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Sometimes in order to find balance, you need to fall many times. In order to find the center, you often have to walk the edges.

To find equilibrium, sometimes you have to experience instability.

That’s why I’ve found it helpful to pursue:

The Path of the Ordinary Radical

In the revolutionary sense, radicals are often seen in a negative light. But when it comes to your own self-development, you’ll often need to go to extremes in order to find balance. You will likely need to pursue radical undertakings to uproot your currently undesirable patterns. (It’s probably useful to note here that while they may seem radical to you, they could be perceived as mild or ordinary to others.)

Sometimes the pursuit of radical action is born out of necessity. You’ve hit a bottom and there’s really no other foreseeable path. But there’s also always another approach…

The Intentional Pursuit of Radicalism

This is the desire to pursue profound change in the name of personal growth. It’s not done because you’ve hit a bottom; you do it because you just can’t imagine living any other way. You can’t fathom not completely submerging yourself in the massive spectrum of possibilities life has to offer.

Pursuing the radical path is partly done in the quest of uprooting false paradigms, but it’s also because you’re a glutton for life. You want to arrive at the grave thoroughly used up.

Here are some of the possibilities of the ordinary radical:

• Question all of your beliefs, even the ones that make up the core foundation of your framework for understanding reality.
• Pray for your enemies.
• Commit to the Four Agreements.
• Take a vow of celibacy, or declare yourself straightedge (obviously not for everyone, myself included). These things could also be done for a set period of time.
• Go on a rampage of kindness (see this guy for inspiration).
• Be insanely open about your beliefs and feelings — no holds barred.
• Say yes to everything for a day.
• Be fanatical about living on your own terms, following your own path, and being completely authentic.

You might also seek some of these radical physical pursuits:

• Try polyphasic sleep.
• Move to a completely new city (or country) without knowing anyone.
• Take the 100 pushup challenge.
• Create a goal to visit every single country in the world.
• Run a marathon, complete a triathlon, or take the iron butt challenge.
• Only consume or purchase products from companies that align with your values.
• Create the goal to produce Zero Waste (no trash, etc.) or to have Zero Impact (no carbon footprints).
• Live without debt (this may not seem very radical, but it is in the US).
• Do the Master Cleanse, Juice Feast, or any other type of fast.
• Throw away your TV.
• Become location independent.
• Eat 100% raw food.
• Take a mini-retirement.
• Take Bikram Yoga.
• Laugh your ass off as a from of liberation.
• Start a Revolution.

These are just a few ways you can be an ordinary radical. There are obviously many other paths you can take. Your imagination is your only limit.

The real benefit of pursuing extreme endeavors is that it gives you lots of practice to push your threshold of perspective. The more you stretch your limits, the more flexible and fearless you become. The more you see supposedly big, scary things as not so big and not so scary, the less daunting other challenges become for you.

Then doing something like reclaiming your dreams is easy.

When I walked into work on my final day of employment, there was a box sitting on my desk with a note resting beside it.

The note read:

Early in the industrial revolution, workplaces typically had no clocks. This was done to reinforce the concept that the company owns you and your time. Thus, on retirement, a watch was given as a token that the worker was given back his time.

My friend and coworker Craig Collins wrote this note to me, and inside the box on my desk was the clock you see in that picture. This is probably the most heartfelt gift I’ve ever been given. I feel as if I’ve just gone through some major right of passage — as platitudinous as that may sound.

As I’m going through this right of passage, I’ve been thinking a lot about:

Owning Your Own Time

I’ve spoken at great length about the importance of owning your own time vs. renting out your mind. While I still stress the importance of you being in complete control of your time, it’s also worth mentioning that owning your own time isn’t everything.

Owning your own time won’t matter if…

• You’re just as much of a tyrant/slave driver to yourself as your previous employer.
• You are still influenced by societal pressures and let that dictate what you should be doing with your time.
• You’re not able to exercise self-discipline in staying focused (which you need to be able to pay yourself).
• You don’t know how to say no. You don’t know how to turn down opportunities when you’re spread too thin.
• You still pay yourself by the hour (instead of by how much value you deliver).
• You don’t have a good filter for focusing on high-leverage (most important) tasks vs. those that aren’t likely to make much of a difference in your business.

There are a number of other pitfalls to watch out for, and most of these apply whether you’re employed of self-employed.

But no matter how deep the trenches are, there’s no other place I’d rather be. I’m rolling around in the mud of life and getting myself dirty in this messy business of living deliberately.

And there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.

Next year, my grandfather will celebrate his 40th year of self employment as owner of one of the longest running plumbing and heating businesses in his city. At the age of 74, he is still going strong as the oldest plumber in business in Boise, Idaho. Nonconformity and delinquency are still pumping fiercely through his veins.

My grandfather no doubt transferred his contagious thirst for autonomy to me early in my life. I guess entrepreneurship is in my blood.

Just as my grandfather did 40 years ago, last Thursday I gave my boss my two week notice.

I will no longer be requiring your employment services. My last day of work will be Friday, June 12th, 2009.

Thank you,

Jonathan

It started with a single intention

Last year around May, I offhandedly made a goal to quit my day job by the following year, May 2009.

This wasn’t a serious goal at the time. I didn’t even know if it would be possible. I just knew that I wanted it, and you know what they say: you gotta put a deadline on your goals, right? So I put a deadline on it.

And it worked. Read more

I’ve found the secret to being excited about waking up every day; and I’ll tell you what it is right now. It’s starting a Revolution. I didn’t always think in these terms though…

I used to ask: What can I gain? How can I turn this into a business that will support me?

I focused on helping others by sharing my perspective, but that was the extent of it. When I did that, working on this blog would be exciting sometimes, and at other times it would feel like just a chore.

Now, I can’t even contain my energy for the work I’m doing. I feel like there’s electricity in the air. I’ve changed my mindset and made the decision to do something epic. Now I’m focused on creating a social movement of people living on their own terms. Because of this, I’ve moved from ego-centric to collective-centric.

It’s bigger than me now.

Guess what happens when you make something bigger than you? You get plugged in. You become connected to this amazing source of energy that was never previously available to you.

Now I ask: How can I take action that will support this vision? How can I create momentum to further ignite this revolution?

Waking up excited

The biggest benefit to working on a revolution is that it gives you an insane amount of energy. Working on a revolution will make you want to wake up. You might even have a hard time falling asleep at night, because you’re so motivated to take action on your vision. This is how I feel when I’m laying in bed thinking about all of the awesome stuff I’m doing with this blog and with Project Mojave, and my plans to expand this project into something even bigger. Read more

Cubicle-dissenters and freedom-seekers, I present you with this manifesto on the liberation revolution.

This movement happening all around us is, quite literally, the story of mental bondage to freedom. People everywhere are finding liberation through ditching the work-template and living on their own terms.

If this movement interests you, we would like you to be a part of it.

You kick so much ass, it would be a shame to see that squandered by asphyxiation, due to fluorescent lighting and pointless committee meetings.

What you’ll find in this manifesto is 5,000 free words on the characteristics of this uprising. You’ll hear the reasons of others and why they’re committed to the freedom of working for themselves and reclaiming their time and their minds.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE MANIFESTO HERE.

The reason for this:

People have long been ditching the employee model of life, but rarely has there been a collective banding together of individuals to support each other in this movement. This manifesto is an attempt to create a coherent, articulate representation of the reason we are unsatisfied with the work-template and why we are seeking a new paradigm.

What’s under the hood:

• Why we’re tired of choking back vomit because we’re going another day doing a job we hate, with people we don’t connect with, working for someone we don’t respect.
• How we’re transforming our relationship with work, through breaking down social conventions and overly politicized nonsense.
• Why we think entrepreneurship is one of the highest forms of self-actualization and self-improvement.
• How we’re in this together.
• How to cultivate the “Free-man” (or free-woman) mindset and seven things you can do right now.
• The importance of getting to Game Over.

Are you totally down with this revolution? Is this something you’ve been waiting for?

Here’s how you can help:

1. Spread the word. Send this manifesto to your friends, family, or co-worker that’s about to commit suicide (she needs to read this). Tweet about it, send it to your friends, print it out and post it on the telephone polls on your block.
2. Declare your freedom. There is no better way can you help strengthen this revolution than by declaring your own sovereignty. By reclaiming your own freedom, you give others the courage to do the same.

What the hell is this all about man?

This manifesto is something I’ve been working on for the past two weeks as part of Project Mojave, my new lovechild.

I’m a member of the faculty there where my title is Director of Ass Kicking.

No I’m not joking (I couldn’t make this stuff up). It’s basically what I was born to do.

Over the course of the next few days, you’ll get a chance to see what this crazy revolution is all about and how you can become a member. There’s a really awesome video up right now called “The Freedom Business Blueprint,” which basically defines the qualities of a massive freedom-supporting business. I highly recommend you go check it out.

Lots more awesome, free stuff is coming, so I hope you sign up for the list so you can get updates.

Anyway, that’s about it. More details will be coming soon.

Please let me know what you think of the manifesto. I can’t wait to hear your feedback.