SundayStarTimes 31st December 2006One year ago Chris Flack vowed to spend 2006 facing down his fears with over 100 challenges. He talks to Kim Knight about his adventures with nudity, rabbit-shooting, jaffas - and a giant sausage.
"You can't plan nudity. It just happens," says Chris Flack, fulltime graphic designer - and one-time streaker, chest waxer and public speaker.
This year, Flack has eaten his height in Subway sandwiches, given up texting for a fortnight and run naked through Christchurch's Cathedral Square. He has learnt to back a trailer, competed in a triathlon and consumed a metre-long Belgian sausage in a single sitting. He has trained as a youth mentor, learned to play a guitar and, memorably, had his chest waxed while 14 friends looked and laughed.
Why? Blame it on a hangover.
New Year's Day, 2006 and there's Flack, at a bar in Twizel with a seedy stomach and a bunch of mates.
"Two beautiful girls walk in and sit down at a table near us. And I thought, `wouldn't it be cool to send over some wine?' You know, like in the movies."
His mates said he wouldn't dare.
Flack accepted the challenge.
"And it ended up being a really good night. After that, I was like, `I'm going to try and do this every day. Do something different'."
It was the New Year's resolution to beat all New Year's resolutions. He called it The Comfort Zone Challenge, and vowed that twice a week, every week, he'd face a fear and do it anyway.
Now, on the anniversary of "one wild and crazy year" the 25-year-old is hoping others will be inspired to follow his example.
He has recorded his challenges on a website, adding photographs, video footage and diary entries:
January 6: "I just didn't look down until I jumped. I managed to get minor delayed concussion after I hit the water... the bucket on my head was for if I freaked out."
And just like that, Flack had completed a bungy jump. In the following weeks, he would arm-wrestle a stranger, attempt wake-boarding and try rabbit shooting (he missed them all).
"I got back to work and told them what I was trying to do and they all came up with ideas. Someone said don't drink for a month, and I kind of had to do it to prove that I was game. That was actually a really good month. I saved a lot of money."
He went vegetarian for four weeks, and stopped texting for two.
"I had a rule that any time someone texted me, the only way I could reply was to ring them or go and see them in person. I ended up seeing a lot of friends I hadn't seen for a while. People don't really visit people as much now. Everyone hides behind emails and texts."
His flatmates got in on the act.
March 24: "As part of my challenge, I have allowed my flatmate to sell a dinner/date with me on TradeMe to the highest bidder. Please make a bid so I don't end up going out for dinner with someone's mum."
The auction was eventually closed down by website administrators, but not before Kristal06 had scored the night of her life. The pair had their date in Dunedin. They rolled jaffas down Baldwin Street, sang karaoke like no one was listening and got photographs of Flack being thrown out of a bar (on purpose).
OK, admits Flack, some of the challenges were definitely designed to pick up girls. But honestly, he says, he's a changed man.
"I wanted to try new things and have an excuse to try them... but I've realised you don't need an excuse, you don't need a Comfort Zone Challenge. Just go and do it.
"You want to wake up and feel alive. You want to do things which make you feel like that."
September 6: "I have finished my training to be a mentor as part of Project K. I have learnt so much from the training - you don't have to change to be a role model, just be yourself."
When Flack was a child, confides his mother, Jenny, "he was a bit of a scaredy-boy. You know those rides at fun parks, with the logs and water? He'd say, `I'm not going on that, I'm going to complain to the manager, they're not safe."'
And now?
"He's been a late blossomer in the challenge-yourself stakes. He gives us lots of laughs. He's a lovely man."
Next June, Flack will work at an American summer camp. "My dream is to teach kids," he says. "That, to me, is going to be the biggest challenge. All this is nothing compared to going overseas, leaving my friends, a good job, good flat, and good girlfriend."
Yes, he got the girl - but not through a challenge. The pair met on a bus trip. A random stranger said they looked dressed up enough to be married. Flack proposed immediately, and then paid a busker to sing.
"I'm a normal person," he protests. "I'm no Jackass. I'm just a normal person, trying to do things slightly differently."
He lists his friends and family as his "heroes". He'd quite like to meet Prime Minister Helen Clark, "because, you know, she runs New Zealand, and it would be quite cool to give her a couple of tips. Student loans, for example..."
Flack, born in Dunedin and trained at Christchurch's Design and Arts College, has halved a $20,000 study debt since he started working at design and advertising company Strategy. It's a far cry from his earliest ambition: at age four, he and twin brother Jeffrey thought they might go into waste disposal.
"I was going to drive and my brother would pick up the rubbish, just because it was something two people could do."
Flack says the challenges he has enjoyed most have involved other people. His flatmate, "The Joel", has attempted nearly three-quarters of Flack's list, and it was his workmates who entered him in an advertising industry bachelor competition (he won). His friends were there for the night of the suicide curry and the day of the five-a-half Subway sandwiches. He hopes they'll be there for the party, on January 27, when he celebrates the end of his odyssey with a skydive.
He admits one person's challenge is another's cakewalk. "I've got a friend who is afraid of public speaking, but he swims with sharks. Everyone's got their own limits."
And next year?
"I thought about doing nothing once a week. More of less. A part of me wants to lose this addiction, but, you know, today I flew a plane - and when you fly a plane, you get such a good story to tell. What am I going to tell people next year?"
"Two beautiful girls walk in and sit down at a table near us. And I thought, `wouldn't it be cool to send over some wine?' You know, like in the movies."
His mates said he wouldn't dare.
Flack accepted the challenge.
"And it ended up being a really good night. After that, I was like, `I'm going to try and do this every day. Do something different'."
It was the New Year's resolution to beat all New Year's resolutions. He called it The Comfort Zone Challenge, and vowed that twice a week, every week, he'd face a fear and do it anyway.
Now, on the anniversary of "one wild and crazy year" the 25-year-old is hoping others will be inspired to follow his example.
He has recorded his challenges on a website, adding photographs, video footage and diary entries:
January 6: "I just didn't look down until I jumped. I managed to get minor delayed concussion after I hit the water... the bucket on my head was for if I freaked out."
And just like that, Flack had completed a bungy jump. In the following weeks, he would arm-wrestle a stranger, attempt wake-boarding and try rabbit shooting (he missed them all).
"I got back to work and told them what I was trying to do and they all came up with ideas. Someone said don't drink for a month, and I kind of had to do it to prove that I was game. That was actually a really good month. I saved a lot of money."
He went vegetarian for four weeks, and stopped texting for two.
"I had a rule that any time someone texted me, the only way I could reply was to ring them or go and see them in person. I ended up seeing a lot of friends I hadn't seen for a while. People don't really visit people as much now. Everyone hides behind emails and texts."
His flatmates got in on the act.
March 24: "As part of my challenge, I have allowed my flatmate to sell a dinner/date with me on TradeMe to the highest bidder. Please make a bid so I don't end up going out for dinner with someone's mum."
The auction was eventually closed down by website administrators, but not before Kristal06 had scored the night of her life. The pair had their date in Dunedin. They rolled jaffas down Baldwin Street, sang karaoke like no one was listening and got photographs of Flack being thrown out of a bar (on purpose).
OK, admits Flack, some of the challenges were definitely designed to pick up girls. But honestly, he says, he's a changed man.
"I wanted to try new things and have an excuse to try them... but I've realised you don't need an excuse, you don't need a Comfort Zone Challenge. Just go and do it.
"You want to wake up and feel alive. You want to do things which make you feel like that."
September 6: "I have finished my training to be a mentor as part of Project K. I have learnt so much from the training - you don't have to change to be a role model, just be yourself."
When Flack was a child, confides his mother, Jenny, "he was a bit of a scaredy-boy. You know those rides at fun parks, with the logs and water? He'd say, `I'm not going on that, I'm going to complain to the manager, they're not safe."'
And now?
"He's been a late blossomer in the challenge-yourself stakes. He gives us lots of laughs. He's a lovely man."
Next June, Flack will work at an American summer camp. "My dream is to teach kids," he says. "That, to me, is going to be the biggest challenge. All this is nothing compared to going overseas, leaving my friends, a good job, good flat, and good girlfriend."
Yes, he got the girl - but not through a challenge. The pair met on a bus trip. A random stranger said they looked dressed up enough to be married. Flack proposed immediately, and then paid a busker to sing.
"I'm a normal person," he protests. "I'm no Jackass. I'm just a normal person, trying to do things slightly differently."
He lists his friends and family as his "heroes". He'd quite like to meet Prime Minister Helen Clark, "because, you know, she runs New Zealand, and it would be quite cool to give her a couple of tips. Student loans, for example..."
Flack, born in Dunedin and trained at Christchurch's Design and Arts College, has halved a $20,000 study debt since he started working at design and advertising company Strategy. It's a far cry from his earliest ambition: at age four, he and twin brother Jeffrey thought they might go into waste disposal.
"I was going to drive and my brother would pick up the rubbish, just because it was something two people could do."
Flack says the challenges he has enjoyed most have involved other people. His flatmate, "The Joel", has attempted nearly three-quarters of Flack's list, and it was his workmates who entered him in an advertising industry bachelor competition (he won). His friends were there for the night of the suicide curry and the day of the five-a-half Subway sandwiches. He hopes they'll be there for the party, on January 27, when he celebrates the end of his odyssey with a skydive.
He admits one person's challenge is another's cakewalk. "I've got a friend who is afraid of public speaking, but he swims with sharks. Everyone's got their own limits."
And next year?
"I thought about doing nothing once a week. More of less. A part of me wants to lose this addiction, but, you know, today I flew a plane - and when you fly a plane, you get such a good story to tell. What am I going to tell people next year?"
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