Birthday Reflections
How I got here
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#life
#Travel
I grew up thinking adulthood would be boring.
I thought by age 45 you’d hurt too bad to do anything fun. I thought you’d just go to a job somewhere and work all day and come back home for a couple hours, just to go do it again. Growing up, I even thought 25 year olds were old and boring.
Thankfully, all those models are destroyed.
I’m 31 today, and my refusal to be bored has led to an interesting life so far. One that my 18 year old self would mostly approve of. Which is quite the measure of success according to Taleb.
“For I have a single definition of success: you look in the mirror every evening, and wonder if you disappoint the person you were at 18, right before the age when people start getting corrupted by life.”
I wonder what’s next. What other magic I can pull outta my hat. What kind of luck I can stir up. I have 2 north stars. Fun and Family.
FUN
Turns out the fun part isn’t just endless surf trips. It isn’t just partying with friends. Fun needs a mission.
Surf trips that go too long get boring. I learned that in 2018 when I did my first extended travel to the Canary Islands and Indonesia.
I was surfing my ass off in Indo. ABSOLUTELY SCORING EVERYDAY. But, I felt empty inside. I started to crave work while sitting on the island. I was excited to get back to work.
Work at that time was the occasional modeling/commercial gig and moving fridges to college dorms in the summer (my survival gig for like 6 years).
In 2017, I graduated with a master’s degree in Organizational Psychology. I had all the “credentials” to have a successful “career” but out of fear of being bored/lack of real world experience I never pursued a standard career.
I also found Bitcoin that summer, which greatly altered my worldview/gave me hope for a brighter future.
From age 24 - 28 I lived never knowing where my next pay check would come from. I tried living in LA and Mexico City, but never quite found my tribe or anything worthwhile to work on. I even lived in my truck for a month in LA just to do a “fear setting” exercise I heard Tim Ferriss talk about.
I gave myself my own curriculum during that time. Exploring my interests in health and went further down the Bitcoin rabbit hole with my spare time.
In hindsight, I wouldn’t trade this time of “wandering” for anything. This time prepared me for the things I’m working on today.
In the fall of 2021, I drove to Costa Rica with a vision of creating a new life somehow. I’d been there a few times and figured that’s where I’d be if I had unlimited resources. I asked myself the question, “What would I be doing if I was a billionaire?”. The answer? Working on something important while surfing everyday with cool people.
After bumming around for a bit, I ended up finding my tribe and consistent work for the first time in my life. I helped out with Paul Saladino’s social media team, where I learned skills and furthered my knowledge about health.
During this time, I went to a ton of Bitcoin conferences with no agenda, except to meet more of my “tribe”. The decision to do this brought incredible returns to my life.
“Never settle. When you refuse to settle for less than the best… the best tends to track you down” - Dr. Jack Kruse
Today I’m working on two important missions. Making an “ethical” social media with Primal and building a “healthier” computer with Daylight computer from which I’m writing this article. These two missions are greater than anything I could fathom building myself and I’m extremely grateful for these opportunities.
Family
I believe strongly that it’s impossible to truly understand life until you create it on your own. Might not be true for everybody, but I believe I’m hardwired this way.
I met Laura during the first month of getting a stable income in Costa Rica. It was the first time that I had a mission while talking to a girl.
I was thinking long-term the day I met her and knew that this time would be different. We didn’t have much. In fact, when she met me, I just graduated from camping everyday to living in a broken house in the most beautiful location in Santa Teresa. So what there was a skunk living in our sink, we could walk to the beach in 3 minutes! I knew she was a keeper for putting up with that.
Here’s a snapshot of a morning in the life of the skunk house - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CcqatvJlbFH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Our relationship has been incredibly rewarding, often challenging, and I can’t wait for our future together.
She pushes me to seek more and the responsibility of another person of my life gives it a ton of meaning. And I’m sure this will do a little 100x once we have kids.
Woman are hard wired to seek security and I wonder where I’d be without her push and constant testing. This constant testing is the sign of a great woman.
I’m honestly terrified to have kids, but pursuing a family seems to be the most meaningful pursuit available to man. There’s no way you’ll ever be bored with kids!
We get married in 50 days. Will this be the best day of our lives? Can’t wait. And just found out yesterday that our wedding will be featured in the New York Times.
PV
Writing feels good. It’s great to puke out some words on a screen and reflect every now and again. There’s always something to learn from someone. See you on NOSTR!
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