My Freak-Out Moment of Skin Cancer, Superheroes, Seminar, Sales Book & Skipping Town
August 28th, 2010
(The picture is of a notebook that Honour Leigh, in the Superhero Program created. Ain’t it cool?)
This past Wednesday morning I freaked out for a bit 🙂
Hey, it is relatively rare these days (especially since I began meditation regularly), but it happens once in awhile. I am human…
And when I say I freak-out moment, know what I mean?
It was one of the times where, for whatever reason, there’s an overwhelmed feeling and “holy s___” how will it all get done?
Some big things in the past week all coincided to hit me at once on Wednesday morning (this is pretty much the order they went through in my mind…):
1) SUPERHEROES: Up, Up & Away! We completed the launch of the sold-out Unique Genius Superhero Program, and delivered the bulk of the first module of content, “Define Your Dream Business”.
- Some stats: ~7700 video views, 75 Superheroes in the program, a ~$25k launch (not bad for my first official ‘launch’), and more than $2000 is being donated to Village Enterprise Fund.
2) SKIN CANCER: I found out last Monday, via doctor call, that I have some skin cancer on the side of my nose which must be removed. It’s not dangerous, but still requires a “MOHS”surgery . I’ll know this coming Friday (9/3), when they do it, how much tissue they need to remove.
3) NEXT SEMINAR “Unique Genius Your Call To Adventure”: I also realized on Wednesday that it is only six weeks until the Unique Genius “Your Call To Adventure” Live 3-Day Event. It’ll be awesome, but I do have a bunch of work to do to prepare the materials and get the word out so that you can decide & make travel plans…You have often been a hero to others…do you secretly wish for a hero to come to your rescue? Are you ready to be the hero of your own story?
- SAVE THE DATE… October 15-17th, in the mountains outside of Los Angeles at www.PaliRetreat.com…more details coming in about a week.
- It is going to be fun, walking you through the (Super)Hero’s Journey and have you leave the event having created – while you’re there – something tangible around making money through your purpose and passions.
- Details: YourCallToAdventure.com
4) SALES BOOK: With the Unique Genius launch done, I turned my attention back to completing the draft of my sales book, “Predictable Revenue“. I’m behind on what I’d intended for a release date both because of the launch & need to replace my first editor.
5) SKIPPING TOWN: Of the coming six weeks, I’ll be offline for almost half the time. I wouldn’t want to make things easy on myself now, right? I’m heading out today (Sunday) for “Enlightened Warrior Camp” – not exactly sure what we’re doing there, but several friends said it was one of the best adventures of their lives.
And yep I did this all to myself, this ‘traffic jam’.
But the freak-out didn’t last too long…
What I Did About It (In Order)
1) Meditation: I have access now to “peaceful mind on demand” through meditation. Actually, since the Brian Johnson/PhilosophersNotes interview, I’ve meditated every single day – even if it was at 3am after working on the Unique Genius launch videos.
- How I started meditating: “A lifetime happiness and focus enhancer: Vipassana meditation”.
- I will also have a whole “Meditation 101” chapter in the Superheroes Program.
2) Made lists: Wrote down everything I felt I needed to do, mostly to get it out of my brain so it stopped bouncing around in there. Sometimes just writing stuff out snuffs the brain spazm.
3) I reminded myself that everything always works out. I never learned this lesson in the corporate world, but for some reason, I really ‘got it’ after starting PebbleStorm…because I began consciously creating my happiness. I can beat myself up and be hard on myself – know what I mean? It’s easy to worry about how much money a project will make, or “will people show up” or value it. But now, whenever I have an event, launch or create something, I’ve seen how it all comes together no matter what. I KNOW that it will work out one way or the other.
- Everything is a learning opportunity, and there’s no way to ‘fail’ except by a) Not trying, b) Not learning from something, or c) Giving up.
- When I found out I had skin cancer (again, not serious as far as we know) this attitude also helped. I haven’t been worried about it, since I know it’ll work out fine…whatever happens.
4) Asked for help: Sometimes I forget how much support I have around me. My inspiring girlfriend Jessica Henning (who is starting a company called Bond Girl Bootcamp in LA…more to come in Sept!), my rockstar web woman Lisa Tarrant, and writer/crazy creative Sandie Samuells are three that came to my rescue. Thank you all!
- You have more support around you then you realize…but you have to ask for it.
- PS – anyone looking to intern on some awesome Unique Genius / business projects? Email me!
.
The Unique Genius “Your Call To Adventure” Live 3-Day Event
It’s October 15-17th in the mountains outside Los Angeles (YourCallToAdventure.com). When I went to check out the site I had fun doing some impromptu video…
When was the last time you did archery? This is going to be a blast:
See all the details on the YourCallToAdventure.com Page
Related Posts
- I’m Feeling Confused & Overwhelmed (video)
- Using Rocks & Baby Steps To Dodge The Fear
- Lessons Learned From Feeling Funky
Update
The cancer was worse than I expected (instead of a ‘nip’, I walked out of the center on September 3 with 30 stitches in my face), but they got it all and I’ll heal up all nice and pretty again 🙂 Just with a cool pirate-y scar, heh.
My girlfriend has been incredibly supportive in helping me recover and in dealing with the shock of such a fast switch from ‘small not threatening’ to ‘worse than we thought now we need to do some plastic surgery’…it took a day for “my soul to catch up with my body”, for the impact to actually register.
What Do Ya Want?
I haven’t done a longer “Aaron Update” post for awhile, but I always love sharing. If you want them more often, or about specific topics, let me know in the comments below.
15 Responses to “My Freak-Out Moment of Skin Cancer, Superheroes, Seminar, Sales Book & Skipping Town”
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August 29th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Sounds very exciting once you get past the giant list of tasks. Just writing down the list lets worry flow out through your fingertips.
Good luck with the surgery!
August 29th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Aaron,
Yeah “things will always work out” – it’s definitely true. I tell myself that all the time when I freak out. I’ve never tried meditating yet because I feel like I will screw it up – but maybe I’ll try it. Journal writing always works for me with overwhelm feelings. Starting with what I’m grateful for and then moving on to writing about my situation and how I’m feeling.
Good luck on the surgery and it sounds like they caught everything semi-early, which is really good.
-Yanik
-Yanik
aaronross383 Reply:
September 4th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
@Yanik Silver,
Thanks brother. The cancer was a lot worse than I expected (walked out with 30 stitches in my face), but they got it all and I’ll heal up all nice and pretty again 🙂 Just with a cool pirate-y scar, heh.
And you can’t mess up meditation except by not trying it…took me three years to get to an EVERY DAY practice, and it really is fundamental to my mindset, focus & peace of mind.
Aaron
August 29th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Aaron –
Awesome attitude to have with your life…’everything will work out.’ Another good one I really like to use is ‘this too shall pass.’ It reminds us of the impermanence of everything whether it’s good, bad, stressful, blissful, painful, etc, etc. It allows us to open up a bit more and just be with what is w/o getting too wrapped up in the stories we create.
Also, I want to congratulate you on the launch. It so completely shows that you put everything you had into it, which is something you should surely be proud of.
Have an awesome time on the retreat. I checked out the link you put to it and it looks like it’s going to be a blast. Can’t wait to hear about it.
Hey Yanik – definitely don’t worry about screwing up meditation. That’s basically on oxymoron since there’s really no possible way that your meditating can be ‘incorrect.’ Now, there are some basic techniques that need to be learned to get started, but after that it’s all about moment to moment attention of what’s going on in the present moment, right now. Nothing more, nothing less.
Peace,
Nate
August 29th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Good luck with the surgery Aaron, always a bit of a worry when they want to cut bits off….
Good thing you have the tools to deal with it all!
August 29th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Thanks for the behind the scenes look at how it’s all going for you and what you do when you freak. Gonna miss you at BM this year!
Love,
Alexis
August 30th, 2010 at 6:07 am
Aaron,
thank you so much for sharing.
I absolutely second what you are saying. Every since I started meditating I have not missed one day and the benefits in my personal and professional life have been amazing.
All the best for your surgery!
I am on my way back from NYC to Switzerland. Silke
August 30th, 2010 at 7:09 am
Aaron – this is a great post – I love the honesty and then the problem solving! I sometimes feel a bit annoyed by “authoritative” bloggers who never seem to have a bad day or a difficult decision.
I’m much more interested in how real people solve their problems. It gives me inspiration when I’m stuck myself!
@Yanik – I sometimes think the hardest thing about meditation is getting over the idea that it is something we can screw up. It is the most forgiving of disciplines – no one to prove anything to – just getting to know our own mind with gentleness.
August 30th, 2010 at 9:27 am
Hey Aaron,
Great entry! Thanks for sharing how you deal with those “crazed moments”. I find making a list and getting all the things floating around in my head helps me too. The physical written list is never as nerve wracking as it feels when the ideas are bouncing around in your head.
Also, I’m sorry to hear about your skin cancer but want to assure you that you will be fine. My parents had both had a number of MOHS surgeries with no further issue. It is just another opportunity to be mindful of your health in general.
Keep up the great work!
Mike
August 30th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Aaron
I can relate to it all!
In June this year I had Moh’s surgery on my lip for some skin cancer. The bottom lip gets blasted by the sun just like your nose. Apparently it is quite common amongst outdoor adventurous types. They did 3 cuts on me and I looked like a freak show afterwards. I thought I had lost my handsomness (and half my lip). Are you freaked out yet? Then in about two weeks the swelling goes down, the wound heals and now, 2 months later you would never know I had surgery.
Everything will work out for you and you may not even have a battle scar to show for it.
Best of luck
David P
aaronross383 Reply:
September 4th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
@David Parks,
Thanks buddy! On your lip must have been scarey…
Mine cancer was a lot worse than I expected (walked out with 30 stitches in my face), but they got it all and I’ll heal up all nice and pretty again 🙂 Just with a cool pirate-y scar, heh.
We’ll have to trade pix on facebook. Hope you’re well my brother!
Aaron
August 30th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Great attitude Aaron. My daughter had this same surgery on he nose. I was allowed to be with her during the proceedure. The Doctor examined every tissue sample and didn’t quit until there were no further signs of affected cells. She healed beautifully. Just ask God for perfect healing. Be praying for you. Gene
August 31st, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Aaron,
Thanks for sharing. Good luck with your surgery. Wish the best!!
Roberto
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:14 am
Sounds like you have an Upper Limit Problem Aaron.
http://marieforleo.com/2010/08/upper-limit-problem/
There seems to be a fair bit of it going around, and It’s definitely a good sign of great things ahead.
Good luck with the surgery and look forward to hearing about the success of the upcoming UG events.
June 1st, 2011 at 9:04 am
Hey, it is relatively rare these days (especially since I began meditation regularly), but it happens once in awhile. I am human