Initially I wrote this big long post about why the trip is over / stalled. Meh. Here’s the deal:

Motorcycle travel is awesome. But, I don’t want it to delay my larger ambitions in life. Time to pull my head out of my ass and do something that’s going to slingshot me forward a few years in terms of my business, finances, value, contribution, social skills, etc…

Enter stage left, Adsense Flippers. These guys put up an internship a few months ago [...]]]>

Initially I wrote this big long post about why the trip is over / stalled. Meh. Here’s the deal:

Motorcycle travel is awesome. But, I don’t want it to delay my larger ambitions in life. Time to pull my head out of my ass and do something that’s going to slingshot me forward a few years in terms of my business, finances, value, contribution, social skills, etc…

Enter stage left, Adsense Flippers. These guys put up an internship a few months ago and I knew I had to apply for. It seemed like a long-shot at first, but they’ve graciously selected me! And there’s no way I’d pass this opportunity up, not for anything. It’s my dream job. So, off to the Philippines I go. I’m keeping this domain, and the site will stay live, but I’m not sure how much ‘personal blogging’ I’m going to be doing in the next few months.

Thank you SO much to everyone who has read my work, commented, emailed me or otherwise supported me. You have my deepest thanks.

Sometimes the road towards what matters will take you in strange directions. Just go with it.

Lastly, go here –> Tropical Workforce.

Related Posts

• 7 Reasons to Quit Your Job and Travel The World – Part 1
• You Are Going to Die
• How to Get in Touch With People Like You
• Sell Your Value, Not Your Passion
• How to Make Difficult Decisions

I don’t really want this blog to turn into a travel blog. I intend to reserve it for my thoughts on life, business, goals, lifestyle, etc… However, that isn’t to say some posts will be travel related.

If you want to follow the details of my trip and/or experiences though, I’ll be posting photos and updates on the Facebook page I created for this site.

You can see that here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/MotoVagabond/235728136488437

Please ‘like’ and share with your friends!

Making difficult decisions is just that – difficult.

If you’re reading this blog, it is likely because you’re a shaker and a mover. You’re a person that makes decisions. (Or, at least you want to be.)

However, time and time again I’ve found it extraordinarily difficult to make choices that I knew were going to dramatically affect my future. E.g., selling all my possessions and riding to South America.

Ultimately, you don’t know the outcome of any given choice. You can only guess. [...]]]>

Making difficult decisions is just that – difficult.

If you’re reading this blog, it is likely because you’re a shaker and a mover. You’re a person that makes decisions. (Or, at least you want to be.)

However, time and time again I’ve found it extraordinarily difficult to make choices that I knew were going to dramatically affect my future. E.g., selling all my possessions and riding to South America.

Ultimately, you don’t know the outcome of any given choice. You can only guess. And it is that process of guessing the outcomes that can cause people to enter fits of indecision and anxiety. Well, here’s a way to deal with that.

How to Make a Difficult, Big Decision

Define two things.

1. What is the absolute worst case scenario

2. What is absolute best case scenario

If the worst thing happens, will the lesson be worth the consequences?

If the best case happens, will you be proud of the choice?

That’s it. That’s all you have to figure out. The decisions will be obvious after that. However, it might not be easy. Finding the courage to move forward will likely be more difficult than choosing you path.

How This Played Out For Me

Choice: Do I sell all my sheit, try and start a mobile business and ride my motorcycle to Chile?

Best Case Scenario: It works. I am mobile and free. I learn a ton. I share my story and inspire others. I feel good about my life.

Worst Case Scenario: I go broke, lose everything I have and get a job. I started this thing out working a job (with almost no savings). Net loss? – NOTHING.

Decision → Do it.

Ok, the “Worse Case Scenario” is actually that I could die. But, motorcycles are inherently dangerous. So, I rule that out as a worst case for two reasons:

1. I’m going to do that anyway (die that is), eventually.

2. I would be riding a motorcycle regularly even if I didn’t do this trip. So, it’s not really a factor unique to this adventure.

What Are You Facing?

Are you stuck in the grips of indecision?

I know it’s tough, but you’ve got to make a choice. Don’t waste time obsessing over it. Ultimately, you will learn something no matter what you choose. Very few things in life are entirely irreversible.

Make a choice.

Act. Adjust. Repeat.

Related Posts

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This morning, at 9am, I got on my motorcycle and left everything I know. (In the interest of experiencing more of the things I don’t.)

A big thanks to my loyal readers (seriously all of you!), and more specifically, my enthusiastic commenters Caroline and Alex.

Also a huge thanks to Sean Ogle for his advice.

Jason Robillard for his friendship, example, leadership and assistance.

And my mom, who would support me even if I was a serial killer.

[ Note: I stole "Big Hairy Audacious" from Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. Buy it. ]

I’m days from leaving Michigan. The plan, from the beginning (like a year ago), was to hop on my bike and drive away.

Said plan has been delayed repeatedly because said motorcycle is broken.

- Fuck.

I’ve been busting my ass to get it sorted ← Reason Excuse for lack of blog posts lately.

But, all that to say what my the real problem is, why [...]]]>

[ Note: I stole "Big Hairy Audacious" from Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. Buy it. ]

I’m days from leaving Michigan. The plan, from the beginning (like a year ago), was to hop on my bike and drive away.

Said plan has been delayed repeatedly because said motorcycle is broken.

- Fuck.

I’ve been busting my ass to get it sorted ← Reason Excuse for lack of blog posts lately.

But, all that to say what my the real problem is, why you’re also going to encounter it, and how you can push through it.

The Problem With Big Hairy Audacious Goals
(Like riding your Motorcycle to South America)

You will encounter resistance. Like, a shit ton of it.

I wasn’t expecting this little journey to be easy, I knew there would be hard parts. But, I figured after quitting my job I’d hop on my bike and ride away. The hard stuff was supposed to come later.

Nope.

Problem after problem keeps cropping up, delaying my departure by yet another day. It’s frustrating as hell as I wanted to be on the road YESTERDAY (literally). But, here’s the deal:

How This Applies to You

Seth Godin calls it the resistance, or, the Dip. Right before the lofty dream is realized, is when your efforts will seem most futile and your work least effective. It is the moment in which you are most likely to quit. What’s the cause?

According to him, the Lizard Brain.

Your Lizard Brain is actually your Amygdala. Two little almond like structures in the back of your brain (near your brain stem) that control your instinctual responses to things.

I’m not going to get into serious depth on this. But, in short, your Lizard Brain tries to keep you safe. In our not too distant past (as humans), this helped us avoid predators and pursue mates. It still serves a purpose, but it can also hamper your creativity and ambitions by causing you not to take risks.

Failure to avoid Lions could result in your death, failure have a successful book launch just hurts your ego – but the two risks feel the same. Unfortunately, you have to risk failure in order to do work that is extraordinary.

“You become a winner because you’re good at losing. The hard part about losing is that you might permit it to give strength to the resistance, that you might believe that you don’t deserve to win, that you might, in some dark corner of your soul, give up.

Don’t.”

~Seth Godin

My own examples of the resistance the last few weeks:

- Trying to buy and find motorcycle luggage and racks that cost less than $600. (Too much cash, this thing is happening on a super small budget – to the tune of 3K) I got so frustrated with this process that I just stopped looking for stuff. I had this weird sense of pressure to get my shit (so I could pack my stuff and leave), while simultaneously feeling like I just wanted to do nothing.

The resistance.

- Almost hit a car and totalled my truck (a day before I was going to sell it. I seriously needed that money!).

The resistance.

- Sold my truck to a crook who ended up stealing my license plate, my tools and my registration. Which wasted a bunch of my time getting things sorted with the State of Michigan. Long story (partly my fault).

The resistance.

Not only was this stuff inconvenient and frustrating to deal with (as I have a list about 6 miles long of things to get done before leaving), it made me feel like a jackass. It made me feel like throwing in the towel and quitting before I even left.

I’m not going to do that.

You Will Encounter the Resistance

You know how it feels. You sit down to write that song, craft that blog post, train for that race, or build that website – and you just can’t bring yourself to do it. The inspiration and motivation isn’t there.

Listen, you’re sabotaging yourself. And it’s totally normal.

How to Hit The Road, Write The Song, and Launch the Business
(How to Beat The Resistance)

Show up and plow forward. Not with grim determination (that will frustrate you), but with acceptance of the fact that the very reason this shit is hard is BECAUSE it’s important. Your Lizard Brain wants you to stay safe, to do it the easy way. It wants you to quit so you can go back to what you know and never fail or do anything spectacular.

This is why your ambitious goal is like launching a Space Shuttle. If the rocket propulsion stops, at any point, the Shuttle falls to the ground and never makes orbit. There can be no let-up, it must plow forward until it breaks Earth’s gravitational pull.

And that is exactly what you have to do.

It’s not like a bobsled. I.E., push it hard for a quick sec and then enjoy the ride. If you do that, you won’t make it. Get out the bobsled (not a typo), you’re flying the Shuttle, bitch.

Seriously, you have to keep going, because you have a choice.

You can either embrace the resistance, accept it totally, for what it is. Or, you can be angry and frustrated (which will only cause further anger and frustration).

The resistance is here because you’re on the edge. The edge of making it.

Don’t quit.

Related Posts

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Other people don’t need to like you in order for you to enjoy fulfilling relationships. Liking someone, for the positive character traits that they possess, is enough. The energy you then put into the relationship can flow outward, from you – to them. Nothing needs to come back in return.

In this state, you are both your most powerful and most genuine. And, as a result, a new kind of quality will be introduced to your relationships.

There will no longer [...]]]>

Other people don’t need to like you in order for you to enjoy fulfilling relationships. Liking someone, for the positive character traits that they possess, is enough. The energy you then put into the relationship can flow outward, from you – to them. Nothing needs to come back in return.

In this state, you are both your most powerful and most genuine. And, as a result, a new kind of quality will be introduced to your relationships.

There will no longer be a sense of fear, neediness or approval seeking. You are complete with or without this person’s affirmation. For the first time, you will experience what it means to be a friend.

Related Posts

• Consuming Information vs. Applying Knowledge
• 299 Days to Departure – Progress Update
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Sometimes I think we forget how lucky we are. There is a man sitting at the coffee shop, 30 feet away from me, who appears to have a mild case of Cerebral Palsy or Multiple Sclerosis, or something. It breaks my heart.

Why aren’t we satisfied, content, or even thrilled that we can walk, talk and breath – every day. Why can’t I appreciate the little things more?

Better to have failed at living your best life than to have successfully settled for mediocrity.

In 6 weeks, I’m leaving on my motorcycle to ride from the United States to Chile. This has been a dream of mine for over three years now, and I have actively worked at creating the circumstances that have made this possible for more than a third of that time.

To be perfectly honest, I’m a little nervous. There are times where I feel totally confident and comfortable with my decision, and times where I wonder what the hell I’m doing. [...]]]>

In 6 weeks, I’m leaving on my motorcycle to ride from the United States to Chile. This has been a dream of mine for over three years now, and I have actively worked at creating the circumstances that have made this possible for more than a third of that time.

To be perfectly honest, I’m a little nervous. There are times where I feel totally confident and comfortable with my decision, and times where I wonder what the hell I’m doing. Occasionally, I let the thought, “What will people think of me if this doesn’t work out?” enter my mind.

But then, I remember that it doesn’t actually matter. Ultimately, no one really cares whether or not you succeed at whatever it is you are currently working on.

So often we’re afraid to rock the boat and make bold decisions because we think others will judge our results, and consequently, us. But, the reality is that no one cares whether you become wildly successful or a complete fuck-up. Your friends, family, and readers have their own problems – their own struggles. They’re not going to obsess over yours for more than a few minutes.

This has been a pivotal distinction for me. There was a time when I wasn’t willing to make choices that could potentially make me look stupid.

I’m not afraid of that anymore.

If you’re going to do anything interesting, you’re going to have to be willing to make a fool of yourself over and over. Shattering other peoples expectations and standards for who you are, what you are, and what you’re doing means you’re willing to alter the course of your life and get closer to your dreams (instead of wasting years at a time in the pursuit of something that is no longer meaningful to you).

That’s what interesting people do. The things that other people aren’t doing. The things that no one else understands. The things that seem crazy. The crazy dream.

If no one would write a book, create a movie or tell a story about your life… you’re selling yourself short.

You can do more.

That doesn’t mean you have to get on a motorcycle and ride around the World. My guess is that If you’ve read this far, deep down, you already know what “more” means for you.

Get to work. Live a life that’s worth talking about when you’re 80.

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I did it. I am going to travel Central and South America on my motorcycle. I’ve pushed my departure date back a few weeks so I could spend some time in Chicago with my family, but I’m going.

It’s hard to believe that this is actually going to happen. A very short time ago this entire endeavor felt like a pipe-dream. I’m thrilled, nervous, and excited all at once. But, I think it’s going to be awesome.

I suppose, for a lot [...]]]>

I did it. I am going to travel Central and South America on my motorcycle. I’ve pushed my departure date back a few weeks so I could spend some time in Chicago with my family, but I’m going.

It’s hard to believe that this is actually going to happen. A very short time ago this entire endeavor felt like a pipe-dream. I’m thrilled, nervous, and excited all at once. But, I think it’s going to be awesome.

I suppose, for a lot of people, this isn’t that big of a deal. But for me, saving money and mobilizing my income was a difficult thing to achieve. Last year I was working three jobs and making less than $1000 a month. At a sub 1k/month salary level, I just wasn’t able to put enough money away to travel extensively on my savings alone. However, it was in that state that I committed myself to the trip and started this blog, regardless of the circumstances.

Next month I’ll be quitting my final job and on track to replace my income via my own business. It’s not going to be a cake-walk, and freelance income can vary, but so far things are looking good. And I’m leaving anyway.

At some point, I realized that you can make money an excuse for as long as you want. There will always be excuses if you look hard enough for them. I’m done with that. It’s on. Funded sparsely or liberally, I’m hitting the road.

How Did I Do it?

The truth is that I’m not sure where I’d be right now if I hadn’t taken the advice of Sean Ogle and/or hadn’t committed myself to starting a freelance business. Last year, I was heavy into trying to figure out how I could create some form of passive income via an information product or something. I’m glad Sean talked some sense into me. For beginners, I think a service based business is a fantastic way to get started learning some skills that will be crucial in any entrepreneur’s future pursuits.

Once you start to generate some cash, you begin to see how value creation and delivery works. You begin to wrap your mind around the game (phrase stolen from Dan Andres @ Lifestylebusinesspodcast.com). And, once you get the game, you will become far more effective at playing it.

How You Can Do it, Too

Sean has recently released a new product which shows people how to do exactly what I’m talking about here. How to build a business.

Location Rebel is a step by step approach to gaining the skills you need to mobilize your income, so you can go about freeing yourself from your job and doing the things you’d rather be doing. This is not another make money online / get-rich-quick information product.

This stuff is hard work, and Sean’s course is definitely not a fast-track to quick and easy money. But you could easily replace the current income you make from your job in 6 months to a year.

If you’ve wanted to start your own business so you can travel, stay home with your kids, or even just sleep-in in the morning, I can’t recommend Location Rebel highly enough. Sean is the real deal and a hell of a guy. I’m certain you won’t be disappointed.

[Note that the above links to Location Rebel are affiliate links. If you buy Sean's course, I get paid a commission. I don't feel at all guilty about that because Sean's advice has changed my life. Do what you will.]

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