Jesse Itzler is not afraid to immerse himself in anything. When he felt a bit disenchanted with his daily routine, he invited Navy Seal, David Goggins, to come live with him. He wrote about his experiences in his laugh out loud book, Living With a Navy Seal. Now, comes Jesse’s latest adventure, Living With Monks.
When Jesse decides that his ‘to do’ list and daily schedule is becoming overwhelming, he chooses to go live with monks in Upstate New York. Initially, he envisions robes, chanting, and plenty of meditation. Instead, these monks are Christian, raise champion German Shepherds, and are not at all as Jesse imagined.
Jesse’s big lessons, one’s that have profoundly impacted his life, include:
• When you want to quit, get uncomfortable, and remember tomorrow.
• Happiness is a lifestyle, not a goal.
• Build your life resume.
• How you do anything, is how you do everything.
• Stay until the breakthrough or until the breakdown.
When I interviewed Jesse, we spent a lot of time discussing the life resume. Jesse is not a big believer in where people went to school or a position they hold, instead, he is more interested by what they have done. He said, ‘don’t believe in stories, believe in works.’ Jesse is on a mission to build his own life resume and that includes plans for his upcoming 50th birthday where he intends to hire 50 experts and learn one new thing every week.
I asked him if he was open to free-diving with great white sharks as one of the 50, and he instantly replied, ‘no.’ That is one of the items I want to put on my own life resume.
During my time with Jesse, several things stood out.
• Jesse is in the process of releasing anything that isn’t working in his life. This is something, I too, am in the process of adopting. It isn’t easy however Jesse inspired me to pick up the pace.
• You have to be different to stand out. From being one of the original white rappers to figuring out a way to start a luxury timeshare jet company without funds, Jesse has always embraced different. This one for me has been tough. Growing up, I always wanted to fit in, and I feel that finally at age 45, I am able to say, ‘screw it!’ I am happy to be different.
• Jesse does get overwhelmed and he deals with it by ‘getting things out of his head.’ He keeps two journals – one for everyday life ‘to do’ items like picking up a birthday gift, and another for the ideas he has. Journaling, for Jesse, is a daily habit.
• Reverse engineer your life. If it doesn’t move the needle, why are you doing it? I have been guilty of this myself – doing things that do not create progress. It isn’t an easy addiction to break however, last year I started to do it, and although there were people who were disappointed when I stopped a weekly training call that had low attendance, or wasn’t as available for inane, easily searchable solutions, it was liberating.
• Jesse’s superpower is trusting his gut. When it comes to decision making, Jesse pauses and seeks out his intuition. This, he says, has served him well. Trusting our guts is an essential skill and I know that personally, when things have not gone well it is because I haven’t headed to my own intuition.
Jesse Itzler has also started his own version, of course it is different, of a Go Fund Me. People can list what is on their life resume, prove that they have already paid for it, and Itzler will select one lucky person each month and refund their investment. If you want to build your own life resume and potentially have your cost reimbursed, you can apply on www.buildingyourliferesume.com .
Catch Susan’s interview with Jesse (Episode 72) on Itunes @ The Susan Sly Project.
