Jameson Detweiler

A few weeks ago, Brad Ludden, a fellow Summit Series guy, emailed me about First Descents. I had learned a little bit about First Descents at the Summit Series, and became even more intrigued after talking about it with some other Summiters.

First Descents connects young adults with cancer to each other through whitewater kayaking and other challenging adventure sports.

How awesome is that?

I’m a big believer in the transformative power of physical activity. Since making a personal commitment to regular physical activity 18 months ago, I’ve discovered that physical activity and the outdoors are the best drugs ever created. I firmly believe in their healing power, both mentally and physically.

Brad was also responsible for setting up the amazing white water kayaking trip I took at the Summit Series. How could I not help out?

It just so happens that around this same time my good friend Blake Jennelle was launching his new startup, MyDunkTank. “MyDunkTank helps you raise money by asking your supporters to create dares for you and vote with their donations.”

Long story short, I’m getting dunked for First Descents, and you have a chance to dare me to “do one extreme physical challenge” while supporting an amazing organization.

Right now, “Jameson should run the Rocky steps wearing only sneakers, a diaper and boxing gloves for a full hour on a Saturday afternoon” is in the lead, and I hope it stays that way. Some of the other dares might just be the end of the little dignity I still have.

Dunk me at http://mydunktank.com/jameson.

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Wow, I’m still recovering from the most insane and amazing four days of my life. (I’m still wiped out. I almost dropped 110 pounds on my head at the gym last night.)

I spent last Thursday through Sunday in Washington, D.C. at the Summit Series DC10. The website describes it as “an an invitation-only event that connects top young minds and inspires a new generation of leaders to succeed in business and in life.” To be honest, I was a little bit skeptical. The concept sounded a bit too out there, but thankfully, my friends and Jeff Rosenthal from the Summit Series managed to convince me it was worth my time. They were right.

Amazing things happen when you put 750 ridiculous overachievers from the fields of entertainment, technology, politics, business, and philanthropy. No one sleeps. No one wants to because everyone is constantly meeting new and fascinating people and engaging them in deep, long conversations. I think I slept 12 hours the entire four days.

This is what happens:

• You stay out until 3 in the morning, then wake up at 8 the next morning, get on a bus and go white water kayaking with a four-time world champion kayaker on the Potomac, one  of the most beautiful rivers I have ever seen. (Thanks Eric for the amazing experience. You’ve inspired me to get back on the water after my shoulder stop peeling.)
  • By the way, everyone was so Type A that not a single person in the group hesitated to go over a 10 foot waterfall within the first hour of being in the kayak.
• You witness an intimate interview with Ted Turner where he confirms something you’ve always suspected—the restaurant business is the worst business in the world.
• You meet and listen to people like Tim Ferris and the entire Summit Series team who have done more than just escape the 9-5 grind and have created truly surreal lifestyles.
• You meet people with amazing missions in life, like 21-year old Tyler “Dogood” Kellog who spent last summer traveling and living out of his car in order to hand out random acts of kindness to people.
• You find people like the founders of Method who like you believe that creating a sustainable world will only happen if we provide people with sustainable choices that are better than everything else regardless of how green they are.
• You participate in a spontaneous 700 person, 30 second dance party. (Thanks Taryn!)
• You connect with people who you know you’ll be friends with for the rest of your life.

I also made plenty of business connections, but that wasn’t really the point. No matter what path these people have chosen, every single one of them is causing change in the world. By surrounding yourself with these people, you cannot help but be inspired.

DC10 has made me think about my life. Lately, I’ve realized that I am being dragged down by far too much. I love the company I’m currently building, and I love the people I work with. More importantly, I love that we’re on a mission to make green building easier and to get rid of products that harm our health.

The experience of building the business is rewarding every single day, but other things in life have been weighing on me. Even before DC10, I knew that a lot of this stress was related to the life I have been living, too tied to physical things and being dragged down by negative experiences and negative people.

There was line that I picked up that stuck with me, “Money isn’t the only currency.” I’ve taken this to heart and have decided to look at life a bit differently, to define success as the experiences I have, the people I surround myself with and the change I help create. Money is great, and it can help with all of these things but no one should be pursuing money for the sake of money. That will just lead to misery.

The result of this is that I’m going to be focusing on a personal project I’ve been contemplating for a while now. I’ll be engineering my life to allow me to focus on the things and people I love and forget about the things I don’t. Ultimately, this should give me more time to focus on my business, relationships and have more unforgettable experiences. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Until next time, when we all refuse to go to bed after the closing party and talk until the sun goes up.

And no, that’s not me in the picture, but it is the Potomac.

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