The last challenge was about…going out of your way for others

It’s hard to step out of your comfort zone for yourself. It’s even harder to do it for others. This last challenge was about exactly that. Doing something for someone else when it’s not so convenient for you. The holidays call for it: To be selfless, giving and caring, but the lessons of this challenge stay for ever. I had the opportunity to lunch with friends, meet up with others and buy gifts I might not have otherwise. It may sound banal from the outside, but I hope you got as much out of it as you put in. If not more.

#HYLP Challenge #50: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

This is it. The last #HYLP challenge. It’s difficult to pick the last one. The need to make it more meaningful that the entire series is strong. I hope it meets your expectations.

This next week will be about asking something unreasonable. It could be asking for a deal, when no deal is offered; it can be asking for a raise; it can be asking a question you’ve been longing to ask, but never did…whatever you want (extra points if you ask yourself to be unreasonable). We all have something we wished we could do, but hold back. This is the time to do it. The only rule is — choose something that’s uncomfortable, something you wouldn’t dare ask otherwise, something crazy, something that will feed you.

Why?

Steve Jobs ended his now famous 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech with the words “Stay hungry. Stay foolish” as a kind of reminder. A reminder to stay hungry for knowledge and adventure; a reminder to stay foolish and look beyond the established path. The Hack Your Life Challenge has been about exploring my life. I’ve come to realize life is a programmable system, much like a piece of software. While, yes, there are many unpredictable things that will happen, you can get it (your life) to do pretty much what you would like it to do. You only need to dare. It’s something easy to say, but much harder to do. That’s where the Project came in…to go from saying to doing. And this challenge is to force you in a situation of discomfort. If you strive for discomfort, if you do the crazy things no one else does, then you can do things no one else will. And that…my friends…is what this Project is all about.

While this #HYLP is now over, it is, as they say in French, qu’un au revoir. This is not good-bye, but see you later. I will have a new iteration of the Project up online soon for those who what to continue. And an ebook version of this #HYLP with improved challenges. I hope you’ve had as much fun as I have had…

Have a happy, safe and foolish 2013!

Past challenges

If you’re new here, on the first week of January I started the Hack Your Life Project. Each week I challenge myself to explore the details of the programmable system that is my life and stretch its capabilities, as opposed to most of us, who only prefer to learn the minimum necessary. I no longer want to breeze through my life, but take control of it.

These are the past challenges:

1. Hack Your Life Project | Get rid of excess clothing
2. Hack Your Life Project | Turn off the electronics
3. Hack Your Life Project | Hello stranger
4. And then…everything changes | The happyness metric
5. Hack Your Life Project | Do
6. Hack Your Life Project | Weekends and evenings
7. Hack Your Life Project | Take a break
8. Hack Your Life Project | Be decisive
9. Hack Your Life Project | Set your limits
10. Hack Your Life Project | Give a fuck
11. Hack Your Life Project | Test your life
12. Hack Your Life Project | Healthy mind, healthy body
13. Hack Your Life Project | Back to basics
14. Hack Your Life Project | It is what it is
15. Hack Your Life Project | Workout daily
16. Hack Your Life Project | Break a routine
17. Hack Your Life Project | Life with a mission
18. Hack Your Life Project | Hack your finances
19. Hack Your Life Project | Random acts of kindness
20. Hack Your Life Project | Spice up your life
21. Hack Your Life Project | Take a cold shower
22. Hack Your Life Project | Thank you
23. Hack Your Life Project | The gaze
24. Hack Your Life Project | Learn something new each day
25. Hack Your Life Project | Do ________ daily
26. Hack Your Life Project | Save $1,000
27. Hack Your Life Project | Save $1,000 Part 2
28. Hack Your Life Project | Save $1,000 Part 3
29. Hack Your Life Project | Save $1,000 Part 4
30. Hack Your Life Project | Save $1,000 Part 5
31. Hack Your Life Project | Do something else
32. Hack Your Life Project | Fascinate others
33. Hack Your Life Project | Rethink what you do
34. Hack Your Life Project | Contact a hero
35. Hack Your Life Project | The ask
36. Hack Your Life Project | Criticism sandwich
37. Hack Your Life Project | Just say yes
38. Hack Your Life Project | Negotiate
39. Hack Your Life Project | Social rules
40. Hack Your Life Project | Ask tie-down questions
41. Hack Your Life Project | Overcome the fear of money
42. Hack Your Life Project | Overcome the fear of others
43. Hack Your Life Project | Meditation challenge, part I
44. Hack Your Life Project | Meditation challenge, part II
45. Hack Your Life Project | Meditation challenge, part III
46. Hack Your Life Project | Helping others achieve
47. Hack Your Life Project | Master each medium
48. Hack Your Life Project | Give validation
49. Hack Your Life Project | Go out of your way

(Photo credit: El Payo)

Related articles

• Hack Your Life Project | Go out of your way
• Hack Your Life Project | Master each medium
• Hack Your Life Project | Give validation
• Hack Your Life Project | Helping others achieve
• Hack Your Life Project | Meditation challenge, part I
• Hack Your LIfe Project | Meditation Challenge, part II