(Written by Damir Pervan)

My name is Damir and this is my story.

This is a story about a dream, an idea, a passion so strong that is still burning. But what if that passion inside of you is not enough?

It was Friday, November 6th,2015. I told my friend at work, “I am going to San Diego in a month and I am going to have my book, The School of Greatness signed by Lewis Howes himself.” My friend was in shock. He said,” How are you going to do that? We haven’t received our paychecks for 3 months.” I replied, ” I am going to tap into the power of crowdfunding and raise 1500 dollars online.” He still didn’t believe me.

I went home and that night  I couldn’t sleep.

I was so excited. I’ve always wanted to meet the person who has been the catalyst in my life for 2 years now.

For those who don’t know, Lewis Howes is a Lifestyle Entrepreneur, former professional Football Player and the host of the famous podcast, The School of Greatness. Actually, he has a new book out called The School of Greatness.I read it several times so far. It’s amazing. Let me give you a brief reflection on how I got involved in Lewis Howes’ content and podcast.

My life changed completely in November 2014. I just got back  from the States where I worked and traveled the Eastern United States. I’ve met so many people from different countries. I partied in Ocean City, Washington DC, Miami and eventually New York. When I got back to my little country, I was depressed. It was like, yesterday I was living in New York and watching the Yankees (my favorite baseball team) but today I am in this crappy room in Porec, Croatia.

That first day after I got back, I made a commitment to myself  that I am going back next year (still working on it). My plan was to find a job in Zagreb while sending my resumes to US employers hoping to get hired. But that wasn’t the case.

Long story short, after finishing the college I ended up in Zagreb with no job, money and no purpose. I didn’t know what to do. At that time, I was staying at my friend’s apartment and he told me to check out new podcasts on iTunes. He said, “Check out this guy Lewis Howes, he has some good stuff which you can learn from. I have been listening him for 2 months now.” I said, “I don’t need some damn podcasts, I need money.”

Eventually, I decided to check out Lewis’ podcast and I fell in love with the content.

Before November, 2014 I had no vision in life. All I did was have fun with the girls and enjoy life. But after I started to learn from these successful people on School of Greatness podcast, my habits changed. I defined my vision. I came up with my morning routine. I started to meditate, read self-improvement books. In a nutshell, Lewis introduced me to this beautiful world of successful people and showed me how to lead a meaningful life.

Now, let’s get back to the morning after my sleepless night. I woke up  excited about my plan and the thing that I am going to San Diego to meet Lewis Howes in person. My heart was beating fast. Have you ever felt excited and uncomfortable at the same time? I am sure you did. It’s the most incredible feeling. That’s the sign for taking action. I immediately phoned my friend to come to my apartment and help me record a video for my campaign.

He came ASAP and we were soon at the main Plaza in Zagreb in the crowd filming a video. I was so terrified. Each time I would recite my prepared campaign speech I would stutter. We took about 30 shots and came with 30 different videos but none of them was fluent in my opinion. I wanted to be perfect. I went home frustrated. My head was buzzing. I laid down on bed and fell asleep.

When I woke up, I told myself at loud in the mirror, “I am not giving up.” The next day, I recorded my campaign video alone in my room (taped my iPhone to the wall and recorded myself). I was happy and satisfied.

Again, negative thoughts came to me but I shook them off and posted the video on my campaign page at fundmytravel.com. I conquered my fear of putting my recordings online. Boy, I was so elated. Later that day, I wrote a brief description of my campaign and posted it on Facebook.

I was promoting like a mad man.

I was doing a Periscope every other day. Other than that, I posted daily on facebook, google+, twitter and instagram. I sent about 100 messages to my friends and I was letting them know what I am about. E-mail marketing was active as well. I blew up my twitter acount. I decided to follow the followers from Lewis hopefully they will follow me back I and I will send them my own prepared message. They followed  me back but rarely answered my message. All my friends promised me to pitch in with donations but somehow they didn’t take me seriously.

I asked them 2 times and had enough because I didn’t want to appear like a beggar. But that didn’t discourage me at all. I was facing my fears and just pushing forward. Then, first donation came in, it was 10 dollars and then another 25 dollars…. I thought, here we go, I am going to San Diego. My campaign took off, finally. I was learning so much about online marketing. By the 10th day of my campaign, I raised 90 dollars. I kept promoting my website and e-mailed strangers and friends.

You must be saying now, “cut the b… and tell us did you raise enough funds” ?

Unfortunately , I didn’t succeed in my mission to go to San Diego and to meet Lewis Howes at his Book Signing but I ‘ve learned a lot in the process. I’ve learned how to fail forward (according to John Maxwell) and that I am very proud of.

I would rather try and fail than not try and never know what could have been.

There is a lesson in my story that I want to share with you.

1. If you want to crowdfund your dream, start 1-2 months prior by announcing to everybody what you are about.
2. Introduce Affiliate Marketing to your friends. For example, when your friend brings 3 people to donate, he gets some free stuff from your destination. Ask them to promote your campaign for you, in return bring them some free gifts from your travel experience.
3. Organize a party in your town and share your story. Don’t afraid to be little bit pushy (like I was afraid).
4. Promote on every occasion and on every social platform.

And the most important principle I’ve learned from my experience is this :

If you want people to give something to you, first add value to them without expecting anything in return. By adding value to people first, they will give you anything you want before you even ask them.

I know that I will meet Lewis soon but this was an amazing journey. Journey of opportunity, overcoming fears, perseverance and boldness. Don’t give up on trying new things. Be brave and remember to enjoy the journey because the journey is what matters.

(Written by Elizabeth Howard)

Curled up in my bed after a long day at work, I’m scrolling through my usual online news outlets and what’s the latest buzz? Adele and her 2016 North American tour. The last time Adele sang in the United States was in 2011 and she only played in small venues. Now she has concerts in 14 states and Canada and all were sold out in minutes. The woman is an idol, a success story and everyone’s go-to car jam. She’s helped us all through the breakups and the rainy days, and for that we must thank her.

Adele Adkins was born on a normal day like anyone else, so what makes her an international sensation that makes people stop in their tracks in the aisles of Target just to sing the first three lines of ‘Hello’?

Adele has forever changed music. She will go down on the same pages as Etta James and Barbra Streisand. She is this generation’s musical goddess – with good reason. Adele’s perfect combination of raspy and milky-smooth notes can bring even a Cross Fit heavy lifter to their knees, but what makes Adele successful? To me, is how relatable and open she is.

At the beginning of 2015 I wrote down that I wanted to be more like Beyoncé. These were my promises to myself:

1. You can’t please everyone. Make the decision that makes you happy and stop concerning yourself about what that other person is saying about you. Bye Felicia.

2. Stop wasting your time on people who don’t really care about being your life. Life is way too short. Spend your precious time with people that love you and support you. Bye Felicia.

3. Friends are the family you choose. Choose them wisely because the company you keep defines many things in your life. Bye Felicia.

4. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Stop looking at yourself and seeing flaws. They are not flaws but just one part of the masterpiece that makes up who are you. Hello Beyoncé.

5. Every person has a season in your life. Don’t keep poisons in your life. Just like a tree, let the pruning happen in your life if you need to. You will be more beautiful after. Hello Beyoncé.

6. YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEYONCE. Be fabulous and stop letting other people define what is fabulous. Hello Beyoncé.

We go into each year thinking we are going to be more like Beyoncé and Adele – I’m going to exercise more, eat better, read more and spend more time with family, but at some point we all seem to fall off the wagon, and our once-fresh new year aspirations are now jokes in Instagram captions as we post the latest batch of beautiful donuts.

How can we make goals that are realistic? How can we decide from day one to be a Beyoncé or an Adele? How can we be fabulous all year long?

It’s by being honest with ourselves. We need to be our true, authentic selves each and every day, not just to ourselves but also to the world. Man, does that sound terrifying.

Why would I want people to know that I’m having a bad week at work? Or that I miss my loved ones during the holidays? To me, that feels incredibly personal and why would anyone want to know these things about me? It’s because we all go through it, and we shouldn’t go through it alone.

Adele is loved because she is like anyone else, well despite her fame, fortune and beautiful voice. Adele is true to her authentic self through her music. She’s depressed? She writes a heart-wrenching song that we can all relate to. She’s mad? She writes a song that tears apart every piece of that angry memory. We love Adele because a piece of us can be found in every one of her songs.

If we can translate Adele’s ability to be relatable to our every day life, imagine how many people we could connect with? In today’s world there is a sense of need to show people that you’ve “made it,” and believe me, I’m a total victim of this feeling.

Why would I want people to think that I have rough weeks?

They may not think I’m mature or responsible or cool, but the truth of the matter is four years ago, I thought when I turned 22 I would have everything together, and that I would be an “adult.” I was totally wrong. I still want to take naps at 2 p.m., I lose socks like it’s my job, I can never remember to drop off my dry cleaning, and I still call my parents all the time asking them things like what’s wrong with my toilet or how do I cook bacon without setting the smoke detector off?

So who else burns their bacon? Who else still calls home to ask for advice? Who still uses dry shampoo and a hair tie on the mornings where you’re running late to work because 20 minutes of sleep sounded so worth it at the time? This is all me. The full me. The good, the bad and the ugly.

We’re in this together people. Let’s live authentically together. We may not be able to sing our lives like Adele, but we can tell people the truth and bond and grow over the same hopes, dreams and dilemmas.

Be you because, who knows, one day your life could be made into a multi-million dollar album and you wouldn’t want to miss out on that chance.