How to Achieve Your Boldest Dreams

Today I want to talk about something I stumbled upon during a recent interview. I get invited to quite a few other podcasts and on one of the recent interviews, the host asked me how I was different or how my process of building the seemingly impossible was different. At the time, all I could think of was that I don’t create scenarios where I am only partially committed to a project. I always lean into it 100%. There are no safety nets and I never leave one foot in another door. When I say I am committed to something, I step through that door wholeheartedly. There is no tipping my toes in the water and then rethinking it. There is no optional UTurn. If I am in it, I am in it to win it. For example: my recent uprooting from Los Angeles and my move to Europe as a nomad didn’t leave a door open to return. I did not leave a bunch of things in storage, in case I was going to come back. Nope. I got rid of everything – my house, my cars, my business, all of my earthly belongings, except three suitcases which were with me on my flight on December 31st. And when I think back to the last 45 years, I have lived my entire life as such. Bold. Committed. And unapologetically. However, there was something else. And it took me a couple of days to figure it out. It’s about HOW I figure things out. In a nutshell: I figure things out by doing. I don’t try to figure them out by thinking about it ahead of time. And I really think that that’s why a lot of people can’t imagine living their lives like I do. Now that I have realized this, I think it is really important to point it out. Because once you know this, you can choose YOUR desired approach and with those choices new opportunities present themselves. And with that, you choose your destiny. Let me take you through the difference. For example: I had no idea what I was doing when I started my first business. I was about 20 years old and I was alone and homeless in Toronto. I remember exactly what park bench I was sitting on. It was on Yong and south of Bloor. But… not knowing wasn’t an issue. That never scared me. I just figured it out one step at a time. Sure, I made mistakes. But that was ok. It still got me to my goal. 6 months later I had a thriving business, my own apartment and a car. It worked and it was the beginning of a lifetime of me as a passionate entrepreneur. I have started a number of businesses all the same way. A spark followed by trying to figure it out. Now, what do other people do? They think about it and try to figure it out in their heads. Way harder if you ask me. Why? A. Because you can’t predict every scenario and outcome in your head B. Because you will overwhelm yourself and scare the crap out of yourself overthinking all the possible worst case scenarios I think that’s also why so many people tried to talk me out of starting my nomad adventure last year. Because they tried to work this whole project out in their heads and they realized there was a lot of unknown, uncertainty. And that’s scary. So people kept asking me “Have you thought about this and have you thought about that?” My answer always was the same “Nope. I don’t have all the answers. But… I will figure it out.” Imagine I had told people I am homeless and I am going to start a multimillion-dollar business with no money from a park bench in downtown Toronto. They would have probably had me admitted. Or at least would have given me a thousand reasons why this was not going to work. But it did work. And why? Because you will always find a thousand reasons to not do something. And that’s what our party pooper friend FEAR is all about. And as long as we stay in our heads, fear has a voice among our thoughts. But… as long as you have one good reason to do it, you owe it to yourself to go for it and try. You start by actually DOING one thing… and from experience we know, that the next step will always present itself. That’s just how life works. Just focus on one step at a time. And then the next logical step that presents itself. When you do that, fear doesn’t have much of a voice. It has no power over you. One way to proof my theory is with this: when I came back to California to visit with friends and family after almost 4 months and everybody saw how happy I was and how things turned out, guess what every one of those naysayers said to me: “I so wish I had the gut to do what you did.” Pretty apparent that all of their well-meant advice had been driven by their own fears. Their fears of the unknown. So… my lesson from all of this: get out of your head and let your heart guide you. Translate what your heart is telling you into action. And for that, you don’t need to have all the answers in advance. For this week: think of one thing that you would like to do, but might be overthinking – something you are trying to figure out in your head – and give yourself permission to trust your heart and figure it out on the go. You got this!! Until next week, wishing you an amazing and exciting week!! Just put one foot in front of the other.