Don’t kid yourself…you need to get outdoors.
More than a decade of running a successful online business, selling a brand or two, teaching around the world, and holding a full time career and advancing like I have…it takes a toll. It’s a toll once can’t describe unless they’ve had the feeling anxiety hit at the wrong time in the wrong place and they begin to freeze. Confusion sets in as you make decisions, the feeling in the pit of your stomach, trying to decide how to set things up for your future – while enjoying the present. It happened to me at my financial adviser as we balanced out my financial life…holdings here, 401k there, stock over there, cash on hand here, then the question…
‘What do you want to do before you’re too old to do it.’
Oh god.
Over the weekend I was up in the mountains, taking the Land Cruiser and a friend off-road for the day to explore the mountain roads, Sandia Cave, and get some mud on the tires. But, it was also to explore – when I’m not working, writing, filming, teaching, I like to explore. I like to get out, get filthy dirty, get tired, get challenged. While out I saw a giant fir, which you can see in the photo. I have more than a 6 foot wingspan and well, I decided to be a tree hugger – and wasn’t even half way around this beast. The age of this tree, the hundreds of years it’s seen, the people who came before me who saw it, maybe as a small little twig of a tree or the giant it is…it reminded me. I won’t live forever, and all those who came before me to that tree – they one day ended up with the question of what they wanted to do before they were too old to do it.
More often that not – we end up answering the questions when we are too old to do anything about it.
For me the wilderness offers respite. Sure, it’s fun, but it’s more about going somewhere with no distraction, especially when I need to make a decision, and force myself to face myself. I like to go off on my own, sit with my decisions that need to make, decide to decide as we say in UNDO, and take some time away from those who would advise, guide, or even try to figure out how to steal my money…but more on that later. I don’t have to make the decisions, I can decide not to decide, and come back – and usually make atleast one. It’s me versus me, here versus here, change versus 
ego…and that’s the most important part of it. Who do I want to be versus who I am.
But it rarely happens at the computer, typing, or on the phone on a business call or doing an interview. Instead – it’s when I’m about to give up, so I do, I sit, then face myself. And after I face myself – I push on to achieve my goal. It’s my process.
Yours may be different, but the process is still there. But, to talk physiology for a moment – when you exercise hard, not lifting some weights, but go out and push yourself to the limit physically, you increase the amount of oxygen your brain takes in – and force the brain to process information at a faster rate, and to be candid with you, after decades of teaching how to fight under this state – it’s one of the best states to make decisions. You brain is being fueled at it’s maximum capacity, you can see with your mind’s eye things you didn’t see before when you were sitting at the desk. You might not be able to do this at first, but I promise, eventually, you’ll be able to harness this state to focus your brain, and in term, focus your mind.
So go out – get outside, push yourself.
Go somewhere, be alone, where you don’t have to make decisions…and make decisions.
