mountain temple Pratchuap Hua Hin Thailand

Thrilling Heroics was born in 2006 with a different purpose than it serves today, and it has gone through many “evolutions” if you will, but I wanted to take this opportunity to share my personal life philosophy and my hopes for this site with loyal readers and new-comers alike.

Why I started this site:

By the time I graduated from college in 2006, I had become rather unenthusiastic about my major, as I had with most of my education. I believe it was a reflection on the poor public school system in the U.S.—an antiquated institution that was crafted during the industrial era to brainwash train young people to gladly take their number and accept social norms. (Translation: I don’t think public school teaches kids any of the skills necessary for true greatness.)

I had gone through the motions. I was going to college because it’s just what you do. I chose a major that probably wasn’t best for me because I just had to finish in four years. Then I took a crappy staff job because it basically fell in my lap.

This all turned out to be very boring. Like many a poor sap, I ended up pushing paper, going to a lot of dumb meetings, and basically sitting around watching my life end one minute at a time.

I must have gotten lucky somehow, because it was at this point that I became interested in technology, startups, and entrepreneurship. I started watching Stanford lectures online, listening to podcasts, and I got this crazy idea in my head that it would be cool to get an MBA from one of these top business schools and start something big.

Meanwhile, I watched a lot of my good friends fall into the same trap I had fallen into: taking shitty jobs after college and buying into this myth that that’s all there is to it. 1) Get a career. 2) You’re not gonna like it, but just do it like everyone else and keep your mouth shut.

This ain’t no race. And I am certainly not a rat.

To fight off the apathy, I started a mastermind group with some friends where we discussed our careers, entrepreneurship ideas, and personal development. Sort of a Napoleon Hill/Tom Peters-inspired support group where we would encourage each other to kick asses.

I also started this blog, which had a huge impact on my life. That might sound nerdy, but yeah:

Starting a blog was a defining moment in my life.

Blogging gave me a good excuse to keep reading, keep learning, to talk about the current events, ideas and technologies that interested me. Blogging also gave me a means to reach out to interesting folks from all walks of life, ask questions, and make friends with people around the globe. People I never imagined would take a naive 22-year-old kid seriously.

It was when one of these new friends needed help—an amazing serial entrepreneur who I was incredibly lucky to call a mentor—that I started the next chapter of my life: working for myself.

Books like The 4 Hour Workweek and a few fantastic blogs convinced me that jobs are for suckers. I started doing freelance web development for small businesses on the side, and I quit my job shortly thereafter.

I’ve spent over a year-and-a-half learning to master the whole self-employment thing, and now I’ve set out on a year-long journey to live abroad and do remote work on the web. It’s rarely easy and it’s not always fun—in fact I frequently want to pull my hair out—but I enjoy the freedom that freelancing and entrepreneurship have given me. And the philosophy that underpins my choices is that I make the rules. I’ll say that again:

This is my life. I make the rules.

This blog is all about breaking the traditional “rules” that we think apply to us. It’s about challenging assumptions. There is no such thing as a One-Size-Fits-All lifestyle. You don’t have to go to college, graduate within four years, take a desk job, stay close to home, get an MBA, climb the corporate ladder, or anything just because it’s what herd mentality tells you you’re supposed to do. The world is a complex and beautiful place with a wide spectrum of possibilities, and full of unpredictable opportunities. Your life is your masterpiece, and you are the painter.

A few other like-minded rule-breakers out there—folks like Chris Guillebeau, Tim Ferriss, John Bardos, Clay Collins, and Andrew Warner—are preaching similar nonconformity. Here at ThrillingHeroics.com I approach this philosophy from a career/lifestyle point-of-view, and you’ll find discussions on personal development, travel, productivity, personal finance, entrepreneurship, web marketing and collaboration, lifestyle design and more.

Optimize your Life, Rock your Career, and Make the World your Playground!

That’s my motto. My number one priority here is to encourage my peers—young professionals and entrepreneurs—as well as readers at any stage in their career, to strive for excellence and make a positive difference in the world by doing what they’re truly passionate about.

For over three years Thrilling Heroics has been my baby—my “pet project.” It is and always will be “the professional blog of Cody McKibben,” but it is also a community-centered project where I hope to encourage others to pursue an exciting, unorthodox lifestyle and career. I’ll try to highlight individuals who are breaking the rules and living their dream lifestyles. While this is my “personal” site, there are many ways you can join or support the community, like joining our community on Facebook and subscribing to the exclusive newsletter, and I leave the door open for guest posts and other contributing writers in the future.

Is the idea of an unorthodox career—living passionately—exciting to you?

Well, I’m recruiting believers. Sign up here. Follow my journey and learn from my mistakes while I attempt to sidestep the traditional corporate world, concentrate on personal growth, travel around the world, and create my ideal lifestyle!

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