On the 14th of May, 2012, one of my best friends, Paul, sent me an article by James Altucher.
In it, he described his daily practice of improving a little bit, every single day, in four areas:
- Mental
- Physical
- Emotional
- Spiritual
I thought: Let me try that. So I started tracking it on this free website James had made: The Daily Practice.
It stuck. I have the longest streak on the entire platform. 1574 days today.
6 months later, I had a tough decision to make.
I was studying abroad at UMASS Dartmouth and was supposed to do an internship in California after my fall semester there.
Even though it was a ‘done deal’ between my uncle and the CEO, they hadn’t gotten back to me in over 4 months. Eventually, they sent a rejection letter and my uncle had to intervene.
The deadline to file for a sabbatical semester at my German school was approaching, and I thought: “This is not starting well. I wonder if I can extend my stay at the school?”
Let me try that.
It worked. I did extend. But after my uncle had stuck his neck out, he wasn’t happy that I told them I wouldn’t do the internship when they finally got back to me after it was all said and done.
I’m super glad I made the decision the way I made it, because I learned a ton in that second semester, but at the time, I was constantly second-guessing myself.
Here’s a pic from a few days before I made the call. Lots of thinking.
6 months later, I embarked on an adventure.
While planning my return to Germany, an old friend told me he’d be in the US and said: “Why don’t we travel around together for a few weeks before you leave?”
He’d fund the whole thing and I’d organize it. I had never planned such a big trip, but I thought: Let me try that.
Within 3 weeks, we went to:
- Boston
- Las Vegas
- Several national parks in Arizona & Utah
- Hawai’i
- Seattle
- Huntsville, Alabama
- Atlanta, Georgia
…and we finished the whole thing by going the Champions League finals in London, when Dortmund was playing against Bayern.
It was the best trip ever. I have never learned more about myself, my values and life itself in such a short period of time.
6 months later, I was in my first proper relationship since starting college.
I had liked her since the day I met her in 2011. But she had a boyfriend back then. After that, one of us had always been abroad. She was in Korea (where she was born) from 2011–2012, I was in the US from 2012–2013.
After I came back, we were both at the same place at the same time — finally! I had no idea if she actually liked me, but I thought: Let me try that.
We hung out, we talked for hours, we had a picnic, I tried to kiss her, she wouldn’t let me, we saw a movie, she kissed me…it was a wonderful summer and fall.
I even went to Korea on another trip, to learn more about where she came from.
6 months later, we broke up.
I feel like I’m supposed to say it sucked, but it didn’t. We were a terrible fit. She was two years older than me, and clearly felt her extra life experience made her attitudes towards relationships superior.
It didn’t. She had a very avoidant attachment style, I never saw her, in spite of living less than half a mile away, and so I wondered if I’d be okay without her, okay being alone.
I thought: Let me try that.
At the time, I was interning at BMW M in Munich and having a blast. After the relationship ended, I was a lot happier.
I got to drive insane cars a lot.
I had no internet at home for 3 months, so I went out and did things every single day.
Two fellow interns and me even went on an insane 5 cities in 4 days trip.
By the end of the internship, I had found the city I wanted to move to, made tons of new friends and also figured out that I wouldn’t suffocate in a corporate environment, but don’t want to do it for the rest of my life.
I could go on and on.
6 months after that…
I finished my Bachelor’s thesis within a week and made my first website from a Youtube tutorial.
6 months after that…
I was coaching people online and freelancing for a tax advisor.
6 months after that…
I finally reached my first 1,000 email subscribers, after months and months of hard work.
6 months after that…
I was sick in bed for a week from all the stress of writing a book summary a day for over 100 days.
6 months after that…
I packed my things, moved to Munich and started over. New apartment, new city, new school, new life.
There is no way you can predict who you’ll be in 6 months. Chances are, 6-months-from-now-you wouldn’t even recognize today-you, because you’ll be a completely different person then. But that’s a good thing.
The timeline doesn’t matter. Being optimistic about the future and continuing to try things does.
Where will I be in 6 months? I have absolutely no idea. All I know is it will be better than where I am now. I’m going to love every minute of it.
Why?
Because every day, I will continue to say:
Let me try that.
What will you try today?