The M.A.P. Maker

Readjusting dream logistics (292 days at sea - and counting)

Turning a big dream into reality isn't just a matter of deciding where you want to go and setting the controls to autopilot. It takes hard work and persistence. More than that, it takes a willingness to adapt on the fly as you encounter unexpected obstacles.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is running into an obstacle and letting it stop them, rather than saying, "OK, what are my options now?"

My friend Erden Eruc (pronounced air-DEN air-ROOCH) is a master at asking that question. He is currently on a quest to circumnavigate the globe by human power (by bike, foot, and ocean rowing boat), with a summit attempt on the highest peak of each of six continents in the process. He is also the founder of a non-profit called Around-n-Over, focused on using the journey to educate and inspire kids (I'm on the Around-n-Over board).

Since a first meeting about his dream in 2003, I have watched him pursue it with dogged tenacity. Nothing stops him. He has bicycled from Seattle to Alaska in the winter and climbed Mt. McKinley. He biked across the US. And he rowed across the Atlantic from Portugal to the Caribbean islands. Through it all, he has found ways to make the logistics (financial, bureaucratic, health, equipment, etc.) work in the face of what seems to me crazy odds.

One of the things I find most inspiring is the way he deals with obstacles, either finding ways around them, or - if they really are insurmountable obstacles - asking, "What's the spirit of what I'm trying to do," and adjusting his efforts accordingly.

Right now, Erden is 292 days into a row across the Pacific. His goal was to row from San Francisco to Brisbane, Australia. Unfortunately, unusual winds and currents have prevented him from being able to get south of the equator.

Recognizing that there was nothing he could do about where the winds and currents were allowing him to row, he came back to the spirit of his dream - a successful, safe, human-powered circumnavigation of the globe. As it became clear that Australia was not going to happen, he readjusted his sights, now aiming for the Phillipines en route to landfall on the mainland of Asia and ultimately on to Everest and beyond.

As he describes it in his dispatches at sea...

It would have been nice to reach Australia as was the original plan with this long crossing, which is progressing mostly at the whim of the Pacific. Yet a door closed creates other opportunities to be pursued.

If Erden had a rigid attachment to his expectations of exactly how the journey needed to unfold, this leg of it would already be considered a failure. He didn't reach his goal - Australia. But by keeping it in the context of his bigger vision and the spirit of the dream, and adjusting his plans to adapt to reality, he continues to move forward towards ultimately making a dream reality.

Because his dream is so big, how it unfolds may end up looking completely different than the original plan (it has already changed numerous times along the way to adapt to various unforeseen challenges).

But that same bigness creates an enormous canvas for Erden to paint the spirit of the dream. In the end, it's not the logistics that matter, it's what the journey is about.

As I mentioned, Erden's non-profit, Around-n-Over, was founded with a focus on educating and inspiring kids to dream, believe, and achieve. You can see the education portal here.

If Erden's efforts inspire you, find out how you can support his journey and Around-n-Over here.

www.around-n-over.org

Sir Edmund Hillary: My kind of hero

One of my heroes, Sir Edmund Hillary, has died.

It wasn't so much the fact that he was the first to summit Mount Everest that made me admire him, though that was certainly impressive. What made him hero-worthy to me was that he always stayed humble and unassuming, and used his fame to do good in the world. Here's a snippet from an Associated Press article...

"He inspired people to climb, but he also inspired people to do more than just climb," said Francis Slakey, a physics professor at Georgetown University who reached the summit of Everest in 2000 and was married at the Thyangboche monastery. "He used his world stage to actually improve the lives of people throughout the Khumbu. It's impressive."

...Hillary was a model for other climbers to try to follow. It took decades for others to catch up to his class act. Where many climbers left behind trash, Hillary left a legacy of education, health care and bonds of friendship.

Here's a paragraph from an article in Time describing his efforts to make his world a better place.

Beginning in 1962 he began working with the Nepalese sherpas who had so often helped him. Raising funds through his Himalayan Trust, he helped install bridges and pipes, built nearly 30 schools, two hospitals, 12 medical clinics, two mountaineering clinics, restored monasteries and planted more than a million seedlings in and around the towns of the rugged and poor Solu-Khumbu region of Nepal. Much of the last years of his life were dedicated to the work of the Trust, which opened offices in New Zealand, the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Germany. Even into his 70s Hillary spent an average of five months away from New Zealand every year raising money through lectures and visiting the projects in Nepal. He still felt uncomfortable with his knighthood and fame but realised their advantages and the obligations they brought. "I would like to see myself not going [to Nepal] quite so often," he told TIME in 1996. "But at the moment... the responsibility is there. It has to be done."

Sir Edmund Hillary, thanks for all the good you did, both directly and through the people you inspired. I hope when it's my time to check out I can say the same, in some way, about my life.

 

Check out 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work

Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

My hero: Dr. Muhammad Yunus (Grameen Bank founder & Nobel Peace Prize winner)

As I develop my own personal paradigm for positive change in the world, I am constantly on the lookout for heroes - people who inspire me and have insights I can learn from.

High on the list of those heroes is Dr. Muhammad Yunus, founder of The Grameen Bank and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

Right now in my morning reading, I'm reading Banker to the Poor, Yunus' autobiography. I recommend it  if you're looking for inspiration and confirmation that "the way things are" isn't necessarily the way things are. 

In the meantime, here is a podcast with a speech by Dr. Yunus talking about his experience.

At the end of the talk, he gives some great advice to people who want to transform their world. Here is a summary of that advice. He's talking primarily in terms of social entrepreneurship, but I think the advice works whatever your goal is.

Define your work very clearly. Be clear about the issue you're addressing so you can translate it to an action that works.

Learn by doing. The first step is just to get you going. Then you can pay attention to what works and what doesn't.

Be stubborn. Don't get swayed when people say it won't work. People are always waiting to say no.

Listen to people. Other people will have valuable advice for ways to improve what you're doing. Ignore wholesale dismissal, but always be on the lookout for good feedback on flaws and possibilities.

Take a look at your own path. How might those four ideas apply to what you're doing, where you're going, and how you'll get there?

Check out The Occupational Adventure Guide

Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

CNN gets it right with the Heroes series

In general, I'm no big fan of what CNN adds to the world. A look at its focus on murder, mayhem, tragedy, and scandal was part of what prompted me to create my HappyRant blog (a step that ultimately led in the direction of this blog).

But they got it right with the Heroes series of reports about everyday people making the world a better place. I posted last week about my habit of starting my mornings with positive, inspiring reading to set the stage for the rest of the day. I may just have to ration these out and watch one report each morning as well.

They'll be doing a program highlighting the most outstanding "All-Stars" of the Heroes series on December 6th.

Kudos to CNN. Write them and let them know you want more news like this.

Check out The Occupational Adventure Guide

Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

Global Village Elders

Everywhere I look today, there is more and more movement towards mainstreaming the philosophy of positive change.

In the article I wrote about yesterday with Richard Branson's thoughts on social entrepreneurship, Branson talked about a group of world leaders called The Elders. It is based on the idea that, as the world increasingly becomes a global village, it is desperately in need of some wise elders. Here's how he described it.

In July of this year, we launched the Elders, a remarkable group of leaders to tackle the world's problems, including: Mandela, Graca Machel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mary Robinson, Kofi Annan, former President Jimmy Carter, Yunus, Ela Bhatt, Li Xhaoxing, and Gro Harlem Brundtland.

We hope this group will become the elders of our global village and play a role in alleviating human suffering. As Mandela put it, "This group can speak freely and boldly, working both publicly and behind the scenes on whatever actions need to be taken. Together we will work to support courage where there is fear, foster agreement where there is conflict and inspire hope where there is despair."

Thinking big and coming up with ideas that might seem ludicrous at the start are all going to be important if we want to radically change the path the world is headed toward to make sure that we build a far healthier, more equitable and peaceful planet for our children.

What an amazing group of people!   

Of course, paradigm shift happens when people at all levels start to embrace the ideas. Bringing this down to the world most of us live in (as opposed to the high profile world that The Elders live in), here's a question to ask yourself: "How can I follow their lead? How can I apply some of those ideas in my own life?"

Regardless of your chronological age, there is potential to weave the ideas they talk about into your approach to the world (in fact, I sometimes think the younger generation actually has an advantage when it comes to "thinking big and coming up with ideas that might seem ludicrous at the start").

The Elders are doing their thing at the level they operate in. How can you do your thing in yours?

Check out The Occupational Adventure Guide

Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

A cornucopia of personal development blogs

Four years ago, when I started my first blog, The Occupational Adventure, I literally had a challenging time finding blogs to link to that talked about the same kind of personal development / career passion ideas that I was focusing on. This was four years ago.

Fast forward to today, and I'm astounded at how many excellent, inspiring blogs there are out there.

If you read anybody's personal development blog with any kind of regularity, by now you have probably seen Priscilla's personal development list. It came out when I was on an unofficial hiatus from blogging (a time of lying fallow that ultimately led me to create The M.A.P. Maker as a blog based on the evolution of my professional and personal focus).

Because I wasn't really blogging, I am only now getting around to posting the list. But the wait was worth it. If you haven't already (and even if you have), check out all these amazing reads.

Robert Fulghum asks, "What on earth have you done?"

Last Sunday I went to hear one of my favorite authors, Robert Fulghum (the author of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten), speak at my neighborhood bookstore (it also happens to be his neighborhood bookstore, since he lives nearby as well).

If you've ever had the opportunity to hear him speak, you'll know that he is personable, and dry, and really funny. He is also incredibly insightful, finding wonderful life lessons in the seemingly mundane.

One story he read from his newest book, What On Earth Have I Done?, took a look at four timeless questions mothers ask their children, and how those questions apply to our own lives. The questions (all asked with an exclamation point, of course) are:

What on earth have you done?
What in God's name are you doing?
What will you think of next?
Who do you think you are?

Take a look at this fun video from Fulghum's site for an explanation of the questions straight from the source.

How do the questions apply to our lives? With a bit of spin and editorializing on my part...

What on earth have I done?
Look back on your life to date. What on earth have you done? What impact has your life made - on yourself, on the people around you, or on the world? Has it been positive? Negative? Does it feel important?

What in God's name am I doing?
Look at what you're up to in your life right now. Are you happy with it? Does it feel meaningful? When you ask the first question about it (What on earth have you done?) a year from now, how will you feel about it?

What will I think of next?
Regardless of your answers to the first two, the future is rich with potential. Where do you want it to take you? Why?

Who do I think I am?
As Fulghum sees it, your answers to the first three will give you the answer to this last question.

From a M.A.P. Making perspective, that last question - who do you think you are? - is incredibly important. Whether we're talking about doing personally meaningful, passion-filled work in the world, or showing up authentically in everything you do, it all starts with knowing who you are, what energizes you, what your values are, and what you value.

So who do you think you are? And what will you think of next?

Download The Occupational Adventure Guide

Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

I heart Shakira (and here's why)

Our cultural obsession with fame mystifies me. But every once in a while I find a famous person I would truly love to meet. Typically fame alone doesn't merit much of my interest, but when that person is combining that fame (and fortune) to somehow work to make the world a better place...now that's worth some giddy admiration.

Take Shakira, for example. I bought Shakira's first CD (when she was still singing in Spanish) while on vacation in Mexico City in 1996. It was a wildly popular throughout Latin America. She was only 18 at the time, and I remember hoping that so much success at such an early age wouldn't ruin her.

So it's heartening to see news like this:

Kind-hearted pop star Shakira is donating $40 million to help rebuild areas in the Americas hit by recent natural disasters.

The Colombian singer will donate the money from the foundation Latin America for Solidarity Foundation (ALAS) - which she co-founded with Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

The money will go to repair damages caused by an earthquake in Peru and a hurricane in Nicaragua.

The pop beauty also revealed the foundation will plow $5 million into a three-year commitment project for children in the two regions.

I love the example she's setting. Imagine the millions of kids around the world who are Shakira fans seeing that and absorbing that as a behavior to emulate.

Here's a pipe dreamer thought (hey - I'm allowed!). How cool would it be if, rather than the fancy car and the shiny bling, one must-have measurement of fame started being how much you give. And rather than obsessing on who's dating/breaking up with/cheating on whom, we could be obsessed with who's making what kind of difference in the world.

Yeah, it probably wouldn't get as much attention on the front page of The National Enquirer, but a boy can dream, right?

[via Don't Believe the Hype]

Check out The Occupational Adventure Guide

Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

Inspiration and perspective

I never cease to be amazed at the uber-cool things people feel called to do, and the obstacles they can overcome to do them. For me, real people's stories both inspire me and help me keep things in perspective. 

Stories like this one about Will Spence. Confined to a wheelchair by Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and able to breathe only with the help of a  respirator, Spence  recently launched a social networking site for people with debilitating diseases or injuries. As the article describes it...

Spence has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. His movement is limited to his head, and even that is limited.

"You can only spend so many days focusing on you or your disease," Spence said. "Choice is a powerful thing. I choose to try and make a difference."

That is why he has spent 5 months and his lifesavings to create a social networking Web site for people with debilitating diseases or injuries.

"If you are like me and you have trouble getting out of the house, at least you have another avenue to connect with people," Spence said.

He said, "It gives me a personal significance because I am going through a disease that is debilitating and devastating and I feel like I can connect with others through this Web site. It gives me personal satisfaction. To be able to help people is just as exceptional."

Much as I would like to pretend that I have a perpetually sunny attitude, the reality is that there are times when I just feel downright cranky about the things I see standing in the way between me and what I want.

When that happens, stories like Spence's offer an invaluable sense of perspective. For example...

Spence built the Web site one painstaking keystroke at a time. He uses his mouth to maneuver a metal rod over each computer key. 

Snippets like that leave me feeling, "...and those obstacles standing in your way feel like such a big deal...why, exactly?" Followed quickly by, "Dude, get over yourself and get back to work. You've got a world to change."

Check out The Occupational Adventure Guide
Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM