The Anti Blueprint Special on commitment, community, change and life after 25

sent by Nick Grantham | 26th January 2021

"People always tell me they want to start a YouTube channel but are waiting for the "perfect" time or they need to learn more. I tell them you learn by doing. You don't learn to shoot a basketball by watching Kobe. You learn by shooting."

Keltie O'Connor

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Keltie didn't wait for the "perfect" time to start her YouTube channel. She just started and committed to the project. It wasn't a stroll in the park but, over a 5-6 year period, Keltie went from not telling anyone about her channel to having a loyal band of followers. I love the story that Keltie tells as it's so easy to see what she does and think, "oh, that's so easy, I could do that," but what people don't see is her ferocious attitude and hunger to succeed. They also don't see that, when she started, she made videos for three years without making any money. Three videos a week for three years. I guess it all depends if you are happy to make that commitment?

Source: The Anti Blueprint Project by Jonathan Weaver


"If you want to know who you're going to be in five years. Look at the people you're spending time with now. Those people really matter, they can really affect you."

Bailey Richardson

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You may have watched the Netflix original, The Social Dilemma. Chances are you saw Bailey in the film. She was employee number 8 at Instagram and now spends her days focused on community building. She said so many things that stuck with me, but this one really did make me think. We can create our future by creating our own community. Bailey believes we should all seek out or go create a community. Don't just expect it to land in your lap once you get out of a college or high school structure. Build your own special community. Why? Well, if you want to know who you're going to be in five years, look at the people you're spending time with now (your community). Those people really matter, they can really affect you. Who are you spending your time with?

Source: The Anti Blueprint Project by Jonathan Weaver


"Everyday I choose Life. Look at Kelly Slater. He isn't going to McDonald's, you know. He's 47 years old, he's still on the tour. You can't tell me that he isn't one of the greatest athletes of all time."

Sage Kotsenburg

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Sage is someone I worked with since he was 16 and saw him go from an also-ran to winning an Olympic Gold medal at the Sochi Olympics by performing a trick he had never done before and the world had never seen before! Whilst that would be enough for some, he wanted to kick on to bigger things for him, to earn the respect of his peers. After a couple of years of struggling to find his motivation and the strength needed to meet his goals, he flipped to a plant-based diet. ?He felt this could help him make the progress he needed and he went all in. He took the same level of commitment he had shown to deliver an Olympic winning performance to switching up his diet. Sage explained that "everything is possible, it's just rewiring your brain and just saying, I can do this instead of I don't want to do that." Fuelled by plants he went on to win rider of the year and video part of the year, voted by fellow snowboarders and, in his eyes, arguably just as big of an achievement as his Olympic medal. He showed that committing to a change is the key to success.

Source: The Anti Blueprint Project by Jonathan Weaver


"My own view is that nothing really matters in life until you are 25."

Stuart James

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Not knowing where you're headed as a teenager is one thing. At least you have the gift of time on your side. For some, the calling doesn't come along until much later. After being in “the system” of football academies etc as a youngster, Stuart suffered rejection by two clubs early on. Stuart, unfortunately, didn't have anything to fall back on and so ended up working in the prison service. A chance meeting led him to start writing for a local paper. His doggedness saw him enrol on a Journalism degree and, after years of hard work, Stuart ended up at the Guardian and The Athletic. Such a great story clearly showing we don't need our life mapped out for us.

Source: The Anti Blueprint Project by Jonathan Weaver


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