On a Living Spree
I rarely think of the big accomplishments or bucket list items. Even though those things are important, I think of the moments like last night, a long sunset beach walk with my pup. Grateful for the little things in life while they last. ❤️
What memories would you go back to?
When you’re in fight-or-flight mode, everything you do or don’t do teaches the brain something about the perceived threat. When you avoid or flee the situation, your brain experiences a wave of relief. The amygdala learns that avoiding that situation is how you stay safe from that threat.
This is exactly how you want the brain to respond if the threat is a grizzly bear. But what if the perceived threat is something less biologically adaptive, like a worry about being judged or teased?
One of the first things I discovered when I began to surf was how arbitrary and punishing the ocean can be. You get up on the board, start to feel confident, and before you know it, you're underwater in the wash cycle, the sea tossing you around. Once your flailing is over, you make sure all your limbs are still bending the right way and you take deep breaths, grateful for all that beautiful oxygen in your lungs.
That’s not so different from real life. Sometimes a huge wave seems to come out of nowhere and knocks you down, leaving you disoriented and gasping for breath. That’s exactly what happened to me in the first months of 2020. I found myself sobbing on my apartment floor for months straight, wondering how everything had changed so quickly, and desperately trying to find a safe and stable shore where I could plant my feet.
In this enlightening podcast episode, we dive into how what people thought was a social good company that made millions of dollars, it started the journey of writing the book, Experiential Billionaire, and sharing the profound wisdom of living life with a sense of urgency and living a life rich in experiences. Discover powerful insights on seizing opportunities, transforming dreams into reality, and navigating life's unexpected turns.
In life, most of us experience some sort of unexpected wake-up calls, such as personal challenges or crises. This can profoundly alter one's perspective and priorities. These unforeseen events have the potential to reshape life's trajectory, pushing individuals to seek more meaningful experiences. We go into things that most people talk about wishing they would have done with their life and the excuses they made so that you can live a life that has no regrets!
Joe Huff and Bridget Hilton’s transformational workshop takes attendees through a powerful and entertaining half day focused on all the ways companies, teams and leaders can unlock powerful results and untapped human potential by learning how to identify and prioritize investing in fulfilling experiences.
Told through engaging real life experiences and backed by science, their stories energize, inspire, and provide the tools and habits necessary for attendees to learn how to find peak inspiration, build deeper and more meaningful connections with their teams and co-workers, overcome burnout, optimize individual and team performance, and cultivate strong feelings of fulfillment, community, belonging and wellbeing.
Our experiences – the big trips, the small moments of joy, and everything in between – are the real wealth of our lives. So why is it that we consistently fail to do the things we’re yearning to do? And how can we live a life that’s experientially rich despite the daily grind?
Today’s show is a conversation with authors Bridget Hilton and Joe Huff about how to treat time as our most valuable currency while it’s still on our side.
Thanks Ethan for having me on! One of my favorite chats.
Bridget Hilton is co-author of the "Experiential Billionaire" book, which was just released. Her backstory is fascinating, and jumps from helping launch the careers of artists like Rihanna, The Weeknd and Taylor Swift, to shifting into founding the first ever social good electronics company which helped more than 50,000 people receive the gift of hearing for the first time.
However, as much as you might wish that life was one fun and fulfilling experience after another:
Suffering and hard times teach us lessons that can’t be learned any other way.
But, to reap the benefits that come with hardship, you need to have the right mindset.
You must learn to reframe negative experiences into positive memories (or teachable moments).
This exercise helps you do that.
When it comes to learning, Mahatma Gandhi put it best:
“Live as if you’ll die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever.”
In other words, cultivate a sense of urgency to pursue your desires and dreams now.
But—and this is important—don’t let that stop you from investing in your long-term growth.
When we’re young, we’re constantly learning.
Somewhere along the line, though, that growth starts to wane.
- The job market continues to boom, with millions of workers still leaving their jobs each month despite talk of a slowing economy and recession. Also booming, according to recent Gallup polling, worker disengagement and unhappiness.
- This is not just an HR issue but a bottom line one as well: business units with engaged workers have 23% higher profit, while employees who are not engaged cost the world $7.8 trillion in lost productivity, equal to 11% of global GDP.
- Sixty percent of people reported being emotionally detached at work and 19% as being miserable. Only 33% reported feeling engaged — and that is even lower than 2020.
So What Can I Help With?
Today is the National Park Services Birthday! One of my life goals is to go to ALL of them - so far, I'm at 27/63 (43%)! Who wants to come for the rest?
NPS was created on August 35, 1916 to "preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations".
It's one of my favorite things about this country. All entrance fees are waved today! Get outside :)
