Passion is the true energy of life.  It is what every philosopher, artist, and explorer searches for. It’s an energy that can transform your life and open up a whole new world of meaning and peace.  In the last few weeks I have chased passion and felt the benefits of it in every area of my world.

I wanted to share some ways that I create passion every day so that you can learn how to do it for yourself and experience how it can change your world.

Find Your Life Purpose

I know this sounds New Age-y but until you find out what excites you you’re going to have a tough time feeling passionate about your life.  You don’t need to go on a mystical quest to find yourself in fact you may already know what your purpose is.  It’s the thing that you can talk about for hours and never get bored.  It’s what you would choose to do if you won the lottery and never had to work another day.

Your Life Purpose could be as simple as becoming a parent, or a teacher.  It could be writing, or discovering new music, or cooking gourmet food.  Maybe your purpose is to see the world, or to go out partying with your friends.  It does not matter if your purpose is selfless or completely selfish.  Once you discover what brings passion into your life and you chase it you will be making your life, and the lives of those around you better.

Take a few minutes and write down your life purpose, if it’s something you wish to share add it as a comment below.  Remember there is no right or wrong answer as long as your purpose is something that fills you with excitement just by thinking about it.  If you are really struggling with this I recommend you take a look at these articles at The Personal Excellence Blog which helped me nail my own purpose down.

Discover A New Hobby Or Learn A New Skill

It amazes me at how many people refuse to do this as it’s become one of the most rewarding parts of my life.  The possibilities this can open up for you are insane.  Maybe you’ll find a new best friend.  Maybe you’ll learn a skill that you can later turn into a business of your own.  Even if your new hobby doesn’t work out you’ve still learned something about yourself that you didn’t know before.  This week before you sit down to watch True Blood or whatever you’ve got on your TiVo consider leaving your television off and learning something new.

Help Someone Out

Doing a good turn daily is a principle taught by the Boy Scouts and it is a great way to make you feel excited about your self by giving to someone else.  This can be a spur of the moment event, like holding the door for a mother with a stroller, but the best way to keep this momentum going is to find a way to contribute regularly.

I found a passion in creating lifestyle businesses and I am helping my friends and family create some for themselves.  It is a true win-win situation.  I enjoy the work I am doing, and it is great to watch them succeed.  This should not be a chore.  You should be helping someone as a way to make both of your lives (and thus the world) better.  Tell me how you are helping people in your comments below!

Dream Up Your Perfect Life

If you are ever feeling particularly bummed out and need a quick infusion of passion this tip is for you.  Grab a pen and some paper and start dreaming up your perfect life.  The most effective way is to write it as though it is a letter from your future self telling you about all the great things they’ve already experienced.  Instead of writing “My life would be perfect when” change it to “My life is perfect because”.  This little change will trick your brain into thinking along those lines and your emotions will immediately follow suit.

You can do this activity for as long or as short as you want.  If there is a specific situation you would like to fix, write the letter telling yourself what it is like now that this problem has disappeared. If it’s just your life in general you are tackling feel free to go one for page after page listing all the great things you can think of.  It might be helpful to keep these letters together in a book or a folder so you can go back and reread what you have written you might surprise you to see that some of the stuff you wrote may have come true.

Plan Awesome Into Your Future

Another way to feel passionate about your life is to fill it with things that you are passionate about.  It seems simple but it’s something I see a lot of people forget to do.  Quickly make a list of things you love to do.  I love going to concerts, hanging out with my friends and eating sushi!  Since I know these things make me excited I do them regularly.  I plan them out and mark them in my calendar in huge letters.  I know that no matter what might go wrong this week I’ve got something to look forward to.

This is simple but it’s effective.  Life is just a series of events, fill those events with activities that make you feel passionate and excited and your life will be the same.

Your Bonus For Being Fantastic: Change Your Mind

This is the single most effective tip I know of to make any moment full of passion and excitement.

You know by now that it’s impossible to choose everything that happens to you.  Sometimes bad things happens, sometimes you are stuck in a situation that you wish were different, and there is generally nothing you can do about it.  Stop trying to change these situations and instead focus your energy on changing how you feel about it.  If you can learn to turn your mind from complaining about what you don’t like and instead use it to find ways to make every moment, good or bad, full of passion and meaning you will have learned what every guru has been trying to teach since the beginning of time.

“Live With Passion” photo provided under a Creative Commons License by It’s Holly

This post is part of my continuing coverage of the High Five Tour! To see all related posts check out the WWFS Category Button above and make sure you subscribe!

Hey guys!  It’s almost 1 AM and I’ve still got some work to finish up before I get some sleep but I just wanted to share a really touching moment with you guys.  We are on a tight schedule for this trip and it leaves very little margin for error or getting side tracked but that is exactly what we did today.

While traveling through Kansas City, MO we received a phone call from a soldier’s mother who was asking us to stop off an visit her son.  He had been wounded recently and suffered from burns over 66% of his body.  The Colonel jumped at the chance to help this family and we changed directions and headed to Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, KS.

Getting to meet this soldier was a fantastic experience.  He was in great spirits and was very grateful that we we’re able to spend some time with him and his family.  He was even so kind to help the High Five Tour with our mission and take one of our 20,000 high fives.  I promised him that we would get his picture up on the tour site as quickly as possible and it made it’s rounds today on MilitaryMonday on Twitter.  I also wanted to share it with you guys.

I’ll see you guys on the road.

This post is part of my continuing coverage of the High Five Tour! To see all related posts check out the WWFS Category Button above and make sure you subscribe!

That’s everything I’ve got.  The bag is light and I’m glad it’s so small.  We packed the Shelby yesterday and it’s full to the brim so I’ll be cramped enough as it is.  I’ve also got some cliff bars in case we get hungry on the road.  I will be doing laundry in one of the aloksaks nightly and hopefully once a week there will be time to do a machine wash. The full packing list is down below!

Clothing

• 3 Pairs of Socks
• 2 Pairs of lightweight quick dry underwear by Exofficio
• 1 Pair of zip off Pants (doubles as a bathing suit)
• Pair of Shorts
• 3 short sleeve T-Shirts
• Ultimate Microfleece Hoodie from ScottEVest
• A Hat
• Belt
• Pair of Sunglasses
• Black All-Star Converse

Toiletries

• Doctor Bronner’s Soap (Shipped)
• Travel Toothbrush and Toothpaste (Shipped)
• Deodorant
• Pack Towl
• Grooming Kit

Electronics

• MacBook Pro (with Charger)
• Canon Rebel T2i (with Charger)
• iPhone 4 (Replaces my FlipCam HD) (with Charger + Car Charger)
• Nook (with Charger)
• Aux Cable
• Headphones

Paperwork

• Single wallet with ID
• Copy of this Packing List (Digital on Nook)
• Credit Card (for emergencies) and Debit Card for cash access
• Tickets, Travel Itinerary

Misc. Supplies

• Journal and Pens
• Secure Computer Lock (doubles as Luggage Lock)
• aLOKSAK Waterproof Bags (for storage and laundry)
• Earplugs and Sleeping Mask
• Gerber Multitool (Shipped)
• Tripod for Camera

This post is part of my continuing coverage of the High Five Tour! To see all related posts check out the WWFS Category Button above and make sure you subscribe to keep up with all the information.

I got into Omaha yesterday.  I did some running around with the Colonel and got the car packed full of T-shirts and the cards we will be giving out after we high five someone.  We have some running around to do today as well and them tomorrow morning at 9am we officially start the Tour!  Here’s the video I shot in the morning and played around with on iMovie for iPhone.

Anyway that’s just for fun!  I’ll more tour videos coming to you guys soon!

Welcome to Friday Linkage!  Awesome new stuff comes out on the internet every day and I want to give all you guys a chance to see it.  Each Friday I’m going to take the time to share some of the stuff that has rocked my world over the previous week.  It could be a great post I read, a new website I find really useful, or maybe just a video on YouTube that made me laugh.  Anything that made an impact on my life can pop up in here.  I hope you will take a few seconds out of your day to click on the links and see what they have to offer!

The Minimalist Cookbook – Click Here!

Jules Clancy runs a kick ass blog over at stonesoup where she writes about minimalist cooking and teaches her readers how to become better home cooks.  Her posts cover topics such as setting up a minimalist kitchen, time saving tips, and even how to learn to enjoy cooking while living on your own.  This week she released a free eCookBook with tons of recipes all of which take 10 minutes to cook and have 5 ingredients or less.  I highly recommend you check this out!

Take Time To Relax – Click Here!

Karol has some absolutely great articles on his site Ridiculously Extraordinary, I encourage anyone who want’s to travel and experience freedom to head on over there.  In this post he talks about setting aside some time in your day to relax.  This post came at a great time as I recently discovered that a lot of my hobbies that I thought were relaxing, aren’t.  I will be using his relaxation techniques whenever I need to lower my anxiety levels or just calm myself down.

Getting Down To Business – Click Here!

Relaxing is great for the mind but you have to remember to keep productive.  Too much relaxation can lead to stagnation and getting nothing done.  This is exactly what Darren Rowse discovered in his post over at ProBlogger.  He unlocks the key to productivity and shares his story about why some days he never got anything done and how he learned to turn that around.

That’s what I have for this week.  Three awesome links that I hope will help you out wherever you are in your life!  What did you find on the internet this week that rocked your world? Share with me below in the comments!

Photo by clspeace available under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

This post is part of my continuing coverage of the High Five Tour! To see all related posts check out the WWFS Category Button above and make sure you subscribe to keep up with all the information.

The High Five Tour is almost here!  I have been busy planning for everything that I can.  I know it’s impossible to account for everything that can happen on this trip but it never hurts to be prepared!  As I have posted on this site minimalism is becoming an important part of who I am and I wanted to take that with me on this road trip.  I have come up with 5 minimalist resolutions that I think will help me and anyone else taking a road trip make the most out of their experience.

Minimalist Resolution #1: Always Be In The Present

This means not spending all your free time on the computer surfing the web or instant messaging with friends from back home.  This means being part of your surroundings, meeting and interacting with new people and exploring.  Try new activities. Stay out of your head  Eat new Foods.  Be wherever you are. And finally do not, even for a second, turn on the TV in your hotel room.

Minimalist Resolution #2: Travel Light and Be Flexible

Ultralight travel is a staple of minimalism (I’ll have my packing list for this trip up in a few days!) and not only will it help you stick with resolution #1 because you aren’t gong to be bringing all the extra things that keep you cooped up inside, it will also make your time moving from place to place a lot easier.  Plus, it keeps you flexible and lets you change your plans on a moments notice.  I travel with one 32 oz backpack which holds everything I need.  If I was going away for 3 days or 3 months my travel bag would still have everything I need.  There is no need to unpack my stuff in hotel drawers because everything is accessible and it is light enough that I can carry everything on my back.

It is important to keep your options open when traveling.  It is great to have your route planned out and mapped but halfway through your trip you may be offered an opportunity to change gears and do something completely fantastic and spur of the moment. Do it! Like John Lennon said, “life is what happens when you’re making other plans”.  Take the chance. Put away your itinerary and experience something awesome!

Minimalist Resolution #3: Support The Little Guys

When you stop on your road trip to get something to eat or purchase knickknacks for your family make a little extra effort to help out the local businesses wherever you are.  Buy produce from a farmer’s market or a mom and pop supermarket.  Each lunch at a family owned restaurant instead of McDonald’s or T.G.I. Fridays. Go to a craft fair and get your souvenirs handmade.  Not only will you help keep those businesses afloat during this economy but you will be able to connect with the people and places that you visit. Plus, it’s a lot more fun to tell your friends about that hand blown shot-glass that was made especially for you than one you picked up at Walmart with the state seal machined on it.

Minimalist Resolution #4: Leave It Better Than You Found It

When I was in the Boy Scouts we were taught two rules: 1. Leave It Better Than You Found It, and 2. Do A Good Turn Daily.  To me it’s always been the same rule twice but I recommend traveling with the same rules.  Clean up after yourself, and pick up some trash someone else might have forgotten themselves.  Fix something that’s broken without being asked to.  Help someone out who is down on their luck. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture, even simple things can make all the difference. You will feel better that you did it and may inspire someone else to pass it forward.

Minimalist Resolution #5: Slow Down

If I had limited myself to only one resolution for this post it would be to slow down.  It’s human nature to want to move fast and we are habituated to it.  If you like to move fast make a conscious decision during your trip to slow your self down and experience what is around you.  Just like being flexible keeping a slow place will show you opportunities you might otherwise have missed.  It will help you develop stronger memories of your trip and make the activities more meaningful.

A lot of people I know try to pack their schedule full of every single thing they can and end up rushing just so they can say they have been somewhere or done something.  I prefer to take my time, find something I really enjoy and give myself a chance to appreciate it.  Take a look at your schedule, if it’s jam packed to the brim you might want to consider putting some things off for another day or just leaving them out entirely.

Well that’s what I have for you guys today.  I am going to be sticking to these resolutions as much as I can during the High Five Tour.  I hope this might give you some new ideas about taking a cross country trip yourself.  I would love to hear your own travel tips or experiences.  Let me know about them in your comments!

Photo by Ben Fredericson under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

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This post is part of my continuing coverage of the High Five Tour! To see all related posts check out the WWFS Category Button above and make sure you subscribe to keep up with all the information.

Hey!  As always I would like to thank you for coming to ScottKostolni.com!  Today I want to share some background information on Wounded Warriors Family Support and how they are supporting military families all over the country.

Wounded Warriors Family Support was founded in March 2003 by Colonel John Folsom when he began collecting donations and purchased needed supplies for the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.  The non-profit organization has grown and now bases itself out of Omaha, Nebraska where it continues its mission of helping families of soldiers who have been injured or killed in combat.

Wounded Warriors Family Support’s current operations include providing vacations to members of it’s family program most notably to Bahama Bay Resort near Orlando where the family can relax and enjoy time together while also visiting some of Florida’s family attractions.  I encourage you to go read some of the letters they have received thanking them for the opportunities they have given to these families; They are truly moving.

The organization is also working on building The Retreat, an 80 acre resort in Omaha, Nebraska. It will be safe haven for these families to reconnect with each other through activities specially geared towards bringing a family together.

If you would like to get involved or show your appreciation to this organization head over here for a list of ways you can make a difference in the lives of our nations heroes.

High Five Tour 2010

Hey everyone!  It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything but I have some really exciting news that I am finally ready to share.  I am going to be working with Wounded Warriors Family Support (WWFS) and traveling on a cross country US road trip, to raise awareness of the organization and help support military families all across America! The event, being called the High Five Tour kicks off on June 28th in Omaha, Nebraska with a live event at the Heartland of America Park and then sets off to hit 36 cities and cover over 10,000 miles!

This is an ambitious venture and there are some great things planned while we are on the road.  While in Florida the High Five Tour will be meeting with the Blue Angels and in Washington D.C. Team High Five will be visiting the USMC War Memorial.  At each of our events we will be out thanking Americans for supporting the members of our armed forces and high fiving like crazy!  Check out the tour site for more information at HighFiveTour.com

How Can You Get Involved?

Come Out To An Event – There will be High Five Tour events all over the country and most likely one near you.  Come down and meet myself, Brandon Mendelson and Colonel John Folsom and get your High Five! Check out the official Dates Page to find out when and where the tour the will be in your city.

Interact With Us Online – Social media will be a huge part of connecting with everyone.  On Twitter be sure to follow Brandon Mendelson (@BJMendelson) for up to date info throughout the trip and keep your eye out for the hashtag #WWFS to see what everyone is saying about Wounded Warriors Family Support.  For videos and live streaming events keep an eye out on the WWFS’ YouTube Channel and Ustream Site.  Make sure you also check out the official Facebook Page (hit the ‘like’ button! You know you want to).

What Will I Be Doing?

I will be keeping you guys updated all throughout the tour via my own twitter account @iamhaen and of course right here on ScottKostolni.com I’m hoping to get videos up every few days covering the events and some secret behind the scenes stuff as well.  I’ll be snapping pictures and posting my locations via FourSquare so anyone can come down and chat for a while.

I don’t know what free time will be like as our schedule is pretty packed but I would love suggestions on what to do at any of our stops so check out the tour date page and send some suggestions in through comments and email!  I will have some awesome information coming up over the next few days so make sure you keep an eye out!

Photo by The Us Army, available under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

6:31 AM:  I couldn’t fall back asleep after a 4:30 911 call I received at the ambulance corps so I thought I would give you guys a little update about what’s been going on with me.

Minimalism Clothing Experiment

The clothing experiment worked out pretty well.  I was able to narrow down my clothes to only a 1 week supply (plus some specific items for special events) and it worked out very well.  I had some trouble keeping track of all the items but I have set up some safeguards that should prevent that from happening again.

I am taking this to the final stages which will mean throwing out and donating all the excess clothing I have and be completely sufficient off of the few articles i have chosen.  Because this has worked out so well I am getting ready to start some other experiments and minimalist practices so that I can de-clutter other areas of my life.  I’m not going to go into detail but once I have finished everything I will be proud to show it off.

Egypt

My Egypt trip is in peril.  I have found myself in some debt and it is more than I am comfortable with having right now.  The Wonder Berry Shop is not picking up as I was hoping it would and without a stream of income this trip may not be possible.  I need to either find the $3000 I was planning on spending on this trip or pay off all my debt, or both.   I am trying to find some other methods of income.  I have found my role models, other individuals who are able to make a living and sustain world travel through the internet and I believe I can accomplish the same I just haven’t quite found out how.  I’ll get there.

My friends and some of my family keep urging me to find a ‘real’ job, which I find kind of discouraging.  They seem to scoff at my beliefs that I can hit my goals without one.  Sometimes I start to believe they are right, I even applied for a job that I really didn’t want, but I don’t want a backup plan.  A backup plan will only give me an excuse not to push as hard as I need to to make this work.

In the mean time I am trying to find inspiration and support to keep me going.

Family Mix

I have started taking a more active role in helping my mother with her parenting workshop.  We have scheduled one for the summer and we are working towards building a parenting community through her website FamilyMix.com and by speaking at some local parenting groups.

Upcoming Special Project

I have another project in the works for the early part of the summer that should prove to be a lot of fun (as well as give me plenty to write about!) and I am very excited to get it going.  I’m not quite ready to talk about it just yet but if all goes as planned I’ll have some stuff for you in the coming weeks.

Niagara Falls

The images at the top of the page is one I took at Niagara Falls when I was up in Buffalo on vacation with my family.  It was absolutely beautiful and I can’t wait to go back get some pictures from the Canadian side.  I especially want to try to get some shots at night during the lighting festival where it’s lit up in a bunch of gorgeous colors.  A full gallery is available here on my Flickr Account.  I took them using my Canon Rebel T2i D-SLR and they came out pretty good.

That’s all I got for now.  I’ll be updating this site from time to time and once my summer project is under way I should be here quite frequently.  I hope you will come back and check it out.

My Story

I want to share with you guys today a problem I have been having in my personal life and how I have been overcoming it using a simple but extraordinarily powerful technique.  One year ago I became an EMT in New York.  I had always been book smart and the class was pretty easy for me.  I graduated with one of the highest averages of the year and everyone told me I would end up becoming a great EMT, but that is not exactly what happened.  Instead I found myself being paralyzed by overwhelming feelings of fear and anxiety.  It seemed like every time the alarms went off all my knowledge receded to a far out-of-reach corner of my brain, and I felt completely useless.

I considered quitting but I’m not a huge fan of just packing up my bags, and I remembered the first night I rode in an ambulance with an old friend and saw how much she had changed from who she used to be.  She was calm and collected and knew exactly what to do.  I joined EMS so I could become that person.  Resolving to face my fears I continued to ride and dealt with the panic anyway that I could.

The Swish Pattern

Recently I discovered a process that not only helped me deal with the anxiety that I felt but completely eradicated it and left me in a much more effective and resourceful state.  It takes only a few minutes to complete, works instantly, and can be used to change almost any behavior.

The Swish Pattern

1. Identify both the behavior you wish to change and create a mental image of it. Spend a few seconds hearing, seeing, and feeling what you would in the particular situation.  You want to make this image a real as possible, in my case I was actually able to feel the anxiety I felt when the alarms went off.
2. Create an image of the new behavior you wish to replace it with. Make this image as motivating as possible.  Brighten up the colors, enhance the smells, and view this image as clear as you possibly can. Now you have the old (negative) picture and a new (positive and useful) picture.
3. Bring that old picture into your mind again but imagine a small dark version of your new picture in one of the corners. Begin to let yourself see and feel the big picture as if it were real.
4. As soon as the negative behavior or feelings arise visualize the new picture expanding and pushing the old one away out of view. Let this happen as fast as possible as if the small image is exploding and the large old image is shooting away into the distance.  It might help you to make a ’swishing’ sound to emphasize this change.  As the new picture takes over hold on to it for a few seconds and experience it as if it were real.
5. Clear your mind by briefly thinking about ducks (or any other unrelated topic), and then repeat the process until it become difficult for you to see the old picture clearly. This resets your brain and allows you to start over from the beginning.  I usually repeat these steps about 5 to 7 times or until the old image is replaced by the new one without thinking about it.

When I first tried this technique I was amazed at how well it worked.  With only a few repetitions I couldn’t bring up the feelings of fear or anxiety that I normally felt because they we’re instantly replaced with the calm resourceful feelings I wanted to replace them with.  When I rode my shift on the ambulance later that day I found myself completely relaxed while waiting at the ambulance house.  As the alarms went off I was aware of some fear but it felt like it was miles away and it had absolutely no impact on my performance.

You can use the swish pattern to help you quit smoking, overcome phobias or achieve almost anything else that you can think of.  It may appear to be simple and almost silly but it effective and the best way to find out is to try it yourself.  If you do please leave a comment at the bottom of this page and let us know how it goes!  Thanks!

_{“Skydive Vietnam, BFR above Nha Trang” by divemasterking2000, available under a Creative Commons Attribution license. © 2008,divemasterking2000.}