Would You Please Challenge me?
I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. I knew that I
had to go there. It was a weird sensation. Was it only a
dream? My memory seemed to have faded away.
Strange. Somehow I felt totally awake. There was only
the certainty that I would do it. I could not remember my
dream clearly anymore but my thoughts slowly started
making sense. Why to this corner of the world? I had no
real connection, rather a troubled relationship with
Brazil at the time. But that dream changed something in
my life. Three weeks later I arrived in Brazil. My trip
and business idea was funded - provided I completed
several ‘missions’ or tasks over the two months that
followed. That was the moment when everything kicked
off.
Hi! I am Philippe. Please come with me on a short journey.
A journey full of fear and miracles, doubts and wonders,
struggles and transformation. A journey of letting go. This is
a story of another reality, one of many realities, and what it
means to sustain a life outside the norm. It all started with a
very real dream that day.
life design
Some years before that day, I had left the corporate world
in order to find my true calling. Years of doubts, hiding and
finally letting go of what I had been trained to do. Even
though my financial situation was asking for a pragmatic
solution. Get a good job and pay back your loans. But I
couldn’t. There was no way back. One step at a time.
So on that morning four years ago, I woke up knowing that
I would immediately stop what I had been doing. But how
should I explain that to my family and my business partners
who I had decided to establish this start-up with? And not
a regular start-up. The start-up that was going to change
the whole world. But of course. We had a brilliant business
idea. We wanted to help transform already established
ventures into more successful organizations following the
principles of effortlessness and collaboration. Yes, enjoying
the flow of Zen in business.
At about the same time I became aware of the power of
‘play’ or learning through playing games. In the past I had
been coaching executives and started to work with national
athletes. Those who were producing outstanding results
with seeming effortlessness were able to activate resources
that others were not even aware of. How? Those athletes
and decision makers experienced themselves in a real life
game. This realization was mind-blowing. And it provided
the basis for my future venture.
Not even a month after my dream I landed in Rio de
Janeiro announcing my 'chllng.me' game
www.fl9wrider.blogspot.pt/p/fl9wrider-game_17.html
Blog about the time of my dream: www.traudi.org
20 | Dey Dos Magazine
The Chllng.me Game
The game was to serve as a ‘pilot’ for my intended venture
centered around the power of ‘playing.’ It had simple rules.
People would give me tasks or challenges that I had to
overcome in an unknown environment with the help and
the magic of my networks. Social networks, business
networks, friends of friends, strangers on the street.
In fact I had never created a game before and it was not
easy to explain to people why they should give me
challenges in a country that I barely knew. I certainly coped
with some difficulties. But finally, more and more friends
had fun giving me challenges. I should help 3 start-ups in
Brazil. Support 10 homeless people and help them to earn
money. Dance with former president Lula in front of the
Christ statue. Learn capoeira and organize an event for at
least 50 people. Learn Portuguese with the help of a
language learning platform. Start a social initiative. All within
two months.
When I arrived I didn't know anybody. I arrived filled with
energy, enthusiasm and the sensation that the universe
was providing me with magic. A business angel showed up
and financed most of the journey by paying for the first two
challenges. Indeed, I had reached one goal of the game
before it even started. To realize my dream without
spending any money. I was on fire. I wanted to prove to
everybody that my thinking was true: that if we really ‘play’
our life we can achieve the impossible, even in places in
which we don't know anybody. That if we leave our
comfort zone, we will enjoy a special kind of freedom and
magic.
My approach worked - without me being aware of it. I may
have failed most of the challenges within the short period of
time. I was so caught up in winning and accomplishing the
challenges. What I did not know at that time is that I would
win the game.
What happens if we are not aware of our own reality. We
live in trance. We live in a collective illusion. Disconnected
from our personal desires and passions. Accepting
convictions and rules without questioning their meaning ‘because it has always been like this.’
Nowadays this trance is often interrupted by more and
more people asking questions like: “What do I really want
to do? How can I combine my passion with my purpose?
Do I really want to work to make a living or live for my
work? What belongs to me and what doesn’t and what
should I do to be more myself?”
What lots of people sensed was a revolution of
consciousness. Many paradigms are shifting. Many
questions are raised. Those questions made us start an
initiative that had come out of my original challenge.
I was determined to find more people asking those
questions. Change makers that co-create new realities.
Together in a new form of collaboration. It is a new form of
working. Realities became magical and mystical.