It’s been nearly 12 years of traveling the world consistently:

Walking the streets of Japan trying to comprehend how a culture can be so different from the rest of the world.

Let’s not forget the feeling of being completely loss not able to read the local language like that one time I was in South Korea.

The death like thrill I felt when I flew into Ukraine from Russian only a few days after a commercial plane was accidentally shot down at the border. Similar levels of uncertainty like that one time where I organized a romantic getaway with a girl I met in Poland without a clue if I could get into the country or not…

I blame the jealous border officer for spoiling the surprise I had planned for the same Polish girl when I tried entering London from Sweden on yet another one way ticket.

And that experience where I had an incredible time together in Bali with friends I met in Poland, Bulgaria and Croatia only to be laughing our asses off on a flight to Thailand for the next series of adventure that lies ahead.

I seat here [reflecting back on what experiences should I share with you next] yet I cannot ignore this overwhelming sensation.

It is absolutely mind blowing to comprehend how one tiny decision, made at an early age, can completely change the trajectory of an individual’s life.

You know what’s funny?

These collected experiences are nothing but normal to me.

However, whenever I share my unique life experiences with others, they are flabbergasted by the details of these stories as I explain it in a way that resembles a casual conversation about the weather.

I mean every ounce of seriousness in that previous statement.

The tonality reflects a natural process of evolution:

Force your willingness to adapt to the harsh external environment to complete the self-actualization process in order to achieve your desired life experiences.

For me that meant the simple act of purchasing a one way ticket overseas.

That was the difference between living a life of meaningless self-torment or a life that surpassed my wildest dreams [where everything experienced now is quite literally a bonus].

THE SELFISH OVERFLOWING CUP

At a very young single digit age I was advised to be selfless to please others as being selfish was not good.

Always put others before yourself.
Stop being so selfish.
Don’t eat the last piece of food.

I thank my younger self for having not actually listened to this foolish piece of life advice.

Unconsciously I “misbehaved” only due to the mere fact that the advice came from an individual that was living far from my ideal life.

For those having a hard time breaking away to be free - I simply ask you one question:

How can you be valuable to others when you do not have anything of value to offer?

In order to become valuable start by being selfish first.

Fill up your own cup.

When you realize that you cannot even fulfill your own needs - how on earth are you able to offer anything of value to others…

This mode of behavior means constantly seeking someone only to constantly be desperately needing something.

Walking around with an empty cup… expecting others to fill what you cannot do yourself.

This is where being shamelessly selfish [during my depression] saved my life.

At 18 years old I dropped out of college [instead of the traditional path I became a certified personal trainer - only to have stopped before getting started - because I wanted to make money online so I can travel the world indefinitely] and as you can imagine depression became the next step phase of such a tough decision.

Obviously the source of this very difficult decision was selfish, but what would come about if I were selfless?

Being selfless meant ignoring my inner voice only to please my family so they could brag about me [to their friends during random catch ups] about having a relative who has societal prestige to be perceived higher status.

As you can imagine some cultures take this to the extreme.

If I were to be selfless - on the surface it would appear that I am happy due to the ongoing need to chase after the next dopamine hit, but internally I would be rotting away to the point of becoming a blackhole.

In this hypothetical situation: my source of feel good emotions would be based on what others thought of me.

The sense of Self [and identity] would become completely dependent of the external as the internal world has not been developed.

Results from being Selfish would be the complete opposite of Selflessness.

You see.

This unique life journey that I am on has provided me tremendous value to the point where being a person of value is not a mere conscious thought but a mere part of my existence.

Given the credentials shared above [and those not mentioned as it is not in my nature to be perceived as egotistical] would it not be unrealistic to say that I may have something valuable to share about life?

There’s a point where being selfish reaches a point where you become an overflowing cup and those around you get their own cups filled by your existence.

You do not want anything from others and yet they want to go out of their way to provide value into your life for what value you have provided them without effort on your part.

Selfishness becomes Selflessness.

THE JOURNEY BACK HOME

Every single movie that has ever been a success modeled after this diagram.

Star Wars
Lord of The Rings
Interstellar

The hero’s journey taps deep into the human psyche because of the mere fact it is relatable to every soul no matter how different the individual’s journey and circumstances.

It’s been nearly twelve years since I bought that one way ticket that changed my life and having recently visited family.

I could not ignore the next call to adventure:

Give the gift of giving back home.

In this particular example it means giving back to my younger relatives alongside this new line of work.

Look.

Having returned back home I experienced the environment in a way that I have never experienced before.

In the past, I have been projecting my past traumas onto a objectively perfect environment which lead to a subjective experiences that lasted well over a decade that prevented me from actually enjoying my hometown.

Years ago it reached a breakpointing [which I could say that it was the main reason why I left my home country] to go travel the world to find new homes elsewhere.

And now?

I genuinely enjoyed and appreciated my hometown in ways I have never experienced before.

It’s the point where I am heavily considering moving back for a bit to make up for lost time.

This new calling comes from realizing that I’ve been selfish enough to the point where I need to be selfless now… so that my younger relatives can benefit from my journey traveling the world for the last dozen years.

During the catch up, I hear their aspirational dreams and…

Selfishly being selfless I want to give them an unfair competitive advantage to outperform the rest of the people in their age [and be able to watch/live a new life through their unique life journey].

When I got started:

I wished someone blood related to me did something remotely close to my aspirations.

Because not having anyone made the dream seem so far out of reach to the point of delusion…

And now I have been presented the opportunity to become that for them so they can surpass my level of success at an even younger age.

STOP THE NONSENSE INFLUENC(ERS)

Do you realize that most modern day entertainment is nothing but washed down bullshit to numb the bored mind?

Really think about this.

The younger generation is living in an optimized environment strategically designed to steal their attention to push a consumer product that drains parents of cash while not actually providing tangible value into the kids life.

When you can truly grasp this you’ll feel an urgent need to step in before it’s too late.

My preteen cousin explained to me the term “brain rot” and even too knows how bad it has become to the point where he does not know how to stop it.

There are countless examples of the blind leading the blind in today’s influencer based society and it will only continue growing due to the demand of personal brands so people feel a sense of connection in a digital landscape.

Let this be a reminder:

Being mindfully present with the youth has tremendous positive upside.

You being older can absorb the endless youthful energy while contributing back lessons from your trials and tribulations.

When the two entities synergistically work together pure magic is produced.

It’s easier to criticize the youth for being addicted to technology, but it truly only reveals the lack of responsibilities adults have to actually step in to step up.

Energetically exhausted adults give the youth access to technology so they do not have to entertain these endless energy mini humans.

The responsibility is quite literally given to individuals who are best at captivating the youth’s attention via the forms of social media.

From what I saw it gave me a headache just looking at it for a few seconds…

Allow the youth’s nonstop content consumption be nothing other than a daily reminder for you to be present in their life [at a time where they need it most].

Imagine a world where the youth becomes addicted to interacting with their positive role model to help them reach their dream life goals.

Remember that this is your wake up call as much as it is mine.

See ya on the mats,

POJ