Live Limitless

Adventure, Imagination, Travel

motivation

Making Dreams Happen, 150 Days At A Time

by 22 Comments

Road to 150

It’s interesting how life works at times. Last year I was miserable. With the local economy crumbling all around me, I felt like I was drowning. I couldn’t find a job, my condo dropped in value by almost 35%, I got hit with a special assessment of $45,000, and had to rent out my apartment at a loss of $500 per month. Life really sucked. While staying hopeful was difficult, I kept telling myself to keep thinking big. After all, I get most of my inspiration from living limitless.

Around Christmas time, I started thinking of what I could do in 2017. With a 9% unemployment rate affecting my city, the chances of getting a decent job were pretty slim. As far as I could tell, this wasn’t going to improve for quite some time. So, I began thinking of other cool things I could do. As a travel writer and photographer who’s always wanted to create a travel show, I began thinking of big ideas. Then, one felt like a home run. 2017 just so happened to be the year of Canada’s 150th birthday. The country was celebrating it in a big way. I have a Canadian travel blog called Must Do Canada. What would be a cool thing to do to celebrate Canada’s big birthday?

Then it hit me. A 150-day road trip. But not just any road trip. A multimedia road trip where we feature iconic attractions, local delights and interviews with everyday Canadians about what they feel makes Canada the great country that it is. This is actually something that I have been asking myself for the last few years. As someone who has spent many years backpacking around the globe, I’ve come to realize that Canada has a pretty darn good reputation everywhere I went. Whether I was talking with someone in Asia or someone in Europe, most people look up to Canada for one reason or another. Some admired our vast nature and low population while others admired our kindness and openness. Some people dreamed of exploring Canada as a tourist while others dreamed of immigrating here and beginning a new life. Regardless of the reasons, it was obvious that Canada had done something right. [Read more…] about Making Dreams Happen, 150 Days At A Time

Birthday Reflection + Win a Prize!

by 8 Comments

It’s true. As of July 31st, I am officially one year older.

Ah… birthdays. I remember how amazing birthdays were as a kid. Friends, family, balloons, gifts, and cake. Life was good.

As the years passed, birthdays became fun for partying with friends in bars or house parties and now the parties have transitioned into white water rafting and hanging out with friends and family. In some ways it’s more calmed down and in some ways it’s not.

Another thing I’ve started doing on birthday’s during the last couple years is looking over the past year of life and reflecting on all the adventures and accomplishments that have happened. Without doing this, I tend to forget about the great things I’ve done and only focus on what I didn’t do and what needs to be done. Not good for the spirit.

This is actually the first time I’ve ever done this in a way that holds me accountable as well. So here it is.

Since last July, I

  • Left a job that I absolutely hated every minute of
  • Started A World of Inspiration
  • Visited Los Angeles solo, completing some training with JCI and having hot chocolate with Aaron Ross
  • Finished up acting in my first-ever feature film, Kankered
  • Went to Vancouver and Vancouver Island for the first time and watched the sunset over the pacific ocean with my best friend/family and my girlfriend
  • Flew to Las Vegas with another best friend to see sin city for the first time
  • Jumped back into University to scratch another 3 courses off the degree
  • Signed up for my first online course; Unique Genius
  • Auditioned for my first theatre play and received the role of a stripping policeman (Talk about a nerve-racking first time)
  • Left on a solo trip to Japan where I attended the JCI World Congress with more than 10,000 people (It was solo at first)
  • Received my Irish citizenship in the mail (Hello EU)
  • Made my first $1 online from selling affiliate products
  • Had my first live performance on stage in a theatrical play and stripped down to boxers in front of 80+ people
  • Moved my girlfriend Karla to Canada after spending more than 2 years in a long distance relationship
  • Enrolled in another full course load in University but made it fun by taking Drama and Improv classes
  • Had a perfect winter skiing weekend in Panorama with 3 of my best friends and Karla (Doesn’t get any better than that 🙂
  • Wrote, put together, and released my first ebook
  • Auditioned and received a lead role in another comedy play
  • Created some niche sites and  started Canadian Free Flyers which allowed me to make my first $1 online from my own product
  • Began the World Domination Road Trip which included 9000 miles of driving, the World Domination Summit, 8 National Parks, 4 theme parks, jumping out of a plane for the second time, and leaping off a 200-ft bridge with Karla and 15 other brave souls
  • Earned more than 90,000 frequent flyer miles without flying thanks to deals I posted in Canadian Free Flyers
  • Enrolled in my last required management class (before I spend my last semester overseas)
  • And last but far from least, met some awesome new friends and downright awesome people like Matt Koenig, Mark Powers, Niall Doherty, Aaron Ross, Earl Baron, Rob Nights, Raam Dev, Caralee Hubbell, Tyler Tervooren, Trever Clark, and so many others both online and off. Thanks to all of you for being so inspiring.

Wow. Now that I look back on the last year, I don’t feel as bad about not accomplishing every goal I had wanted to achieve. Suddenly, by writing it all down, I can really see some of the great things I’ve accomplished and use that as encouragement to make the next year as exciting as the last. It actually inspired me by writing this list because I tend to overlook the positive things I do and focus more on what I didn’t do instead. As mentioned above, this is not a good thing. Need to work on that. For example, I definitely need to focus on my financial goals for the next year. None of those goals were reached this last year and thats important for keeping the adventures going.

bungy jumping amboy washington, portland, world domination summit matt bailey
Saved by the cord after a 200-ft plunge off a bridge in Amboy, Washington. This won't be the last picture you see.

I’m hoping this post doesn’t seem like a self-boasting type of thing. It’s not meant to be. If anything, I’d like it to inspire you to create your own birthday-to-birthday list and reflect on all the amazing things you’ve done in the last year. If it’s not amazing enough for you, use it as inspiration to increase your effort and ambition for the next year. Let some friends know about it or post it in the comments so we can keep you motivated along the way. Feel free to connect and send me an email if you want.

Last but not least and without further ado, I’d like to make this birthday different and give away some prizes. Not just today but more like a series of prizes over the next month or so.

The prize for today is Lea and Jonathan Woodward’s DIY Design and Branding Kit. It retails for $37. If you would like to have a chance at winning a copy, all you need to do is write an answer to the 2 following questions in the comments section below this post:

  1. Do you do anything special on your birthday and what?
  2. What is your favorite accomplishment in the last year?

I will write each person’s name (or email) on a piece of paper, randomly pick one out of a hat, and announce the winner in exactly one week. Please make sure you use a valid email address as it’s the only way I’ll be able to contact you.

In the meantime, I’m off to go white water rafting in the Canadian Rockies. Have a great week!

Oh, and for those curious, I am now 27.

 

 

5 Photo Bliss

by 2 Comments

Bliss is a word that I tend to use when I think of the most serene, quiet, and scenic experiences I have had in life. It’s a feeling I love tremendously and I try to soak up as much of it as I can when placed in a blissful moment. When I have a camera and remember to use it, I luckily capture some of those great moments which help to bring me back to that moment. They cheer me up when I am down and they inspire me to relax and connect whenever I feel a blissful moment taking place. Here are 5 pictures below that remind me of blissful moments.

1. Bark Bay, New Zealand

Camping at Bark Bay, New Zealand

Bark Bay, New Zealand has been in my happy memory since visiting the tropical paradise 2 years ago. My cousin and I had been kayaking the Abel Tasman Sea (part of the Abel Tasman Coastal Track) in the northern part of the south island. We had spent one night camping in Anchorage Bay the night before and spent about 3 hours kayaking to reach Bark Bay. I fell in love as soon as we arrived. Not even the fact that every article of clothing I had was soaked from a water leakage could bring my mood down at Bark Bay. I was all smiles and laughter. The picture above was about 3 feet to the left of where we had pitched our tent for the night. I had never camped somewhere so warm and beautiful before. The delectable near-white sand, turquoise water, warm weather, and tropical breeze made me wish I could stay there for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, we had to leave the next morning but Bark Bay is one place I will return. [Read more…] about 5 Photo Bliss

Zero to 100: Healthy Doses of Creativity, Money, and Freedom

by 6 Comments

This is a quick introduction to a new project I’ve started working on.

It’s called zero to 100 and it’s about me challenging myself to go from zero income to $100,000 per year.

However, I don’t want to just aimlessly chase $100,000 a year. If the goal was simply to make $100K by any means necessary, I would just delete this post, go get a job at an oil company in my hometown, and start making $100K instantly.

The $100K I am aiming for is going to be from doing things I enjoy, feeding my entrepreneurial spirit, and making it through online sources so that it gives me the location independence thats needed for my big passion: travel.

This is both a very hard and intense goal considering I have never made that much money before and that I’m starting from scratch. Even though $100K is quite easy to earn where I am from, it’s not the type of job I would want to do for the rest of my life. Creating $100K on your own is much more difficult but much more rewarding. The actual goal with this project is to make a great amount of money doing things that I enjoy, finding and enhancing my strengths, and having the freedom and location independence to travel, have adventures, and spend time with friends and family.

Zero to 100 also stands for attaining 100% satisfaction with myself and everything I do. In other words, I want to be 100% happy with what I do in work and life. I want to be creative and develop my ideas into something special. I want to feel that my key strengths and passions are blended together to create something wonderful.

As time goes on, It may develop into a site of it’s own but for now I have decided to write about it on A World of Inspiration and let you decide if you like it and/or think it can blend in with AWOI.

At the beginning I will likely be focused on creating some passive income (at least enough to cover basic expenses), searching for strengths and passions, building relationships and mentorship opportunities, and also thinking about bigger legacy type projects that will really leave some lasting impressions on those involved. In fact, zero to 100 is a legacy project because it will literally teach you about all the things I mention above.

What makes zero to 100 cool for you?

  • You can literally watch someone (me) go step-by-step from earning zero per month to earning lots of money per month. I am a beginner with very little experience which means if I can do it, so can you. My only online experience thus far is primarily with A World of Inspiration. I’m going to focus on making enough money to be comfortable but have given it a goal of $100K to be exciting and big enough to keep the motivation going for as long as this takes. I am also aligning the goal with the type of lifestyle I want and you should do the same. In my case, I want to enjoy what I do and have the freedom to travel as I please.
  • You can learn from my many mistakes that I am sure to make and read my reviews/attempts of many different ways to make money online. You can see what tools, books, or different things I use to make things happen. I am also going to interview online entrepreneurs along the way and write about various ways to find or build upon your passions and hobbies. I won’t involve myself in all the ways of making money online or that would just get crazy.
  • You can create your own zero to 100. As you follow along, you can pick and choose what you think works for you, try it out, and join a group of like-minded people who are trying to achieve the same thing. One big giant mastermind group.

What do you think of this new project?

A Cappuccino, a Painting, and Some Spontaneity

by Leave a Comment

My first painting

A couple days ago I was sitting in a coffee shop writing out some thoughts and killing time before heading to an acting class I had that night. It was about 4:30 p.m. and the class started at 6. I was at a coffee shop far off the beaten path of where I needed to go which I had found after buying a coupon from Groupon weeks before.

It was the type of cafe I was looking for. A place with a big open space with tables for me to write at. Cool paintings and pictures aligning the walls that are made by local artists in which you can purchase. They have open mic nights, philosophy nights, board game nights, and so forth. They also make the best Cappuccino I have ever had.

As I sat writing up some potential future blog posts, I noticed a sign on one of the doors that read “Learn how to paint on canvas. Third tuesday of every month at 7 p.m.. Just $15”.

It just so happened it was the third tuesday of the month. [Read more…] about A Cappuccino, a Painting, and Some Spontaneity