Meet a 6-pack man who quits stable job to travel the world

Mario Tomic

Mario Tomic, 28 year olds, is a Croatian village man who quitted job at World Bank to do what he really wants in life. You can call him an online fitness coach, an entrepreneur, a health coach on his website shockingfit.com, a video blogger on YouTube and a traveler.

Why did a Croatian guy from a 200-people village decide to quit his stable government job with World Bank to be self-employed, travel around the world and inspire anyone who comes to know him?

This is not a drama (in case you expect Hollywood-like story). And this character who quits job to wander around the planet is not brand new. But the journey that Mario Tomic is adventuring deserved to be shared widely because what makes this 28 year-old man stands out is his positive abundant energy that seems almost never to run out of a young man who read 54 books in a year and disciplines himself to possess an amazing body.

Mario shared a part of his early life on his website: “My journey started 3 years ago, at that time if someone told me I was about to compete as a model one day I’d probably call him crazy or drugged as I wasn’t the best example of a healthy person. Imagine a World of Warcraft player eating only chips and sandwiches, drinks tons of sugar soda, sits by the computer all day all night who has absolutely no physical activity except clicking a gaming mouse. Heaviest I was lifting was a sandwich and a bottle of Coca-Cola. I guess I was spending some calories by walking 30 seconds to the bathroom occasionally if the game was on pause”.

Take risks to be happy

It is not easy to meet this guy in person as he is constantly moving from places to places, countries to countries. And that is exactly the way he is living his amazing life: keep going to new cities, new countries to learn and experience the things that he thinks make one a better person. At the beginning of 2014, Mario was in Japan for 3 months and then shortly I saw him in Spain, Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland… and now Taipei, Taiwan. When asked what made him choose Taiwan as his latest destination, Mario said: “Honestly, it was just completely random. I have never been here so I just go to check it out. I arrived in December and I think I might leave in February to Hong Kong and after this Asia journey return back to Europe. I really love Asia, it always pushes me outside of my comfort zone. My first real Asia experience was Japan last year and it was so interesting that I decided to make Asia a part of my year at least for a few months”.

Self-employment, stable finance which could help him to go to dozens of countries a year, enjoy the night life with awesome parties and clubs because of not having to wake up early to go to work, meeting many beautiful girls in those countries he goes and there is no pressure from angry bosses, Mario’s life may be the dream of many men. But to reach that, Mario did sacrifice deeply and work very hard. “I had many ups and downs. Last year, when I started travelling and came to Asia for the first time, for few weeks I kept thinking ‘what am I doing here? I am just a small town boy from my small country at the other side of the world’. I remember in the beginning 3 years ago I had been working 3 unpaid internships at once and not sleeping properly for several months before I had some stable income. It was a big risk to quit my job, but if you don’t take the risk, life just won’t change. And don’t get me wrong I don’t have a traditional boss but I work 4 times more than when I did have one”, he continued.

You might say that European and Asian people have different mindsets and culture background so that they could not easy do what they want or in the fear of having their families prevent them. But Mario Tomic, a Croatian man is an example. In fact, he did have those same problems. “After college, I got a normal job, worked in an office for almost 2 years. In the beginning few months I was like ‘Ok, you’re done. Your family is happy, you’re safe’. But months keep passing by and I really felt I could do more with my life, I asked myself “Is this what you want to do for the rest of your life?” and I started to feel very unhappy. For a while I was going to work over and over again thinking about this. Days turn to nights, time goes by so fast when you are in your comfort bubble. And then it just created so many emotions that I needed to do something, I knew I had to take action but I didn’t know how so I just started to read one big book a week about business and find people on social media that were living the life I wanted to live. After a few months of learning everything I could to start earning money online, I decided to it’s time to quit my stable government job and at the first my family thought I was insane. Despite that I decided to make the cut, burn the bridges and honestly at that point there was no going back. I think parents are all the same all over the world. They want the best for you but they are also prevention focused, they want to keep you safe and secure, and what I had in mind was neither of those two things. In that situation, you need to step up and decide: this is my life and I am going to do my own thing if I’m ever going to be fulfilled. If you believe in yourself they will understand you eventually, maybe not at first but nevertheless you have to take control of your life”, he reminded.

You can learn from anyone

Asked whether he thinks himself as a successful man, Mario denied: “I wouldn’t call myself successful because it’s a label that suggests that I’m done. I see myself on a journey that doesn’t’ end, you always have to change as time moves on. You need to progress and grow as a man. As Darwin said: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” The most difficult event in my life was probably leaving my 200-people village, leaving this community and that small-town way of life was a big leap.

Right now, I have challenges every single day, it’s very easy to fall into lazy patterns and not do your best. You see a lot of people who are more talented and more successful than you but then they give up because they can’t take the pressure. When I see this I try to do my best to learn what I can do to avoid the same scenario, what makes us human beings so powerful is that we can learn equally from success and failure of others around us.”

“I visit my small home about 2 or 3 times in a year. And whenever I return, I feel really great. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to learn from an environment where people live a different life than me. I always manage to learn something new that makes me a better person. Most old friends of mine are married by now and some already have kids. I never had the feeling in any way that I am doing better than them. Each person is entitled to a life they choose, it’s a different path and equally fulfilling and amazing. I might not the kind of people who will get married after college and they are not likely to just wander around the world as I do. ”

Mario said he has few friends in Saigon so let hope we could welcome this guy visit Vietnam one day.-VNA

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