Jumping Out of a Plane Without a Parachute

Made you look.

What did you think you were going to read? A new form of skydiving? suicide?

You know what I actually think made you click on this post?

Crazy ass risk. A leap. A bold thing to do with ones life.

Let’s face it. Most of us don’t take enough risks. We play it safe. We conform.

Why?

Now, of course, jumping out of a plane without a parachute is stupid. It’s not really a risk in my eyes – it’s just plain suicide and makes no sense at all.

But why don’t we take more liveable risks? Risks that make us live limitless.

Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

Jon Krakauer from Into the Wild.

We only have one life. We don’t get stronger as we age. We’re strong now.

In today’s world with endless opportunities and connections to the entire world, why conform and sit steady as we watch others live remarkable lives…

It’s been almost 10 years since I made my first truly bold choice. I left home. Not because home was bad. Actually, my family is great. But because I wanted to fly. I wanted to get away from the toxic friends I had formed throughout high school and that stigma that seemed to loom over me. I didn’t want to be known as the shy guy or the quiet guy or the guy who would probably just work in oil like everyone else. I didn’t want to conform to what others thought I would probably do. I didn’t want to live life on autopilot and take the safest route there was.

I wanted to really experience life. I wanted to try new things and learn and fail and try new things again. I wanted to meet new people who didn’t only talk about hockey and girls and how much money they’re making in the crappy oil trade. I wanted to meet people who were doing remarkable things and not just in it for the money. I wanted to see what I could accomplish. I wanted to travel the world. I wanted to live limitless.

So I did. I took that first step. I left home and moved to a different city with a fresh start. I didn’t know anyone. I decided to take the business in school. I met new friends with completely different perspectives. I decided to join a salsa class. I decided to try out for an olympic speed-skating team. I decided to audition and act in some movies. I decided to go white-water rafting. I decided to join a Dale Carnegie class and learn public speaking. I decided to finally complete the Body-for-LIFE fitness program and drop my body fat percentage from 22% to 9%. I began investing in real estate. Failed at that.

Then I decided to travel. I had always longed for Australia. Finally, I went. Nothing held me back from that choice. I went by myself for 5 months. Despite a tremendous amount of real estate problems blowing up all around me, I stayed over there. I managed to sky-dive, bungy jump, scuba dive with sharks, travel all over the country with strangers, swim under waterfalls, hang-glide over the sea, work on a sheep farm and even hop on a plane to Indonesia with no plan whatsoever. Luckily, visas were pay-on-arrival.

It wasn’t easy, especially with $800,000 worth of real estate sitting at home after the 2008 collapse. But I’m happy I did it because it changed my outlook on life. It made me realize that despite any challenges, I can accomplish my dreams with or without someone by my side.

You can too.

Since then, I’ve sold the house that was causing me the most pain, started a blog, launched an online business, finished university, met hundreds of incredible people from all walks of life, been to all sorts of crazy events and summits, travelled all over Canada with my family, spent more than 60 days road-tripping throughout the U.S.A, met my soon-to-be-wife at school who just so happens to be from the biggest city on earth and who joined me in China, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines for all of 2012 – We managed to both go scuba diving with sharks, manta rays, and whales. We both managed to see some of the most beautiful scenery on this planet and meet some of the most incredible people to walk its surface.

I’m not rich. Actually, quite the opposite. We actually had a budget of $14,000 each for 12 months of travel, including more than 20 flights and unlimited amounts of adventure and activities. I don’t have it all figured out. Actually, I think I have very little figured out. I’m still failing all the time. But just when one failure happens, another opportunity tends to rise.

It’s a roller coaster. A fun, terrifying, amazing, scary, gratifying, thrilling, daring, incredible roller coaster of life.

But that’s what I signed up for. When I fail and get down for a moment and think “What the hell am I doing?” – I remember, “Oh yeah, I’m living limitless”. I’m not on auto-pilot.

And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

What did you sign up for? What made you click this post?