The sphinx asking a riddle: "If you could do anything, what would you do?"
Can you answer the Sphinx's riddle? In the hero's journey, the Sphinx was one of the threshold guardians. If you weren't prepared, you weren't allowed to pass. In some legends, if you fail the question, you get eaten. This metaphor reminds us that we have to be willing to change. When Scott asked himself this question — If I could do anything?— that led to the "Aha!" moment that inspired his journey around the world on a bicycle and has become a guiding philosophy ever since.

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Intro to how to live an amazing life

Welcome. My name is . I didn’t always feel like my life had a purpose, but my adventure began with this question: If I could do anything, what would I do? It may seem like an innocent or obvious question, but to me, it was the most awesome (literally meaning: frightening and inspiring) question I had asked myself. This question drove me around the world on a bicycle, seeking the meaning of life and the secret of happiness. “If I could do anything…” is a question that never ceases to amaze me. It essentially asks: How can I live the best life possible? How can I be the hero of my own story?

When I returned home, people flooded me with questions. Chief among the questions was that people also craved meaning and happiness in their own lives, and they wondered if I found what I was looking for. I discovered that we are all driven by a divine spark of passion and purpose to create. That creation can be traveling, or the miracle of gardening, or raising a family, or even reading a book. To me, they are all adventures. In essence, our creations are an emotion, whether it be happiness or sadness, and life is a rollercoaster of our own creation.

In short, life is an adventure. Let’s go explore! Have fun! Be amazed by ourselves.

I still feel driven by this passion to explore both the inner and outer journey, what it means to be human, and how to pass along my hard-earned life lessons. So much so, it has become my combo vision-mission statement.

I explore how to live a more meaningful and joyful life. And I invite you to join the journey.

My goal is to help us create a great rollercoaster ride through life. As a result, I’ve spent decades developing and refining the following simple formula for turning dreams into reality. My formula works for everyone and anything, whether you are young or old, or whether you want to be an adventurer or a cupcake baker.

My formula for turning dreams into reality

  1. Get inspired. Dream big or little. (Believe it or not, some people are afraid to dream, and most don’t know how.)
  2. Plan your adventure. To me, everything is an adventure.
  3. Go explore! Live your dream, share your adventure, get support and inspire others.
  4. Grow! Reflect on your successes and “failures”.

Get a quick overview of the whole process in this beautiful infographic:
How to turn dreams into reality.

We are all on this journey through life together

A fundamental principle I’ve come to believe is that everything is an adventure. Furthermore, when I traveled the world, I learned that, though I was a solo traveler, everyone I met was partaking in my adventure, and I was part of theirs. I realized my words and actions inspired others. And I learned that I could never have accomplished my journey without all the kind words and helping hands in return. When I teamed up with other people, not only could I go further and faster, but the journey became more joyful, and life became richer as our perspectives combined to paint a more complete picture of the world.

So, I created this website so we can all help each other on our journey through life and pass along the boon of our adventures, like new ideas, lessons learned and stories of our common struggles.

Here’s how you can participate

My goal is to make this website entertaining, inspirational and educational. I also try to make this website as interactive as possible so we can all be part of the journey and learn by doing. In fact, this website and my newsletter are designed to work like my formula for turning dreams into reality. I give advice for each step: 1) Inspiration, 2) Planning, 3) Doing, 4) Growing! That’s not to say I’m the expert; I’m learning alongside you.

How my approach is different

This has gotten to be longer than I intended, but I feel I must share one more important point in this age of self-proclaimed experts and AI-generated gobbledygook.

As I mentioned, I’m learning alongside you. I prefer to learn through play, which makes me more of a guinea pig than an authority. I’m not standing up on a pedestal to tell people how to live their lives, rather I shine a light on the possible paths forward. For as long as I live, I hope never to have all the answers; instead, I hope to summit each peak of life and find many new adventures and misadventures lying ahead. I hope to find never-ending surprises because each surprise is a new opportunity to grow and change.

The stories and solutions I do share are based on real experiences and real emotional realities — sometimes painfully real. I hope that by sharing our misadventures, discoveries and armchair travels, we can grow together. And throughout the years, this has proven true. The stories people have shared about their courageous leap into a new life have been my greatest reward. And I know I wouldn’t be who I am without you all.

Thanks. And I hope you enjoy riding alongside me on this adventure we call life.

~ Scott

A bicycle on top of the world. Well, relatively speaking if you live in the Southern Hemisphere. This is Scott Stoll's variation of a Japanese hanko seal that artists use to stamp their art.

More introductory articles

These are some of the best articles I’ve written (and illustrated). I’ve boiled down years of thinking into some simple life-changing concepts. 

The sphinx asking a riddle: "If you could do anything, what would you do?"

My quick advice on how to live an amazing life

I believe life is an adventure and that we are here to explore and be amazed by ourselves. I distill decades of experience into this simple yet profound advice on how to turn dreams into reality with these simple steps: dream, plan, do, grow.
The Dreamaplay hats. Each representing a different aspect of how to dream, and how to turn dreams into reality, and how to enjoy living your dream. The colander with lightbulb for dream it! The treasure map folded into a paper hat for map it! And the jester's hat for play it.

How to turn dreams into reality (kid-friendly version)

A kid-friendly introduction to how to turn dreams into reality. We’ll walk you through the whole process in this beautiful infographic: dreaming (goal setting and optimistic thinking), mapping (planning and perseverance) and playing (enjoying the journey and mindfulness).
The Hero's Journey

What is an adventure?

Words like adventure, hero and epic have become cliches that have lost their meaning. So unfortunately we can't say: "I'm a hero going on an epic adventure," and be meaningful. So, what exactly is an adventure? And how do we make every day an adventure?
The Dreamaplay hats. Each representing a different aspect of how to dream, and how to turn dreams into reality, and how to enjoy living your dream. The colander with lightbulb for dream it! The treasure map folded into a paper hat for map it! And the jester's hat for play it.

The magical formula to turn dreams into reality

This is the original version of my formula for turning dreams into reality. As you can see, I've been refining it for many years. I give a brief explanation of the steps, and the evolution of my "magical" formula.