My wonderfully odd Cricket experience

G'day everybody!

How are things? I hope you're all getting in the holiday spirit. For me it feels a bit strange. My brain doesn't quite comprehend that it's December 24nd and 35 degrees outside. Compounded by the fact that I spend all day working outdoors, it just doesn't feel like Christmas is tomorrow. Doesn't matter too much, I'm loving this endless summer of the long sunny days!

I wrote some time ago about my resolution of embracing the Aussie culture, and as you might know sports is an integral part of the local culture. During the winter season, it's all about the Australian Football, and now that summer is in full swing, it was time to immerse myself in the Australian summer sport of predilection, Cricket.

Now, as most North Americans, I had always perceived Cricket as this weird sport that looks like baseball but on a round field. I had also heard something about test matches being played over 5 days, which just seemed ridiculous.

You might remember that about a month ago I had watched a Cricket game on the UWA campus, but it had been casual watching at best. And there were about 12 spectators on site so the atmosphere wasn't exactly electric.

No, I needed to see Cricket on the highest stage, a match involving the Australian National Team. The real deal.  Luckily for me, since 1882, Australia and England engage in a biennial cricket contest called The Ashes. Played over the whole month, The Ashes are comprised of 5 test matches, which last 5 full days each, and are contested in 5 different cities. Australia and England alternate at the series' host.

This year, Australia was set to play on their home turf in the cities of (in order) Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne over the whole month of December and into earlier January.

Clearly this was the perfect opportunity for me to watch some world-class cricket and really understand why Aussies love this strange sport so much! But much to my chagrin, tickets for the event were way out of my financial range. I would have to come up with a plan to "beat" the system.

The solution eventually presented itself in the form of a job ad by promotion company called Wingman which was recruiting temporary staff members to promote their client, Vodafone, over the Perth leg of the series. Perfect! 1 short application form and 1 phone interview later, I was the newest member of Vodafone's promotional team.

My job consisted of standing at a booth where Vodafone customers only had to give us some information in exchange for a small radio commentary headset. Basically we were handing out free stuff to people who were loving life because they were outside watching the Cricket in beautiful weather. There were 2 of us at the booth and once we were past the initial rush when people came in, the rest of the day was quite chill. Hence, I had plenty of time to sneak off and go enjoy the Cricket will the girl I worked with stood guard at the booth.

What I was supposed to do for work...

...what I was actually doing :)

Everytime I sat down around the oval to watch the match, I would strike up a conversation with someone close to me so they could help me understand the countless intricacies of this sport. Over the course of the 4 days I ended up working, I finally came to understand the game.

The Western Australia Cricket Association Oval

Believe it or not, I can actually read that board now

I thought about trying to explain the sport of cricket to you, but I really didn't know where to start... Then I remember a passage in Bill Bryson's famous booked "Down Under" where he brilliantly describes the sport of Cricket through his American eyes:

"Imagine a form of baseball in which the pitcher, after each delivery, collects the ball from the catcher and walks slowly with it out to centre field; and that there, after a minute's pause to collect himself, he turns and runs full tilt towards the pitcher's mound before hurling the ball at the ankles of a man who stands before him wearing a riding hat, heavy gloves of the sort used to handle radioactive isotopes, and a mattress strapped to each leg. Imagine moreover that if this batsman fails to hit the ball in a way that heartens him sufficiently to try to run sixty feet with mattresses strapped to his legs he is under no formal compulsion to run; he may stand there all day, and as a rule, does. If by some miracle he is coaxed into making a misstroke that leads to his being put out, all the fielders throw up their arms in triumph and have a hug. Then tea is called and everyone retires happily to a distant pavilion to fortify for the next siege. Now imagine all this going on for so long that by the time the match concludes autumn has crept n and all your library books are overdue. There you have cricket."

Even if Bryson's description is a bit cheek-in-tongue, it's actually quite accurate. The craziest part about this part to me is how long they play for! Everyday, for 4-5 days in a row, they play from 10am to 6pm. As far as rules go... well each team alternates batting, but instead of being like in baseball where after 3 outs it's the other team's turn, now the bowling team needs to take 10 wickets from the batting team. This can be achieved by "bowling" the batsman which means throwing the ball and hitting the stumps with the ball. (Examples here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjZdaVmz_kg), by catching the ball before it hits the ground once the batsman hit it, or if the ball hits the batter while he's standing in front of the stumps.

The funny thing is... taking 10 wickets generally takes about 6-7 hours. This means that on a good day, a team can bat all day. Hell, on a good day, the same player can bat all day (while I personally didn't witness that, Mike Hussey, an Aussie batsman, did manage to stay on for 4 hours, facing something like 150 bowls before being put out). No wonder it's called a "Test" match as it really tests players' ability to stay focused for very long periods of time).

What I came to realize while I was there is that the reason Cricket is so popular is all about the atmosphere. Imagine the scene... you're going there for the whole day with a few of your friends, the sun is shining, the cold beer tastes like heaven, everyone around you is loving life. Families bring picnics, hardcore supporters are chanting and waving flags. It's one big social gathering where the match serves more as a background than as the main focal point.

The bar line-up at... 10:30am. Who needs coffee when you can have a cold beer?!

 With 3 of the numerous dudes who rock up in costumes and get progressively more rowdy as the day goes on!

The "Barmy Army" aka the hardcore British fans who flew all the way here to cheer on their team

Funny story... As the week progressed, I got really good at navigating around the oval and sneaking into all the VIP sections. On day 2, I was sitting in the best section of the whole oval, right behind the stumps. I was eating my lunch and minding my own business and eventually I got up to go back to work. Only problem is... nobody had told me you weren't supposed to get up a certain times to avoid distracting the batsman. To make matters worse, I was wearing all red, the same colour as the ball. The result... the referee had to stop play twice because I was distracting the batsman! The commentator on the radio apparently pretty much called me an idiot in front of millions of listeners and said I should get kicked out for my behaviour... Oops!! Hahahah..

All in all though, a truly stellar few days and it made me realize that working at events is a really fun way to watch cool stuff, while getting paid for it. Sweet deal! I will definitely be partaking in some more stuff like that in the near-future so hopefully I'll have a few more stories down the road.

All right, I'm out, time to go crack open a nice cold beer and throw some shrimps on the barbie (no joke!).

Merry Christmas all!

Much love,
Phil

PS I guess I should mention that Australia ended up winning the match 577-311 and the series is now drawn 1 win, 1 loss, 1 tie for each team so things are heating up as they are headed to Melbourne!!!

The 2 most important questions in the Universe

Catchy title isn't? Well, there is no false advertising on this blog, so I will indeed share these 2 precious pearls of wisdom with you. But before I do so, allow me to give the 2 questions the introduction they deserve.

I strongly believe that there is (at least) one major problem with today's Western world mentality. Everyday we are trying to do more, share more information, be more connected. This whirlwind of activities, stimulation and information may be entertaining, but it also prevents us from doing many useful things. One of them is: taking time to reflect on the path we're taking through life.

If you're working long hours, pleasing your boss, and building good connections... You must be on the fast-track to success, right? Perhaps so. Perhaps not.

You're most probably on the fast-track to somewhere. But to success? Not necessarily. You might be headed in the wrong direction at full speed. And that's a dangerous proposition.

You'll move up the ladder and become more "important", but ultimately if you don't enjoy the place where you spend most of your day, you're not really "successful". You might have power and money, but you won't have true success. At least not in my book.

That's why I believe that it is critical to take a step back. Pause for a minute. And take a good hard look at the direction we're headed to. Are we headed nowhere fast? Or are we methodically making our way towards our goals and aspirations.

Our academic system does a fairly good job at teaching us how to learn, how to think critically... But it thoroughly lacks in the department of helping us figure out what we really want to do with our lives. As a result,  most of us go by trial and error...And unfortunately this process eventually leads many people to give up searching for their true calling and settle for an unexceptional life.

But this can be avoided. It's not going to happen overnight, and it's going to require some soul-searching. And possibly a certain degree of risk. But it'll all be worth it in the end.

All right so... what are the 2 most important questions in the Universe?

The first one is, "What do you want to get out of your life?".

The second one is, "How can you help others in a way that no one else can?".

Simple enough, but not necessarily easy to answer. I don't claim to have life all figured out (far from it!) but I'm fairly certain that finding the answers to these 2 questions is a quantum leap in the direction of true success and true happiness.

I consider myself very fortunate that through my experience in Australia I have been able to find my 2 answers. I don't think moving away from home is absolutely necessary to find our true self, but it sure as hell helps. There's just something about being in a new environment, surrounded by new people, that forces introspection and leads to better self-knowledge.

I'm currently reading an absolutely incredible book called "The Art of Non-Conformity: Set your own rules, Live the life you want, and Change the world". The book's premise is to show the reader that it's possible to step out of the mold, and to live the life that we dream about. We don't have the live a conventional life, we don't have to live the life that others want for us.

Our life is a journey and we have the power to shape it the way that makes us truly happy.

I would say so far it is one of the most influential books I have ever come across, and I definitely recommend it to anyone. It can be purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Non-Conformity-Rules-Change-World/dp/0399536108. I have to warn you though. This is a powerful book that will make you re-evaluate the way you live your life. But it will also inspire you to something better, something more meaningful.

*Edit* You can also download the condensed version of the book for free here: http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/files/2008/06/worlddomination.pdf

Enjoy the ride.

Until next time,

Phil

The Tourists and the Travelers

As many of you know, I broke my nose surfing on my second day in Bali. Obviously it wasn't the most thrilling of experiences, but being down with a facial injury has also had its upsides. Namely, I've been able to take some time off, and relax while observing the world around me, and reflecting on a few things.

One of those things was, what do I really like about traveling? I mean, there are a lot of good reasons to go traveling to foreign lands, and everyone has their own.

For some, it's the local culture and food. For others, it's the socializing and partying with like-minded individuals from around the globe. For a few, it's simply the feeling of getting away and living a "parallel" life for a while... What is it for me? What aspect of traveling really gets to me (and has made me somewhat addicted to this lifestyle)?

Well, for one, I know that it has nothing to do with going to tourist hot spots. Simply put, whenever I'm somewhere surrounded by hundreds of pictures-snatching tourists, I just feel like this is the commercial experience. The easy way to see things. The one that's sold to you at an overpriced charge and doesn't paint the real picture of the country you're in. Take a bus somewhere, get off the bus, take a few pictures, check off the box. Good job.

For me, the beauty of traveling is in the experience. It's in going to weird and hard to reach places, and doing it a way that few would attempt. It's as much about the destination as it is the journey. 

I know there's quite a few people who think like me out there. Those for whom the ideal vacation involves climbing some crazy mountain, cycling for kilometers on hand... Just doing something that includes some degree of risk and uncertainty.

The best day I had in Indonesia was last Thursday, when I decided to go kayaking around the Gili Islands.I was staying on Gili Trawangan, the first off 3 smalls islands off the coast of Lombok. While Gili T has its fair share of tourists, Gili Meno (the middle one) is almost deserted, and Gili Air (the one closest to the coast) is inhabited almost only by locals.

Gili Trawangan in the foreground, with Gili Meno and Gili Air behind it

I decided that it would be shame to only see one of the 3 islands during my stay there. I asked around, and learned that there was a boat tour that allowed to see the other 2 islands. I considered it for a second...Take a boat, get off the boat, take a few pictures, check the box. Naahhhh. Not my style.

Instead I went to see one of the locals who rented out kayaks and asked him if he thought it'd be possible to kayak to Gili Air, the furthest of the 3 islands. He retorted that no, it wasn't really possible because there are strong currents between the islands and large waves around them too. Not possible eh? We'll see about that. Half an hour I was getting on my kayak with some provisions of water and banana, and a firm intention of proving the locals wrong.

I started paddling out towards Gili Meno, where I figured I would stop briefly to explore the deserted island and get a bit of rest. It didn't seem like it was that far... But if you've ever kayaked, you know that it gets tiring quickly, real quickly. It's literally, 1 minute you're paddling and you feel great, and the next you have no choice but to stop and take a breather. Kinda like that time I raced my bike against those 2 guys and ran out of goon-induced energy.

After half an hour I got fairly close to Gili Meno, and once I got closer the waves picked up and almost carried me to the island. It was awesome to ride them like that, but I also knew I would have to fight them on my way off the island. But that wasn't a pressing matter. I just wanted to get to that deserted island and see what was there.After laying on the beach for a few minutes, I set off to explore and saw some pretty cool things. Lots of fruit trees, including some which were totally unknown to me.

Anyone know what that is?!

I eventually felt rested enough to attempt the second (and hardest) leg of the trip, which would lead me to Gili Air. As anticipated, leaving Meno proved to be quite tricky, and I almost got flipped over by the waves a few times. It definitely gave me a few good scares, because flipping over would have meant a sure death for my camera.

Once out in the open sea, it was more of the same. 5 minutes of glorious paddling, followed by 2 minutes of pure exhaustion. Rinse and repeat. It was also around noon at that point, and the sun was scorching. Not much shade to hide in on a kayak in the middle of the ocean...!

After a good hour of labor, I started getting close to the island and felt a surge of motivation.

Gili Air looming ahead

At that point I figured that if I just got a nice steady pace and didn't take any rest, I was less than half an hour from the beach. I ate a banana, drank some water, and got in the zone. No Gareth Emery podcast this time, but the sound of the wind and the ocean isn't so bad either ;)

30 minutes later, my whole body drenched in sweat, my whole upper body burning in exhaustion, I finally reached the island.

My adventuring vessel

A broken nose is only a handicap if you let it be one!

The journey was certainly a challenging one, but the destination was incredible. Gili Air is unlike any place I had ever seen before. The locals who live there still adopt the same lifestyle as their ancestors did. They live in little huts (without electricity), have a few chickens and cows who graze around freely, and pick their fruits from the countless fruit trees scattered around the island. A simple but authentic way of live.

One of the most "pimped out" huts of the island

I walked around for about an hour and it felt wonderful to witness a place that is still untouched by modern civilization. No trace of globalization here! The locals looked at me a little funny when our path crossed (my face cast might have had a role to play in that) but I just said hello and they didn't seem to mind me.

I picked a couple of mangos from a mango trees and maybe it was because I had picked them myself, but they just seemed to taste better than the ones from the grocery store. I also tried some unknown red fruit I found.. It looked and tasted delicious, but 5 minutes after eating it, my throat was burning in agony. Oops!

After exploring the island and marveling in this, it was time to hop back onto my kayak and go back to the modern world (well, relatively speaking!) of Gili Trawangan. I won't get into the specifics but that ride back was bloody hard. No longer drawn by the mystery of the island in the distance, I just felt tired and sluggish. I was even starting to get sunburned, which is an absolute rarity in my case.

I thought about giving up and calling over one of the scuba diving boats nearby to get them to give me a lift back... But deep down I knew I would regret it if I did. I set off on this adventure to have an adventure and explore a new land, but also to push myself while seeing what I'm made of. And giving up is not how I want to define myself. So I just put my head down and paddled until I felt my arms were gonna fall off..... And I finally got there..

Upon returning my kayak, the locals called me crazy for doing what I had just done. While I felt pretty drained, I also enjoyed that distinctively sweet feeling feeling I get when I do something  people said I couldn't do!

From there, I grabbed my towel and laid down on the beach for a minute..... Closed my eyes.... and woke up 2 hours later! Happy days.

Overall, I feel like traveling can be seen as a metaphor for life in general. The same principle applies: the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. You can choose to take the easy road, but the reward will be commensurate. Alternatively, you can go for the hard way, and try to do something challenging, something different. Believe me, the latter is infinitely more gratifying and ultimately, enjoyable.

Adios!

Phil

The World is changing... Fast!

Globalization is one of the words we hear thrown around all the time these days. We all have an idea of what this concept refers to... But does anyone really understand it?

Over the last few days in my trip through Indonesia, I've been able to witness Globalization in action. Trust me, it is real. And it is happening FAST.

For the first few days I was in Kuta, which is the main city in Bali. I couldn't wait to get there and experience the world-class surf and the paradisaical beaches. The good news, the surf is indeed world-class and the beaches are beautiful. The not-so-good news is... when you're in the ocean, looking towards the beach, all you see beyond the palm trees is giant cranes and the McDonalds arches. Not exactly my idea of a paradise setting.

When you go around the city, it becomes quite clear that there isn't much left in terms of Balinese culture around these parts. Tourist shops by the 100's, all trying to sell you the same crap, make up the bulk of the landscape. Hungry? McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Hard Rock Cafe are there to satisfy your culinary desires. But make sure you plan enough time to get there... because chances are you'll get stuck in traffic. Yes, traffic. In Bali. WTF?

I went to a Temple about an hour out to find some peace and quiet, and I was appalled to find that between the parking lot and the Temple, you have to walk about 400m through some more toursist shops. That was just too much for me. Enough with the touristy crap.

That's why I headed to Gili Trawangan, a tiny little island in the middle of the ocean. Only 700 people live here, and  there are no cars, no scooters, not even police. The only law they have on the island is "Be nice to other people" Definitely the right kind of place to relax and forget everything. No such thing as stress or hurry here around here!

I'm loving it here... but I'm still finding some very obvious signs that Globalization is reaching even the most remote parts of the globe. For instance... Every young person here is on Facebook. And they're loving it. Consider this for a second. 7 years ago, Facebook was created as an "elite" social network for Harvard students only. Now, young Indonesian guys are using it to try and seduce girls from the next island over, Lombok. Also, everyone on the island has a cellphone. Everyone. I didn't even have a cellphone 5 years ago

Yesterday, as I was having lunch in a little "local's" place, I struck up a chat with one of the guys. We ended up talking for a while, and he confided in me how recently he had met this girl from Texas, and now they were having this "affair" over Skype. Wait, what? This little Indo guy has a Skype-girlfriend who lives in Texas? They say the world is more connected, and thus a "smaller" place than ever before, and I can't really think of a better example of that.

This has been truly eye-opening and I'm left pondering on the consequences of all this. Surely, this helps raise the Quality of Life level of most people here... at least if we measure it in terms of GDP and technology. But it seems clear that their local culture is getting diluted through it all...

So I wonder, are all these changing for the best? Are they positively impacting the one measure that really matters, happiness? What do you think?

"Actions separate people" part 2

Hello,

Just a quick addendum to my first post on this topic. Here's a quote I stumbled upon a few nights ago:

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:

“Whatever you can do,
or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius,
power and magic in it.”

-W.H. Murray (The Scottish Himalayan Expedition)

In "Action separate people" part 1, I mentioned I was working on a new project. Since then, I have pretty much committed to it. Doing some research for the project a couple nights ago, I stumbled onto the website of someone who can greatly help me with this project. That person is arguably the best expert in this field in the entire world. As luck would have it, he is based out of Bali. And guess where I'm flying off to tomorrow? Bali. I have scheduled a meeting with that person and I am hopeful that this can lead to an eventual collaboration between us.

How's that for an example of the principle outlined by Mr.Murray in the quote above? I'm almost 99% sure that if I hadn't committed to the project, I wouldn't have found this guy and this meeting would not be happening. Crazy eh?

On another note, when I get back from Bali, I will be starting a new blog project in addition to this one. It will be based on a platform which I believe has the potential to bring a much more meaningful contribution to society. More details in a couple weeks...

All right, back to studying. Last exam is in 20 hours, the end is near my friends!

Ciao,
Phil

"Actions separate people"

Hello hello, and welcome back again.

Yesterday morning, I faced my first final exam at UWA. Riding my bike with my shirt off,  lucky Habs hat and game face on, I was feeling like a million bucks on my way to the exam. The questions turned out to be exactly what I had expected and thus prepared for, so I had heaps (Aussie for "lots") of quality stuff to write for each one. So much so that by the midway point of the exam, my right hand started to cramp up from writing so vigorously. I actually had to stop in my tracks to massage and stretch it out for a couple minutes! Fortunately I recovered well, and I'm pretty sure I'm smashed the exam. Boom. 1 down, 2 to go.

Once we were done, my mate Cam and I stepped outside the building in the blaring sun. Right in front of us, a varsity cricket game was being played on the oval. I've always thought cricket looked like the weirdest sport, but I also felt like it was another part of the Aussie culture I needed to embrace. Consequently, it wasn't long before Cam and I reached the consensus that having a few beers while watching cricket would be an appropriate celebration for dominating the exam. En route for the Bottle-o (aka the Bottle Shop aka the Liquor store)!

We got there, and much to our dismay, all the beers were grossly overpriced. I'm talking, 18$+ for a 6 pack. What the hell?

2 minutes later, I was walking out of the store with a bag of goon in my hands, and a smile on my face. This was going to be a glorious arvo.

Upon returning to the oval, we set up shop on the grass and began consuming the goon.

At first, we were drinking in reasonable fashion. However, as you can imagine, cricket isn't the most thrilling sport to watch. Intricate, and somewhat interesting, but certainly not thrilling.

Hence, we did what college students do when they want to shake things up and make drinking more exciting. We invented a drinking game. A cricket drinking game! It was a good game and I would gladly explain it to you, but first I would have to explain to you the rules of cricket. Which would take me about 5000 words, and even then you'd probably still be confused. So all I'll say is, it didn't take too long for the goon bag to become empty, and for our minds to become merry.

Amidst all the shenanigans and the ridiculous talking, we somehow discussed a few interesting concepts. To make sure I didn't forget them, I actually took a few notes in my phone. I eventually went home for dinner, and, exhausted from the exam and drinking in the sun all day, I passed out at 8:30pm!

This morning I woke up feeling refreshed and re-energized at... wait for it... 5:45am! Initially I thought I should go back to sleep, but then I did the math and realized I'd slept for more than 9 hours. Good enough. Got up and set the day in motion.

After messing around in the house for a bit, I set off for my favorite bike ride.

Posted it on FB before, but it's worth a repost. Best bike ride ever.

It felt awesome to clean up my system and just ride away while enjoying the scenery. Biggest worry I had my mind was whether to contemplate the shining blue waters on my left, or survey the multi-million dollar mansions to my right. Tough choice, I know.

I eventually caught up with a couple guys who looked like legit cyclists. Riding 5000$ bike, wearing matching body suits and lightweight clip-shoes, the real deal. As you know, I enjoy a bit of competition, so I decided to race them, just for fun. On my 100$ Red Rooster bike, wearing nothing but my board shorts, my sandals, and my "snowboard" helmet! The only advantage I had on them was that I was listening to Gareth Emery's podcast 110, and they weren't!

I gave them a good ride for them money for about 5km. I would love to know what they were thinking during those 5km. Some random dude on his shitty bike, looking like he's on his way to the beach, trying to race them. With a moderate amount of success to top it off! I was feeling pretty good, and at some point part of me felt like I was about to drop them and ride away!

But then, reality hit me... and I learned (well, I kinda knew it already) that goon isn't the most sustainable source of energy for athletic performance... I went from feeling awesome, to horrible, in about 2.3 seconds. Once that weird phenomenon took place, it wasn't too long before my 2 rivals were just a dot in the horizon. "Nice try, random dude with the snowboard helmet!" ;)

That being said, throughout this whole bike ride, I actually got some good thinking done. Mostly revisiting the ideas that were discussed yesterday, and assessing if they were drunken misconceptions or legit ideas.

Although a few of them actually fit into the drunken misconception category, one of them passed the "sober analysis" test with flying colours. And this is what I wanted to write about here today. Yes, I know, that was a bit of a lengthy introduction but I can't help it!

As the title indicates, this concept can be summarized in 3 simple words. "Actions separate people"

What sparked this idea in my mind was one small part of the conversation I had with Cam at the cricket.

He's finishing his Master of Marketing in a couple weeks, so I asked him what he plans on doing upon graduating. I expected him to give me the usual answer, "Ahh you know, gonna try and find a good marketing job downtown", or something along those lines. Not that there's anything wrong with that answer... But what he replied was much more interesting. He said, "I'm gonna write tons of music with my band, play guitar all the time. We're gonna commit to it, and  see how far we can take this thing." Pretty cool stuff right?

Let me ask you a question. In your opinion, what do The Beatles, Mark Zuckerberg, Albert Einstein, and Walt Disney have in common?

Yes, they are all among the most successful people of the last century. Yes, their respective successes have changed the world as we know it.

Now, let's dig a little deeper. What has made them so extravagantly successful? Is because they're smart? Is it because they are talented? Is it because they got lucky?

Or is it, as Malcolm Gladwell's suggest in his book Outliers, because they spent 10,000 hours honing their particular skill?

Here's what I think. To be extremely successful, to the point where you bring a significant positive contribution to the world, you do need to be all these things. Smart, talented, lucky, and yes you need to work your socks off to become the best you can be.

But above all, you need an idea, a vision, and you need to go after it. I mean, really go after it.

Let me elaborate. How many times have we been sitting around with friends talking about various things, and then in the middle of nowhere, come up with a brilliant idea. Either for a business, a trip, a project, anything really. Just a great idea. We get really excited about it, because it's a damn good idea! We plan it all out and we think, "yes this could really work!"

Fast forward a month later. Time has passed, the excitement has faded, and the great idea has gone unrealized. I know it's happened to me too many times, and I'm sure you've experienced it as well.

Let's look at it another way. Do you remember the last time you saw a new product on TV and thought to yourself, "Wow, this is such a simple yet awesome idea I wish I'd thought of that!" Well, given that it's a simple idea, chances are many people have had it before. But no one did anything about it. Until one guy came around, had that same idea, got really excited about it, AND got off his ass and actually did something about it. And that right there, ladies & gentlemen, is the common denominator between all successful people. They go after it. "Actions separate people".

It's nothing ground-breaking, but I truly believe this is the difference between the best and the rest. Many people are smart. Many people have good ideas. Some even come up with a solid implementation plan. But too few actually go after it.

Now you might think, "Yeah but if I go after it... it might not work... I'll lose my time and money.. that would really suck". Well, yeah, big news, that might happen.

But here's the kicker. Most of the super successful people fail, sometimes several times, on their way to success. If you don't believe me, take a minute to look at this list. 50 Famously Succcessful People who failed at first: http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/02/16/50-famously-successful-people-who-failed-at-first/

A few of my favorites one:

Steven Spielberg: While today Spielberg's name is synonymous with big budget, he was rejected from the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television three times. He eventually attended school at another location, only to drop out to become a director before finishing. Thirty-five years after starting his degree, Spielberg returned to school in 2002 to finally complete his work and earn his BA. 

Stephen King: The first book by this author, the iconic thriller Carrie, received 30 rejections, finally causing King to give up and throw it in the trash. His wife fished it out and encouraged him to resubmit it, and the rest is history, with King now having hundreds of books published the distinction of being one of the best-selling authors of all time.

Michael Jordan: Most people wouldn't believe that a man often lauded as the best basketball player of all time was actually cut from his high school basketball team. Luckily, Jordan didn't let this setback stop him from playing the game and he has stated, "I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."


Although I've never met any of them personally, I'd be willing to bet you that these failures were amongst the best learning experiences of their entire lives. They'd probably agree that without them they wouldn't be where they are today.

As Duncan from The Buried Life says, a couple hours before asking out his dream girl, Taylor Swift, on a date (through some crazy elaborate plan!): "This whole thing is about living without regrets. And living without what if's. So whether she says yes or no, it doesn't really matter. It's all about taking the leap." (For the record, he did ask her out. And she said yes. As someone who has a bit of a Taylor Swift crush myself, I find that pretty damn cool).

The last "great idea" I had was to create a documentary/reality show on the behind-the-scene life of the Montreal Canadiens players. With the growing popularity of reality show type stuff, and the continued adoration of the Montreal population for Habs, I had no doubt that this was a great concept. I almost wrote an email to someone from the Canadiens to get things rolling. But I didn't. And now, guess what? Bell, one of the largest media companies in Montreal, has a show based on exactly that concept debuting in 3 weeks! I'm kicking myself, but... lesson learned.

So next time you have a great idea... Write it down. Do the appropriate research and make sure it's actually a viable idea. Make a gameplan. And get after it. With everything you got.

Fortunately, I have another great idea now. I'm currently in the research stage of the project, and things are looking good. It's really exciting, but a little scary at the same time. However I read this quote about an hour ago, and couldn't agree more: "Fear is temporary, but regret is forever".

No excuses for this one. Time to get after it.

Cheers!

Phil

Camping... Aussie Style!

Howdy!

Thanks for making it back here :)

I'm taking a rare day off school/work undertakings today... But much like my father, I can't seem to actually take a full day off to just chill out. Always gotta be in motion, doing something. Worked on the yard this morning, did some "home-improvement" to my room this arvo (Aussie slang for 'afternoon'), and here I am writing this blog entry before I head off to the gym. Is it good to always be productive, getting stuff done, or do I need to learn to take it easy more? I'm not too sure.

Anyways, good news, the school semester is winding down, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel... And not even that far off in the distance!

Friday was the last day of class, and after furiously editing a paper in the morning and handing it in, I was happily on my way to the "End Of Semester Show" . EOSS is an outdoor concert that takes place in the middle of campus, much like ACF/Block Party at UBC. The sun was shining (like always!), the music was good, and the beer was flowing freely. Everyone was stoked on being done their assignments, so needless to say, the vibe was outstanding. Once the concert ended, I was off to a big party at the Law Faculty outdoor courtyard and it turned out to be one of the best parties I've been to at UWA. Stellar day to finish up the semester!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had been extremely keen on going out camping and trying my hand at spearfishing since my roommate Christian had moved in. Well, with all my school projects done with, and my first exam a week away, this was the perfect time to go ahead and do it.

After a few hours sleep, I woke up surprisingly refreshed on Saturday morning and we started packing Christian's truck. He's got a Land Rover with custom-modifications for outdoor expeditions so we were rolling in style!

Getting the truck ready for the expidition

After going to pick up my buddy Sam at his house, we were our way to our destination, a spot 2 hours up the coast called Ledge Point.


View Larger Map

As soon as we got out of Perth, the scenery started changing, and Freestyle Phil was feeling as relaxed as can be.

Chilling in the back of the truck. Stress level... Low, very low!!!

After a couple hours of driving through landscapes which resembled nothing I had ever seen in my life (a mix of desert and very arid forests), we arrived to our destination.

We drove up and down the beach to find a good spot where we would be protected from the wind, and eventually settled on this nestled area 25 meters removed from the ocean.

Setting up camp in the dunes

Once we were properly installed, we walked over to scope out the beach. The lads weren't too keen on going for a swim, but I haven't traveled 25 000km to come here and just watch the ocean. I ran in and even though at first the water was a tad chilly (20-21 degrees), it felt amazingly refreshing.

On the way back from my conquest of the ocean!!

After getting dried off and putting some fresh clothes, it was time for a few sunset beers.

As nice and relaxing as it was... It wasn't long before I got a little rowdy. Haven't been able to do any cliff jumping lately, so I decided to try my hand at dune jumping instead!

About 1 second later I learned that sand doesn't make for as smooth a landing as water does!

Once the sun went down, we walked back to camp and got the fire going. Chris cooked an amazing curry on the fire and we threw a few steaks on there as well.

Chef Chris taking care of business

We washed down the meal  with a few cold beers, a glass of goon or two, and a nice cigar under the stars. After a lovely evening, we were all ready for some sleep, knowing the next day would most likely be an eventful one!

I kinda woke up around 5:30am and while normally I would have gone right back to sleep.. I realized the sun was about to rise and the ocean in the distance looked incredible, so I figured what the hell... Got up and walked over to check it out. Here's what I found.

Breathtaking!

After a few more hours sleep and a couple peanut butter toasts, we packed up the truck and drove off to find the best surfing spot around. Unfortunately, we got off the sandtracks and ended up getting stuck in the sand!

Still beats getting stuck in the snow in -20 weather!!!

Luckily, some guy pulled us out of there and we were back en route in no time. Once we found a spot we liked, we put on the wetty's, grabbed our boards, and headed out.

Sammy and Chris on their way out

After a good little sesh, we came back out, made some coffee and sipped on it while enjoying the surroundings ;)

All caffeined up and feeling good, we set off for a little drive on the beach towards Wedge Island, the site of our next adventure.

The Wedge

Once we got there, it was time to put the wetty's back on... And get briefed by Chris for our much-anticipated spearfishing debut!!! I had been looking forward to this for weeks and my heart was racing but as soon as I saw how big the guns were I realized that I was better off paying attention while he was giving us instructions.

Rule #1 - Don't ever point your loaded speargun towards one of the other lads!!
Rule #2 - Don't shoot a fish that's in front of coral or rock to avoid breaking the spear
Rule #3 - When you see a fish you wanna shoot, dive down to its level to have an undistorted line of sight.
Rule #4 - Once you're there, take a half-second to focus, and then just shoot!!!
Rule #5 - If you hit it, hold on to the gun. The fish might try and swim away with it.

The Student & the Master ready for action!!!!

We got in there and it was everything I had hoped and more. It's hard to explain, but basically spearfishing is like snorkeling on massive steroids. You get to see all the pretty little fishes swimming around, swim through  underwater tunnels, check out the corals, etc... But! You're swimming around with a massive speargun, in  hunter mode with adrenaline pumping through your whole body, ready to dive down as soon as you see a big fish. Pure awesomeness.

Unfortunately, Sam got tired quite quickly so we had to leave him behind. Chris and I kept going and on some level, I felt like all my years of swimming had lead me to this very moment. I felt totally comfortable in that setting. I wasn't getting tired, had no problem diving down, holding my breath, and just staying calm underwater.

 We kept going for a while and we saw a lot of fishes but nothing big, until Chris pointed towards something that looked quite big and for a split second I thought it was a shark and kinda froze up. We went back up and I asked him what the hell that was, and he said it wasn't dangerous or anything and I could go and shoot it if I wanted. About 0.32 second later I was back underwater looking for the big fish. Unfortunately I couldn't find it and had to give up on it.

A few more minutes passed, and Chris was about 15m away from me when I spotted a good size fish and decided this was it. I wasn't going to miss my chance this time!

I dove down... Stabilized myself... Fish was about 7-8 meters away and didn't seem particularly concerned that a guy with a giant gun was looking at it. Having never shot anything before in my life I hesitated for a split second, then I remember thinking "sorry fish, but I'm about 5 rungs above you on the food ladder". I pressed the trigger, the spear went off and I just saw the fish going all crazy... I was a bit confused until I felt a yank on my gun and realized that I had hit it! Holyyyy crap. What a feeling!! I pulled the rope in until the fish was right next to me, swam back up, and started yelling Chris' name like the world was ending (he later told me I sounded so frantic he thought I had seen a shark!).

He swam over, we pulled the spear out and killed the fish before putting it on the rope that Chris was pulling around for this particular situation.

We kept swimming around for an hour or so but didn't see anything worth shooting at (I was so close so many times to shooting small fishes but Chris had told me not to so I controlled myself.. barely). It didn't matter because I had my fish.

My first catch!

Tonight Chris showed me how to makes filets out of the fish I caught, which is called a Drummer Fish. It takes a bit of practice and finesse with the knife, but overall it's not overly complicated.

We weren't too sure how good the flesh was going to be, but I was pretty excited about trying it so I just started eating it as sashimi. It was actually really good! I then threw one of the filets on the barbie and it turned out even better. Tasted like victory! And I have 6 more filets to eat over the next couple weeks!

So as you can see, all in all this was a great weekend. Every time I get out of the city, I just think to myself... "Why don't I do this more often?" Well, I don't have a car so that certainly is a bit of an issue!

But this weekend served as a great reminder of how much I love road trips... And since you only live once, I've decided that as soon as I get my Quebec government money, I'm buying a car, some basic camping gear, perhaps even a speargun, and I'm gonna make the most out of this beautiful place called Western Australia! Can't wait!

Phil