So, approximately one week has passed and I did the second challenge. This one’s described in the book “The Four Hour Workweek” of Tim Ferriss.
I hope you tried the first one 🙂 Tell us how you did in the comments.
If you didn’t do the first one yet, it’s not too late. Just go out tonight and hug some random people!
The second one was actually pretty hard. It gave me this weird adrenaline-kicky feeling in my stomach. It’s such an easy thing to do, lying down. It’s not illegal. It’s not morally wrong. And it doesn’t take any skills whatsoever. You just
- Go to a place where there are some people
- Lie down
- Count to 10
- Get back up and walk away like nothing happened
That’s it!
And still, it feels wrong.
It’s as if I was violating a strange, unwritten law: THOU SHALT NOT LIE DOWN ON THE FLOOR.
Why is it that hard to do?? You can’t even get rejected! You can’t even FAIL at this challenge! It’s just a matter of actually doing it, of willpower, of being brave for just a millisecond. That’s it.
Rules Of The Challenge
- You have to lie down for at least 10 seconds. Longest countdown ever.
- There have to be people around that are unaware of what’s going down. You should also never have met these people before.
- You cannot talk about the fact that it is a challenge. In fact, it’s more gratifying if you don’t say anything at all.
- Extra points for not immediately running away after you did the challenge. For example, when you do it in the subway and you just go back to your seat afterwards. Awkward stares all around.
- EASY VERSION: Drink a few beers beforehand.
Me Doing The Challenge
Looking back, I should have done it a few more times to get some interesting reactions. The first group just kept staring and someone started applauding. The second group basically ignored me completely, except for one lady who remarked that “I had a few too many beers”.
Lessons Learned
- This one really is about just not giving a fuck. People will stare, it will be awkward for a second, but in the grand scheme of things, you lying down for 10 seconds doesn’t mean anything. People basically don’t give a shit, and neither should you.
- Once you’re over that initial gut feeling of pure, irrational fear, it becomes so much easier. Doing this drunk would have been a lot easier, but that kind of defeats the purpose. You should be able to naturally lower your inhibitions, without stimulants.
- There’s a chance you’ll start thinking of reasons why not to do this challenge. One of these reasons might be that “now that it’s on the Internet, it’s not original anymore, everyone will think it’s stupid, or they will just think I’m doing a challenge”. This makes no sense whatsoever. No-one will have ever heard about this challenge. It’s not very well known. And if they have, that makes it even better: now it’s more awkward. The whole purpose of this thing is to not give a fuck, remember? Even if everyone around you has seen 10 people already do the challenge, you should still do it. It’s about not giving a shit about what other people think.
- No matter how unlikely, you’ll always be afraid of people stepping on your head.
Stay tuned for challenge #3. Please subscribe to my Youtube channel and share the video on Facebook or Twitter. If you do, I will give you a hug the next time I see you 🙂 (instead of kicking you in the nuts).
Now it’s up to you. Go out, just fucking do it and report back here 🙂
Good luck!
I’m in. I’m going to do this. Not going to mind the haters.
Had some psychological problems by myself, my family, which gave me problems on college.
A large part of it was about being bullied, verbal aggresivity at home, no emotional rest.
There are some topics in this blog that aren’t covered. The idea that you should not care about what other people think, seems right to me. If you do otherwise, you get restless nights.
But one must still care about people’s wellbeing, and that includes their thoughts. For example, a psychologist or a social worker has to care about people.
Hey i have to say: Your blog is awesome 😀 You gave me the kick to start with changing my life! Also i really like your challenges, after i have finished some exams in school i will try them out (I’m still a bit scared, but i will do it anyways). Hope you keep up the good work 🙂 And thx for the subreddits, they are very nice. So yeah greetings from germany, can i ask if your from brussels? Big part of my family lives there and i like it there 😉
@Nick, go for it man. I’m positively sure you can do this, no matter what you had to deal with when you were younger. Don’t hate, negative energy is just lost energy. I know it’s easy to say but hard to do, but try not to dwell too much on the past, try to find peace, set goals, make new friends and have a little fun 🙂 Not caring about what other people think is just a mental technique you can use to get you through these irrational fears. Of course I care a lot for my friends and family, and even for strangers on the Internet. But when someone I don’t know calls me a ‘faggot’, I really couldn’t care less, you know 🙂
@Luca, Thanks so much man, it’s people like you that keep me going 🙂 I completely support your goals to change your life. GO for it!! I’m from a town very close to Brussels by the way! Good luck, and if I can ever help you out with something, let me know.
@Mr. Thanks 🙂 I realy appreciate that!
Just did it and it was great… Until there came people who offered me their help. They thought I’d have some issues and wanted to know what is up and how they could help me. Now THAT was uncomfortable. I kind of just said “No, I’m alright, thanks” and then walked away but to be honest I felt really bad afterwards for this…