The picture included here is a shot of the inaugural, limited edition “Ready For You” Renegade Tee. It’s on sale now for just $21 with crazy discount codes available on the site and ridiculously low shipping :)

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Have you ever awoken with the feeling of… escape?

It’s a tenseness, like an anxiety, a pulling from within… part of your consciousness longing for pure, uninhibited, exhilarating Freedom… manifesting a surge of potent energy throughout your mind, shaking your body’s hollow emptiness after a long night’s fast.

The tremors bleed down your thighs, weakening your stance. Upward, your breaths are short and desperate.

Quickly you seek out daylight and huddle before the window pane, cracking it slightly, breathing deep as the biting winter air washes across your face, eyes closed tight, as if to cleanse it. It’s as if you’ve been struck — like lightning through a tuning fork whose hum deafens the world around it.

That feeling of escape is your POWER FROM WITHIN.

It’s longing to be seen… to be felt by others… to be heard by the world. It’s there, within you — it always has been. Now, you’re ready to let it out. Proudly tell the world, “I’m Ready for You to Hear Me Now.”

DESIGN DETAILS

10% of Proceeds Donated to Charity

I woke up one day with the phrase “I’m Ready for You to Hear Me Now” in my head. I liked it. And it stuck.

It beckons taking the initiative; assuming personal responsibility for your beliefs, words and actions; being a leader in your everyday life; and maintaining a defiantly determined renegade mindset.

It’s incredibly empowering and motivational.

Recognize that cool silver cross-like symbol in the background? Yup, that’s the same “quiet leader tree” as is permanently tattooed on my back right shoulder blade. :)

The “quiet leader tree” is asymmetrical but balanced – because, although nothing and no one is perfect, we are complete and whole within ourselves. The “quiet leader tree” represents selfless giving, perpetual dedication to being positive and optimistic, and charity. It represents my work, my writing and how I strive to live my life.

Speaking of charity, 10% of all proceeds from the sale of this Renegade Tee will be donated directly to my “Run To Home Base” 9K Charity Road Race for wounded military veterans. I need to raise $1000 on my own and complete this race in honor of our wounded warriors, and I hope you’ll help me reach that goal! Your purchase also helps support my journey as a writer. :)

PRODUCT DETAILS

These shirts are incredibly high quality and 100% certified organic cotton for your comfort and environmentally-conscious peace of mind :) Printed in my home state of Rhode Island, these shirts are made to last :)

• Port and Company ® Organic
• 100% Certified Organic Cotton / Pre-Shrunk / 5 Ounces
• Available in Small, Medium and Large (See Sizing Chart)

I hope you’ll consider purchasing this limited edition Renegade Tee! Leave me some feedback on what you think of this design and the concepts behind it. I know it’s somewhat overbearingly masculine (and badass) but hey, what’s wrong with lookin’ badass? :)

Also, let me know what you’d like to see on future designs! Remember, this tee is the first product and I’m working hard to finish writing (as we speak) my first ever Renegade Guides, manifestos, and courses!

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My dreams are many, but the one that tops my list is becoming a multi-published, best-selling career author who will take to the road and speak to audiences across the world on the subjects I love to explore and write about.

…Go big or go home. :)

When I started pursuing this endeavor in 2009 in a major leap of faith, I figured that the best way to pursue that dream was to go full force at it. I figured that I would just start trying to become an author. So, I wrote my nonfiction book proposal, built a list of agents to send it to, sent out my queries and proposals and… got rejected by almost all of them.

Listen, pursuing dreams is supposed to be tough.

Remember what Randy Pausch said in The Last Lecture: brick walls exist for us to prove to ourselves and others just how badly we want our dreams to become realities. Adhering to my own advice that life and our pursuits are far more about the journey than the results, I’ve come to genuinely enjoy the hard work of the process (after loathing it for quite a while).

Even still, that seemingly distant end-goal — becoming a hardcover rock-star of epic authordom — remains in the forefront of my mind. How could I continue to pursue that goal without repeating the same unproductive process as I had tried earlier (and without slamming my head into my dreams’ brick wall) along the way?

More importantly, how can YOU pursue your biggest and loftiest dreams without falling by the wayside?

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Enter: The Art of Dream-Hitching

Dream-Hitching is the practice of attaching your hugely ambitious, seemingly “far-off” dreams to an endeavor that you can begin and run with right here, right now.

• Dream-Hitching means using other, quicker, cheaper, and more immediately productive means to build forward momentum.
• The goal is to latch your “big picture” dream to something that’ll help you eventually get there.
• Along the way, Dream-Hitching starts the snowball effect that helps to carry you forward.

Many blogs (probably your own, like mine!) serve this very purpose. You began a small and inexpensive personal website to generate a following and spheres of social influence to (if only have the chance) to leverage something bigger down the line. Dream-Hitching doesn’t make the distant dream of yours immediately achieved, but provides you with the means to begin working on it right now and working toward it right now.

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The Grand Opening of RenegadeGuides.com

DaveUrsillo.com is one act of Dream-Hitching. And now, I’m thrilled to announce a further development in the grand scheme of my dreams of becoming a super-badass career author (and part-time undercover superhero, but let’s just focus on one step at a time): RenegadeGuides.com.

RenegadeGuides.com is my new online store that — as the name implies — will provide you with awesome guides (manifestos, programs, courses and more) on how to be a better renegade in your everyday life. The topics of those guides will largely be dictated by what you, my tribe, want to learn the most.

I envision RenegadeGuides.com as providing some incredibly special books to inspire better living and especially to help you become a catalyst of happiness, positivity and love for others. RenegadeGuides.com will also feature original apparel with motivating slogans and awesome designs to brandish your renegade attitude in style.

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The Business Plan of Action

RenegadeGuides.com is a completely ground-up operation. I’ve included a business Plan of Action below for you. We’re going to start small together, because starting small right now is better than starting later, or never — Dream-Hitching, remember?

I’m starting by selling one t-shirt design: the “Ready For You” Renegade Tee, available now. The inaugural design is a motivating ode to grabbing life by the horns, taking personal responsibility for our lives and defiantly telling the world, “Here I am, and here’s what I’ve got to say.”

As those sell, I will be working hard to write the first batch of Renegade Guides and developing new apparel designs. Then, I’ll release those. Then, I’ll use those funds to develop more. And so on, and so on :)

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I’m asking for your help with RenegadeGuides.com — and that doesn’t mean just asking for your money.

Firstly, I’m going to be offering special discounts and coupon codes — right on Renegade Guides’ own Coupon page — to help you save your hard earned money. Secondly, I’ll be donating a percentage of every purchase to charity (to start, I’m thinking of the Run To Home Base 9K Road Race). Last year, I donated hundreds and hundreds of dollars to nearly two dozen charities, nonprofit org’s and fundraisers. I want to double the number of charities I donate to in 2011.

Your dollars not only support me, but will go to some incredibly noble causes across the globe.

I’m asking for your help by promoting products you enjoy to those in your social circles who might be interested in them, and especially for your helpful input on the future development of apparel designs and, particularly, the actual Renegade Guides.

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RenegadeGuides.com is an act of Dream-Hitching

It’s a small step, but an immediate momentum-building action that will help me move forward towards that big dream. Now, my questions for you:

• Is your blog an act of Dream-Hitching? How?
• Do you Dream-Hitch in other ways?
• If not, how can Dream-Hitching help you move toward your huge goals?

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** To commemorate the start of my friend Steven Aitchison’s new, 100% free 28-day Mind Alchemy course at his blog (StevenAitchison.co.uk), you can use Discount Code “CYT28″ for a 28% discount at RenegadeGuides.com. You need to check out this awesome program Steve is offering — and, completely for free — and think about joining me and 600+ other participants in this life-changing exercise :)

Flickr photo credit: JoonYoung.Kim

The Renegade Spotlight on DaveUrsillo.com is a new feature that showcases the biographies and real-life stories of everyday “Renegades” — men and women who, while brandishing a defiantly positive and determined mindset, are pursuing their dreams in spite of criticism, cynicism, and being misunderstood by those around them.

Today, I’d like you to meet my friend Kat, an incredibly talented yoga instructor and genuinely awesome person. Once you read her story about taking a big “leap of faith” to pursue her dreams, you just might feel compelled to do the same. Together on DaveUrsillo.com, we are building an inspired community of genuine dream-pursuers — the Ranks of the Renegades — who are striving to change the world. We are the Renegades. Are you among our ranks?

1.) Introduce yourself!

My name is Kat Fowler, and I am a Vinyasa flow yoga teacher living and teaching on Long Island, NY. After I took my very first vinaysa class, I knew this is what I wanted to do for a living. I was hooked. My previous dance background and new-found love of this beautiful practice led me to New York City, where I completed the Yoga To The People teacher training. I am now a 200-hour Certified Yoga Teacher instructing classes all over Long Island, full-time!

I was drawn to the study and teaching of yoga for it’s ability to help us move deep within, beyond the illusions and into the Heart Center so that we may discover who we really are. While guiding my students through their practice, I strive to push their physical limits so that lessons learned on the mat can translate into personal growth, confidence and fearlessness off the mat. I feel very blessed and honored for all the opportunities I have been given in my career and all the amazing teachers and students I have met. I’m trying to positively change the world… one sweaty yoga class at a time! :)

2.) What dreams are you pursuing?

Something I’ve learned about yoga is that there is so much to learn!! My short term goal is to do an another teacher training sometime soon. My next goal is moving to the lower east side of Manhattan to teach full time in the city. That area of city is filled with more yoga studios, vegan health food stores and juice bars than with Starbucks’ — it’s a yogi’s heaven. :) My long term dream that I am pursuing is to eventually become so good at what I do that I can travel with my work, and lead workshops and classes all over the world.

3.) What effects have these pursuits had on your life?

It has changed my life completely. Once I dove into teacher training, I never looked back. The day after I graduated, I took a leap of faith… I quit my job and sent out my (looking back now, seemingly-empty) resume everywhere. It took a lot of hard work, networking, auditioning and faith in myself, but now I’ve worked at over 10 different studios/locations in Nassau County alone, doing what I love to do! I have noticed a huge shift in priorities as well. Once I decided I was going to dedicate my life to this practice, I almost naturally started making healthier decisions and taking (small but important) steps each day towards being able to do what I love. It meant making a few sacrifices and lifestyle changes, but they were all worth it.

4.) What has pursuing your dreams taught you about yourself? About others? About life?

Pursuing my dreams has taught me how powerful we are as human beings, and that our thoughts make our world. I believe it is our thoughts that determine our actions, and keeping your thoughts positive and in line with your goals is a start in the right direction.

We cannot change certain circumstances around us, but we can change ourselves, and that all starts with having the right attitude. Another thing I have learned is that the first step to getting what you want is deciding EXACTLY what you want. That’s the hard part — after that point, it’s simple. You will notice things will start falling into place. Your faith and trust in God and yourself will keep you on the right path. Lastly, in the pursuit of my dreams, I have ultimately learned that I know nothing. I believe that every person we meet along our life path is our teacher, in some way or another, helping us with an important lesson needed at the time and all these teachers and lessons in our life are leading us to our greatest teacher, the teacher within. Everyday I am humbled by the brilliant people around me.

5.) Do you have any special methods or practices that help you along the way? What are your sources of inspiration?

Yes, I practice yoga every day. It connects me to my body and gives me a clear mind. Our bodies are our vehicles and we need to keep them clean in order to go anywhere in life!

A daily yoga practice brings up all facets of our personality and who we are. It brings out the beautiful and the ugly, whether we want to see it or not. It is through this process that we start to learn about ourselves and others, and begin to grow into healthy, well-rounded, compassionate human beings. My inspiration comes from my students and my teachers. My students have taught me more about myself than I ever thought they could, and my teachers are the reason I am able to do what I do today. I am so grateful.

6.) Do cynics, doubters and pessimists affect you and your pursuits? If so, how? If not, do you avoid them, tune them out, use them to your advantage, etc.?

No. If you do not believe in yourself, why should anybody else? Everyone has their own opinions, and there will be people in this life that resonate with you, and people who won’t, but that is the beauty of this world. I truly believe if you have faith in yourself, you will find plenty of like-minded individuals who have similar beliefs, dreams and goals who are here to help you on your path to success pursuing whatever it is you love. :)

~ Kat

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Check out Kat’s website KatFowlerYoga.com and join Kat Fowler Yoga’s Facebook Page! Not only will Kat’s Vinyasa flow classes better your body, but your mind, spirit and soul! Contact her here!

Are you or someone you know a genuine Renegade? Your story can be here on DaveUrsillo.com in the new Renegade Spotlight feature! Send me an email through my Contact page! Tell the world your story, inspire hundreds of men and women, and get your name and face known by thousands of fellow Renegades across the world!

Hey readers and fellow Renegades!

Welcome to the “State of the Renegade” Address for October, 2010.

I hope that these monthly posts will give you a better sense of what updates, changes and developing projects have been ongoing and in the works at DaveUrsillo.com. I call these updates the “State of the Renegade” Address. I value your support and feedback and I hope that you’ll offer me some constructive criticism and any suggestions you might have in the comments section below.

October: Most-Read Month …Ever!

I’m very pleased to announce that October 2010 has been the single most popular month for readership in DaveUrsillo.com‘s history. Thank you so much for your readership, your support, your comments and feedback. This blog and all of my writing center around people — and the fact that over 2,000 readers from across the globe stopped by in October and read nearly 4,000 pages and posts is nothing short of incredibly humbling. In the website’s short history, over 16,000 men and women have visited DaveUrsillo.com. I am amazed, humbled and so grateful for your support.

With all this said, I must remind myself that one of the principles that I strive to live by is to be “a leader without followers,” or, in other words, to embody an alternative style of leadership that does not come to depend upon followers for validity. As happy as I am to see the readership at DaveUrsillo.com on a steady rise, I must continually remember that nothing ought to change about my writing or my way of life: I must remain true to myself, to others, to my living principles, and to my dreams.

The folly of modern elected leadership is this: many of even the most well-intentioned politicians and leaders become addicted and attached to superfluous measures of their influence — fleeting measures like job salary, job title, and their number of followers. The more they have, the better they perceive the effectiveness of their individual leadership: they think the more followers, status, and title they have, the “better” leaders they are. However, this causes many elected leaders to begin to act, speak, and live in order to solely retain their money, their career status, their job title. And when they inevitably lose their followers, they suddenly lose the will or the ability to be a leader.

The fact is that these fleeting, finite, superfluous measures of social success cannot even be held onto: they will inevitably be lost. Thus, depending on them for one’s sense of leadership will ultimately lead to undoubted failure. As such, I promise to you, the reader, and myself that I will never lose sight of the bigger mission at hand, or change the way I write, speak, and live to attempt to hold onto false-measures of leadership, success, and achievement.

More Aesthetic Updates and Design Changes

Like my new avatar? It’s on every page and post now (in the sidebar to the right), along with a new “Subscribe to my Free Newsletter” sign-up button. Did you know that you can receive every new post on DaveUrsillo.com to your inbox? Just put your e-mail address in the box to the right and hit Subscribe! You’ll notice that the primary Search bar is now featured in the top right hand side of every page on DaveUrsillo.com, in the black top navigation bar. I figured this would streamline the process of searching for something, especially through the homepage. Next to the search bar is a new page on DaveUrsillo.com, a “Welcome/Start Here” page for new visitors to gain some guidance and direction in figuring out what DaveUrsillo.com actually is and who I am.

You will also notice that in October I reverted from the Japanese kanji symbol for “Chi” or “Energy” to my old Shadow logo. I think that the Shadow (which is of me, actually!) is much more personal and recognizable for personal branding and brand development than the kanji symbol.

The Happiness Catalyst, E-Books, and the DaveUrsillo.com Shop

Last month, I began to tell you about forthcoming e-books that I have been writing:

1. THE HAPPINESS CATALYST: a collaborative, free e-book written by Twitter-based writers seeking to inspire men and women to reconnect with their local communities on face-to-face, personal levels, as the basis for greater happiness in our everyday lives.
2. DAWN OF THE RENEGADE: Part manifesto, part “Best of DaveUrsillo.com” anthology, this free e-book looks to be the spark in the lives of men and women desiring greater purpose and fulfillment in life through self-exploration, self-improvement and personal development in our very unique day and age.
3. THE NATURE OF GIVING: Another free e-book comprised of a collection of stories, sayings, and essays on how giving, selflessness and gratitude are the basis for personal happiness and how giving — above all else — may be the only infinite and immortal quality that characterizes human existence.
4. POWER FROM WITHIN: Intended to be the only pay-for e-book of this list, POWER FROM WITHIN is a bold and inspiring work that seeks to motivate readers to realize their uniqueness, abilities and talents; and develop their inner selves to their fullest potential — without external dependence upon anyone or anything but themselves.

To date, their progression has been steady, but deliberate (read: slow). Now that November is upon us, it is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short), and I am participating for the first time this year. The value of writing my first ever novel — for NaNoWriMo, a 50,000-word novel is the goal — in November remains to be seen, but I have a fairly interesting story concept so I am going to work toward writing 1,667 words/day. This will be in addition to my regular blogging efforts. As such, I am realistically anticipating THE HAPPINESS CATALYST as the first e-book to be released in late November, with the others following in, perhaps, January 2011.

As with most things, I’d prefer quality over quantity. So taking my time to make these e-books of the highest quality and with the most valuable content for you, the reader, is really important to me.

New Guest-Writing Opportunities

I have been attempting to expanding my platform and readership through exposure to other websites and blogs. Guest-writing and blogging offers the single best chance for writers to gain greater exposure. In October, I have been writing for Quarterlife Magazine as a new contributing writer and will be soon joining the Quarterlife Network — an exclusive network of websites created and run by Generation Y bloggers. Also, I’ve had the honor of having a guest-piece published by Inspired Magazine and its impressive 50,000-subscribers. As I’ve said time and again, we need to shelve the “Zero Sum Game” concept that by contributing our writing and original content to another website or blog (and for free), that we are losing (traffic, resources, money) in the process. Instead, embrace the “Billion Sum Game” — the selfless mindset that recognizes the more you pay it forward, the more you’ll ultimately receive in return.

What did October entail for you? Ready for an exciting November here on DaveUrsillo.com? Drop me a comment below :)

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After a long hiatus, I had one of those “now or never” moments when I decided to break out my Flip Mini HD camera and start recording a random train of thought for my video blog, RenegadeTV..

RenegadeTV is the name of my video blog — located at TV.DaveUrsillo.com — and was originally started in April of 2010, mostly to put my face and personality to my name, which is plastered across the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and my websites and personal blogs.

With time, RenegadeTV began to take direction: the video blog would be specific to exploring “everyday” ideas and methods for putting the lofty, sometimes unpractical ideals behind “Renegadeism” and the subjects of self-improvement, personal development, inner growth, and spiritual well-being that I write about.

After a few months though, I felt like I was kind of talking into the wind. Over the summer I assessed my aims, and have since decided to relaunch RenegadeTV with a less formal approach. I want to take my camera with me on my travels to different locations and record informal trains of thought, random tidbits and ponderings. After all, recording random moments of “everyday” thought would seem to be the most accurate way of capturing “everyday” methods of embodying and living Renegadeism.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In this episode of RenegadeTV — remember that all previous/future episodes are posted at TV.DaveUrsillo.com — I took out my camera and set it up on a rock to record a moment: hiking in the woods, I went off-trail to climb some rocks and ascend a low hill’s summit. It seemed a fitting place to share honest thoughts!

In life, as with my own hiatus from RenegadeTV, sometimes you need to “lose yourself” in order to “find yourself.” Sometimes, you need to take a break from what you think matters most, in order to realize what truly does matter the most. Sometimes, you need to boil down your focus from “the big picture” and remember that we have no other moment than this moment, right here, right now.

What do YOU do to “lose” yourself in order to “find” yourself?

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