Nate Damm walked across America.
Literally.
This past spring, the 23-year-old Nate began walking in Delaware. Six months later, he reached the shores of San Fransisco, California.
I met Nate at the World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon last June (he took a detour by car to visit the conference, before returning to his last point to keep walking).
Nate sat at a table of some awesome guys and girls at the conference’s after-party. I joined them, sat down, shook some hands and exchanged names and stories. I think it was Joel Runyon who introduced me to Nate, who sat unassumingly at the corner of the table.
“Nate, as in, the Nate who is walking across America?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he replied with a smile. No big deal!
Nate is a great guy. I admire his drive and determination, his bravery and go-gett’em attitude, but more than that, his genuine humility. His appreciation for life. His living in the present moment, to share real experiences with new people, and, beyond all else, his simple wish to inspire:
I also want to (hopefully) inspire people to pursue big dreams of their own. The last thing anyone wants to do is get to the end of their life and wonder, “What if?”
Watch this absolutely moving video as his friends and family document Nate’s feet reaching the ebbing tides of the Pacific Ocean:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko1Pq9dxgDg[/youtube]
Hollywood, eat your heart out. Seriously.
I call Nate Damm a leader without followers not because it’s convenient for my own platform; not to sell you my book; not to continually reinforce an idea that means something to me with gentle hopes that I might convince you to feel the same way.
Here’s a young man driven by an idea that he believed in. He accomplished his personal goal. And countless hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands can now witness his accomplishment and quietly ask themselves… “what if?”
The answer to that question is almost meaningless; that you’re asking it at all… that’s what matters.
