Thought Leader, IDEO, Design Thinking, Outdoor Academy, and Me.

I want to be a Thought Leader. 

For those of you who don't what a Thought Leader is (I don't blame you :D), heres a snippet from the most used, abused and often mistaken website ever: Wikipedia

"Typically thought leaders have proven themselves in the business, academic or political sphere through successful implementation of their ideas. Thought leaders often publish articles and blog posts on trends and topics influencing an industry or directed internal to an organisation. Through effective communication and clarity of purpose, they effect change and are considered exemplary leaders."

Point made: I want to be a Thought Leader. I want to be an honest Jonah Lehrer, a Seth Godin, a Charles Duhigg and a TED presenter all in one.

I want to shape the world with my thoughts. Is it realistic? Yes. Yes it is. Because I live in the Information Age, Thought Leaders are going to be more and more prevalent than ever before.

I also want to work at IDEO. They are like the fixers. They solve other companies problems. Usually through design and prototyping new, better versions of whatever tangible problem the company might have.

The above picture came from the IDEO Website. They are experts at getting in that sweet-spot we all call innovation and extracting the substance they find. 

So I want to be a Thought Leader and Innovator for hire. What else?

Is much as I love the thought based side of these future career passions, I also want tangible.

 I want to work in the realm of Education. Helping other people understand, develop and grow. So often we look at education as a very specific training module. The future of teaching won't be specific. It will be broad. Teaching the next generation how to answer the hows and whys of the world. 

We need to teach all inclusively. After I took the ACT I was presented with a card that showed what I should study in college. How many of us are limited by tests and training? How many of us are limited by our outdated education system?

As a thought leader and innovator concerned with the realm of education, I want to effect change. Its already helping, all I can do it push it faster and steer it in my own direction. I want to see a world that inspires students to greatness and grows great leaders who understand how to think and express their desires and thoughts well on the Stage of the Information Age. 

Besides this more methodical, thought based future me is the "hands on" me.

I have a passion for the outdoors. Nature teaches us more about ourselves than *anything* else. It is healing and I pray more people take advantage of pure wilderness that exists in Americas local, state and national parks. 

Learning to survive and how to treat those injured in the outdoors is also intriguing to me. As a Boy Scout and NOLS Alumni, I have a pretty good handle on living in the outdoors. I can live comfortably but do want to learn more about tracking, evasion, and food procurement in the wilderness. 

I have a love for the United States of America and all she stands for. I would do anything to protect her and I plan to give back by serving in Americas Air Force. I plan to become a Pararescueman in the Alaska Air National Guard. Search and Rescue and Emergency Medicine are huge components of that Air Force Career and I have a passion for both. 

Finally, the thought of combining all of these ideas is a little overwhelming. Like when something has just *too* much flavor.

I trust that as I take time to serve my Heavenly Father as a missionary for his children, get married, and start my family that all of these ideas will settle and I will receive confirmation of what I am meant to do. 

- Jacob

Big Blue Bus

Im going on a big blue bus. So are my parents. My siblings. And my friend!! My dad is separating from the coast guard and will have 6 months before his new job with the Air Force starts. So they bought a bus and are going to drive it to Alaska and deck it out/turn it into a home. Then from October-January, I'll travel with them until my LDS Mission.

I overheard my parents talking about letting my future wife and I use the big blue bus. I better have an adventurous wife. :D

Isn't it epic? SO COOL!

7 years ago, we were in Houston Texas and toured the Battleship Texas, the only U.S. Battleship that is still floating that served in both WWI and WWII. The beds that sailors used were attached to chains and hung 4 and 5 beds to a chain. I can only imagine sleeping in them. Well… on the bus, we will be sleeping in similar quarters. The bus is 6 feet tall and we are stacking three beds atop each other. 20 inches of space between each bed. :D 

We are going to drive all of our gear to Alaska, then empty it out and remodel the inside of the bus. It will be painted white on the inside. We will have a couch, a kitchen(ette), a book shelve and dressers. A focus of our trip will be physical exercise, healthy eating and great education. 

Returning from my NOLS trip, I received a clarity of vision that I haven't had at any point in my life to date. I also became connected spiritually to my Savior and God in a way that is rare and sacred to me.

I am currently filling out LDS Mission papers and mentally and spiritually preparing myself for the next two years. They call them the best two years. I know for sure they will be some of the best years I have; regardless of how the days are. 

I cannot wait to spend the next 5 months driving around the country with my family.

You can read more and keep up to date with out Big Blue Bus Tour here.

- Jacob

My Outdoor Journal 2013

May - July 2013.

My summer.

This will go down in my books as the summer that I had it all. I did what I loved. I didn't have a care in the world. No job. No school. Nobody to support. I was free to do whatever I wanted.

I was a trail guide at Elevation. A leadership camp for high schoolers.

I went backpacking in Yosemite.

I spent time with extended family in Alaska.

I went Mountaineering with NOLS.

I spent a total of 46 nights sleeping outside this summer. :)

I am packing up my house as of July 21st in preparation to move into a school bus with my 5 other family members to go on escapades across the United States before finally embarking on the ultimate culmination of all of my learnings: my LDS mission trip.

Journal Entries- May:

Elevation Day 1.

"I arrived in canyon last night at 4:45. No one was around but I was just so happy to be there! I set up my tent but it wasn't waterproof. It had been raining off and on all morning. We ate a delicious taco soup made by Heather (a mentor) and proceeded to introduce ourselves. Dan/Bambi seems to be Camp Director. James won't be here this week but we have some fantastic staff! Laura, Layne, Megan, Me, Angie, Dan, Glen, Nels, Tasha, Jessica, Heather, Ben, and Adam. We did Walls after dinner. I need to get better at receiving. (One of my weaknesses?) I cannot wait for this Canyon to fill with students. To see their excitement grow and anxiety dissipate as they enter the canon. Todays word is Focus. We want to focus in on the week, our pods and ourselves. I am nervous as all get out. Will I measure up? Can I release my walls and get to know others? Get them to know me? I am so excited to have Angie as my mentor. She has so much to teach and is almost like a mother to me. :)"

I'm Back

It would be impossible to relate everything that has happened since I left in June. I went "camping" for a month. By that, I mean surviving on the glaciers and in the mountains of the Wind River Range in western Wyoming.

I was on a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Mountaineering course.

I read half of the Book of Mormon. I became spiritually fed. I lost 35 pounds. I carried a 70 pound pack up and down thousand foot mountain passes and across multiple glaciers. I self arrested about a dozen times while sliding down steep sections of snow and ice. I cried. I smiled. I reminisced and planned and prayed. I learned to cook (dang well.) On a single burner stove I might add. I learned to find my way on a map, plan an expedition, splint an arm, treat severe head injury, pack a backpack, use a PLB, prepare a Leave No Trace campsite, cast a fly rod, how to treat my tent buddies trench foot, how to travel quickly, safely and effectively in the mountains, and… how to poop in the woods. Most of all, I learned that to live out there, I had to rely on 11 boys I didn't know and they had to rely on me. Thats true, experiential leadership.

I met Jamie, the guy in the red patagonia jacket at the beginning of the video.

NOLS changed me. Literally. I changed physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. I am different and I like it. I am always looking for what to do, always thinking of how this or that will relate to something in the future. I am on my toes. I am more mature. More appreciative of the little things. It takes 3 weeks to develop a habit; I had 4.

I'd like to continue to post some journal entries I made. They are deep, raw and personal. If you don't like that kind of thing… The next few posts aren't for you. Ill finish up this string of the next few posts with a semi detailed list/history of the month for the less emotionally and personally inclined.

In finishing this post, if you have any questions about NOLS or comments, feel free to ask and Ill be pleased to answer them.

- Jacob