The Adventure Reignition Podcast

52 Adventures in 52 Weeks: The Mirror Moment That Stopped Chasing Milestones and Started Truly Living

• Blaise Depallens • Season 1 • Episode 75

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Hey Adventurers,

In this deeply moving episode of The Adventure Reignition Podcast, I sit down with Jeremy George—entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, and bucket list adventurer—for one of the most exciting and inspiring conversations I've ever hosted.

Jeremy takes us inside the reality of “having it all” on paper, yet feeling utterly empty. From suicidal ideation to rediscovering joy through a radical project—completing 52 bucket list goals in 52 weeks—Jeremy shares how he turned despair into purpose, and why failure, fear, and community became his lifelines.

Together, we explore:

  • The exact moment he looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize himself anymore.
  • How hitting every “success milestone” left him emptier than ever.
  • The life-or-death wake-up call when his mom nearly passed away during surgery.
  • Why he launched his “What A Year” project—52 goals in 52 weeks—and how it saved his life.
  • The truth about failure, fear, and why trying matters more than achieving.
  • How to create a bucket list that reflects who you truly are (not what others expect).

✨ Favorite Quote:

“A true bucket list is the most authentic reflection of who you really are—and that’s the person I wanted to see in the mirror.”

💡 What You’ll Learn:

  • How to recognize when external success is masking internal emptiness.
  • A step-by-step method to reconnect with your purpose before you hit rock bottom.
  • Why celebrating failure is the key to building joy and resilience.
  • How to write a bucket list that ignites your soul with both big and small adventures.
  • The role of community and accountability in chasing meaningful goals.

🔥 This Episode Is For You If:

  • You’ve “made it” on paper but feel lost or unfulfilled inside.
  • You’ve ever looked in the mirror and wondered, “Who have I become?”
  • You’re stuck chasing external validation instead of authentic goals.
  • You’re craving an adventure that makes you feel truly alive again.

📍 Where to Find Jeremy:

🤝 Want to Go Deeper?
If you’re a multi-passionate creator or adventurer who’s been ghosting your own voice, I’m opening spots for my 1:1 coaching program. Together we’ll design a brand and content strategy rooted in your truth—not trends. DM me “POD” on Instagram to see if we’re a fit.

🙌 Subscribe & Review:
If Jeremy’s story spoke to you, please subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your support helps us inspire more adventurers, creators, and seekers around the world.

Final Thought:
You don’t have to wait for rock bottom to reconnect with your purpose. This episode is your invitation to stop chasing someone else’s milestones and start living your own adventure—one step, one bucket list goal, one authentic choice at a time.

Where to find your host online :

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blaisedepallens/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blaisedepallens/
Website: blaisedepallens.com

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:35:13
Intervenant 1
I had hit a lot of milestones in my career and my finances and my lifestyle that I thought were supposed to make me happy, you know? And, And once I hit those milestones and I realized I wasn't any happier. That actually was the start of a year long struggle where I began to question whether happiness was even attainable at all, or if I would just always be chasing the next thing, and I would always just be going after the next rung and, I felt so deeply that happiness was unattainable, that I started to struggle with suicidal ideation.

00:00:35:16 - 00:00:56:07
Intervenant 1
And when I say suicidal ideation, I want to clarify I did not actively try to take my own life. Right. I'm thinking, man, the last time I saw my mom might have been the last time I truly saw my mom. And, in a weird way, I felt this this guilt. Because here my mom is fighting for her life, and here I was wishing I wasn't alive.

00:00:56:09 - 00:01:15:04
Intervenant 1
Right? And it didn't make sense to me. And that was the first moment I said, okay, you know what? Once we get through this, I'm going to make a change. I can't keep living this way.

00:01:15:06 - 00:01:41:24
Intervenant 2
Welcome back to the Adventure Recognition Podcast. Today I am with Jeremy George on the show. Jeremy is an entrepreneur, tech speaker, and bucket list enthusiast. During the pandemic, he started the project to cross off 52 goals from his bucket list in a year, from cave jumping to Hawaii to backpacking in the California coast, he decided to do anything that pushes limits to rediscover his purpose.

00:01:42:01 - 00:01:43:18
Intervenant 2
Jeremy, welcome on the show.

00:01:43:19 - 00:01:48:16
Intervenant 1
Thanks so much for having me. I've been long anticipating this one, so I'm really excited for the conversation.

00:01:48:18 - 00:02:10:11
Intervenant 2
Yeah, thanks for being here. And let's dive straight into this, because I have so many questions I could ask because we resonate so much in terms of of similar stories. But before you dive into your, bucket list here, I want to go back to before that because you once said that you were inside, you just felt empty.

00:02:10:13 - 00:02:17:10
Intervenant 2
Can you take us back to that exact moment when you were living in New York, and what was going on inside of you?

00:02:17:10 - 00:02:37:05
Intervenant 1
Yeah, definitely. And so, you know, the quote you're referring to is from my TEDx talk that I gave after I did that, that project, right where I try to do 52 things in 52 weeks. And the reason I shared that is because I think a lot of people from the outside or from the surface, sort of felt like I was just like going off and doing a bunch of crazy things.

00:02:37:05 - 00:02:54:11
Intervenant 1
Right. And it was, although there was a lot of support, I think a lot of people didn't really understand, like, why why would someone just suddenly go do this? And so, as you said, you know, the catalyst for it was, I was at a point in my life, so this was 2018. I was living in New York City at the time, as you mentioned.

00:02:54:13 - 00:03:22:23
Intervenant 1
I had hit a lot of milestones in my career and my finances and my lifestyle that I thought were supposed to make me happy, you know, and, and once I hit those milestones and I realized I wasn't any happier, that actually was the start of a year long struggle where I began to question whether happiness was even attainable at all, or if I would just always be chasing the next thing, and I would always just be going after the next wrong.

00:03:23:00 - 00:03:45:23
Intervenant 1
And, I felt so deeply that happiness was unattainable, that I started to struggle with suicidal ideation. And when I say suicidal ideation, I want to clarify I did not actively try to take my own life. Right. And I think that's a really important distinction because that's that that's a different level, I think. And I wasn't quite there yet, but I kept thinking, like, I don't really want to be alive anymore.

00:03:46:01 - 00:04:05:09
Intervenant 1
Like, what's the point of being alive if happiness is unattainable? If I'm just going to keep chasing and chasing and chasing and I felt this so viscerally. But as you mentioned, I wasn't sad, right? I didn't have any reason to necessarily. I hadn't gone through a difficult breakup. I wasn't having financial struggles. On the surface, I had a lot of reasons to be happy.

00:04:05:09 - 00:04:25:12
Intervenant 1
And that's that's what made it really challenging for me in my head was I have all these reasons to be happy, but I'm not. So, you know, what's the point of being alive? And the worst that it got was I remember I would sort of hope that something bad would happen, right? I didn't want to take my own life, but I kind of hoped that I would wake up someday and and something bad would happen that way.

00:04:25:17 - 00:04:40:10
Intervenant 1
You know, I didn't have to take my own life, but I could stop living. And so that was that was the darkest that it got for me. And so, you know, I'm sure we'll talk about it, but that's that's why I said, you know, I need to change something. I can't keep living this way.

00:04:40:11 - 00:04:55:14
Intervenant 2
Is there a very specific moment that you can remember that you were, like, on the break and you kind of, like, hit the rock bottom of whatever it meant for you that forced you to jump back into changing your life upside down.

00:04:55:14 - 00:05:15:22
Intervenant 1
Yeah. There. So there's there's one moment that I remember where it kind of started. Very it was very strange. But one night I think it was actually April 19th, 2019. And the reason I remember it so vividly is I was in my bathroom staring in the mirror. It had been it had been a very long week at work and I was just stressed.

00:05:15:24 - 00:05:39:11
Intervenant 1
It was still cold in New York City, even though it was April and, I hadn't been getting sleep. And so I think my brain was sort of just like, really, poorly wired. And I was staring at myself in the mirror, and I felt like I didn't recognize the person in front of me. And it was a very weird sensation, but I sort of this out of body, like I am not looking at me.

00:05:39:13 - 00:05:55:12
Intervenant 1
And, that was that was the day that I started feeling like I might be losing my mind. Like, I just, I just, you know, I don't want to be here anymore. And that was the moment. And then for the I thought, okay, you know, I'll wake up tomorrow, I'll be back to normal. And I wasn't. And now I was like, all right, maybe I'll wake up again the next day, I'll be back to normal.

00:05:55:14 - 00:06:19:13
Intervenant 1
And it just kind of persisted for for a long time. And then if I fast forward to, the next moment that I actually wouldn't say was rock bottom, but was a hugely, pivotal moment for me was in December of that year. So about eight months later, my mom went in to get back surgery, and, she had to get surgery on her lower back.

00:06:19:15 - 00:06:37:14
Intervenant 1
And, I wake up the next morning from a phone call from my dad. I'm living in New York City at the time. My parents are in California, and basically he's like, hey, man, the the surgery did not go well. Mom went into cardiac arrest. And so, he was like, I think you should get on the first flight and try to come home.

00:06:37:16 - 00:06:58:03
Intervenant 1
And so, on that flight home, I booked the first flight I can. Right. And, as I'm flying back to California, my mom is undergoing what's called hypothermic protocol, which is basically, they froze her body, because she had lost so much blood. During the surgery, they froze her body. So they knew that she wasn't dead.

00:06:58:05 - 00:07:13:16
Intervenant 1
But when she came out of sort of this frozen state, there was a possibility that she would be brain dead. So she would be physically alive, but still not. And I just, you know, so on that flight and I'm thinking, man, the last time I saw my mom might have been the last time I truly saw my mom.

00:07:13:18 - 00:07:34:17
Intervenant 1
And, in a weird way, I felt this this guilt. Because here my mom is fighting for her life. And here I was wishing I wasn't alive. Right? And it didn't make sense to me. And that was the first moment I said, okay, you know what? Once we get through this, I'm going to make a change. I can't keep living this way.

00:07:34:21 - 00:07:51:04
Intervenant 1
I should be grateful I have every reason to be alive, and I think there's just something wrong with my brain. So that was the first moment I said, let me. Let me, like, make a shift. And thankfully, my mom is actually made a full recovery. So there's a happy ending to that story. She's she's doing great now.

00:07:51:06 - 00:07:52:13
Intervenant 1
But that was an important time for me.

00:07:52:13 - 00:08:26:01
Intervenant 2
A quick break from the podcast. I really hope you have as much fun as I do. First, thank you for being here and if you enjoy it, please give me the follow and share this with a friend because it really helps a lot. Now if you are a multi passionate creator and adventurer or visionary that feel called to express themselves fully, I'm opening few spots for my brand new one on one coaching that helps you build brands that feel like you and attract align opportunities without copying trends, faking it, or just waiting for clarity to arrive.

00:08:26:01 - 00:08:48:01
Intervenant 2
So whether you are still figuring out your voice or want to have more confidence expressing your story, we will co-create your personal brand and content with a system never really that you can actually follow. Sports are limited, so follow me on Instagram and join me Pug Pod to see if this is a great fit. All right, back to the podcast.

00:08:48:05 - 00:09:12:21
Intervenant 2
Yeah, thanks. She's, she's going well today, and that's, definitely a happy ending to the story. That doesn't happen. To everybody. But I want to just before we move on to other questions, I have, on on your journey and your 50 to, bucket list. Things you wanted to do. I want to come back to that moment.

00:09:12:21 - 00:09:36:10
Intervenant 2
You said you were looking at yourself in the mirror and you couldn't recognize yourself. And my question is, how do you think, looking back now, with all your experience, your all the the step back you have on this moment, how do you think? Why do you think or how? It's kind of like the same question. Why do you think we come to a moment like this?

00:09:36:12 - 00:09:52:05
Intervenant 2
How is it possible that we just look at ourself in a mirror and we just don't recognize ourselves? Yeah, everything seems to be so, especially when everything you're supposed to be doing is exactly what you did.

00:09:52:06 - 00:10:09:22
Intervenant 1
Yeah. It's such a it's such a disappointing outcome, I think. And I think everyone has their own version of the story. Right. And after my talk came out, actually, I was kind of blown away by the number of people who reached out to me to share their own stories of how, they felt like they were, you know, living this life, but it wasn't theirs.

00:10:09:22 - 00:10:32:08
Intervenant 1
And they didn't quite, they didn't know what they wanted to do either. And so it's really interesting to hear how this is actually very silent but pervasive problem, you know, across the world in my case. And I think I can kind of really only speak for myself. But the reason was I realized, you know, upon a lot of reflection, I was chasing these vanity metrics, and I was I was chasing external validation.

00:10:32:10 - 00:10:49:05
Intervenant 1
Right. And what it really came down to was I wasn't actually using my own internal measuring stick. For what life not and what I wanted life to be. And I think that's really what it was when I looked in the mirror and I didn't recognize myself. It's because the guy standing in front of me was a man, a manicured version of myself.

00:10:49:05 - 00:11:14:15
Intervenant 1
Right. It was this version that I had created because I thought it's who I needed to be in order to be successful, to be happy, to make the money, whatever it was. And that's why I feel so strongly about a bucket list. And, you know, I know I'll talk about this more in a bit, but I believe that a true bucket list, if you really sit down and you meditate deeply on, like, what is it that you want and what do you want to bring to the world and what do you want to aspire to achieve before you pass?

00:11:14:17 - 00:11:33:16
Intervenant 1
A bucket list is the most authentic reflection of who you really are, and that's the person in the mirror that I wanted to be looking at, right? Not the guy who had achieved these accolades that quite frankly, I don't actually care about. Right. And so I think that's what it is, I think, I think it was chasing someone else's goals or someone else's version of success.

00:11:33:16 - 00:11:34:04
Intervenant 1
Not like that's.

00:11:34:04 - 00:12:01:02
Intervenant 2
A perfect transition to my next question about that moment of reconnection for me, for example, it was back in 2010, couple, just a year after I lost my dad to suicide. And I thought, okay, now you you have a choice to make. You young, you have a life in front of you. How can you make some how can you make something that excites you?

00:12:01:04 - 00:12:23:21
Intervenant 2
And that's from that question. I turned back, I turned, the the light spark on me to say, okay, what is something that would really excites me to do? And that's when I remember that when I was a teenager, I wanted to go to the US to kind of like leave the cliche at this from Europe, the cliche, high school lifestyle kind of party thing.

00:12:24:01 - 00:12:43:18
Intervenant 2
And I was like, okay, let's, let's make it happen. And use the money from my dad's legacy to go in the US, which I did in 2011, for six months in San Diego. And I wanted to get to know that version of experiences. That was the shift for you that pulled back the reconnection. Was the reconnection button.

00:12:43:18 - 00:12:46:03
Intervenant 2
No moment for you. What was it?

00:12:46:05 - 00:13:19:04
Intervenant 1
I think the, so there was a there was sort of a series of things. Right. The reconnection moment for me, I think was probably halfway through this bucket list project that I, that I did, when I completed what I think was probably the hardest thing on my bucket list, which is, as you mentioned, I backpacked from, down the California coast from San, San Francisco, which is where I grew up, down to San Diego, which is where I went to college, and that's where I live now.

00:13:19:06 - 00:13:40:17
Intervenant 1
And the reason that that bucket list goal, I think, in particular, was so powerful for me, is it really it was so symbolic of like, this whole this whole purpose of this project in the first place. And so, if it's all right, I'll just kind of tell that story briefly. I had wanted to bike down the coast of California because it's a beautiful coastline.

00:13:40:19 - 00:14:00:03
Intervenant 1
And mostly because I had driven that route so many times, but I never really paused to appreciate it, and I thought it would be really challenging. And it would be a nice way to push myself. And I had never really, I'd never bike packed before. I had never really ridden a bike that long, other than, you know, just a few beach cruisers, maybe, you know, on a Sunday.

00:14:00:05 - 00:14:14:12
Intervenant 1
And so I had to learn everything from the beginning. I had to figure out what bike I should buy. I had to figure out what kind of gear I needed. I needed to get the right shoes. I needed to get the right helmet. I needed to train. I need to figure out what my training plan would be.

00:14:14:14 - 00:14:33:22
Intervenant 1
And then, of course, I needed to actually go do the route, and I had to plan the route. And what I love about it is I didn't do all of that by myself. In fact, I relied on so many people to help me for every single part of that journey. My friend Chris, who's an amazing cyclist, he helped me figure out which bike I should buy.

00:14:33:24 - 00:14:56:00
Intervenant 1
My friend Amy figured out which tires I need to get. I found a guy on YouTube who had actually done that same route, and I just reached out to him and I said, hey, man, I'm thinking about doing the same thing, you know, would you be willing to, help me out a little bit and not only did he get on a call with me to, like, walk me through how I did it, he sent me his entire training plan, which was diligently spelled out of, like, how many miles to do each day.

00:14:56:04 - 00:15:16:12
Intervenant 1
He sent me his entire itinerary, his packing list. And then, you know, my favorite part is when I actually ended up doing the trip, it was 650 day. So, sorry, 650 miles, ten day trip. And I had friends that joined all along the route. Some people that would join me just for, you know, one day here, a friend that would let me crash at their house.

00:15:16:14 - 00:15:42:16
Intervenant 1
You know, someone else who would help me, like, with lunch, you know, halfway through the route, and my friend Andrew actually flew out all the way from North Carolina to meet me, and he did the whole thing with me, even though he had never biked before, either. And so, you know, when we finished the trip, I was able to look back and say, wow, you know, I had all these friends that helped me all along the all along the way, I had done something I had never done before.

00:15:42:18 - 00:16:01:02
Intervenant 1
And, you know, we cheered with some beers at a at a, a taco shop in San Diego. But it really culminated for me that the beauty of the experience was about the people and reconnecting and pursuing something that is meaningful to me, even though it wasn't making me money, it wasn't bringing me status. But it was bringing me joy.

00:16:01:05 - 00:16:03:03
Intervenant 1
And that's that's also beautiful about it.

00:16:03:03 - 00:16:31:10
Intervenant 2
Yeah. I love there's just just bikepacking in, as, as an activity. Just amazing. Just because it really forces you to go out a slower pace than you used to. And I love the analogy between, like, I've done that many times with, with the car and never took time to really slow down. And then when you add to this, it's kind of like slow living, kind of like lifestyle with the community, with people, whether it's your friend.

00:16:31:10 - 00:16:55:19
Intervenant 2
For me, I didn't have like, any people I knew that join me on my, personal backpacking trip. But I met so many other backpackers that inspired me to keep going. And so many like great stories in discussion. And it was really, really powerful. And I want to understand a bit more about how you come up with the project to to create a bucket list and make it like 50 to.

00:16:55:19 - 00:16:59:07
Intervenant 2
And one thing to, to make it once a week, basically.

00:16:59:07 - 00:17:28:00
Intervenant 1
Yeah. So the inspiration was, you know, after my mom had passed, that was right before Covid hit. And then I think when, when Covid, you know, hit the world, everybody was forced to reconcile with the fact that life can be very fragile. And, you know, as you described, when, when, when your dad passed, you know, death often for many of us kind of forces us to have that reflection on life of what do I really want to do?

00:17:28:02 - 00:17:49:01
Intervenant 1
And I think Covid, for many of us was that moment where we said, okay, you know, this isn't guaranteed. This life that I have is not guaranteed. So how can I make the most of it? And so I was going through that thought process while reconciling with my own, you know, suicidal ideation. And then I got laid off from my job three months later, due to a Covid layoff.

00:17:49:01 - 00:18:15:01
Intervenant 1
And so as the series of events of like, man, I really am not controlling anything. You know, my mom had this thing, Covid happen now I don't have a job. And so I just, I spent about a week deeply, you know, researching, like, what should I do next? And I came across a statistic that said, for people that are in hospice care, you know, laying on their deathbed at the end of their lives, there was a study done asking them, you know, what?

00:18:15:02 - 00:18:31:08
Intervenant 1
What are the things that you reflect on in your life? And one of the data points that they found is that 76% of people at the end of their lives are more likely to regret the things they did not do right, more than the things that they did. And I'm sure you're familiar with that statistic. I'm sure a lot of your listeners are as well.

00:18:31:10 - 00:18:53:02
Intervenant 1
And, and that, you know, that that hit me really profoundly, because in that moment, I was still sort of struggling with wanting to take my own life. And so I thought, well, you know, instead of taking my own life, why don't I do all the things that I would have regretted not doing and spend a year just trying to do that, and let's see if that reinvigorates my enthusiasm for living.

00:18:53:04 - 00:19:13:19
Intervenant 1
And I had started a bucket list when I was, a freshman at university. So when I was much younger, I had started a bucket list. And at that time it was just, what do I want to do before I graduate college? So I dug back through my files. I found that list and it, ignited a, a lost enthusiasm for life that I hadn't felt in a very long time.

00:19:13:21 - 00:19:29:09
Intervenant 1
And again, it's not because everything on my list was, like, super cool and epic, but it's because it was all very honest to me, right? There were little things, big things, and everything in between, but they all really meant something to me. And, and so that's why I was like, you know, I should dedicate a year to this.

00:19:29:11 - 00:19:44:22
Intervenant 1
Now, the question of why 52? It was kind of arbitrary. I just knew I needed to put, like, some structure around it. And there are 52 weeks in a year. So I said, okay, why don't I try to do 52 goals and in one year, and that's how it happened.

00:19:45:00 - 00:20:09:10
Intervenant 2
Yeah. Man. I've, I love so much what you just said because I think first, death is a great reminder of how truly, truly alive we can be. And I actually named this podcast Adventure Ignition Podcast based on this idea that when you throw yourself into an adventure that is meaningful to you, it actually spark that feeling of just being alive.

00:20:09:11 - 00:20:21:24
Intervenant 2
And my next question is exactly that how somebody wants to, maybe set to create that meaningful goals. How did how did they find it or how do they define it.

00:20:21:24 - 00:20:39:22
Intervenant 1
Yeah, yeah. It's I that's a really tricky thing. Right. Because I think for me and for many people that I talk to, it does come from a place of rock bottom which is, which is which. Just kind of unfortunate, right? It's like, oh man, why do I have to get all the way to this rock bottom moment in order to, like, make a meaningful change?

00:20:39:24 - 00:21:04:00
Intervenant 1
I don't think that's necessary, but I think that's really common. So I guess what I would say is, if you've already had your rock bottom moment for anyone listening to this, try to reframe that as a beautiful thing, right? Try to reframe that as something that you can be incredibly grateful for, because that rock bottom moment often will allow you to, you know, use it as a springboard to live the life that you really want, whether it's, you know, moving to San Diego like you did in your CA and just take the leap on that idea.

00:21:04:02 - 00:21:24:06
Intervenant 1
Or for me, it was, you know, taking the leap on this 52 week journey. But what that, to give you something a little bit more tactical, on my website, actually, I shared, a list of, like, ten things that I learned, in pursuit of this bucket list journey to try to help other people. That might, you know, might be looking for something similar.

00:21:24:08 - 00:21:39:06
Intervenant 1
And that in the Ted talk, I narrowed it down to the five that I think are most important. So the first one is to reconcile, with death, which we've already talked about. And I think that, for some people, death can be a very scary thing to think about and very morbid. And I totally get that.

00:21:39:08 - 00:21:57:13
Intervenant 1
However, I prefer to think of it as something that's incredibly empowering because once you reconcile with the fact that we will all die someday, it makes the little things that you're worried about not matter as much, right? Like, you realize none of this really matters, so why not focus on the good? Why not focus on the things that I want?

00:21:57:13 - 00:22:13:17
Intervenant 1
So step one, you know, reconcile with, mortality. And then the second thing is to, just start writing things down, you know, write down the things that matter to you. And when I think about my bucket list, you know, everyone thinks like a bucket list. Must be epic travel and adventure skydiving and yes, I, you know, I did go skydiving.

00:22:13:17 - 00:22:29:16
Intervenant 1
I did Cliff jump in Hawaii. I did try to go see the Northern Lights. I did the classics, but I also had really simple things, like I wanted to dye my hair, you know, just because I was like, curious what that would look like. I wanted to meditate every day for 90 days, so that was on my list.

00:22:29:18 - 00:22:47:00
Intervenant 1
I tried to do a daily good deed for somebody, you know, a small good deed every single day for a month. I wanted to handwrite a thank you letter. You know, I think everything's so digital these days. Everything's written over email or text. Something about handwriting. A thank you letter to somebody I felt like had real sentimental value.

00:22:47:04 - 00:23:04:09
Intervenant 1
And those are all things, you know, you could do today, right? Like, you don't have to necessarily, like, wait for a long time to start those. And so I think it's really important to just, just write just write everything down. So yeah, that's that's where I would, I would start and don't worry about it being worthy of being on your bucket list.

00:23:04:15 - 00:23:08:07
Intervenant 1
Just write down if it if it, you know, inspires you, it should be on your list.

00:23:08:07 - 00:23:30:22
Intervenant 2
I love it because when I just read yours, it felt really personal. Of course you have, like, those big adventure stuff that you wanted to do for yourself, but you also have, like, things. If I don't get it wrong, like, appreciating a sunrise or sunset or just, like, simple things like that, that seems sometimes to be overrated, but it's like, very simple and so, so magical.

00:23:30:24 - 00:23:53:12
Intervenant 2
On based on all of the the lists you've made that you created, what is something that looking backwards now made you feel truly alive? Is there like one or maybe not one specific, but a few like comes to mind when I when you think about something or a moment that you felt truly alive during this year.

00:23:53:14 - 00:24:15:15
Intervenant 1
Yeah, there are a couple that come to mind, and I'm just looking at my list here to remind me, but yeah, there are there's I'll, I'll share the two that come to mind first. And then, you know, we can dig into other stories. The first is that, I had actually two different goals on my bucket list.

00:24:15:15 - 00:24:35:00
Intervenant 1
So one was to learn how to play guitar, and then the other was to perform in front of an audience. And when I put those on my bucket list, they were not, like, next to each other, right? They were totally separate thing. So I just always wanted to learn how to play guitar, and then performing in front of an audience was a way for me to sort of just get over that stage fright, get over that, that fear.

00:24:35:00 - 00:24:54:18
Intervenant 1
And I didn't know if it was going to be, you know, singing in front of an audience, performing a magic trick, doing stand up comedy. I didn't know. Yeah, but I knew I wanted that experience of getting on stage. So in order to cross off, learning how to play guitar, I had been sharing this list with my network for, you know, some time now.

00:24:54:18 - 00:25:09:19
Intervenant 1
And one of my good friends from high school, Mitchell, who happens to be a guitar teacher, he saw my list and he said, hey, you know, I'd be happy to help you, learn how to play a guitar. That's what he does professionally. And so Mitchell was incredible. He really helped me how to, learn a few songs.

00:25:09:19 - 00:25:25:09
Intervenant 1
And I very specifically said, I want to learn how to play three songs, and I need to be able to play it from memory. That was my goal. And so he helped me get there. And, you know, I was able to cross that one off my list. And then you fast forward a couple of months and, I was living with Mitchell at that time.

00:25:25:09 - 00:25:44:06
Intervenant 1
We actually ended up moving in together because of all this, and it worked out really well. And, Mitchell had a show coming up, with, with a band that he was going to play with. And, he also knew one of the things on my bucket list is to perform in front of an audience. And so he said, hey, man, I've got this show coming up, do you want to open for me?

00:25:44:08 - 00:26:04:11
Intervenant 1
And my initial reaction was like, no, no, no, no, I'm good. Like, thanks for asking. But you know, I don't need to do that. And he pushed me, right. He said, look, I know this is on your bucket list. It's something important to you when also you're going to have a better chance than than this weekend. And after a little bit of convincing, I realized he was right.

00:26:04:11 - 00:26:27:20
Intervenant 1
And even though I was terrified and I was like, there's no way I want to do this because it was on my list and because Mitchell was there to help hold me accountable, I agreed. And so, you know, come the Friday night, I go on stage and it was just a small, small stage at the house. But I explained my story to the audience before I started playing because I still wasn't very good, you know?

00:26:27:22 - 00:26:50:05
Intervenant 1
And then, I told everyone why I was doing this. I played a song. I completely blacked out. I do not remember that song at all. But I do remember the moment I strung my last strum, and I just heard the eruption from the crowd. And, you know, obviously it's not because I was such an amazing musician, but it's because I think they were so supportive of the journey.

00:26:50:07 - 00:27:03:06
Intervenant 1
And yeah, I mean, I get emotional even thinking about it now because it was just so amazing to, to overcome this, like this thing that I never would have done if it wasn't for Mitch, you know, if it wasn't for the supportive crowd. So that's one that really sticks with me, even though it's a small one.

00:27:03:08 - 00:27:04:02
Intervenant 1
It was really powerful.

00:27:04:02 - 00:27:24:18
Intervenant 2
Yeah, it seems small when you you said before, you see the big thing in, And I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people who, would love to do something similar. For example, for me, I love public speaking. And, even if I practice a little bit, it's still scary to do it. And just like overcoming that fear is, is quite, something courageous to do.

00:27:24:18 - 00:27:48:18
Intervenant 2
And it's it's absolutely not small at all. And we just, you just talked about fear, which is very powerful. But there's also one side of the experience during the year that I want to talk about a bit more is failure. Well, what's the relationship with failure, knowing that? You said to yourself, 52 bucket list and goal to achieve in 52 weeks?

00:27:48:20 - 00:27:59:14
Intervenant 2
Obviously, it's pretty ambitious, which is which is good. But I wanted to know a bit like the other side of, going after your, bucket list.

00:27:59:16 - 00:28:24:09
Intervenant 1
Yeah. I'm so glad you asked that question, because that's something I often overlook and it's so critical. So the first thing I should be very candid about is, although I tried to do 52 things in 52 weeks, I was only able to successfully achieve 32 of them. Right. And so, what what made the experience so incredible and so enriching wasn't the fact that I succeeded at everything.

00:28:24:11 - 00:28:48:06
Intervenant 1
It was purely the fact that I tried, right? That I tried to do everything on my list. And, you know, the lesson, lesson number four that I share in my TEDx talk is, to celebrate failure. So, like you talked about, you know, to have a really good, healthy relationship with failure. And what I mean by that is when you're trying to do something on your bucket list, inherently, that means you're trying to do something you've never done before.

00:28:48:12 - 00:29:11:22
Intervenant 1
Right? And so the likelihood that you fail the first time you try is probably pretty high. It's, you know, something's going to go wrong. You're just not going to be able to achieve it. And I think that when we fix it so much on the outcome, which, especially in the United States, you know, growing up in, you know, through school, you're really fixating on did I get, you know, an A is I get a 90% on the test.

00:29:12:03 - 00:29:29:07
Intervenant 1
We're so fixated on the outcome that we don't think enough about the process. And I think if you fail, that should be something that you celebrate because it means you tried, right? The best way to never fail at anything is just to never try anything that I can guarantee you. If you don't try stuff, then you won't fail, right?

00:29:29:07 - 00:29:48:16
Intervenant 1
But that that sort of defeats the purpose of living. And so I took it upon myself to, celebrate any time I failed. For example, something on my bucket list is I wanted to, get on a reality TV show and compete. Compete on any kind of reality TV show. And I think I reached out to, like, 30 different ones.

00:29:48:16 - 00:30:09:24
Intervenant 1
And I, you know, I got through to a couple interviews and stuff like that, but I never got very close. But every time I received an email saying, hey, Jeremy, thanks for your interest, but, you know, we're going to pass. I made sure to celebrate that right in some way, because I knew that although it wasn't the outcome I wanted, it was proof that I tried to do the thing that I wanted to do.

00:30:10:01 - 00:30:30:03
Intervenant 1
And when you start to celebrate those moments of failure, you rewire your brain to get more addicted to the process than the actual outcome. And that's the most important thing, especially when you're trying to do 52 things in a year that you've never done before. For most people, you would succumb to analysis paralysis. You would try to create the perfect plan, and you try to see around every corner.

00:30:30:05 - 00:30:53:20
Intervenant 1
And then you would realize that three months have gone by and you haven't even started yet, right? So I wanted to really flip that script and say, just go try the thing and then you'll probably fail, but you'll learn something and then you can iterate, go down a different path, fail, iterate, and just continue that process. And and I found that to be actually one of the most powerful things, that I could teach myself is so powerful.

00:30:53:20 - 00:31:18:24
Intervenant 2
I mean, I have so many questions about that. And, I know we're getting, to the end of the podcast, so I would just ask you two more question. You mentioned it a little bit already, but what advice would you give to somebody who is now at the moment where you were back then, where everything looks good on paper, but still everything feels wrong inside?

00:31:18:24 - 00:31:22:17
Intervenant 2
What would be like the your advice on that for that person?

00:31:22:17 - 00:31:44:22
Intervenant 1
Yeah. So, you know, I, I think I'm always careful to be very explicit when I give advice is that I'm giving advice to that younger version of me. Right. And the reason I say that is one thing that I found is when I would talk to certain people, they would in those moments, right? They would give advice, but it wasn't actually tailored to me.

00:31:44:22 - 00:32:06:03
Intervenant 1
It's what I learned, right? And often some people can give advice that's actually completely wrong for you in that moment, but it's because they don't have the context that you have. And, especially with something like suicidal ideation, I think for anyone who hasn't gone through it, it's really difficult to understand. A lot of the advice that I got was like, hey, man, you know, just like shake it off, right?

00:32:06:03 - 00:32:19:16
Intervenant 1
Or oh, you should be so proud of it. Like, you have so many good things going on for you, right? You shouldn't be. Why are you depressed? Right. And and although I know their intentions were good, it actually kind of pushed me in the wrong direction because I was like, yeah, you're right. I do have things going on for me.

00:32:19:16 - 00:32:42:09
Intervenant 1
Why? Why am I depressed? Maybe something's wrong with me. So so the advice that I would give to my younger self in that moment, is to first, like, start journaling a lot. And, I would do this thing where I would, put my pen on paper and I would set a timer for three minutes. And the rule was I wasn't allowed to take my finger off the page.

00:32:42:09 - 00:32:56:22
Intervenant 1
Right. So I just had to keep writing and you just write whatever you're thinking. And even if you're just saying, like, oh, this is weird, I'm just writing things for the sake of writing, like write that. Right. And and what was so powerful about that? And that's actually a lesson that I learned from an artist friend of mine.

00:32:56:24 - 00:33:14:12
Intervenant 1
It's so powerful because you're able to take all this mess that's going on up here and you're able to remove yourself from it, or that you're able to see it more objectively. And that allowed me to realize that I am not my thoughts. So I think that was a really important disconnection for me, was to separate who I am and what I'm thinking.

00:33:14:14 - 00:33:38:18
Intervenant 1
Because often that feels like it's the same thing, but it's actually not. So that would be my first suggestion is start writing things. Write down what you're thinking, get your thoughts on the paper. That's number one. Number two would be to meditate. I'm a huge proponent of meditation. I try to meditate every day now, and I think meditation has a lot of, like, misconstrued interpretations of what meditation is.

00:33:38:19 - 00:34:02:24
Intervenant 1
I can't get into, like, all the detail around it, but, but yeah, I would I would, I would highly recommend meditating. And then the third and final thing that I would recommend is do something active that involves, other people. And it doesn't need to be like going out and playing a sport necessarily. But go do go do things that force you into a flow state of mind.

00:34:03:01 - 00:34:38:07
Intervenant 1
For me, that was playing soccer because I love playing soccer. What that doesn't mean necessarily is going for a run. I love running, but when you are running, it is an active thing, but you're not with other people, so you can actually continue to still spin your thoughts. And that's, I think, still very dangerous. The reason soccer is so great or playing ping pong or, you know, even if it's doing art, do something active or like, you know, doing, ceramics, pottery or whatever it is, it's so important that you're doing it with other people because you are forced to be more present and you don't lose yourself as much

00:34:38:07 - 00:35:06:20
Intervenant 1
in your head, but you're forced to really focus on the thing that's in front of you, the objects that's coming at you, whatever it is. And, that actually, I think, saved my life because when I was in the deepest, darkest moments, soccer was the only thing that kind of made me forget about those thoughts. And I remember realizing after I finished playing soccer, I would say, oh, maybe my brain is capable of not constantly thinking about suicide.

00:35:06:24 - 00:35:13:02
Intervenant 1
I just need to rewire it to get there. So sorry. That's a long winded answer, but yeah, those are my thoughts.

00:35:13:04 - 00:35:39:18
Intervenant 2
That was very powerful. We're going to the end of the podcast. So just first before, as the final question, to acknowledge you for being an inspiration for so many people, can, will you just show them how they can turn their life in, very, difficult moments just by pursuing what makes them feel alive? And that's a message I personally resonated so much, because it's been basically my experience with life.

00:35:39:18 - 00:35:48:04
Intervenant 2
And I want to just, like, acknowledge you for that. Where can you where can we find more about you online so that I can put everything in the show notes below?

00:35:48:06 - 00:36:12:16
Intervenant 1
Yeah. Appreciate it. Well, if you want to see more about the project, just go to what, a year project start. Com that's where I documented the 52 weeks. And you can watch the Ted talk on the Ted website if you just search Jeremy. George. What a year. And then, you can also find me on, you know, Instagram on on LinkedIn.

00:36:12:17 - 00:36:24:15
Intervenant 1
I would love for anyone who's interested to check out the bucket match platform. It's just bucket match. I, we're trying to build a community of people who prioritize their bucket lists and help each other go out and do, incredible things.

00:36:24:15 - 00:36:44:01
Intervenant 2
Yeah. So I put everything in the show notes and, regarding the bucket, the bucket match up. I'm. I'm on it. So, it really forces me to to rethink my bucket list. And I'm excited to dive, deeper into this final question. Adventure. What does it mean to you?

00:36:44:03 - 00:36:53:15
Intervenant 1
To me, adventure is sitting on the edge of your comfort zone and having the willingness to take that one step outside of it.

00:36:53:15 - 00:36:59:20
Intervenant 2
What a beautiful way to end the podcast, Jeremy George, thank you so much for being on the podcast.

00:36:59:22 - 00:37:01:17
Intervenant 1
Thanks, blaze. Those blast.

00:37:01:19 - 00:37:02:02
Intervenant 2
Everyone.