Designing Your Life

8 Motivational Videos Plus Links to Others

// December 27th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Motivation

We all need a little motivation sometimes. These are some of the best I have found so far. Warning: If you watch all of these you will be motivated to do something. Last time I watched some of these I went for a run and thought about new projects. Proceed at your own benefit.

Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

Inch by Inch

Al Pacino’s Inch By Inch speech from Any Given Sunday. This might relate to football, but it relates to life too. You have to move forward and fight for each step you take. There are going to be things that try to stop you, but you keep moving inch by inch.

Last Lecture

This is the famous last lecture by Randy Pausch. Randy told his audience about the cancer that is devouring his pancreas and that will claim his life in a matter of months. On the stage that day, Randy was youthful, energetic, handsome, often cheerfully, darkly funny. He seemed invincible. But this was a brief moment, as he himself acknowledged.

Michael Jordon

This commercial from Nike shows the failures of Michael Jordan. Failure doesn’t mean the end. Michael Jordan couldn’t even make the varsity as a sophomore at Laney High School in Wilmington, N.C. He failed many times, but he is able to succeed because he has the courage to fail. He is far from a failure in his sport now.

Unity is Strength

This is a video about a boy that tries to move a tree out of the way because no one else will do it. He inspires others around him and soon everyone joins in the effort. Their strength lies in their unity.

Team Hoyt

I have no idea how this can be done. The father and son compete in a triathlon, but the son had birth complications and is unable to walk or talk. The father carries him through the whole race of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling and 2.4 miles of swimming. I wanted to get out and exercise after watching this.

Johnny the bagger

This is motivational because it shows that you can make a difference. You might only be a bagger but you have the ability to inspire others and help those around you.

Free Hugs

I have always wanted to try this. This video shows the start of the campaign. By the end of the video you really want to give someone a hug.

Other videos that would be good to view.

Adidas has a few videos of athletes that tell their stories of overcoming the impossible. You will need a fast connection to be able to browse but I think some of the videos are quite worth it. The videos inspire you to achieve your goals. You can do anything if you try hard enough. You can view the videos at
http://www.adidas.com/campaigns/usiin/content/index.asp

Another one is the Do lectures. These are lectures that meant to inspire you to go out and do something. I highly recommend the lecture by Timothy Ferriss: Aim for the Impossible. Hopefully you will find a couple that you enjoy and give you the tools to change the things you love. You can view the videos at
http://thedolectures.com/

Ways to Transform your Life that doesn’t Require a Passport or Malaria Shots.

// December 24th, 2008 // No Comments » // Personal Development

The New Year is approaching and that means making lists of goals for the upcoming year. Often these lists don’t last long and they are never accomplished. Sadly, I haven’t become a millionaire but I will be sure to put it on the list this year. Sooner or later I will have to achieve it.

There is a very common theme of most goals involving some form of travel, such as backpacking through Europe, having a beer during Oktoberfest, visiting the Eiffel tower, etc. These goals are often good, but they get boring. Sure you can spend most of your life traveling, but I like goals that enrich your daily life. Most of us aren’t nomads, so we have to stay at home most of the time. So I would like to extend a challenge to only include goals that don’t include travel. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Change your diet so that people question it . Your diet isn’t healthy enough unless people look at you funny when you explain the types of things that you eat. You have to be extreme because that is the only way to be fully healthy. Weight loss is going to appear on many lists, so instead of just substituting a few carrots for a piece of meat try something daring. Change your diet to something that you can be proud of, something that starts conversations when you mention it. If I merely mention I don’t eat cooked foods then that starts questions. It is extreme and I am proud to be extreme.


Make sure to make someone dislike you next year . Trust me, it is a good thing. If you are trying to please everyone then you are trying to blend in. If everyone is the same, then you aren’t standing out. You run the risk of someone disliking you, but you will be truly liked by others. We see the same people blending in every day, do you remember them? Not likely. You remember the people that stand out. You remember the people with purple hair, you remember the people with a ton of piercings, and you remember the people that are unique. These might not be things you want to be remembered for, so find something that you do want to be remembered for. Wear something strange, change your attitude, be yourself. The less you blend in the more you will be remembered. Possible goals included in this: Be outgoing, don’t try to impress others, be unique, and find your true friends


It is scary to be disliked, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. Do one thing every day that scares you. You might remember these words from the Sunscreen song, or Eleanor Roosevelt. This is good advice because you shouldn’t be held back by fears. The things that you fear are often the things that you should do. Starting that business, skydiving, asking someone out and many other things are quite scary but that doesn’t mean they will harm you in the long run. You might fail, but at least you tried. Though, I do hope you don’t fail at skydiving. The worst thing is that you fail, so pick yourself up and find something else.

Failing is a good goal too! We don’t start out with the plan to fail, but if we aren’t scared to fail then anything is possible. Try many many things. You might fail more, but you will have tried many things. We avoid failure, but we should embrace it. I like this goal so much that I might make a post about it soon. Possible goals: Quit your job, start a business, talk to strangers, become homeless.


Let go. Just let go of the attachments. These can be the attachments to getting a compliment or letting a comment affect you. Don’t become attached to items, you will only grow more attached. Merely allow things to flow over you. This might sound a bit too abstract, but try to let things flow past you, don’t try to hold on to them. Don’t hold on to the memories or else you will miss them. You can remember them, but don’t cling. Let go of your ego and allow yourself to take any comment. Imagine that water is flowing over you. The more you struggle to grasp the things that are flowing by then the more you disturb things. Let it flow, enjoy it but don’t have too many attachments. Grasping at things can only yield one of two results: Either the thing you are grasping at disappears, or you yourself disappear. It is only a matter of which occurs first – Goenka


Don’t wait, you haven’t got the time . There isn’t enough time in the day to do everything, but we make less time by worrying about doing something. Not to quote Nike or anything, but just do it. If it can’t be done this second, do it as soon as you can. Stop thinking about it, less planning and just dive in. Need to exercise? Go do it. Want to start your new extreme diet? Grab a piece of fruit. Want to quit your job? Start arranging it, you may want to find another source of income but if you quit first then you are forced to do it. Fear will hold you in the planning phase, so you just have to jump in. Imagine that you are jumping into a pool. It is freezing cold, so you try to go in one inch at a time. You don’t get far because you keep wanting to get out and hesitating to take the next step. If you jump in then you experience a big shock but you are fully in the pool. You will adjust and adapt, don’t worry.

These will hopefully provide you with some ideas to start your list. Please make sure to actually make a list or else you won’t do it. Find your passions and write them down. Hug someone every day, meditate, become homeless, give up your greed, go green, volunteer, change someone’s life, create a group, build something, do anything. Don’t make the New Year a repeat of last year. Reruns get boring and you aren’t boring.

Photo by Mr Magoo ICU