Will M. Collette - The Art Of Unpredictability: Escape Routine. Go On Adventures. Live The Life You’ve Always Wanted.

The Art of Unpredictability

Will Collette

The Art of Unpredictability

Copyright 2017 by Will Collette. All rights reserved.

This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the author.

Content by Eric Thomas reprinted with permission.

A Head Full of Dreams written by Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Johnny Buckland, Mikkel Eriksen, Tor Hermansen, Will Champion. Lyrics Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC.

I Need Your Love written by Ellie Goulding and Adam Wiles. Lyrics Peermusic Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, and Universal Music Publishing Group.

Heroes written by Alessandro Lindblad, Brian Eno, David Bowie, Tove Ebba Elsa Nilsson. Lyrics Universal Music Publishing Group, Tintoretto Music.

Dont Let Me Down written by Andrew Taggart, Scott Harris, and Emily Schwartz. Lyrics Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing, and Imagem Music Inc.

Roses written by Andrew Taggart and Elizabeth Mancel. Lyrics Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC and Peermusic Publishing.

A Thousand Miles written by Vanessa Carlton. Lyrics Universal Music Publishing Group.

Highway to Hell written by Ronald Belford Scott, Angus McKinnon Young, and Malcolm Mitchell Young. Lyrics Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management US LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Roar written by Bonnie Leigh McKee, Max Martin, Lukasz Gottwald, Katy Perry, and Henry Walter. Lyrics Kobalt Music Publishing LTD, Warner Chappell Music Inc., and Cypmp.

The Way written by Al Lambert, Amber Streeter, Brenda Russell, Douglas Gibson, Gerry Thomas, Harmony Samuels, Harry Jensen, James Castor, Jordin Sparks, Langdon Jr Fridie, Malcolm McCormick, Robert Manigault and performed by Ariana Grande. Lyrics Kobalt Music Publishing LTD, Peermusic Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, and Universal Music Publishing Group.

Hallelujah written by Leonard Cohen. Lyrics Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC.

All scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984. All rights reserved worldwide.

Cover design: Shivam Kashiwala

photos Will Collette except where noted. All photos used with permission.

ISBN 978-1544110158 (paperback)

Printed by CreateSpace

17 18 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is dedicated to the one person

who will treat this like a bestseller

even if it completely fails:

I love you, Mom.

Forewor d vi

Prefac e vii

Chapter 1: Lets Go to Hawai i

Chapter 2: The Crucibl e

Chapter 3: Thats My So n

Chapter 4: Born in the U K

Chapter 5: Just Get I n

Chapter 6: What You Can Buy with $

Chapter 7: Say Youll Never Let Me Go

Chapter 8: Id Walk a Thousand Mile s

Chapter 9: Swipe Righ t

Chapter 10: That Thin Blue Lin e

Chapter 11: Dolphins Are Better Than Slee p

Chapter 12: On My Hono r

Chapter 13: WAKE UP !

Chapter 14: Thanks for Being My Frien d

Chapter 15: By Chanc e

Chapter 16: The Four Kinds of Miracle s

Chapter 17: What Are You Drinking ?

Chapter 18: Favorite Kind of Will? Free Will .

Chapter 19: The Final Paige s

Epilogu e

Foreword

Is this guy for real? is what I hear a lot when people are talking about my son, Will. I can relate, because it was my first thought minutes after he was born. He didnt cry! I thought all babies cried when they arrived to let you know they were alive and okay. Will kept looking around at everything and remained silently observant. Thats when I knew he was going to be different. His story doesnt begin there, though.

It started with a bad dream my mom had where she thought she might lose one of her daughters. Mom was only fifty-two, and the thought of losing a child saddened her so much that she decided she would rather give her life than have this dream come true. Weeks later, I started to have symptoms of cancer and needed to run tests. At the same time, my mom went to see her doctor for a simple exam. It was at this cross of events where something miraculous happened. By the weeks end, I would find out that my mom had only one month to live, and that all my symptoms would cease without any intervention. It was overwhelming to think about the possibility that my moms wishes were coming true.

This is where Wills story starts. In the middle of the chaos, I started getting sick and thought it was because I was losing my mom. My husband was overseas with the Army, and I had seen him only once in the past month. Creating a child at this time would be mastering the art of unpredictability, to say the least! I went from one day in Germany, to one week under anesthesia to test for cancer, to one more week later to test for pregnancy. Soon enough, Will was for real!

If that wasnt enough, I remember the night I sat next to my mom, holding her hand as she laid in the hospital bed. I was going to tell her that I was pregnant, but before I could utter the announcement, she took her last breath. I like to think she was passing into heaven as God was asking, Is there a soul out there that I can send right now, who will not be afraid to make a real difference in the world?

And Will said, Hell, yeah!

Preface

What could a book titled The Art of Unpredictability be about? This is probably why youre skimming through the preface: to decide if this is worth the time, or if it will end up on a bookshelf to collect dust.

I believe most people steer toward structure and aim to control their life when they really should let go and just say yes more often. You see, we all need an equal balance of routine and surprise in our lives. Predictability and unpredictability. Each persons balance is different. Some people value more chaos, and others value more structure. Where that line is drawn is up to you. This book highlights the unpredictable side. That guy who has excuses all the time? Like, I dont have enough money. There isnt enough time. Or, Im too tired. Well, guess what? You dont always need money. Theres always time if you make it. And you can sleep when youre dead. I used to be that guy with the excuses. Until one day, everything changed.

After a single defining moment in college, my life spun into a storm of chaos and dangerous adventures. In the past five years, I filled my undergraduate career with trips around the country, delivered a TED Talk on authenticity, started a production company in Hollywood, and joined the United States Air Force as a commissioned officer. Along the journey, Ive collected the best moments to reveal how you can develop a unique personality traitbeing completely unpredictable.

I hope that as you venture through each chapters stories, youll be more inspired to take on each day as if it were a videogame . You get to create your own rules, the boundaries are limited only by your creativity, and the best part is that anything is possible.

I know. Youve heard that before. But how many people do you know who actively prove it?

Chapter 1: Lets Go to Hawaii

What would you do if you knew you could not fail? Robert Schuller

What are you doing tomorrow? A text flashed across my phone screen. It was Rob Jones.

Probably nothing, why? I replied to his text. I was relaxing at home on summer break.

Come to Hawaii.

For anyone other than Rob Jones (and yes, its always his full name... sounds like he should be president or something, right?), this request would have sounded insane. Rob Jones and I met in 2007 during my freshman year at East Chapel Hill High School, and hes always been up for a spontaneous adventure. We ended up being roommates at the University of North Carolina, and we both moved across the country to California after graduation.