I’ve had a lot of time to think lately. I consider myself lucky, after all, time and thoughts are quite possibly the most valuable currency going right now on the market of of the modern world.

What have i been thinking about? Well, lots of things, but mainly the answer to one burning question; what advice would I give to a 20 year old me?

I’ve been writing a book you see, and with said commitment has come a healthy dose of reflection, and a humbling level of reality checking. Have i taken every opportunity that has come my way? Have i done all i could to make someone else’s day? I’m still thinking about those questions, but as for my younger self, i have some tried and tested advice:

1. Don’t steal time

I Iive in London. Everyone is busy. I get busy. But that’s not something to be proud of, it’s not an accolade. Being so busy that your stock answer to any invite/idea/adventure is ‘i’m busy’ is just another way of saying that you are not willing (or able) to prioritise, to make time for things that come out of nowhere. I heard some one say recently that they ‘steal time’ when they get an opportunity. Like working on the train because you don’t already do enough during your 9 hour day. Your time is YOURS; you can’t steal something that already belongs to you. I like to borrow other people’s attention on occasion. That’s a much better term. You borrow it, you give it back, with interest.

2. Measure fortune without money

I have exactly one life. That’s a fact that we all can relate to. How i fill my life is entirely up to me. I am one of the fortunate souls on this planet who’s life is not governed by where i was born. I don’t live in abject poverty, natural disasters do not plague my very existence and i own this wonderful thing called freedom. Never forget that.

3. Embrace fear

My single biggest achievement during my 12410 days on this Earth has been learning to enjoy being scared. I have used this skill in all walks of life, from job interviews to climbing sheer rock faces, from telling a girl i love her to jumping out of a plane. Fear is what keeps us all in check, it’s what drives conformity and casts our eyes downward. Embrace fear, and know that when you do something that you didn’t think was possible, you get rewarded with emotions that you didn’t know existed. Trust me.

4. Be an ideas guy

I have so many ideas. From silly inventions to mad cap adventures and expeditions that will never happen. But that’s the best part, because, sometimes, they do. Dream big, think far, get a giant map on the wall and stare longingly at the far off place that seems a million wiles away. Geographic fact; the world is only 26,000 miles in circumference, so suddenly the million isn’t too far.

Written by Marc Lambert, fearless adventurist. Wonderful human. Inspiring friend. 

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