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This is a reader story. (Read others or tell us yours.)
We're taught that sitting in a classroom or reading a book will make us knowledgeable—but all the way in Lahore, Pakistan, Mohammad Khan didn't find that to be true. Mohammad decided to change how he experienced the act of knowing. Here's how he explained it:
Years ago, I thought accumulating information was the same as possessing knowledge. But even with all the information I had, my life didn’t reflect what I knew. Information was boring. I needed a reason to do something. To fight the boredom, I discovered thinking “Who knows?” and “Why not?” were very useful weapons.
It all started with a seemingly simple challenge: to travel to any one destination in the world within the next year, paid for purely with income made online. Why not try? Eight months later I cashed a $1,700 check and spent 11 days at a beachfront hotel in Thailand with my wife.
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Things I found on long walks in foreign cities, or perhaps when someone posted them on Twitter.
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We've all heard it takes our brains 21 days to form a new habit. This new journal, currently being crowd-funded, does exactly that—keeps you on track while you form new daily habits, with these habits eventually leading you to conquer big goals.
Here's how it works:
- Choose a goal
- Write down the daily habits that you think will help you achieve that goal
- Plug those habits into your daily tracker pages
- At the end of each day, take 5 minutes to reflect on how you did
- Review at the end of each week, then repeat until the month ends
Seems pretty simple. But like a lot of simple systems, it may have the power to create real change.
Check out the video:
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This is a quest case study. (Read others or nominate yourself.)
I love New Zealand, and when I heard the story of someone who set out to walk the length of both main islands, I had to hear more.
Introduce yourself.
I am a New Zealander who until recently led a pretty standard life as a coordinator of an online sports mentoring program. A few years ago, I got it into my head to walk the length of New Zealand—all 3058 kilometers of it, following the Te Araroa Trail. When I told my husband, he was concerned about me going alone, and that’s when the quest got a theme: Not Alone.
I’d walk the length of New Zealand, but with a revolving cast of people the entire way. And we’d raise money for The Mental Health Foundation as we went.
Why did you decide to undertake your quest?
I believe people need to talk more. So much gets bottled up in our heads. We ponder, overthink, and make thoughts worse, until we talk them out. I handle situations better knowing someone else has heard about it.
Both my father and brother committed suicide—and I know I need to share those experiences and hear about others who have been in the same boat in order to make sense of it all. So why walk? Well, exercise clears my head and helps keep negative thoughts away. Walking and talking seem to go hand in hand.
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This is a traveler case study. (Read others or nominate yourself.)
Sheralyn Guilleminot didn't want to run the risk of never getting around to traveling the world. She and her husband Paul took to the road as a young family, home-schooling their sons while experiencing life in Southeast Asia. Here's their story.
Tell us about yourself.
I've lived most of my life in Manitoba, Canada. It's where I grew up, got married, and worked. My husband Paul and I wanted to travel the world, but it seemed impractical. Once we had our two boys, though, I felt like there was never enough time to spend with Paul, with our family, or to indulge in being myself. And I didn’t see an end to being pulled in too many different directions. Something had to change.
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Things I found on long walks in foreign cities, or perhaps when someone posted them on Twitter.
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Many years back, I checked into the Sheraton Heathrow after winning a bid on Priceline. It was incredibly cheap—something like $30-40 for the night, as I recall.
At the time I was still new to the world of branded hotels. A few times a year, I might stay in a Starwood or Hilton property. I spent the rest of the nights in hostels, guesthouses, or on the couches of kind hosts. Arriving at the Sheraton Heathrow for the first time, I remember thinking, huh, this hotel is a little weird—but hey, it’s a hotel!
Everything about it was dismal, from the carpeting in the public guest floor areas to the tiny, unclean rooms, right on down to the attitude of the staff, who didn’t seem particularly pleased to be working there.
As I traveled more and more, I returned to the Sheraton Heathrow a couple times a year. Each time I had more experience in staying at other hotels, and finally I came to the realization: it's not me—this place is just really bad.
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This is a quest case study. (Read others or nominate yourself.)
Dave Cornthwaite's quest has been called "One of the most ambitious adventures of the 21st century," and in the process of his journey he has broken nine world records. Here's his story:
Introduce yourself and your quest.
A decade ago I spent two weeks learning how to skateboard, and promptly quit my graphic design job to spend the next year skateboarding further than anyone else had ever skated. I traversed the length of Britain (as a warm up) and then skated Australia.
Now, I’m working on what I call Expedition1000: 25 journeys of 1,000 miles or more, each using a different form of non-motorized transport.
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Things I found on long walks in foreign cities, or perhaps when someone posted them on Twitter.
Routines of Famous Creative People (Interactive Version) -- How different artists and writers worked, partied, and sometimes even slept
An Insanely Simple 3 Step Guide For Killing Procrastination -- How to schedule your most important work—and ensure that it actually happens
Not Dead Yet: How Some Video Stores Are Still Thriving -- Blockbuster’s long gone, but a few independent video stores have taken a different approach
Roberto Saviano on the Fear of Assassination -- An Italian writer has been living under armed guard for eight years
Why Diners Are More Important Than Ever -- Includes the 8 characteristics of how you know you’re at a diner
When It Comes to Sunk Costs, Are Children and Animals More Rational than Adults? -- Some research suggests that adults have it all wrong
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Hey everyone! Thanks as always to all who read the blog and all who participate in some fashion. The December 2014 Annual Review was a long one. I spent 6,000+ words compiling a ton of lessons from the year, as well as plans for 2015. You can catch up on some of the posts here:
Reader Reviews: What Did You Have to Say?
We've gathered together a collection of awesome annual reviews from our community. First up, check out this email I received from a high school student, Evan Twarog:
Hi Chris, At the start of 2014, I did a review, and because of it, it was by far the most successful year of my life. Writing it as a junior in high school, I knew that 2014 was the year for me to create a foundation for my future success. Some of the highlights of the year include:
- *Traveling to El Salvador for a service project through Interact
- *Winning the Rotary Global Essay Competition and traveling to India for a week
- *Interning as a high school student at CHA Consulting, a civil engineering firm
- *Racing on the Elm City Velo Cycling Racing team as its only junior racer
- *Receiving an appointment to the United States Coast Guard Academy
I love this report. Well done, Evan!
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Adam spent 13 years making an indie video game. If you grew up gaming (I did), you’ll like this video and appreciate several of the references. Even if you don’t…
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Things I found on long walks through foreign cities, or perhaps when someone posted them on Twitter
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Friday is giveaway day. Comment to win! This week’s giveaway is a fantastic messenger bag from Tucker and Bloom, a father and son company based out of Nashville. David and…
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Things I found on long walks in foreign cities, or perhaps when someone posted them on Twitter.
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This is a quest case study. (Read others or nominate yourself.) I met Alyssa and Heath Padgett when they joined our media team for WDS 2014. They arrived with an interesting…
