Seeking Authenticity
Seeking Authenticity dives into what it means to live an authentic life guided by action and driven to adventure.
Have you ever stopped to ask yourself:
Why am I doing this?
- When you find yourself frustrated from endless social media scrolling …
- When you feel as though your actions don't reflect the person you want to be …
- When you're disheartened by your current path in life and can't help but think it's not right …
Sometimes all you need is a change in perspective.
Initially written as a declaration intended for an audience of one, following in the footsteps of former Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius who journaled the meditations that would encapsulate Stoic philosophy, Seeking Authenticity dives into what it means to live an authentic life guided by action and driven to adventure.
Flint Mitchell interlaces philosophical principles with personal accounts from his year-long surfing and hiking adventure from Canada to Australia. Through sometimes poetic, sometimes sarcastic, yet always honest expression, Flint helps you reorient your current life toward your ideal one through your most powerful perspective: the lens of your values.
If you like your truth sandwich with a side of humor, if you enjoy the musings of Viktor Frankl, Ralph Waldo Emerson, or David Goggins, or if you are distressed about the amount of time you spend doing inconsequential bullshit, then this book will help you steer away from anything you deem trivial, focus on your ambitions, and set yourself on a path toward meaning.
Seeking Authenticity
Essays and stories on values and travels.
These essays are magnets, which pull me back to my priorities, and now they are yours. Where you let them take you is up to you.
Excerpts
I'm 24, unemployed, and all I own is a van and a half dozen surfboards. And at that moment, I realized that was exactly what I wanted. The past couple of years were way too comfortable. I was getting squishy and complacent. I needed this discomfort in my life.
from “Freedom Found”
Hesitation causes the greatest failures of all, those “what if … ” moments. It leaves space on the table for something more. You may always wonder what could have happened, how you might have filled that space. But, if you put it all out there, if you leap instead of stalling, there will be no need for “what if … ”
from “Health”
This life is your choice. This life is your choice. This life is your choice. Until I mixed up the words. This choice is your life. It's not that your entire life is your choice, plenty will be out of your control, and it will not go exactly as planned. Rather, every individual choice makes up your existence.
from “Time”
It is seeing that the surf is too big for you to handle and knowing, “Sure, I won't surf these waves today. But in a year or two or three, I'm going to be screaming down the face of that wall of water so quickly, so confidently, smiling so widely, that the time spent waiting and training will have been worth it.”
from “Time”
On the inside were some kind words from Warren himself, which ended with, “Flint … I wish you success in finding your sense of adventure.” How easily I had forgotten. My dream wasn't only for things to go well; my dream was to live a life of adventure.
from “Freedom Found”
Its voice is muffled slightly by the spray of the feathering top of the wave, which has also momentarily blinded you. But still you hear the wave speak clear as day: “Alright … then get fuckin' ready.”
from “Health”
Ten values, nine stories.
These essays are magnets, which pull me back to my priorities, and now they are yours. Where you let them take you is up to you.
- Time
- Freedom Found
- Simplicity
- Where the Wind Takes You
- Health
- Under A Dark Redwood Canopy
- Connection
- Surfing Above the Stars
- Integrity
- My Journey in Pictures
- Alone at the Summit
- Gratefulness
- According To Plan
- Resilience
- Pray for Lightning
- Responsibility
- You Gotta Get Stung to Find Out
- Purpose
- The Water is Colder Than I Remember
- Authenticity
I don't say this lightly… this book positively changed my life.
Seeking Authenticity is an insightful tale from a raw, bright, adventure-seeking man whose philosophy on life is well beyond his years… This memoir reminds you to hold yourself to the highest value, root yourself deep in the present moment, explore everything that keeps your curiosity alive, and, most importantly, to get back up on that board, especially when you're most afraid.
This read is both deep and delightful. Flint's voice, with its vulnerability and earnestness seasoned with dry humor, draws you in. Then, his insightful exploration of complex themes keeps you reading.
In Flint's words, full of observation, reflection, and open-eyed curiosity, I reconnected with my sense of wonder in this beautiful experience called “life.”
Flint's genuine writing style allows the reader to believe they've known him their entire life.
Flint's reflections on how to approach our everyday, and life, led me to pull out all my old dreams and dust them off with a new excitement and confidence.
Holy f**k, this kid can write!
If you like these… (Because I like them too!)
Books
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
- Man's Search for Meaning
- Desert Solitaire
- Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
- The Odyssey
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
- The Power of Habit
Topics
- Personal Development
- Surfing
- Poetry
- Transcendentalism
- Hiking
- Travel
- The hard problem of consciousness
Authors / people
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Steve Irwin
- Jane Goodall
- David Goggins
- Gabby Reece
- Warren Miller
- John Muir
Etc.
- Sunrises (big fan)
- Mike Posner's music
- Rüfüs Du Sol's "Live from Joshua Tree"
- Veritasium (Youtube channel)
- Authenticity (what does that even mean…?)
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Reclaim your freedom and self-trust by gaining control of procrastination, overthinking, and distraction.