Hamaca Introspection

The following was written solely in a hammock in Nicaragua

*** Disclaimer — Everything is very subject to change

Current World Stats:

24 years old.

American-White- AKA Japanese, Irish, Polish, Unknown

Degrees: Undergrad- Business Admin, Graduate- Organizational Psychology

Employment: Surf Instructor at Toes on the Nose in Huntington Beach, Model represented by Wilhelmina, Program Manager for Collegiate Concepts (Fridging), and other random stuff.

Introspection

My trip to Nicaragua has given me a ton of time to self reflect. Especially when there isn’t a ton of waves to entertain me. The following will contain a few brief thoughts I have on important topics in life. I’m writing this here for a couple reasons. The first being that the internet won’t disappear like a notebook. Also, maybe somebody could get something out of this or critique me in some way so that we can grow together. Social media is pretty trippy. It’s so easy to just get lost in a deep creep of someone and next thing you know you can be best friends with somebody you’ve never met! I can’t wait to look back at this in a few years and see what I was thinking.

What fires me up

Adventure. Sport. Competition. Variety. Travel. Friends. Good conversation. Fun. Learning. Serving.

I believe we are all on a journey to become self-aware, AKA knowing how to live our best life. Becoming self-aware takes some effort and self-reflection. I recently stumbled upon the Enneagram. It’s a personality typing test and it can help you better understand yourself and your interactions with other people. I fit pretty perfectly into “Type 7”. This is not an exact science (although people swear by it), but it is a great tool to help you learn more about yourself and different types interact with each other.

Religion

An anchor. Perhaps a foundation of how people see the world and from this their actions are derived.

Can be extremely beneficial and/or extremely harmful.

I think it is something unique for each individual and whatever one believes in, it will take some measure of faith.

Money

Having money is liberating.Chasing money is the exact opposite.

Love

I think that humans have a need to love and be loved. This need may expose itself in different ways for different people. I think it’s healthy for humans to have a community. Even for the introverts out there.

I always seem to have a better day when I’m serving another person or organization. I think a huge part of love is serving. I also feel like having a kid will completely change the way I see the world and how I love.

Goals

My goal is to live an extraordinary life using the gifts and talents that I have been given.

Sitting here in this hammock in Nicaragua, my goal is to improve my Spanish and surf great waves.

Sometimes I wish I had some more concrete goals, but at the same time I like to keep my opportunities wide open (typical type 7).

Work

Necessary. A blessing. Something hopefully one can enjoy. Whole post on my thoughts about work to come.

Health

Everything. It’s tough to be productive and help others without your own health. My recent health scare made me realize how important health is and that we should take it seriously. Not something to completely obsess over, but it is something to be conscious of.

Routine

I don’t know if I’ve ever had a real routine in my life. I think that I’m the kind of person that thrives on variety. “Variety is the spice of life” according to good old Tony Horton from P90x. However, I always see articles about successful people and their morning routines.

The college routine of waking up 10 minutes before class, grabbing leftovers from the fridge, and skating to class half asleep doesn’t quite cut it anymore. I think the best kind of morning routine is unique for the individual. Whatever gets YOU going. Something that gets you out of bed, not something that makes you want to keep hitting the snooze. I’m still figuring mine out. One part of it though is making a delicious smoothie. That gets me right out of bed.

Art

So jealous of all the artists and musicians. I think we all have a need to create, whether your medium is with a paintbrush, computer, athletics, tools, or anything.

Final Thoughts

I find myself now in a pretty unique spot. I have plenty of the world’s most valuable resource: time. Not too many people I know currently can say the same thing.However, it’s what one does with their time that makes life enriching. To make my time enriching, I like to remember the Wooden quote that my former coach used to say everyday; “Make each day your masterpiece”.