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  I still remember the first day I walked into the band room, with its cage-lined walls. The instruments were kept locked up, in case someone tried to walk away with a tuba and . . . what exactly? Sell it on the tuba black market? I never really understood what the school was so afraid of, but they treated those instruments like they were made of solid gold instead of finger-grubby brass.

  I wasn’t diving in totally blind. I’d always loved music class in elementary school. I could huff out a pretty wicked “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on the recorder, so I had a vague thought that maybe I’d play the flute or clarinet. But when I told the band teacher, Ms. Baine, that I wanted to join, she had something else in mind.

  “We’re low on trumpeters,” she said, walking over to one of the cages, pulling a trumpet out, and handing it over. “Want to be one?”

  The instrument felt good in my hands. Not too heavy, but enough weight to make it feel, I don’t know, significant somehow. I put my lips to it and tried to blow.

  “No, it’s like this,” Ms. Baine said, and pursed her lips, making a funny “pfffft” sound with them.

  I copied the move and a single note burst out. I liked the sound of it, the clear tone with a little bit of bass behind it. I tried a few more times, then ran my fingers over the little taps, pushing them up and down. A series of totally random notes came out that sounded terrible together and I noticed Ms. Baine wince a little but smile encouragingly.

  Over the next four months, I got better and better. My plan worked—I got to spend more time with my friends—but learning to play the trumpet was the real prize. Reading sheet music came pretty naturally to me. I could look at all those little dots and lines on the page and hear the sound each one represented in my head. Making my fingers push the right buttons was a simple matter of memorization.

  Throughout middle school, all the different styles of band were rolled into one class. We’d play classical music like Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and then pep rally stuff during the school football games. Those tunes were my favorites—fight songs, the really inspirational, fun, and upbeat pieces that helped pump up the players. We’d even play things like “The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)” from Star Wars to intimidate the other team.

  Once I got to high school and joined band there, I had to automatically do both concert band and marching band. If you wanted to, you could also join jazz band, and I decided to give that a shot as well. It made for an insane schedule but I don’t regret it for a second.

  Our marching band uniforms were cool. I mean, I obviously wouldn’t just walk around in one all the time, but I liked stomping about the football field in my tailored black suit with gold trim, topped off with a bucket hat. The thrill of looking up at the black sky, the stars totally obliterated by the field lights while our entire crew marched and played in unison, made me feel like I was part of something bigger than myself.

  It sounds cheesy, but whatever. I was hardly the biggest football fan, but Hoover was definitely a high school football town, and just seeing everyone else so happy and excited made me happy and excited. There’s nothing wrong with spreading good vibes.

  I also know that the discipline was good for me. I was playing two to three times a day in my different classes. Then I’d play again after school either at a game or at marching practice, and then rehearse in my bedroom at night before bed. In all, I was either playing or practicing trumpet up to five and a half hours each day! My lips would grow numb and I probably emptied an entire lake’s worth of saliva from the spit valve over the years (gross, but a necessary occupational hazard), but it was all more than worth it. Being in band helped me become the performer I am today. Even though I was just a small part of a much larger group, I could still feel the eyes of the crowd on me. It was a good way of easing me into the spotlight. I was out there on display, but I still had a protective shell of other people to help me not feel scared. As I grew more and more comfortable, I began to feel the desire to break away from the crowd and perform on my own.

  CHALLENGE

  #MUSICFORRICKY

  Find an instrument you’ve never picked up before in your life and make a video of you playing an easy song for beginners, maybe something like “Mary Had a Little Lamb” or “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Or trying to play them, at least—no one is perfect the first time. That’s what makes it so awesomely awful.

  CHALLENGE

  #ROLLFORRICKY

  TP a friend’s house! Just in case you’re not familiar, this means tossing tons of rolls of toilet paper into trees in their front yard. And then help them clean it up later.

  HEALTH

  I am addicted to fitness and staying healthy. Considering all the things in the world that a person can become addicted to, I feel lucky that’s the only thing I ever got hooked on. Staying in shape and eating right keeps me sane, keeps my mind focused, and relieves stress.

  One big important note that I need to get out of the way up front, though: All the fitness and diet stuff that I’m going to write about here and in the rest of the book happens to be what works best for me. Everyone’s body is different and everyone’s health needs are different. If you’re interested in getting healthier or working out to change any aspect of your body or life, it’s always best to talk to a doctor or your gym teacher first so they can give advice tailored to you. Rushing into a workout program or changing your diet too fast can be hard on you, and sometimes even dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.

  As for me, I plan my entire daily schedule around exercise. If I go more than two days without working out, I feel like I’m going crazy. I get all antsy and spacy and have trouble making decisions.

  I like shaking up my routine every so often, but right now here’s how I start my day: Mornings are for cardio, usually running or Soul Cycle. Running in the morning is the best way to burn fat and keep yourself shredded. Plus it wakes your butt up way better than coffee.

  I save weight training for the evenings because you can use the food that you ate all day to help with muscle growth and strength. Doing weight training in the morning is a little harder for the basic reason that you aren’t up to your optimum strength. You’ve been flat on your back or side or stomach for eight hours (ideally), and it helps to have your body nice and warmed up before trying to lift heavy things repeatedly.

  Staying healthy achieves a whole mess of goals at once for me. It keeps me happy, and taking control of the way my body looks helps me realize that I can achieve other aspirations through the same kind of discipline. Forget the stereotype about the dumb jock—physical strength equals mental strength! Unless you’re on steroids. Don’t ever take steroids; they give you rage fits and veins the width of Sharpies.

  A lot of people listen to music while they run, but I like to use the time to think. I live in Venice, California, so sometimes I’ll do my morning run down by the beach, and other times I’ll run the hiking trails in Runyon Canyon, an awesome park in L.A. Wherever I am, though, I like listening to the rhythmic thud of my footsteps and taking in the world as it flashes by me. If I let my mind go it’s almost like meditating, a chance to empty my brain of any negative thoughts.

  Another form of running that I do is high-intensity interval training on a treadmill, which basically means I’ll slow the machine down for a minute and then sprint for another minute as fast as I can. It’s super hard but a really good way to target stored fat in the body. (Plus you can be done with the whole workout in around ten minutes!) All the blood pumping through my body gets my brain revving—sometimes I use the time to come up with new video ideas.

  I listen to music when I lift weights, though. I always play really happy, popular hits, stuff that gets me motivated and gets my energy up without too much of a distraction. It helps to have the encouragement, and thinking too much about something else might cause you to lose focus and drop a weight on your foot. It’s better to get in the zone and concentrate on the task at hand.

  Right now I have two mai
n fitness goals—to stay lean, and to gain muscle. That might sound counterintuitive, but having muscles doesn’t have to mean looking like some crazy bulging superhero. And really at the end of the day my biggest goal is to just feel happy when I look in the mirror. Which is something that doesn’t always happen if I’ve been traveling and don’t have control over what I eat.

  Don’t get me wrong, I love to travel, but road meals are the worst. Sure, fast food tastes delicious, but too much of it will kill you. I’m much happier when I can cook for myself or order food from any restaurant I want. I like a lot of vegetables and fruit, and all of it organic if possible. Especially now that I’m vegan! Right after I became one, I noticed an immediate difference in the way I felt. I had so much more energy and just felt cleaner somehow.

  Veganism is a relatively new development in my life. I never liked meat that much to begin with, and I’ve always loved animals. But the real catalyst for my diet change was Trevor Moran. He and I were talking one day about trying to eat healthier, and we decided to go vegan together. He lasted exactly one meal before deciding that vegan food tasted gross, but I liked it and kept going!

  I’m not the type of vegan who will jump down someone’s throat or freak out if that person is eating a steak next to me. Plus it’s not something I can always 100 percent control—a restaurant might cook something in butter and I wouldn’t know. I do like knowing that I’m not eating any preservatives or food dyes, though. They’re nasty, and you can’t digest that stuff very well.

  BUT! I also think it’s important to not be all hard-core militant about your diet. Cheat meals can be a really healthy part of getting fit. They give you something to look forward to and provide extra motivation to work out once you’ve scarfed down that pizza. (Cheeseless, for me.) Make sure to let yourself enjoy those cheat meals, too—you’re not going to experience the full euphoria of a giant plate of French fries if you’re beating yourself up the whole time for eating it. It’s all about achieving a balance.

  The most important thing when it comes to fitness, though, is to have fun with it. Sure, it can be tough sometimes, especially when it comes to motivating yourself, but trust me when I say that staying in shape will change your life for the better in many different ways. It boosts self-confidence and increases your chances of living longer! What better incentive do you need?

  CHALLENGE

  #FITNESSFORRICKY

  Try a form of exercise that you’ve never done before. Spin class, the rowing machine, free weights, yoga—anything you want! Then take a pic or a video of you trying it right after. Lemme see you sweat!

  CHALLENGE

  #JENGAFORRICKY

  Do the Jenga Challenge (invented by Joey Graceffa!) with a friend. You can see me do it with Shane Dawson on my channel, and it’s basically regular Jenga with challenges written on some of the blocks.

  SELF-EMPOWERMENT

  I’ve always been a pretty independent person. I think I got it from my dad. He always needed his alone time when I was growing up, and I was the same way, ever since I can remember. Some days I felt like playing with kids in the neighborhood, other days I just wanted to stay inside and play video games. I know a lot of people who feel the need to be constantly surrounded by their friends, and while I definitely enjoy that at times, it’s not the way I roll. Creating a balance between the two is what makes me happiest.

  My independent streak really kicked into high gear when I was fifteen. I hated having to rely on anyone else for my own mobility. It didn’t seem fair that I had to wait for someone to come pick me up after band or tennis practice. I was a responsible teenager who never got in trouble, and it seemed ridiculous to sit around like some first-grader when I just needed to get from point A to point B.

  As my sixteenth birthday approached I could not wait to get my driver’s license, and I put all of my energy into learning how to operate a car. As the date of my test got closer, I got more and more jittery. I wasn’t all that great, and I noticed that whoever happened to be teaching me on a particular day would grip the door handle a little harder than normal. I was very relieved when I aced the test, and once I had my actual license, I became a much better driver. I think it was my independent streak flaring up again—after I was officially allowed to get behind the wheel, I willed myself to become great at it.

  Becoming mobile changed my life dramatically. Before I got my Kia, I drove a Jeep and loved being up so high off the ground. I could do whatever I wanted and finally be in full control of my own happiness. Being the workaholic that I am, one of the first things I did was drive my butt to the mall and land myself a job in a PacSun store.

  I’d always been obsessed with PacSun clothes. They’re beachy with a California vibe that probably partially influenced my future move to the West Coast. I was nervous when I went in for my interview, but I dressed head to toe in PacSun and the manager noticed right off. Consider that a lesson—know everything about the company you interview for before you go in! Because it worked. I may have been a skittish mess, but they complimented me on how well their clothes fit me and I was hired on the spot.

  My title was Sales Rep, and in addition to working the cash register my job involved walking the floor and going up to total strangers and asking if they needed help. All normal stuff, except for one thing—I was shy and had trouble talking to people I didn’t know, much less approaching them out of the blue. The idea of a regular paycheck helped force me out of my shell. I knew if I wanted to keep my job I needed to learn how to talk to strangers. So I sucked up all my jitters and threw myself into it. Early on, encounters tended to go like this:

  ME: Hello, sir, how can I help you today?

  CUSTOMER: Why the heck is this shirt so darn expensive?

  ME (backing away slowly with my head down): I’m sorry.

  As I got more comfortable with the job I learned to stick up for myself and tell anyone who complained that I didn’t set the prices. For the most part I got to help people pick out clothes that I thought would look good on them, and it turned out I had a pretty great eye for it. The happier a customer was, the easier it was to talk to that person, so I did everything I could to make the customer happy. It sounds simple, but at the time it was sort of a revelation.

  Once I settled into the job, the only times things got really awkward were when we suspected someone of shoplifting. Our store didn’t have its own security guard, so it was up to employees to make the call whether or not to accuse someone. I hated confrontation, it felt like I had to make a snap decision about whether or not to punch someone in the face.

  It was against mall policy to accuse someone without proof, and that meant asking someone to open up his or her bag, using a very nice and neutral tone of voice. But let’s face it. Asking people in your store to open their bag so you can check the contents basically is accusing them of shoplifting.

  We were taught to keep an eye on anyone who wore a big backpack into the store, and always made sure to count the number of items that went in and out of a dressing room. I was lucky, I never had a scary encounter. The few times that I knew people had stolen something and approached them, they immediately apologized and offered to pay for it. What could I do? Tell them, “No, you can’t have it now because you tried to steal it?” I wasn’t going to turn down a sale. So I’d ring the person up and we’d avoid eye contact and that was that. So awkward.

  Aside from those few occasions, having my license and my own source of income changed me in a big way. I was doing something for myself that would propel me further in life. A lot of people complain about having a job, but if you use it as a learning experience like I did, then it’s awesome. I also lucked out because I loved all of my coworkers, and they made working there a blast. Folding and selling clothes might not sound like much fun, but it truly was for me because I made it fun by having a positive attitude about it. I guess Mary Poppins was right about her sugar theory.

  CHALLENGE

  #LAUNDRYFORRICKY

  Knowi
ng how to fold clothes is a very important life skill. Surprise your parent/sibling/roommate by doing their laundry, folding it all in nice neat stacks, and leaving it on their bed. Take a selfie with the clothes, and make sure to separate whites from darks!

  CHALLENGE

  #LYRICSFORRICKY

  Make up your own lyrics to one of my songs or your favorite song of all time.

  RANDOM

  I’m twenty-four years old, and I love Pokémon. I’m not afraid to admit it—there’s no shame in that game. In fact, the actual games are pretty hard! And besides, it’s not like I’m an adult and still drooling over Barney or Teletubbies.

  It all started with Pokémon Red and Blue for Game Boy. I was so obsessed. The basic premise is you get sent out into the world on your own to collect critters and do battle, so it’s this awesome combination of whimsical imaginary animals and fierce fights. Plus no one ever dies if they lose, they just faint. It’s like training wheels for real life.

  I was also into Yu-Gi-Oh!, and would even enter official tournaments where I’d kick butt with my card-fighting techniques. But it wasn’t the same as my love for Pokémon.

  There are more than seven hundred different kinds (gotta catch ’em all!), but my absolute favorite is Ampharos. He looks like a yellow dinosaur with a white belly and flippers for arms, and what makes him special is this: Pokémon are usually divided into two categories: uber cute or awesome fighter. Ampharos is a rare combo of both. Other faves include Bulbasaur (a frog thing with a plant bulb on his back), Piplup (basically a penguin, and I live for penguins), Sceptile (a reptile with a tail that looks like palm fronds), and Sylveon (My Little Pony on acid).