030: Having a Deam in a post-apocalyptic zombie world

Howdy folks,

I’ve been thinking about zombies today. Specifically how having a dream helps people survive zombie apocalypses.

If you’re a fan of zombie films or struggle with the idea of having a big dream. Then I think you’re going to love this and you’ll get some zombie-inspired inspiration for today.

Let’s jump into a post-apocalyptic zombie world, shall we?

I’m a big fan of having real practical and actionable steps in life.

I don’t know about you but I’m not into wishful thinking.

But I do believe having a big dream is super important if you want to get the most out of life.

In this post, we’ll talk about

• How dreams help you survive a zombie apocalypse.

• What Zombies can Teach you about life

• Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse

How dreams help you survive a zombie apocalypse

Do you love zombie films? I love them.

There’s something about that crazy question what would you do in that scenario?

At uni, me and my mates were really into The Walking Dead. What we would always end up happening is we would end up talking about.

These conversations were so silly and funny. Would we raid Costco for supplies and food? Would we have to get to the police station? Would we try to steal a school bus and reinforce it? Or would we just try to boat our way to a small island?

It's always fun to talk about zombie apocalypses.

But no matter if it's a movie, game or book. There's always 1 common theme that happens in pretty much happens.

People need to get from Point A to Point B

Wherever the zombie outbreak was happening say in London in the south of England well there would always be the hope, dream and belief that the North of Scotland would be free of zombies.

If it’s in Los Angeles on the West Coast of America then it would be safe on the East Coast.

West Europe to East Europe. South Asia to North.

You get the idea. In nearly every zombie movie, game or book there is always a place they need to get to.

But what the hell do zombies have to do about you having a dream?

What Zombies can Teach you about life?

Well here’s the thing. If you’ve never seen a zombie film I’ll tell you a spoiler.

What people often end up realising is that the zombies are everywhere — North, south, east and west.

But it doesn’t matter because it's what the situation with the zombies teaches you.

Just having a dream that a place will be better is the most important thing.

You see it in every zombie film. There are 2 types of people

1. The people who stay in the city

2. The people who go on a mission & journey.

Usually, it’s the people who stay in one place end up being worse off.

1. The People Who Stay Static

They think it’s better to stick in their house. They’ll be safer there. But what ends up happening is that they get overrun by zombies eventually.

Maybe it’s being stuck in fear. Or the gradual wearing down of your inner willpower.

But if every day you look outside your house you see zombies and it doesn’t change. You'll probably get disheartened. Your morale drops. Doubt creeps in.

And eventually you start losing that will to fight on.

2. The People Who Go Out on the Mission

Now this is in contrast to the people who have a dream. The ones that have hope for a better and brighter future.

They’re the ones that leave the city and start walking, driving or motorbiking with a crossbow on their back.

Just having a dream gives them hope, belief and strength.

It doesn’t make it easier – it's probably harder. They’ll encounter hoards of zombies. They’ll have to figure out how to get food, and supplies or just where is safe to sleep every night.

But what they see and feel that the people who stay in the city don’t get – is that feeling of progress. The feeling that they are actively making positive steps forward every day.

Every day they wake up. They journey forward. They will encourage each other to continue. To keep trying, to keep believing that life is worth living because whenever they get to the other side it will all be better.

What ends up happeningto is just by having this dream they find the strength to live, thrive and grow.

The skills they learn along the way, the inner strength, the bonds with the people they’re with. All of it works together to help them move forward.

And I hear you thinking — well what happens whenever they get to the other side?

What Happens When You Get Your Dream?

What happens when they’ve trekked all the way across America to get to the place where they always dreamed of?

Well, if it’s a cheesy zombie film it’s a happy ending and all their dreams come true.

If it’s a more gritty realistic movie then what ends up happening is when they get there they see and realise that where they got to is exactly the same as where they started all those weeks, months and years ago.

But it’s at this point where the biggest lesson is learned and it’s the one I’d love to share with you the most.

Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse

They learn that it doesn’t matter about that dream they had of getting to this location. It was the fact they were bold enough to have one in the first place. Then took the steps forward every day.

That’s all that mattered.

It’s what motivated them. It’s what kept the spirits up. It helped group morale. It brought hope, strength, and resilience.

More than that just having this dream and going on that journey grew them into new people.

The kind of people who can survive a zombie apocalypse. People who could work together to support each other. It grew leaders.

So even though the dream of getting to their destination didn’t come true.

It was still the dream of the destination that kept them alive.

But what happens when you’ve fulfilled your dream?

Well, if you've got a great leader. Someone who knows the value of having a dream and using it to motivate and inspire.

Once they’ve travelled all the way from the East Coast to the West Coast.

There’s that 1 person. Who knows what’s up. Who can look around and see all the people – down, disheartened and in despair.

It’s them who’ll go.

“Hey, I heard that up North the zombies don’t go because of the cold. We should go there. “

or

“Hey, I heard that down South the zombies don’t go because it's too hot. We should go there. “

Takeaway on dreams and zombies

So let’s end things here shall we?

I hope that you have a dream. That it is a dream that inspires & motivates you.

It doesn’t matter what it is. How big or small it is. What matters is that you have something.

Have something that makes life feel great & exciting to be on the journey of.

It will help you get through the tough days. It will lift you up. It will inspire others. It will draw people to you and that want to see you win and succeed.

Forget about the fear of a dream coming true or not.

Just like the zombie films it doesn’t matter.

All that matters is that you have something you can work towards and in that journey, you’ll gain more than you could ever dream of.

Feel free to have a think or share what your dream is.

My dream is to be able to wake up and love what I do every day. That work doesn’t feel like work and life is filled with fun, joy and play. That I help others and that I grow bigger than myself.

How about you?

But that's it for this week - here’s wishing you a badass week ahead.

Stay awesome

Matt

🫶

🔥 Interesting Finds

Here's my curated list of things I thought were really cool over the past week. It can be tools, ideas, or something I did or bought that I think you might find interesting.

1. Brand Strategy Ai Demo

Last week I had an idea of building an Ai tool around helping people with Brand Strategy. I wanted to use it for myself when coming up with ideas for Start Designing Life visuals – but then I had the idea of why not create something that more people could use. It's still very much a work in progress. But I gave a demo of how it works. If you're interested you can join the waitlist to be emailed once it's ready.

2. Sound Bath Meditation Experience

This weekend I went to a Sound Bath. Vaidile organised it and I thought it would be a fun thing to do. I've done this once before in Belfast years ago (it was a short 30min one after a yoga session).I'm not a big woo-woo person but I do love trying new experiences. The sound bath back home was just really relaxing. The experience I had at the weekend was pretty similar.Although I ended up sleeping after like 5 min and woke up at the very end. So I have no idea about the benefits other than that I had a really lovely nap there 😅

3. The Lab by metalabs community micro launch

I've been getting more people starting to reach out to me on socials which I love. Whenever I tell people about my thing "help people sell online so that they can design lives they love living" if they are interested in the Life Design part it's nice to be able to point them towards Start Designing Life.But I didn't really have anything ready yet to help with the selling online yet apart from working with me with metalabs (which only really helps businesses).So in order to get the ball rolling with helping more solopreneurs/freelancers/side income workers I set up another Discord community that is going to be all about growing and selling online – I'm calling it The Lab.If you're looking to grow a personal brand and start selling online come join in there. It's free and I'll be in there sharing ideas, thoughts and helping people where I can. Right now the focus is growing on social media and helping each other do that by accountability & support.

4. Rediscovering Through the Wormhole

One of my favourite ways to unwind is by watching an educational documentary series. I've realised recently that my mind is pretty active and I work until pretty much near bed time. Trying to unwind takes a while since my brain is still active. One way that seems to help unwind is by giving my brain something non-work related to unwind too.

Some people might not get too relaxed from watching documentaries on the universe but for me it is the perfect thing to help unwind in the even. I love the Through the Wormwhole series. It even has Morgan Freeman presenting and narrating which just adds to to the experience.

📚 The Book Club

Here's what I've been reading or listening to lately alongside some little nuggets I've picked up through the week.

📖 Mastery: Robert Greene

• Do you know that feeling when you find a book that just really hits the spot? Well, that's this book for me. I've listened to this for hours over the weekend and was loving every minute.

• I'm not one for remembering quotes easily but what I'm getting from this book is along the line of your life's work or calling. Sounds cheesy why I say it - but it's not like this in the book. It's been absolute gold for me and where I'm at right now. If you're feeling a calling for a piece of work or a new career path it might just give the boost, hope and inspiration.

💬

You must understand the following: In order to master a field, you must love the subject and feel a profound connection to it. Your interest must transcend the field itself and border on the religious.

📖 Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock

• Every night I listen to like 30min of this book then I fall asleep and remember like 10 min of it. But I love the stories of ancient Egypt - it's like an adult bedtime story but it's based on real events - so cool.

💬

Pulling together the myths, legends and stories handed down from generation to generation, all around the world, Graham Hancock presents his own, unique interpretation of history in this fascinating audiobook.

🎵 Music I'm Loving

This week I created a new playlist that is more of a chilled laid back vibe. Imagine sipping on a cocktail/mocktail or sipping a coconut while at a cool sunset bear bar in Bali. Sidenote: Loving this idea of naming these playlists after places I've visiting in the world. What do you think?

🧊 Vibe | Bali Beach Bar at Sunset

Andddddd that is it for this week's newsletter folks

Here's me wishing you a great week ahead as always

Let's chat soon

Matt

🫶

Stay awesome ❤️P.s

What's your favourite zombie film? Mines 28 days later for scary and Zombieland for comedy