In my mind I have travelled the world, done great deeds, associated with the wonderful/talented/beautiful and amassed great wealth via many ingenious ideas.

Furthermore I have spent countless hours planning my dream life. Researching what car to buy, where to live, what to do with my endlessly idle time and which supermodel to date – once I’ve made it.

I could go on but I think you get the point.

Don’t let your imagination get in the way of making your dreams come true – get out there take action and live your dreams.

However…

“If you have built castles in the air, you work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” – Henry David Thoreau

Now to return to building those foundations.

In that time we covered 4 countries (Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam & Cambodia), explored 14 cities and encountered countless new people (tourists & locals) while coming to terms with the new cultures and centuries of history.

This time has opened my eyes to the power of travel to transform our lives, in part by leaving elements of our identity behind and absorbing new ones on the road.

A large part of our identity is where we live, who we surround ourselves with and what we do day-to-day. When travelling, particularly over a longer term, we abandon these external influences on who we are and instead can focus on who we truly are as a person.

We often leave behind some of our habits, be they good or bad.

You may change your sleep patterns – becoming an early riser to ensure a productive day of sight seeing. Or instead you may transform into a laze-about. Sleeping all day, or at least till you shake off that hangover from a night of mingling with new friends.

It may be spending habits. Although travel can be expensive, chances are you will leave behind your poor daily spending habits. Without your regular coffee shop nearby you skip the $4 morning pick me up, do not succumb to the fast food temptations.

Your daily exercise habits, or as is more often the case lack of exercise, is often thrown out the window. The daily commute and hours behind a desk can be replaced with exploring a new city by foot, mountain hikes and bike tours. Be aware the temptation however to lounge by the beach or pool and work on your tan the whole time.

Let’s not forgot diet either. When traveling it can at times be easier to eat healthy, your regularly on the move so you tend to grab quick easy and unhealthy snacks. Or you can slow down a little and eat as the locals do – the healthy ones at least. I’m shamed to admit its a rare day when I indulge in fresh fruit but it was so abundant and cheap in most cities that I simply couldn’t ignore. Though I had a few cheat days I was for the most part eating local healthy food from small family restaurants and the awesome street vendors (particularly in Thailand).

As you travel take time to realise the bad habits you have successfully left behind and ensure you do not fall back into them once you return. From the small things like not checking your watch every 5 minutes

Also be aware of bad habits you may be picking up whilst exploring the world. For many travel brings out the inner cheapskate

Travel can be a powerful catalyst for life change because the act of travel effectively throws out the script of our daily lives.

Re-asses values, different perspectives and belifes as you are confronted by new ways of life – cultures and experiences. Most importantly enjoy yourself. Travel is an amazing thing.

—

While on my trip I managed to tick off a few more of my lifetime goals – you can see my updated list here and subscribe by RSS or email updates to see the upcoming posts about my travel experiences.

Lets examine some examples of doing and doing well…

—

I was a competitive swimmer in what seems another life time, complete with a former Olympic gold medallist as one of my coaches (I had as many as 4 at a time).

It was compulsory for kids to learn to swim when I was at school and as a result slmost all Australians can swim. After following a swan into a pond at the age of three and nearly drowning my parents made learning a priority before I even started school.

After the early rocky relationship with water it was soon a major passion. In summer I could be found swimming in any body of water I could find – pools, ocean, creeks, rivers and even irrigation channels.

Eventually my natural passion turned to competition and training 5-6 days a week and regularly covering 30km’s during the same period.

I was far better than most – able to swim all strokes, dive and tumble turn. Fastest my age at school and the local swimming club were I typically trained. But still I wasn’t the best. Sure I picked up medals, ribbons and trophies in regional competitions, but at state level I was a small fish in a big pond stocked full of bigger and more talented fish.

I trained harder, however my dedication eventually waned in response to my inability to rise to greater succsess.

A team of elite sports medical staff eventually revealed I had bad knees, unsuitable for elite competition and other undesirable flaws. Training was eventually put on hiatus and major illness shortly after killed my thoughts of a comeback.

Though I still feel at home in the water I really only returned to training for rehabilitation purposes a few years later.

—

The majority of the population can drive a car on the road, many are unable to drive a manual (stick) and only a fraction of those can drive well.

Of that group a small number race cars and a fraction of those again are good at what they do. Only a handful in the world are truly skilled drivers given the opportunity to drive the worlds best machines in elite competition.

I have been driving cars since I could see over the dashboard, first rode a motorbike aged 5 and I’ve been legally driving on the road for 9 years now. I’m a safer driver than many – 18 years experience with motorised vehicles and 10 years racing cars gives me an advantage over most drivers my age with far more limited experience, particularly when it comes to emergency situations.

However I’m limited by natural talent and instincts as well as the finances to pursue most forms of motorsport. Driving safely on the roads, embarrassing my friends at commercial go karting tracks and the occasional club race is about the limit for me.

—

Likewise a lot of people can write – banging out a quick email, firing off a text message. But far less can write well. A fraction of those write for passion, and the elite few of that groups are talented/best selling authors.

I always knew with a fair degree of certainty where I stood in the previous categories, a stop-watch can quickly measure how fast you are on track or in the pool.

There is no simple test for writers. I can’t see at a glance that I am 12 seconds slower than Chuck Palahniuk or less efficient than Haruki Murakami. It’s simply a gut feeling of mine and the varying opinions and biases of those who read my work.

The only way to get a better understanding is to stop questioning my abilities (or lack of) and instead focus on writing as well and as prolifically as possible – let my success be a measure and enjoy what I do regardless.

Some may call it the tipping point or the dip, but it feels more like I’m staring at up at Everest or preparing to drop from a plane unsure if I packed the parachute.

—

For those wannabe artists, writers or otherwise creative types looking for a kick in the pants then I highly recommend reading The War of Art by author and screen writer Steven Pressfield.

My belief is that religion served a vital purpose many years ago and that purpose has been eroded over the last few century’s.

That purpose is primarily to make people conform to and live by a set of standards. Today we have laws to abide by (otherwise we will be punished) and socially reinforced norms of behaviour (which will leave us as social outcasts if we do not follow) that for the most part take away the usefulness of religion.

“Major religions are examples of ‘noble lies’ aimed at uplifting human stature.” – Jack Miller

What remains is the spiritual aspect, that there is a higher power and a greater purpose to what we do. To me the notion of an after-life or re-incarnation is greedy/lazy. I only have one life and I intend to do my best with it.

In times gone by religion was used to make people adhere to societal norms of behaviour (do not commit ’sin’) otherwise you will go to hell when you die and suffer guilt in the short term. From this also comes the concept of forgiveness. That we can be absolved of our sins, even of murder, is to me an abhorrent concept.

I think all religions have many wonderful life lessons – however some other lessons are not compatible with modern life, are plain wrong or have been misinterpreted and corrupted.

“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.” – Galileo Galiliei

I’m certain Jesus did walk the earth, however as a man like you and me. If he was to come back to life I think he would be seriously unhappy at how his message and beliefs have been twisted in his absence.

He was a wise and generous man who after his death had his message corrupted. In amongst his wise teachings they mixed in rubbish about walking on water and then turning it into wine.

Do you believe if you were capable of such miracles that you would allow someone to nail you to a cross?

“To you, I’m an atheist. To God, I’m the loyal opposition.” – Woody Allen

To me that is completely the wrong attitude – if you are not sleeping correctly death will creep up on you sooner. Sleep deprivation has enormous affects on your health.

In the short term it can result in muscle pain (the body heals stressed muscles when you sleep), irritability, depression, poor memory and more.

In the long term it can contribute to Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, mental illness, obesity and more. Sleep deprivation is even an effective form of torture.

Researchers have shown that people who have been awake for more than 16 hours are more of a risk driving than those with a blood alcohol content of .05 – it affects your motor skills and judgement. It is also shown to have a significant impact on school grades.

The sweet spot for sleep is between 7 – 9 hours, each night. Sleeping too much is almost as bad as getting not enough.

My Sleep Pattern

It has taken me a long time, though I can now say quite certainly that I have perfected my sleep cycle.

For me 7 hours and 15 minutes sleep is about perfect. I can wake up easily, jump out of bed feeling refreshed and full of energy. I try to go to bed between midnight and 2am waking between 7am and 9am. Sometimes it-s later if I have a reason to be up late and on other occasions I go to bed earlier if I have something I need to wake earlier for, my day job means I work very varied hours.

Regardless I usually set the alarm on my phone so it will wake me in 7 and a half hours time, allowing me 15 minutes to fall asleep. In the event I fall asleep quickly I often will wake 5 or 10 minutes before my alarm; when that happens I try to get up rather than wait for the alarm.

When the Pattern Breaks Down

Sometimes I cannot get my 7 and a quarter hours sleep for a variety of reasons. I may not be feeling well, I was late getting to bed but have to be up early or on occasion I just don’t sleep (when the weather changes my body often has difficulty adjusting and this often affects my sleep).

If you cannot get that much in a particular night have a power nap. When unable to get my full sleep I often take a nap or two of about 20 minutes, again setting an alarm to wake me. I find each nap erases the effect of missing about an hour from my sleep – but there is??obviously??diminishing returns after missing more than 3 hours sleep. When a??significant??amount??of sleep is missing (over several days or a week) I will generally make it up??progressively by sleeping in an extra hour or so over the next few days to erase the sleep debt .

When feeling sick or run-down I listen to my body and get more sleep, going to bed earlier or sleeping in if possible. Typically an extra hour or two will do, again if I don’t have the time available at night I may substitute it for a daytime nap – who doesn’t love a siesta.

If you need more sleep take it. However sometimes it is just because you-re not getting enough sunlight, which used to be the case with me.

Let the Sun Shine

My dad always talked about the importance of -getting some sunshine- when I was a kid, it was only until recently I realized he was onto something. I now try to get at least half an hour outside each day and avoid wearing sunglasses. I used to put them on whenever I went outside, now it-s generally only when looking into the direction of the sun (when driving , playing sport or sitting in a bad position).

Our body-s evolved with exposure to large amounts of sunshine, both on to our skin and filtered through our eyes – for many of us that exposure is almost non-existent and without going into the science behind this, basically it does affect our sleep. Now I-m not going to suggest we run around in nothing but loin cloths all day, but some exposure to the sun is important. An hour a day is more than enough – cancer is a very serious concern, so wear sunscreen and a hat, use sunglasses as I described and avoid being outside around 12-2pm when sun is at its brightest.

You-re Bed

One thing I would really recommend is a great bed. Mine cost more than my car. But it-s not great because its expensive, it could be useless for you, but for me it is perfect. I can lie down for just 10 minutes and feel so much better.

Spend a lot of time finding a great bed. I tried almost 70 beds over about a week in order to find the right one, some of them I laid on for more than 10 minutes. Sales people will think your weird, but if they want to sell you a bed they better get with the program.

Sleep

So there you have it, nothing to complex, sleep, be happy, be healthy and enjoy life.

Whats your sleep schedule like and how do you get to sleep?

“If you can’t convince them, confuse them.” – Harry S. Truman

Or as my old teacher said – “If you cant dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with bullshit.”

In interviews politicians and the like dance around a question for hours with bullshit and bravado, like a bullfighter taunting and teasing the interviewer. Never standing directly in the way of the question, waving their red cape around in a flurry and simply stepping out of the way when necessary.

Their are no simple straight answers, they dart off on a tangent – “Well poisoned apples being sold to the public is a important issue, equally important is my mothers oranges. They are so delicious and make great juice.” Yes I’m sure they are, but we were talking about deadly apples, not delicious oranges.

When dealing with a salesman there is more bullshit. Doing a deal really means surrounding this deal with so much shit, you wont see the giant pile of it that your about to pay for then step in and trample all through your house.

In the increasingly likely event they really don’t know about the product the salesman will throw out some shit they think you want to hear… “It’s a bargain, I don’t know how long it will last at this price”. The answer is until some other sap buys it or the boss tells the salesman to change the price.

And when a blogger doesn’t post for the better part of a month he writes a quick little post like this hoping people wont notice the absence and everything will return to normal.

Take it easy on the bullshit, regular programming will resume later this week.

—

In my absence I have ticked off another goal, I have now read two of the most famouslly daunting novels Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and Ulysses by James Joyce.

Perhaps more importantlly I am polishing my second short story, Dark Charity, which will be available for public consumption soon enough.

I’m discovering more and more that there is also a fog of writing, where you get in too deep, too immersed in your own writing and things begin to loose meaning, direction – even all sense.

Its almost like Stockholm Syndrome as well.

The words take you captive, you hate them at first, doing as they say regretfully. But after being stuck in a room together, for what seems an eternity, the lines become blurred. The more you co-operate, the worse they treat you. And somehow you like them more and more – you think they are great.

You begin to think they are the greatest bunch of words to ever hold a writer captive. In fact your now convinced they did not drag you kicking and screaming – you were asking for it. Pleading for some words to come along, take you by the hand for a walk to a better place.

You go along with the gag, pretend your chaining yourself to the computer, and resume each day to put more of those words into action, telling their story.

However, once the writing is done and the words are on the page the truth slowly returns. You have been brainwashed – the fog of writing was so thick you couldn’t see that all along it was a bad story. In fact it’s just awful.

You try to forget about it – hide the pages in a draw and pray the words don’t creep back into your head.

But they do. Take another look, surely its not as bad as you thought.

—

So what does all of that mean. Well I finally finished the first draft of my second short story (it’s called Dark Charity) and the fog is thick.

I’m not sure if I love it or hate it. The truth probably lies somewhere in-between. There is obviously a lot of work to do, like perhaps a complete re-write, yet I believe the basic storyline is quite good.

Stay tuned.

—

My family home, a few acres of what could be classed as a hobby farm set amongst bushland (native Australian forest) is really a pet cemetery. I would love to see archaeologists digging up the grounds in thousands of years and trying to explain so many remains.

Taking pride of place amongst most of the unmarked graves is Dennis. Dennis was the wise Buddha of our family’s many cats. He eventually taught most of what he knew to Spaz, his protege. They looked quite alike, both ginger, except Spaz was fat and had patches of white on his feet and chest.

Dennis was Zen like, at least it seemed that way to me as a child. The other cats would create quite a fuss when I pulled their tails or got a little zealous with my patting, running in fear of their life and causing me to chase them. Wise Dennis would just calmly back away.

However he wasn’t completely docile. He was also a Shaolin killer monk cat. While our other cats could all pick off their share of small wild birds Dennis’s party trick was killing rabbits. I never fully understood how. I would often seem him sitting for hours perched high up on the dam bank of our property, obviously observing the rabbit burrows a few hundred meters away along a small creek. He was stalking his prey from a distance and learning their habits.

He would often leave their remains, mostly fur and a view organs he had no taste for, ceremoniously on our doormat. Too many times a family member would unknowingly step out into a pile of what was once Bugs Bunny’s third cousin early in the morning.

Dennis was patient, teaching the idiot Spaz his Zen ways. His calming influence vastly improved Spaz’s demeanour, from tear about, destroyer of furniture and scratcher of arms – to a docile sook who would dribble endlessly after a good pat. Spaz eventually could catch rabbits, but he never quite had the same flair or killer instinct. His attempts to imitate Denis’s ceremonial laying of the remains was hit and miss as well. They were typically small baby bunnies rather than the full grow ones Denis was so proud of, or he would leave the whole rabbit, minus perhaps it’s head.

Not long after his protege’s first catch Denis disappeared. His health had been deteriorating over the past year, he had reached the ripe old age of 18 and had earnt his retirement. After 3 days without a sign of him our families friends, who lived about a kilometre away phoned to say they had found his body. Rather than bother us with his death he slipped away and by sheer coincidence (he had never been to their house before) he chose to die underneath a car that was sitting on their property.

During the years we have certainly gone through quite a few cats, I’ve honestly lost count. There was the originals, Denis and his female companion Mutzi. Mutzi was a feisty cat, probably because she didn’t take my tail pulling lying down. She passed away one night, old age had caught up with her.

Then there was Hypo, a female tortise shell. As the name would suggest she had an unfortunate mental illness that caused her to become incredibly hyperactive. After several years tormenting us she started an argument with a snake and lost. She passed away within a few hours of being bitten – it was a terrible thing to witness, her body fighting the toxins coursing through her body. Despite attempts to save her after consulting a vet, Hypo lost the fight.

Several kittens tried to take her place, one ran away and was never seen again. My father tragically killed another while building a brick chimney. It climbed up the staggered brick steps my dad was building from the ground to the sky, my dad steped down onto the same brick as the poor kitten and broke it, badlly.

Spaz, his name an homage of sorts to Hypo and a reflection of his earlly personality would come next…

—

Stay tuned for the next part of the saga – more cats, a few dogs, oh and penty of ducks and chickens, a pair of sheep, dozens of different birds plus more. Oh and in case your havent read it yet, we even had a pet kangaroo.

Until then I’d love to hear about your childhood pets.

Do you believe them? Do you give up your way of thinking?

What if they all believed you were lying about an illness that was crippling your life and your body? What if everyone believed you were making up all those symptoms that had ruined your life?

My Story

For those who arent regular readers, I was in that position earlier this decade, as barely a teenager, on the verge of suicide as everything around me turned sour.

In case that wasn-t bad enough, I began to doubt myself. That was the worst feeling in the world.

Looking back, doubting myself was far worse than the physical pain and emotional strain I went through. Losing faith in my own judgement and heartfelt belief, then trading it for the opinions of those around me.

It didn-t last for long, but those few weeks were the lowest in my life. Lying in bed suddenly convinced that the pain throughout my body, that had kept me there for over a year, was a figment of my imagination.

Bouncing Off The Bottom

After hitting rock bottom and coming so close to attempting suicide, I became determined to live life according to my own rule and reason. My first rule was although I listened to and respected the opinions of other, I would put my own ahead of all of them. My second was to listen to my heart.

According to both rules I was not making it up and I should seek people that supported my belief and also those who could do something about it. After an incredibly emotional discussion with my mother late at night, I got my families support back . The very next day we set about finding some doctors who would stand in my corner, rather than deliver a barrage of blows from the opposing side of the ring.

First I found a very understanding GP, who although she had precious little idea of what was wrong with me, had a lot of compassion and sent me to every expert who she believed may be able to help. Most of those followed suit with the previous doctors, insisting it was all in my head and that I should stop lying and go back to school.

Finding The Truth In My Eyes

Finally one brilliant doctor looked where others hadn-t, into my eyes. Where others checked my body that had been wracked with pain or probed my mind that was slowly breaking down, he checked my eyes that had shed far too many tears recently. Something appeard wrong to him.

The blood vessels at the back of my eyes, the optic disc, looked seriously aggravated and he referred me to a specialist. Days later I was diagnosed with papilledema, which was caused by benign intracranial hypertension. It turned out earlier doctors where correct, it was all in my head. My body was producing too much of the fluid that runs up your spine and and surounds your brain, underneath the skull. It was putting pressure on the back of my eyes and somehow sending false pain signals all over my body.

I had a 10 inch needle shoved into my spine to drain the excess fluid. Once the pressure (mine was about 600% greater than the normal range) was released things slowly got better.

It was still a battle, a painfully slow rehabilitation process of regaining my lost muscle mass and teaching myself to walk again in a manner befitting a young man rather than 80 year old woman crippled by arthritis. Again I put faith in myself. I could have done hospital based rehab, instead I did my own things, swimming daily in my aunts freezing cold pool in the middle of winter, trying to walk an extra 100m each day (including taking the initial 100m walk – yes I was that bad).

Gradually I made it back to school and got on with my life.

—

Lessons to be Learnt

I grew up an awful lot in the 18 month period briefly described above and I-m sure there are a lot of lessons you can take away from it.

• Your health is the most vital part of your life. Until you are happy and healthy not just physical, but also mentaly and emotionaly, all other concerns in life need to take a back seat. How can you love or take care of someone else when you do not love and take care of yourself.
• Before you try to convince someone else, convince yourself. If you-re trying to pitch an idea or a deal to someone, put your ego and preconceived notions aside for a second and truly listen to your own pitch. Would you invest in, or otherwise trust yourself? If you don-t, why should anyone else.
• We all need true allies. After you have unshakable belief in who you are and what you want to achieve, find people who feel the same and can help you to make it happen. Don-t do it the other way around, you will find the wrong people.
• Yours is the most important opinion – obey experts at your own peril. Learn from them, investigate their advice, but do not follow it blindly and get at least a second opinion. I went through approximately 30 doctors before I found one who agreed with me, it took about another 10 to find someone with the right answers. Go with your opinion and trust your gut – even if you are wrong, it is a lesson learnt.
• Friends will come and go from your life, but family is forever. They are both very important. Be more forgiving of your family, although you can make more, you won-t find any replacements. Friends are a different matter – if they-re not working for you, replace them. When I got sick my then friends completely abandoned me, in 18 months I got a few cards and one visit in the first month. When I got back to school I largely ignored them and found other friends.
• When you-re going through bad times, keep going. Once you hit rock bottom there is nowhere to go but up. Along the way you will learn more about yourself, what you are capable of and the world around you than you could ever imagine.
• Never give up on your dreams and goals. While sick I had a lot of time to contemplate all the things I would rather be doing and eventually I wrote them all down. Getting better was at the top of the list and since ticking it off I have set about achieving the remaining 100+ life goals.

Most importantly, enjoy life. Live yours and help enrich others.

“Dream as if you will live forever, live as if you will die tomorrow.” – James Dean

Inspiration for me often comes from a number of odd sources. A former world champion motorcycle racer taught me some of the most important life lessons I have ever head and probably saved my life in the process. I also picked up some great advice from paparazzi king Darryn Lyons’ autobiography.

Today I want to share some of the wisdom I have absorbed from long since departed actor James Dean. His actions spoke as loud as the words he made famous on and off the screen. The rising movie stars life may have been tragically cut short in motoring crash but he achieved more in his brief 24 years than most do in a full lifetime. Fortunately for us he left behind a legacy of great work and wisdom to inspire all of us.

Here is an excerpt of a small autobiography James wrote in high school at the age of just 17 entitled My Case Study:

“I had always lived such a talented life. I studied violin, played in concerts, tap-danced on theatre stages but most of all I like art, to mould and create things with my hands. I came back to Indiana to live with my uncle. I lost the dancing and violin, but not the art. I think my life will be devoted to art and dramatics.”

It was obvious at 17 James had plenty of interests and observed a lot of what life had to offer. He was on his way to discovering how he would spend it. James went on to list a range of other careers and possibilities in case he struggled to achieve his dreams. Though his fall back plans included a farmer, he had complete faith in his abilities:

“I know if I better myself that there will be no match. A fellow must have confidence.”

In addition to his passion for art James had a healthy and diverse range of hobbies:

“When living in California my young eyes experienced many things. It was also my luck to make three visiting trips to Indiana, going and coming a different route each time. I have been in almost every state west of Indiana. I remember all.”

“My hobby, or what I do in my spare time, is motorcycle. I know a lot about them mechanically and I love to ride. I have been in a few races and have done well. I own a small cycle myself. When I’m not doing that, I’m usually engaged in athletics, the heartbeat of every American boy.

“As one strives to make a goal in a game, there should be a goal in this crazy world for all of us. I hope I know where mine is, anyway, I’m after it.”

At the age of just 17 Dean was already so wise, determined, sure of himself and where he was going. He had a firm belief in his passions of art, travel, motor racing and sport. If he could not make a career out of his passions (which he was incredibly confident about) he had alternatives in mind that he would have been quite content.

Dean passed away just 6 years later at the wheel of newly acquired Porsche race car, but in the years between he achieved so much. In addition to appearing on 7 television shows he acted on Broadway several times before progressing to film. He made only 3 movies yet was nominated for 2 Academy Awards for ‘Giant’ and ‘East ofEden’ and was set for superstardom but passed away before his third film ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ premiered.

Away from center stage Dean was also a promising race car driver, talented photographer and had planned to become a movie director with plans to take the helm of his next film.

In a letter to his family in Fairmount in 1952, Dean informed his family that he had been acepted into The Actors Studio, a theater company that had launched the career of Marlon Brando and other before him. Rather than brag about his achivment or ponder about the potentional fame and money that was to follow he instead focused on the impact he could make:

“If I can keep this up and nothing interferes with my progress, one of these days I might be able to contribute something to the world.”

More quotes:

“The gratification comes in the doing, not in the results.”

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”

“Only the gentle are ever really strong.”

Dean’s own prophetic words make for a fitting final thought:

“If a man can bridge the gap between life and death, if he can live on after he’s dead, then maybe he was a great man.”