Where to go (when you don't know where to go)

One summer night, when I was 18, my world shifted.

My friend put on a new MTV show called The Buried Life and thereafter, I was never the same.

I’ve talked about it before. If you’ve read my book you’ve heard this. But it’s worth repeating…

Without that show—about four best friends who went after their bucket list—Yes Theory would have never existed and you likely wouldn’t be reading this.

Their insistence that my dreams were possible, and their relentless pursuit of their own, blazed a path before me.

As I left the world of YouTube two and a half years ago, I felt that path get more and more narrow, until it slowly but surely became covered in shrubs.

I had met my idols, achieved my dreams, crossed off my bucket list. It felt like there was nothing left to do. I was 32, exhausted, and coasting into early retirement.

To gain some clarity, in January of 2024, I booked a ticket to Southeast Asia.

Despite knowing I should relax while there, I frantically tried to brainstorm my next project, my next business.

Lists were made, ideas pursued.

I ended up spending the next two years half heartedly building a language learning app.

Why a language learning app?

Cuz I had a dream about it and figured it was a cool departure from what I’d done before.

Turns out I don’t care much about language learning, and barely use my phone so creating an app was hilariously ironic.

And then at the start of this year, I spontaneously turned on a podcast that looked interesting.

It was a movie moment.

A pause in the matrix.

It wasn’t so much what Paul Rosolie said but the energy and passion with which he said it.

In a world of doom and gloom, of destruction and despair, here was a 38 year-old guy born in the same city as me, tackling the impossible: working to help save the lungs of this Earth—the Amazon Rainforest.

And holy shit, he was actually doing it, alongside the many conservationists around the world.

My mom was a lawyer for the Wildlife Conservation Society. She played a major role in helping to restore the tiger populations in Asia. I grew up hearing stories about how this species was on the brink of extinction and literally witnessed her and her team bringing them back from the brink.

Her work was my initial childhood spark, which had long been dormant.

Paul threw a torch on it.

And suddenly the path lit up again. There was now a trail to follow.

This is the kind of person I want to be, the kind of mission I want to help with, the type of leader I want to support.

And so I made a video.

I announced my intention to help him and his team at Junglekeepers. I shared that with every season of my show, I would support a different organization tackling the world’s biggest challenges.

Lo and behold, a week after posting the video, he commented on it.

I was in disbelief and pulled out my camera to capture the moment. It’s not often the people you admire acknowledge you.

I love this three minute video of me freaking out about his response because it shows that aliveness I thought I’d lost.

So many times in my life I haven’t known where to go.

Purpose felt so elusive and out of reach.

Some people were born knowing theirs, but not me.

Yet now I see that purpose often hides behind the people and stories that ignite us.

It’s not something we decide. It’s something that pulls us in.

From now on when someone asks me what to do with their life, I will say this: become a superfan.

Consume the world around you—art, books, podcasts, music, movies, events—until something or someone gives you that holy shit feeling.

That’s your map.

Don’t throw it away.

It’s your invitation to the party, and all you have to do is say yes ;)

Love,

Matt