[1.10] 12 About 12: Mike Posner
Becoming a multi-platinum artist, walking across America, and summiting Mt. Everest
Hi friends and travelers!
This β12 About 12β series is simply 12 facts about 12 people who have managed to make a life of travel. Each story is broken down into four parts:
Origin: how did they start traveling?
Grind: what did they sacrifice?
Breakthrough: when did they go big?
Scale: what are they making of it now?
At the end of each email, I compress my takeaways from the traveler into one thing to remember.
Have an amazing week!
~ Atom
#10
Meet Mike Posner, multi-platinum singer and songwriter! πΊπΈπΊπΈπΊπΈ
Mike Posner first caught the worldβs attention in 2009 with his debut single, Cooler Than Me. Since the Grammy-nominated artist has become one of the worldβs most recognizable voices and sought-after hit-makers. That is. . . among other things.
Origins
Mike was raised in Southfield, Detroit surrounded by older cousins who rapped and buddies who venerated the hip hop scene.
The summer after high school, Mike interned at a local radio station with one of his good friends named Sean Anderson. By summerβs end, Mike moved to Duke University to take up a BA in Sociology while his friend Sean took the opposite route foregoing his scholarship at the University of Michigan to sign with Kanye West. Mike stayed in touch with Sean, now known as Big Sean, throughout his stay at Duke.
By 2008, inspired by Jack Johnson, Mike had this weird idea to sing his raps. A year later, his second mixtape, A Matter of Time, came out featuring his first single, Cooler Than Me, which peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Mikeβs debut album, 31 Minutes to Takeoff, was released in 2010, the same year he graduated from Duke with a GPA of 3.6.
After releasing his third mixtape, The Layover, in 2011, Mike began to struggle with depression rooted in his newfound fame and success.
It was not until 2015 that Mike returned with his stripped-down single, I Took a Pill in Ibiza, where he painted the picture of his emptiness and faded fame. Ironically, it was this same song remixed by Norwegian production duo SeeB that rocked Mike back into the top ten of charts worldwide.
Grind
In 2017 Mikeβs dad passed away from cancer while in 2018 Mike saw both of his good friends, Avicii and Mac Miller, pass too. Awakened by their loss to the inevitability of his own, Mike decided to take a break from his career and walk across America.
Mikeβs walk began on April 16, 2019, from Asbury Park, New Jersey. Hereβs what a day in his life would look like:
Iβd wake up at 4 a.m. and meditate for 20 minutes, get stretched out, eat something, and get out the door as soon as possible. Iβd typically be walking by 5:10 a.m. Iβd walk eight miles; the first eight miles were silent miles, a walking meditation. Then Iβd take a break. I walk supported, which means I wasnβt backpacking; I had a friend who went ahead in a support vehicle, so at each break the vehicle would be waiting for me. It didnβt drive next to me; when I walk, I walk alone. But at the breaks my stuff is there. I always like to make that clear, because there are many who do walk across America that way, and theyβre more badass than me. After the first eight miles, Iβd take a break, eat more; a lot of wood going in the furnace. Then walk another four miles, take a break, walk another four miles, take a break, walk six more. That puts me at 26. Towards the very end I was starting to get 30 mile days pretty consistently. I liked to be done at 5 p.m., with time to stretch, meditate, eat and be in bed by 7:30 p.m. And Iβd walk six days a week and take Thursdays off.
Mikeβs walkβand likely lifeβalmost came to an end on August 7 when he was bitten by a rattlesnake in Colorado and airlifted to a hospital. The doctor said he could lose his leg. But he learned to use the walker and spent weeks teaching himself to walk again.
Breakthrough
Mikeβs mantra? Keep Going. On October 18, 2019, Mike arrived in Venice Beach, Los Angeles to complete his goal of walking from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. He walked a total of 2,851 miles across 6 months.
Scale
After 18 months of training and after climbing 71 mountains with his coach Dr. Jon Kedrowski, at 4:35 am on June 1, 2021, Mike Posner summited Mt. Everest. βThis took everything and it was everything,β Mike recalled in his podcast with Rich Roll.
In early 2022, Mike traveled to Europe to train with Wim Hof himself to become a professional Wim Hof Method instructor.
THE ONE THING
Find something that scares you and do it.
βI don't know what I'll do when it's done
Maybe I'll touch a life
Maybe you could be one
I'm not walking to show people who I am
I'm walking to show myself who I can becomeβ
β Mike Posner
Iβd like to think Mikeβs story isnβt a story about how he made it big in music. This isnβt a story of success. This isnβt a story of walking across America or even of climbing Mt. Everest.
These are all stories of the surface.
I get the sense that Mikeβs trying to tell a story of within.
His is a story of listening to yourself, of knowing what success means to you, and of pursuing that life you would be proud of.
I might be forcing it but Iβd like to think what Iβm doing now with this newsletter and traveling is my expressionβmy pursuitβof who I could become. No doubt Iβm hoping that these things will one day become a source of income but at the moment I feel grateful to be doing something Iβm honestly not sure I can do. Itβs very very scary, but it feels good.
It feels right.
Iβm sharing this letter quite late today. Iβd normally be preparing to sleep by now, but I know I need to show up even if that means writing for the past 5 hours in what feels like circles.
So let me challenge you!
Travel isnβt something that only happens when youβre out of town. Is there something youβre scared of doing? Something that draws you in and makes your heart race then your palms wet? How about we turn that into an adventure?
If you want more from Mike I highly recommend listening to his podcast episodes with Rich Roll right after his walk Across America and right after his summit of Mt. Everest. If you want to join Mike on an adventure, then maybe consider signing up for Adventures with Mike. If you want to relive Mikeβs experience walking across America. . .
or his experience climbing Mt. Everest then these videos are a no-brainer.
Other sources:
Mike Posnerβs Not-So-Secret Life At Duke, C-Suite Spotlight
Mike Posner Just Walked Across the Country. Here's What He Learned, Time
To Reset Your Life As A Pop Star, Try Walking Across America, NPR
Travelerβs Corner
(βTravelerβs Cornerβ is a compilation of photos from other folks subscribed to this newsletter. In Travel Notes 000 I asked for photos from your own reckless adventures and got amazing responses. I promised to start this week with one of my own but weβll work our way through your photos over the months. This is a crazy group and Iβm immensely grateful to be on this journey with you. Feel free to send one in if you havenβt already.)