Posted by Dan Hulsman

Dec 29, 2013 11:59:00 AM

8peoplewhotook0abold0aaction0atowardsanewlife-default_(1)
If you ask someone about their hopes, dreams, and aspirations you’ll probably get some pretty interesting answers. Those answer will also probably fall across a pretty wide spectrum; One person may want to write a book, another may want to start their own business someday. The waiter taking your order may want to be a graphic designer, your co-worker may have dreams of becoming a piano player, and your friend may want to leave the job (which many would kill for) to pursue more interesting or fulfilling work at a no-name start-up or nonprofit organization. If you ask those same people when they’re going to take action, why they haven’t started sooner, or what their plan is for actually achieving those dreams the answers suddenly start to sound the same across the group:
  • “I just don’t have the time right now to…”
  • “Once I reach X obligatory milestone, I’ll finally…”
  • “If I knew where to start, I’d…”
  • “I’m afraid I’m not good enough to…”
Ever heard one of these come out of a friend’s mouth (or your own) before? There are many people who want to be in a dramatically different situation, but the thought of making such a sudden or drastic change can be terrifying – paralyzing, even. These excuses are disguises for common fears – fear of change, fear of uncertainty, fear of failure – that prevent us from pursuing our goals. The thought of pivoting and doing irreparable or irreversible damage to our current trajectory can stop us in our tracks, despite the fact that we may WANT to make an irreversible change in our destiny. The safest path may seem like the best choice, but if it costs you a dream than the safe route can be the most costly in the long haul.Today’s post is part 1 of 2, and features people who decided to make a major change in their lives and drastically improved their situation by doing so. All of these changes were pretty drastic – a Google employee becomes an author, a night-club promoter becomes a humanitarian, etc. – and none of these changes caused the sky to fall. Here are some things that the stars of these success stories have in common:

  • They were following a fairly typical path through life
  • They decided that they wanted a different situation
  • They took bold action towards changing their situation
  • None of them suffered any major negative or irreversible consequences
  • All of them increased their happiness and fulfillment

Penn Holderness: ESPN reporter and anchorman becomes a video production entrepreneur

Who: Penn Holderness
Was: TV Host, ESPN Reporter, and News Anchorman
Pivoted to: Working at a video production and digital marketing firm with his wife

The name may not ring a bell at first glance, but if you’ve seen the viral video, “XMas Jammies,” from the Holderness family then you’ve seen Penn Holderness rap about his pajamas while dancing in his driveway. His family’s video Christmas card went viral on YouTube this month (approaching 8-million views as I write this post), which lines up perfectly with Penn’s decision to leave his job as a news anchor to join his wife atGreenroom Communications – a full-service video production and digital marketing firm. Why is this so remarkable? Penn says it best on his personal blog:

“Penn Holderness is an 18 year veteran of the TV business. Since college (UVA) he’s been a sports director in Colorado and Orlando, a TV host for Designer Finals, an ESPN Reporter, and most recently a newsanchor in Raleigh.

And after those 18 years, he’s decided that he isn’t really interested in about half of the things he talked about on the news. So he’s quitting. He now owns a production/marketing company (visitthegreenroom.com), and is using this blog to showcase the 100% of things he actually cares about.”

The beauty in Penn’s description is in its simplicity: He spent 18 years doing something, decided that he isn’t interested anymore, so he stopped doing it to do something else. Boom. Done. It makes total sense, and yet this simple decision-making process eludes some of the best and brightest people I know (including myself, at times). Penn had a job that so many people probably dream of having – TV anchor – but it wasn’t making him happy. Now he works with his wife doing something he clearly enjoys and he told the world via video Christmas card with his family. Epic.

Staci Ardison: Business Systems Analyst transforms into a power-lifting superhero

Who: Staci Ardison
Was: Business Systems Analyst
Pivoted to: Fitness coach/trainer and power-lifting enthusiast

I came across Staci’s story on NerdFitness.com – an awesome community and resource for nerds who want to lead healthy and active lives. The photo that drew me to the post was of Staci in a viking helmet in the midst of what appeared to be a battle cry – an awesome first impression.

Staci, like many of her fellow Americans, took a corporate desk job and slowly became unhealthy through convenient eating options, inactivity, and smoking a pack of cigarettes a day (yikes!). After her doctor told her that she had high cholesterol, Staci joined the gym, hit the elliptical, and started eating less. The result? She lost 50 lbs and most of her energy because she was accidentally starving her body. Oops. Happily, she took the initiative to educate herself and eventually found a place in the Nerd Fitness Community. After much learning and encouragement from her fellow Nerds, she turned from cardio to strength training and found her new BFF: the barbell.

“When I say that the second I touched a barbell I fell in love, I’m not joking. People say to me, “oh, its not healthy to lift that much, etc…” Well lifting to me is like going and playing basketball is to someone else. Its a hobby, and a passion. I’m not doing it because I have to, I’m doing it because I want to. I’m simply happier days that I deadlift.”
-Staci Ardison, Nerdfitness.com

Where is Staci now? She works for the very website that cheered her on towards her fitness goals:NerdFitness.com, helping people upgrade their lives every day. While I checked the LinkedIn profiles for everyone in this list to make sure I had my facts straight, Staci’s was one of my favorites due to the severe pivot that came out of nowhere in her work history. Marketing Assistant > Campaign Associate > Campaign Developer > Technical Process Manager > Business Systems Analyst > Crossfit Trainer (wait, what just happened?) > Nerd Fitness.

Jeremy Frandsen: TV Editor for E! & Warner Brothers dominates with online business

Who: Jeremy Frandsen
Was: TV Editor for E! Entertainment and Warner Brothers
Pivoted to: Internet entrepreneur, consultant, speaker and author

I found Jeremy and his business partner, Jason Van Orden, through their EXTREMELY successful Podcast: Internet Business Mastery | Get Paid to Live Your Purpose. IBM has been the #1 internet business podcast since 2005, and is jam-packed with enough free knowledge and resources to make anyone into an online marketing superstar. Before braving the world of internet business, Jeremy had a job that sounded glamorous enough. He worked for years editing TV and movie promos for E! Entertainment Television and Warner Brothers out in LA. The problem? His job forced him to live in a city he didn’t like, commuting to work 45+ minutes in each direction, and working 10-12 hours a day doing something that wasn’t fulfilling. On work days, he made it home just in time to help put his daughters to bed. This continued until he finally reached his limit.

“I finally realized one day that I spent my entire day pretending that I wanted to be there.”

Right after he reached his boiling point, a friend handed him Guy Kowasaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad which served as a catalyst for everything that followed. Within a year of reading the book, he quit his job and dedicated himself to learning internet business and pursuing the freedom and happiness he dreamed of. Fun fact: Upon quitting, he was told “You’ll never work in this town again!” – That actually happened in real life! Hilarious.

“I became unemployable the moment I shut the book.”

In 2005, he and Jason launched Internet Business Mastery and began teaching others how to turn their strengths and passions into fulfilling internet businesses. Between their blog, podcast, and Internet Business Mastery Academy they empower others to live the lives they want instead of the lives they’re handed. If you have any interest in internet business or online marketing, check out his podcast and website – I contribute a HUGE chunk of my marketing knowledge to the plethora of free content they provide, and would not have landed my current job without them!

Scott Harrison: Nightclub promoter bounces back as a charity champion

Who: Scott Harrison
Was: Nightclub and event promoter
Pivoted to: Humanitarian and founder of charity:water

I had the pleasure of seeing Scott present his story live at HubSpot’s Inbound 2013 conference, and it was absolutely incredible. Scott described his former life as a nightclub and event promoter in graphic detail – the unhealthy lifestyle of late nights and lots of booze, throwing money away on expensive bottles of booze, losing touch with his faith, and no purpose. After hitting rock bottom and declaring “spiritual bankruptcy,” he walked away from the NYC night life with the mission of pursuing a completely opposite new life. And he did not screw around.

Next stop on Scott’s journey? West Africa, aboard a floating hospital called a Mercy Ship, which offered free medical care to some of the worlds poorest countries. As the ship’s photojournalist, he got an up-close look at real poverty and the devastating results that came from entirely solvable problems. Of particular interest to Scott was the number of people suffering from terrible water-bourne diseases which left them deformed, covered in tumors, or blind. People were forced to poison themselves with diseased and dirty drinking water, and Scott decided to do something about it.

At first, he started using the skills from his previous life (throwing and promoting parties) to raise money and fund water projects to bring clean running water to villages overseas. Eventually, his idea grew intocharity:water – a highly-successful, very cool, and very accessible charity which has provided clean water to 3.5 million people in 20 countries. One of the most popular ways they raise funds is through their Birthday Projects, which allows you to pledge your birthday to the cause as Scott did in the beginning. You get a campaign page and direct your friends and family to donate to your campaign instead of buying birthday presents. This cutsey-sounding idea has yielded over $9-million from over 48,000 birthday projects. That’s a whole lot of clean water.

CLICK HERE TO READ PART 2

FREE GUIDE: 9 Apps for Upgrading Yourself
That’s it for Part 1! What did you think? Anyone feeling particularly inspired? Which of these stories was your favorite? Tell me all about it in the comments below.

Topics: Inspiration