Living Radically Ambitious

Today I have a kick ass guest post from someone that I truly respect in the lifestyle design/nomadic/online entrepreneur space - Cody McKibben from Thrilling Heroics. I have known of Cody since the early Brazen days and seen some amazing work, humanitarian efforts and lifestyle changes that could fill a lifetime and he has done them in a few years. In his own words “Cody is a Nomadic Entrepreneur, Lifestyle Designer & Traveler based in Southeast Asia who challenges readers to Design an Unconventional Lifestyle on their OWN terms!” I think you guys are going to like this one.

I talk a lot about living life remarkably. To me, life is meant to be lived adventurously, not passively. As humans, we’re meant to go out and hunt and gather, and chase what we want, live an active lifestyle, not caged up in little boxes staring at screens 24/7.

Since I got my start as a web programmer, I’m guilty of staring at computer screens too much myself, but that’s why I’m passionate about helping others break free—liberating themselves from traditional mindsets about work, getting them out of the cubicle, creating their own entrepreneurial ventures, living remarkable lives, and doing good for others.

As a child, I saw most of the “grown ups” around me settled for doing something boring, pushing paper or some other buls#!t, as long as it put dinner on the table. For some people, they find something that allows them to provide a great lifestyle for their families, and that’s more important to them than being ecstatic in their work, and that’s just fine if it’s what you choose consciously, but for the majority of folks, I see people beaten down and brainwashed conditioned over time to conform to societal standards—their childhood daydreams battered out of them—and giving up on any higher aspirations in life.

Most people become content to settle and do something they’re not passionate about, in exchange for a minimal level of comfort. If it pays the rent, gets you cable TV, and a set of wheels, well there’s really no point complaining or rocking the boat because you want more out of life, is there?

One day I snapped out of it and realized that settling for spending 2/3 of my life in a box and watching other people live like rockstars on MTV wasn’t enough for me.

I wanted a life like in the movies. Don’t we all? We convince ourselves that it’s unrealistic, that we’re not special enough, or that the luxury life full of adventure and excitement is only for the lucky few who sell their companies for millions.

But like Tim Ferriss says, you don’t actually want to be a millionaire, you want the experiences you think only millions of dollars can buy.

Tim’s book The 4 Hour Workweek was a key ingredient in my realization that there isn’t just one path to any goal—there are thousands of ways to get where you want to go. The key to living your rockstar life is to think outside the box and seek unconventional ways to accomplish what you want, and have the experiences you want to have.

My decision to move to Southeast Asia where the cost of living is much lower allowed me to continue to build my business but also have much more free time and flexibility. If I were to live the lifestyle I have here back home, it would most certainly cost me four or five thousand dollars a month, and keep me working 80-100 hours a week with no time for friends and travel, which are two things that I love most about life.

For me, choosing the remarkable path and living a Thrillingly Heroic life means prioritizing what I’m passionate about above everything else—above money, above status, above prestige. So I moved to Thailand, where I could thrive on much less income, and have more freedom and time to do things like

• travel to the ancient wonder of the world, the Angkor Wat ruins in Cambodia
• spend a few weeks working from the beach in my favorite place I’ve ever found in all my travels—Krabi, Thailand
• fly back home to attend my favorite concert, the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in the SoCal desert for 3 days
• collaborate with In Search Of Sanuk on charity mixers and fundraiser parties for the Bangkok Refugee Center, urban garden project in the slums, and volunteering with orphanages in the Thai countryside and on the border with Burma
• and now renting an incredibly beautiful beach-view home on an island with my girlfriend
• all for less than I’d spend on rent in California!

Finding the work that makes you passionate is not easy. It’s a long journey—one that I’m still on—but I believe that money follows passion. I prioritize the things that are important to me—free time to write and create, quality experiences with my friends and loved ones, and traveling and learning about different people around the world—and I have found unique ways to provide value to others and afford the life that I love.

Giving something meaningful to the world in a way you’re passionate about is more important than all the wealth you could ever gather up. What do you have to offer? What do you love to create? And how can you find unconventional ways to get started and make a living?

And I’m not just talking about getting by—I’m talking about thriving. Who can you team up with to do spectacular things? Who can you network with to achieve the results you want. How could you change your circle of friends to surround yourself with successful people that are doing the kinds of things you want to do? Where in the world can you go where you can serve the right people and live the lifestyle that you crave?

Get out of your box and realize that there is a wide world of opportunities out there, with a much more diverse range of possibilities than you think.

Leave your comments and thoughts below.