I like the old Helen Keller quote that “life is either a great adventure or nothing.” This is the way I look at things. Life is meant to be an adventure and we should take every opportunity to create more adventurous experiences.
I see adventures as more than just exciting, dangerous activities. Adventure means pushing your boundaries and seeking out new and interesting experiences. It’s about how far you can push yourself past your limits and seeing what you’re truly capable of doing. And that’s a big part of what makes life worth living.
Finding adventure isn’t always easy though. After all, how often are you pushed enough past your limits to see what you’re capable of doing? But there are some things you can do to get that life of adventure.
1. Break your routine
Routines are the opposite of what an adventurous life is all about. They can be boring and predictable. If you know everything that is going to happen then you already know what you’re expected to do. There are no new challenges and no new experiences.
It’s important to break out of your routine frequently even if it is for little things. Think about trying out a new type of foreign food or walking through a part of the city you’ve never seen before. Sometimes the simplest changes to a routine can be very adventurous and rewarding.
2. Think experiences, not possessions
If you’re like most people, when you hear the word adventure you think whitewater rafting, traveling, mountain climbing or something similar. You might notice that all of these items have a common theme to them: they’re all activities.
That’s the nature of adventure. It’s based around doing something rather than owning something. You’re not likely to buy a possession that brings many adventures. Of course, there are notable exceptions such as a bicycle. But even then the adventurous part of a bike is when you take it out around the block or down a trail. You won’t get many adventures if it sits in the corner of the room gathering dust.
3. Become a Doer
All adventures require action. You have to be a person who goes out and does things. Otherwise you’re just an observer sitting on the sidelines waiting until it is your turn to get things done.
People don‘t usually sit around because of a lack of ideas of what they want to do. It’s because they can’t get past the planning and preparation stage and jump into their idea. You can’t experience something if it stays a thought. Get things out of your head and into action.
4. Believe adventure is everywhere
If you believe adventures can be found anywhere, you’ll find them. Having a belief like this can be a powerful way to train your mind to seek out new, interesting experiences. This belief can make you become more aware of the adventurous things going on so you can take advantage of them.
If you don’t believe that adventures can be found anywhere, your mind will stop looking for them. You won’t see them. Consequently, your number of adventures will decline.
5. Dream big
It’s a good idea to have big goals and dreams. When you dream big, you become more likely to push yourself to meet those goals. Ambition can be a great motivational tool. If you are successful in reaching those goals, you’ll have some really amazing adventures.
And even if you don’t achieve that big dream, you’ll still benefit. There are many things to experience as you pursue your goals. You might not have had all those experiences if you hadn’t dreamed big to begin with. It’s better to dream big and come up short and get all those experiences than to not even try.
6. Surround yourself with adventurous people
It’s much easier to have more adventures when you surround yourself with adventurous people. People like that will often invite you along on their experiences which will introduce you to so many new things. Adventures are usually more fun with other people so they‘re likely to take you along with them.
And even if they don’t invite you along, you’ll still benefit. All the stories they tell you about the things they’ve done can be quite inspirational. It can give you a lot of motivation and ideas about some things you can do yourself.
7. Look for inspiration
I’ve noticed a lot of my ideas about new adventures were inspired by others. It doesn’t just have to be from people you know either. I’ve been inspired to do things from movies, books, speeches and blogs.
When I find a story about someone who has done something interesting, I take a mental note about it. I imagine what it would be like to go through it myself and I figure out what it would take to do it. It’s all about getting ideas. Once you have those ideas, creating adventures becomes easier.
Create More Adventures Now
The best part about adventures is that there doesn’t seem to be a limit to them. There will always be something new to experience and some other way to push yourself past your limits. Realizing that you can always push yourself to new heights can be a freeing and uplifting thought. Life really is an adventure. Let’s see how far we can take it.
photo credit: gtall1
Hey Steve!
I love this line: “Think experiences, not possessions.” This has always been our attitude with our children. As a public school teacher, I’ve never had the money to do everything that would have been cool to do, buy, and own. We knew this as we started having children, so we committed early on to buy them experiences instead of things since we couldn’t afford both.
So while my daughter never had all the newest accessories or the most stylish clothes or all the tech gadgets growing up, at the age of 21, she has taken taken dance, piano, guitar, swim lessons. She has run cross country, played basketball, been in plays, sung on stage, performed piano in front of large audiences, been to Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, held a Koala and alligator, walked the Great Wall of China, been a student ambassador to foreign lands, zip lined over a tropical rain forest, swam in caves, volunteered for countless causes, and has just plain lived a pretty full life, packed with some life-changing experiences, with so much of life still ahead.
There were times in her youth when she wished she had some of the things we didn’t provide. She thanks God we made that decision early on now.
Awesome post, Steve!
I’m glad you like that line since I firmly believe in that too. I focus a lot more of my money on experiences than possessions and I think I’m a lot better off because of it.
It sounds like your daughter has had a lot of really great experiences too. That’s the approach I’m planning on doing when I have kids too. I’ll be a school teacher by then too so I won’t be able to pay for everything either. I’ll be putting much more emphasis on experiences since I think they really give much more value in the long run.
Funny as I was reading the article I was out to buy a new mountain bike – a possession! But it will en doors for new adventure and photo opportunities. I use the question : Am I a monkey chasing a shiny object?
I find it helps qualify if what I am buying will really fulfill a need or just a fleeting moment!
Great blog so far, just started reading it,
Thanks, Rick, I’m glad you like the blog.
I find that thinking through purchases helps in making sure you don’t pay for things you don’t need. Sometimes it’s just an impulse buy and, I really don’t need it as much as I think. Thinking this way has definitely saved me a lot of money.
Life sure can get boring when we keep doing the same thing over and over again. A little adventure can go a long way when it comes to having fun and enjoying life.
Yeah, adventure is a great way to break out of a daily routine. Adventure can be just the thing you need to spice things up and save your life from boredom.
Hi Steve,
very inspiring. I love the idea that adventure doesn’t need to be of the extreme variety, but every little aspect of life can be and adventure if you want it to be – you just gotta keep mixing it up!!
keep doing what you’re doing, your blog rocks!
Alan
Hey Alan, I think that adventure can be a really simple thing. I’ve had a lot of fun times just trying a new foreign cuisine and exploring what it is all about. Sometimes it is the little things that mean the most.
Steve, this is a seriously awesome post man. I love this > “Believe adventure is everywhere.” What an awesome and exhilarating perspective! It’s empowering and positive. It brings me back to my childhood years when life and all it contains was one big adventure. What a wonderful thing to believe in, and what an amazing thing to rediscover.
Thanks for that Steve!
Hey Chris, I can see how that line would bring you back to your childhood years. I remember when everything was an adventure back then. I still think that if you believe adventure is everywhere, you’ll find it. It really can be a positive and empowering belief. Thanks for sharing.
Life is one big adventure, isn’t it? I’m always looking for my next one and if I haven’t had one in a while, I get bored. Adventures don’t always have to be big, like trips. I can explore a new part of the city and have an adventure. I can go to a party and meet new people and have an adventure. And, of course, anything that takes me even remotely out of my comfort zone is an adventure. And once we get into an adventure mindset (getting lost isn’t a horrible waste of time but an adventure!), life generally becomes a lot more fun. 🙂
Huge hugs!
Melody
Hey Melody, you have a good attitude for adventure. I’m always looking for my next new adventure too and it’s always surprising where ones can come from. Even the smallest of things such as getting lost can lead to a new adventure. Instead of seeing it as an inconvenience, you can see it as something fun.
It’s great to realize that there’s a new adventure after you’ve conquered one. One important thing is to never accept defeat as we face new challenges. Dream big and surround yourself with people who share the same passion as this fuels your motivation to do something more than what you thought you can do.
Hey Ed, I like what you said about never accepting defeat as we face new challenges. I think that is part of the adventurous spirit to not back down when you’re faced with something difficult and outside your comfort zone. There will always be more challenges around the corner so it’s important to have a good mindset like that.
Great suggestions. I love the part about trying new foods, I used to be so picky that I would hardly eat anything. But then I started trying new things and found there was a ton of stuff I was missing out on for so long. And now I think how different (and lame) all of my trips would have been if I still remained so stuck in my routine when it comes to food!
I used to be picky about trying new foods too. I still remember the first time I tried Indian food. It was my first real attempt into a foreign cuisine and I was just trying it out to see if I liked it. I didn’t even know what to order and I had to ask the waiter. But I ended up getting a really good meal. Today Indian food is one of my favorite things to eat. Sometimes trying out new things like that can make you realize what you’re missing out on.
What do you say about someone who wants to become a big race car driver? My boyfriends biggest dream is to race. However he says that these days it takes hundreds of thousands and dollars spknsers and connections to even get on the track. It is depressing for him to know that his biggest dream is something that he can’t even try to do. In fact, his dad is a millionaire and told him till he was 15 that he’s gonna make him a driver. My boyfriend did race for awhile as a child. Then one day his dad told him he doesn’t feel feel like bothering with him anymore and has since just dont whatever he wanted. My boyfriend is traumatized and its sad for me to know that his biggest dream likely can’t happen. Since it’s a struggle to even eat, we technically can’t shell out thousands of dollars to send him to a race school or anything. He is in college but isn’t making good grades because he only likes cars but knows college is the only way he can get in a career that makes enough to provide for us, besides construction and blue collar things. Yes, reality can be crushing hence why I’ve trained myself to find joy in tiny things.
I can’t speak from experience since I’ve never actually looked into what it takes to be a race car driver. I’d imagine that it’s quite costly which is why so many racers have sponsors.
In this case, I’d say to look into what you can do about it. Money might be tough, but is there another way to get involved with race car driving? Like I said, I’m no expert in this subject. Perhaps you could contact someone who is and get advice. They can probably put you on a better path.
Good morning
Thanks for running such an interesting and informative blog! I really liked this article you shared. In fact, it actually helped me in writing a blog post about being more adventurous.
My post was just published today. Here’s the link if you’d like to check it out: http://www.goedekers.com/blog/75-ways-be-more-adventurous/ What do you think?
Thanks again for your help, and have a lovely Thursday!
I’m glad you like it, Sarah. It’s good to hear that my posts are inspiring others and that people can write even more from it in other posts.
Agree with everyone who loved the line “Think Experiences, not Possessions”! Absolutely brilliant and a powerful line Steve. The entire article is powerful in the ways to ignite the spirit of adventure!
Your article is very helpful. Agreed to surround yourself with adventurous people. Thank you for sharing.