For some cruel reason, I keep finding myself in the position of being introduced to things in their infancy (often before they are even launched), dismissing them as stupid, and then watching them become unbelievably popular. This has happened to me at least three times. Each time I vow never to call anything stupid again, and then, invariably, it happens again. I’m not sure if there’s any lesson here other than a warning against arrogance, but I have one of those stories to share.

In early 2011, I had an opportunity to join forces with a company known as Justin.tv at the time. They were streaming platform company which was founded in 2006 by Justin Kan in San Francisco, California. Justin.tv launched a partner company in June 2011 by the name of Twitch.

In September of 2012, I made the hard decision to turn down further involvement with Twitch and continue my education in law enforcement. 

The popularity of Twitch would eclipse that of its general-interest counterpart; by mid-2013, the website had amassed an average of 43 million viewers per month, and by February 2014, it was considered the fourth largest source of peak Internet traffic in the United States Justin.tv was shut down as of August 2014.

“This is the right decision, go back to school,” I thought to myself. In September 2014, Twitch was acquired by Amazon.com for $970 million.

The future is extremely hard to see through the lens of the present. It’s very easy to unconsciously dismiss the first versions of something as frivolous or useless -- as stupid ideas.

"Beware of missing chances; otherwise it may be altogether too late some day." - Franz Liszt 

Wake up early. Show up. Learn how to think. Be genuine, but appear nice. Use envy for motivation instead of destruction. Do what you say you’re going to do. Ensure balance in every area of your life. Confront repressed thoughts immediately. Surround yourself with people who are better than you (but remember the thing about envy). Work out every day. Be good at what you do. Make money doing what you love. Have good friends. Never settle.

This is my personal recipe for happiness and success. I've changed the way I perceive life recently and it's taken me a very long time to realize life is really short. Be the change you want to see in the world. 

"This is no more a regulation of the internet than the first amendment regulates free speech." - Tom wheeler.

I have decided to make a bucket list, which I intend to add to until the day I die. I want to see how far I can take myself in life and see what goals I can carry out. I have completed several things which I am proud of which I have left off the list because I want to grow and move forward in life and not look back.

1. Visit space
2. Get published in a nationally-distributed print publication
3. Be on the cover of a major magazine
4. Sky Dive / Base Jump
5. Visit all seven continents
6. Run a marathon
7. Own/rent a yacht
8. Speak  2+ language fluently 
9. Own/rent a helicopter
10. Ride the trans-siberian railway from China to London
11. Create something that touches a hundred million people
12. Make $10 million in a single transaction
13. Make $100 million in a single transaction
14. Make a billion dollars
15. Give away a billion dollars
16. Get a PHD
17. Start a Business - Completed
18. Found and Own Fortune 500 Company
19. Learn ‘something’ well enough to be an expert
20. Teach 'something as an expert
21. Be someones inspiration
22. Throw an epic REAL party… We all saw the Wolf of Wall Street.
23. Make wine, beer or moonshine

Here is to the next 25+ years.

“Today is the oldest you've ever been, and the youngest you'll ever be again.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

The best way to predict the future is to think about desire. The problem with desire is that it tends to be bounded by what’s actually possible; as we grow older, our imaginations seem to develop artificial caps that limit our ideas to things that are reasonably achievable in the short term. But who cares about what is reasonable? Here’s what I want.

I want a system that continuously scans my body and tells me if I have actionable disease, like cancer or a contagious flu. I want this device to tell me if I have a higher than normal risk of a heart attack, and, if so, which steps I should take to prevent one.

I want to take a pill every morning that restricts my body’s ability to process more calories than it needs during the day. I want this pill to enable my body to dispose of any junk chemicals or excess calories that exceed the ideal, healthy amount.

I want to think of the trip between Vancouver and San Francisco the same way I think about a subway ride. I want a maximum fixed cost for long distance travel of $100 per trip, and for the physical transport to utilize new or vastly improved transportation technology that is good for the environment.

I want fresh food to last ten times longer than it does now, with no reduction in taste or nutrition; I want the process of decomposition for fruit and other perishable food to be significantly slowed using some process that has benefits on the same magnitude as the invention of the refrigerator.

I want mass-produced products to be locally manufactured just-in-time in dark, human-less warehouses by robots, and not made in far-away lands, because human innovation is vastly slowed by the obstacles and time waste in outsourcing. I want the design and production of high quality, inexpensive physical goods to be dramatically easier, faster, and more environmentally and technologically efficient.

I want doctors to be way less involved with practical medicine, and for computers to diagnose and treat disease; we know so little about the human body, and innovation in medicine moves so slowly, that tens of thousands of people die every day from things that could be completely and easily prevented with technology. I want the human body to be treated medically as a machine, by machines.

I want to order a tube of toothpaste, a tomato, or a sandwich, and have it delivered to me within 10 minutes via a safe flying machine (or other delivery system; see also: pneumatic tubes, 3-D printing).

I want a seemingly high-end, luxury hotel chain that utilizes technology so effectively that the nightly room rate is less than $100 in even the most expensive cities, like London, England.

I want to instantly find the best of something in a product category without wasting time on my own research. I want a place like Amazon.com, but, when you search for “toaster”, you are presented with only one model of toaster: the one that 80% of people would consider to be the best toaster in the world.

I want technology to make an affordable concierge lifestyle accessible to more people, because I think having the ability to consult experts makes people universally smarter, faster, and more efficient as humans. I want a personal trainer, a fashion stylist, a nutritionist, an executive assistant, and a nurse I can call on at any time for advice.

I want to have one unlimited-use internet plan that allows me to use/add as many devices as I want, and to use them anywhere in the world at no additional cost.

I want everything in my life to be connected to and enhanced by the internet. I want my watch, glasses, toaster, light switches, thermostat, and door locks to use connectedness to make the world a better place–by reducing energy usage, decreasing waste, and improving my happiness and convenience.

I want nuclear reactors or some other clean technology to power the entire world’s electrical grid, safely.

I want a display implanted into my retina that enhances my life by visually providing me with information that my brain is not designed to think about. I want scientific facts and social knowledge to guide my decisions, and for simple errors that most humans make (like distance miscalculations and logical fallacies) to be immediately identified. 

It’s hard to think about things far beyond what is currently achievable. If there were no limitations on technology, time, and social pressures, what would you want?

“When we think of failure; Failure will be ours. If we remain undecided; Nothing will ever change. All we need to do is want to achieve something great and then simply to do it. Never think of failure For what we think, will come about.” - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi 

I want to work in an industry that is not static. I am constantly evolving and learning about new ways of thinking. I want to work for an agency that is constantly evolving as well. I want to work in a fun environment that is stimulating and always presenting new challenges. I want to be able to use my skills and previous research to create new ways of thinking by deconstructing the idea and building it from the ground up. I want to work in an agency that allows room for growth. I want to be able to explore new ideas and put them to use. I want to make people say “Why didn’t I think of that?”

I believe I have found that job; have you?

“Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.” - Katherine Whitehorn