FIND NEW THINGS AT OLD PLACES

I’ve spent a lot of time in Malibu over the last couple of years for a few reasons. One - I read somewhere that you should go and spend time at the places where your people hangout. So who’s your people? For me, it’s self-made successful individuals that have found a solid work/live balance. Those relaxed, easy-breezy salty skinned aquatic nomads that have sand under their toes, creativity in their minds and ambition rooted in their souls. Those who enjoy life and lead with love. Those who find peace in being interconnected with the source.

Two - The beach lifestyle and culture, I love everything about it. Although I don’t know how to surf (yet) I’m honestly obsessed with it and it’s definitely something that I’ll be learning this summer. The way the ocean and beach shift my mood and remind me of how beautiful the universe is and just how insignificantly small I am in it. It grounds me and humbles me and yet has this profound way of making me feel super loved and powerful at the same time. 

Three - No matter how much time I spend in Malibu, it’s as if I always find something new. This happens all of the time and everywhere. It could take shape as a new beach, a new overlook, a new house that inspires me, a new rock, or even the Chrome Hearts® sign that I’ve walked past a million times yet never even noticed it was there. There’s always something new to find if you’re mindfully seeking treasures.

Four - Last year I started getting really intentional with my connection to Malibu. One day as I was sitting on the beach by myself with the sun shinning over me and the waves dancing in front of me, I realized that I belong here. It’s where I feel tuned-in and even though it’s super expensive, it’s where I feel free. It’s where I want to start building a life and a home and to do that without the financial resources, I needed to start mentally investing and stacking up equity. I started asking myself how I would feel when I live here? What would my home look like? How many steps is it from my backyard to the sand? What do the waves sound like from my bedroom at night? What does the gravel on my driveway feel like under the tires of my car as I arrive home from the office? How does my wife greet me as I open the door? What does she look like and what is the sound of her voice? What sound comes from my sons little bare feet as the pitter-patter cascades across the floor as he charges into my arms? What am I smelling in the entrance? Is it Santal, is it homemade dinner or is it a combination of both? What does the decor look like and how is my home styled? How soft is the couch and what is the texture of the drapes? I play these mental projections over and over again and I do it often because I’m trying to create a very detailed mental story that turns into an emotional feeling, which then leads to a physical experience in my body (even typing this made me feel like I was in a meta simulation). Though I don’t have any of these fairytale things (yet), that doesn’t mean that my mind and my heart doesn’t believe it to be true. If I can see it, if I can feel it – then it’s real. It’s there waiting for me. A lot of us don’t realize that there’s a gap in time from the moment our mind constructs something for us, and the time it takes for our bodies to catch up and live in the physical experience of what we designed. I’ve seen this to be true many times. 

For Example, the first time it happened was with photography. On a random day, a random guy goes and buys a random camera. He falls in love with taking photos and becomes obsessed. He unknowingly starts constructing his future, or as most of us call it, fantasizing about future achievements and the company he’s going to build from this little machine that he’s holding in his hands. This guy visualized it and started believing this fairytale in his mind. This strong belief in his own concocted story gave him the courage and confidence to start taking affirming actions as if he were already the photographer he envisions. Over the span of a decade, this guy turned every one of those creative aspirations and far-fetched dreams into his reality. That random guy is me.

The other standout is when I was overweight and wanted to physically change my body. I would see myself lean and healthy, and in this mental projection I even gave myself a six pack, which overweight me deemed as impossible. It was a moonshot, I mean now we’re dealing with alchemy and shape-shifting. But I had faith. I would run the loop of this new me over and over again as I began moving my body. I got off the couch, I changed my diet and I started replacing old habits with new ones. I would envision the new me when I walked, I would see the new me when I began running, I could see this more toned version of me coming into focus when I joined the gym. And three years later, I am currently almost exactly the dream version of what I wanted my body to physically look like. I had to dream it, I had to believe it, I had to trick myself into affirming it was true. I had to feel what it would feel like for my clothes to fit me differently. I had to mentally experience what it would be like to be able to run for over an hour. I had to tell myself to keep going. I had to believe that it wouldn’t kill me, that it would in fact bring me to life. I had to show up every day and do the work to make it happen… and eventually it did.

Five - Look, I had no freakin idea how I was going to financially take on this behemoth of a challenge when I decided that my Malibu story was my truth. I had to have faith and I had to keep reiterating to myself that it’s possible. And to be completely transparent with you, as I sit here typing this right now, I still don’t know how I’m fully going to do it, but I do know that I am a lot closer now than I was on that day that I was sitting in the sand and made the choice to run after this crazy, absurd, desire of mine. And by next year, I’m pretty certain that it will happen. 

Have a dream, have an aspiration and DECIDE to lean in and claim it as YOURS. Use your mind to put yourself there in the present but use your creativity, will, discipline and faith to make sure you’re physically standing there in the future. Your future you is waiting for you, and your future life sure does look good!

-Danny