, family, friends, and my own bed. Yet home is suddenly new. It becomes part of the trip. A distant land. It’s funny how that works. It’s only been about 40 days since I left for the World Domination Road Trip but pulling into the driveway felt almost the same as pulling into a new city or a new adventure.

Let’s get back to the trip.

When describing the journey, epic would be an understatement. In those 40 days and 40 nights, we squished in so many places, new people, and adventures that we barely had any time to actually chill out and relax. Sleep had no priority.

We drove over 9000 miles, escaped the grasp of the famous Seattle troll, met countless inspiring people at WDS, jumped out of a plane in Oregon, jumped off a bridge in Washington, snuck into a castle in Napa Valley, rode the cable cars through San Francisco, got soaked under the world’s fifth largest waterfall in Yosemite National Park, met the famous Mickey Mouse in Disneyland, Sat 20 rows from Ryan Renolds during the Hollywood screening of the Green Lantern, had lunch in Tijuana, watched the amazing show called “O” by Cirque Du Soleil, Drove route 66 through the desert at night, watched the sun set and rise in Grand Canyon National Park, hiked 4 miles through a river in Zion National Park, watched the planet saturn, galaxies, star clusters, and the International Space Station through telescopes in Bryce Canyon National Park, almost got swept away in a windstorm while watching a rainbow form over the world famous delicate arch in Arches National Park, checked out the 4th of July fireworks in Salt Lake City, and watched Old Faithful blow before sleeping in the car in Yellowstone National Park. Of course, this doesn’t include couchsurfing with new friends the entire time.

It was truly a jam-packed adventure that I’ll never forget. That we’ll never forget. My girlfriend Karla experienced so many things for the first time like visiting the United States, jumping out of a plane, and leaping 200 feet off a bridge.

But now we are back home which, as always, brings mixed feelings. Happiness to see family, friends, and to have some rest. Sadness that the amazing road trip is over.

I learned a lot of things on the road trip including how I should have unlocked my phone (more on this later), and how difficult it is to maintain a blog while on a non-stop adventure road trip. It was pretty much impossible to take days off to write and find WiFi. This unfortunately kept me from writing on the blog for the whole trip. For those that follow, I’m sorry I couldn’t update as the trip went along. However, the good news is that I have plenty to write about now and look forward to writing about the many adventures over the next few months.

And although coming home is usually more sad because the adventure stops, I have arranged for that not to happen. Since it’s Karla’s first time in Alberta during the summer, were gonna keep the adventure going. I have booked us some white water rafting, a helicopter tour over the mountains, a day at the Calgary Stampede and evening show, and camping at my favorite spot near a beautiful emerald lake in the middle of the Canadian Rockies.

That’s another thing I’ve learned from travel. Adventure can be found close to home. You don’t need to travel to far distant lands to find excitement. You just might find it around the corner.

Have you found any adventures near home? If so, what?

The 100th Post, Special Thanks, Helpful Mondays, and Prizes

Ancient Temples, Killing Fields, and Crazy Drivers – Cambodia Part 1

The Next Chapter

Finding Your Unique Genius | An Interview with Aaron Ross

Fate and a One of a Kind Hollywood Experience

Home Sweet Home

About

Travel Tips

Inspiration

Courses

A World of Inspiration

Footer

About

Travel Tips

Inspiration

Courses