I came across this passage in Po Bronson’s “What Should I Do With My Life” on fearisfailure.com while going through Timothy Ferriss’ Lifestyle blog (www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog). At a time when everyone seem to be extra concerned and nervous about their job security, many have asked me, “why did you quit your ‘prize’ job?” I think the following pretty much summarizes the driving force behind my current endeavors:

At home, at work, at school, there are always a ton of external inputs coaxing you in the direction you’re already going. Deadlines, parents chirping in your ear, friends wanting you to go out. Your life has a momentum. Traveling can take you away from all those influences, quiet their din, and allow you a kind of silence to consider who you are as an independent entity. It can be uncomfortable if you’re not used to it. You might come face to face with the fact that there’s not much brainwave activity upstairs without all those influences to react to. “And when you start to think that you haven’t been the pilot of your life for a long, long time, you have no other choice but to hear what your soul is saying,” wrote one young man who found the courage to quit business school while traveling across Asia. “Am I the person I think I am if nobody is there to tell me who I am?”

Being uncomfortable is good. If you remain comfortable, you remain more or less yourself. The quickest way to make yourself uncomfortable is to travel alone. I found a high correlation between traveling alone and milking the rock. It takes courage to change your life. Sometimes, doing so, you feel all alone in the world. You can get used to this scary feeling by traveling alone, being by yourself for long periods of time, having to talk to strangers, having to get yourself from one city to another. You become accustomed to it. The fear of being alone will no longer stop you.

It also helped to travel without a plan. This was particularly true for young people who’ve segued from high school to college to a prize job they were recruited for without taking any great leaps of faith. They’ve never been off a path. With each step, they’ve known where it was likely to lead, even as they pretended they might opt out. They’re uncomfortable with the prospect of not being associated with a respected school or company, since they’ve always had that. Traveling without a plan is a way to rehearse the improvisational approach, and opens your mind to the sense of adventure. You learn to trust the laws of chance. Perhaps, when you get home, you’ll be willing to do the same.

When you subdue these fears, they no longer guard the gates, and you invite the truth into your life.

Hello everyone, I am launching this new project where I will be documenting everything I am or will be doing, and also what I have accomplished up till now. (For those of you who don’t know, I have recently left my position at a fortune 500 company to pursue my dreams, and to try something new and different, and to take a chance you can say). Hopefully it will eventually turn into something positive. But for now, if you have any comments or suggestions, I would love to hear them. Any props or encouragements will help also. Pass the word along, and leave me a note so I know I am getting traffic on my site. You can find it at:

http://cobblog.wordpress.com/

It’s still a work in progress, and the title and subject might change, so bear with me. You can also follow me on twitter at:

https://twitter.com/cobblog

I will be posting updates on what my plans are for the next 3-6 months shortly, if you are interested, keep on checking back. Thanks for your support!

Until next time, good night and good luck,

Jason

    

Santa Monica Beach, originally uploaded by anthonynguyen.

After arriving California on June 2nd, 2008, and sharing a room with my uncle in my cousin’s house for three weeks, then moving out to share a room with five guys in a house of 13 random strangers, in a neighborhood where apparently O.J. Simpson murdered his wife, I have officially declared my independence. I am now a free soul wandering aimlessly to figure out…life? Find myself? Maybe, but first I must find a place to live without having to wait in line to use the shower, hold my #1s (and sometimes #2) until the “fumes” cleared out in the John, wonder where my food went and why the refrigerator won’t close, and finally remind myself not to lend money to complete strangers who happens to be a meth addict. Like woa.

Before I get too far, let’s rewind back to how I got here in the first place.