Skate across America Day 6: No Limits

Oct. 9th, 2019

Total Distance for Day: approx. 21 miles
Total Distance for Trip: approx. 105 miles
Current Location: Bristol, NJ

The more you give the more you get. Do you believe that statement? The people who spontaneously donated to the tour yesterday did. I am finding the statement to be true in my life more and more, but I won’t just blame it on forces I can’t see or comprehend. To me, it’s obvious why this statement is true, because it represents an entire paradigm shift in the way we look at life.

As an entrepreneur, and as a person, I’ve discovered that there are two ways to look at the world:

1) Believe there are limited opportunities
2) Believe there are infinite opportunities.

As I progress along my way, I find that the more I take on the first attitude and focus on my limited resources, connections, and general ability to achieve what I want in the world, the less I achieve. Why is this? Could it be that the first attitude takes all of our energies and attention and focuses them on holding on and gripping everything we have as tightly as possible? After all, the world is out to get us, right? But even the world’s greatest miser must admit that in many cases, all of that conservative effort wastes energy that could be refocused to produce ten times more than he was holding on to.

People who maintain the second attitude typically do so because they have personally experienced the power of focusing on how much further they can go, as opposed to maintaining the status quo. It’s not surprising then that successful entrepreneurs tend to hold the second attitude, because they are concerned with building things that were not there before. Moreover, they recognize that the value they gain is not in possessing what they’ve built, but rather, in the experience of building! What is gained can be given forward toward new ventures, new ideas, and new pathways.

Let’s come back to our main idea for today: The more you give the more you get. Do you see now how this makes sense? The attitude necessary to give is the same attitude necessary to pay it forward and focus our energies on building new things. When we give, we reinforce in our minds that we have the means to give, to expand, to build, and to experience greater things than we have yet known. Notice that I said, “experience greater things” as opposed to “have.” I did so on purpose. One of the greatest milestones of success is the realization that we’ve built all of this stuff around us, but we don’t need any of it! The truth is: We don’t need any “THING” at all. What we need is the attitude that can build, give, and create beyond us. All such behavior is a way to give back into the world, and the experience of giving is the true reward.

You can see the exact route of today’s journey by clicking on these links:

Day 6 Route Part 1
Day 6 Route Part 2

A special thanks to Ruth Greenwood. She allowed us to fill up the RV with some much need water today. I met her when I gave the impromptu presentation to the Moth UP group at the Borders in Princeton last night