News
Reality TV Addicts Say No! to American Idol and Other Favorites for 30 days.
Plano-Texas Couple Vows to Take Life Back and Build Online Empire in 30 Days
Imagine how strong the lure is. You’re sitting on your couch, remote in hand and you feel a strong anticipation inside of you. Who will be the next Survivor? Who is the next American Idol? Perhaps, most importantly, who will be on Amazing Race All-Stars with Rob and Amber? These are just a few of the questions that Mark and Tina Ferguson will wonder about this reality-TV show season. The Texas couple has vowed to take their life back by giving up their reality-TV addiction, and using the more than 200 hours reality-TV hours to create their online empire.
After attending a life-changing event – Pat O’Bryan’s UNseminar 2007 – the couple has decided to build their own Portable Empire in just 30 days. Their inspiration for choosing 30 days comes from Morgan Spurlock who created the documentary, Supersize Me, and who has recently created an FX production called 30 Days where everyday folks try a new way of life for just 30 days. “We know that a habit can be created in 30 days, so that’s what we went with,” said the Fergusons.
At Pat O’ Bryan’s UNseminar (www.patobryan.com) where the couple met one of the stars of The Secret, Joe Vitale (www.mrfire.com), internet marketing gurus, Craig Perrine (www.maverickmarketer.com) and Bill Hibbler (www.ecommerceconfidential.com) , and massive results business coach, Amy Grant (www.newsuccess.org), and creative entrepreneur extraordinaire, Cindy Cashman (www.cindycashman.com) who will be the first woman to be married in space (www.firstspacewedding.com), they were repeatedly urged to get going! After realizing they have learned almost everything needed to create an online empire, the couple realized they were fresh out of excuses – it was time to MOVE!
Further inspiration came from Amazing Race host, Phil Keoghn’s book, “NOW – No Opportunity Wasted” and the many stories from reality TV itself, for example, American Idol judge Simon Cowell’s rise from near financial disaster to the golden man of reality TV, Morgan Spurlock’s ‘just do it’ attitude with Supersize Me, which was the inspiration for 30 Days, and many, many more stories archived over almost a 6-year addiction with reality TV.
Self-described reality-TV addicts, Mark and Tina Ferguson, have decided enough is enough. It is time to put up or shut up regarding their dreams. The couple’s quick calculations have shown that between watching multiple reality TV shows each week, they are spending more than 30 hours each watching television. This will give them more than 60 hours combined – each week – for a total of 240 hours to dedicate to creating their Portable Empire.
The ‘why’ behind their drastic, yet common-sense decision is their six-year old son who has a passion for roller coasters and has a dream of visiting every single Disney, Six Flags and Busch Gardens theme park in the world on a dream vacation that will take many months to complete. His sights are set on also visiting the famed
“We figured, why not us, why not now? It seemed like the only thing stopping us was our addiction to reality TV,” said Tina. “We are more than willing to work like crazy for our clients or our employers, why not put that kind of can-do attitude into our own dreams? It’s time to quit watching others living an adventurous life on TV, and it was time for us to start living ours.”
The couple will forgo their weekly feast of reality TV, which includes Hogan Knows Best, American Idol, Oprah, Rachael Ray, Survivor, Driving Force, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Amber and Rob Against the Odds, Amazing Race, The Soup, Reality Checked, Dirty Jobs, The Apprentice, Grease, You’re the One That I Want, So You Think You Can Dance?, Dancing With The Stars, Skating with the Stars, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Extra, Rockstar, Super Group, 20/20, 30 Days, American Inventor, Deadliest Catch, Dr. 90210, and Survivor Man.
Daily blog updates will chronicle the couple’s experience of breaking this crippling habit. Other reality TV addicts are invited to share what’s going on so the couple can stay in touch with their beloved shows at www.norealityTV.com. For others who want to take the reality TV challenge, the couple invites people to logon and signup at www.norealityTV.com.
“For many years, we’ve encouraged people to follow their dreams. For us, we felt we had achieved a certain level of success and our dreams were well under way, yet something kept urging us to keep going. That’s what we are doing now – pushing the limits of potential so we will know what will happen when we get rid of the excuses and play full out.”
Mark and Tina work diligently throughout the day without ever turning on the TV. All previous reality TV viewing took place at night or on the weekends well out of the sight of their six-year old who does not watch commercial television at all. Hard to believe, but true. The hours DO add up. How many hours are you sitting in front of the TV? Is there something else you dream of doing? Let us know at www.norealityTV.com.