How to become more adventurous

i have a feeling

that almost everyone here is thinking

about adventure

incorrectly here’s one of my favorite

adventure stories

it’s 4 30 in the morning pitch black

the dim light from my headlamp is just

bright enough to see jhuma

who’s my mountain guide we’re walking

slowly

through the darkness up a really steep

incline

my heart’s pounding my chest is heavy

but i look up at the night sky

and the stardust of the milky way galaxy

grabs my attention

then juma shouts for me to catch up so i

snap out of my stargaze and i continue

to walk on

we’ve been trekking since 10 p.m the

night prior and i’m exhausted

but i remain focused on the goal get to

the top of this mountain

so after another hour or so of climbing

juma and i catch a glimpse of the summit

and we look at each other with a burst

of adrenaline

we race to this large wooden sign one

that i’ve been envisioning for years

and it reads mount kilimanjaro

19 341 feet

taking it all in on top of africa’s

highest peak

i thought about what we’d accomplished

we climbed a mountain

what an adventure so when i say the word

adventure

what comes to mind maybe climbing

mountains

jumping out of airplanes or going on

long expeditions

deep in the wilderness and that makes

sense in fact

webster dictionary defines adventure as

an undertaking

usually involving danger and unknown

risks

but there’s a problem with this

definition most people feel

that adventure is unattainable it’s

something that’s reserved

for the intrepid people who can on a

whim

explore the most remote corners of the

world

it’s not meant for regular people say

those with nine to five jobs

or people who are in school full-time

it’s out of reach

when we’re lucky enough to take vacation

time to adventure

our experiences feel rushed and fleeting

it’s as if adopting this definition

forces many of us

to distance ourselves from adventure all

together

now here’s another story much closer to

home

last summer my friends and i joined a

volleyball league

for context none of us had really played

volleyball before

we simply thought it would be something

fun to do after work

but here’s the thing it was the most fun

experience of my summer

each week i’d meet up with a group of

friends at the beach

we’d laugh we’d get a bit of a workout

in and we’d learn a new sport together

what i loved most every monday around 6

p.m

i was present i was excited to be there

and i was learning something new with an

open mind

so i thought about volleyball for a

while and i realized

i loved the experience because it felt

like an adventure

how could that be i wasn’t far from home

surely wasn’t taking any risks

so how could playing in a volleyball

league feel like an

i thought about my feelings for a while

and i had a breakthrough

i found out that there are three

qualities that define every adventure

big or small number one

is being present in the moment number

two

is being excited and number three

is being open to new experiences

playing in a volleyball league in new

jersey appears

to have nothing in common with checking

mount kilimanjaro

but when you think about it you don’t

need to be traveling overseas

or climbing mountains to feel

adventurous in fact the qualities of

adventure

present excited and open are very much

achievable

in our daily lives now at this point you

might be wondering

why should i even care about being more

adventurous

let’s take one more look at the

qualities present

excited and open all three are necessary

in order to live a happy and fulfilling

life

and there’s data to prove it in a recent

university of chicago study

only 14 of adults reported that they’re

very happy

that’s a five-decade low some of the

reasons for the unhappiness

are regret boredom and monotony

but i have good news for you we can all

add adventure to our lives

every single day and the qualities of

adventure

directly fight against the unhappiness

caused by the regret

lord and monotony you see adventure is

the missing ingredient

that can make us happier so how do we

become more adventurous

here’s a simple two-step framework start

by changing the definition of adventure

and then

adopt an adventurous mindset let’s

change the definition

as it turns out webster has a second

lesser-known

definition for adventure that is an

exciting or remarkable experience

when put this way i can think of

countless examples of adventures

yes climbing mountains but also joining

new sports leagues

how about leaving your current job to

try something new

or to start your own business or

something simple

like picking up a new hobby when we

consciously accept this updated

definition

adventure becomes much more attainable

it’s no longer reserved solely for those

who wish to free dive

with great white sharks in south africa

even though i have to admit that is on

my bucket list

adventure becomes attainable for

everyone

now it’s one thing to change your

definition it’s another to actually feel

adventurous each day

because after all it’s a little tricky

to view something like learning to play

the guitar

in the same way we view skydiving

there’s a physiological response

to apparent danger that’s impossible to

replicate in most day-to-day situations

that’s why we need an adventurous

mindset

an adventurous mindset is an attitude in

which we view

our experiences through the lens of

adventure that is we’re present

excited and open to all of our

experiences

how do we get this mindset start by

seeking out adventures

don’t shy away from new people places or

experiences

challenge yourself to do one thing each

week that you’ve never done before

then make adventure a habit if you build

a consistent habit of adventure

you’ll start to view everything that you

do in a new and exciting way

now let’s shift gears growing up i was a

soccer player

i started playing at age five with

dreams of playing professionally

i gradually leveled up over the years

and eventually played through college

i captained the team at the college of

new jersey

soccer was much more than a sport to me

it was my identity

when i realized that i didn’t have the

level of talent to play professionally

i looked for other ways to bring soccer

into my life

after traveling overseas and seeing both

the love for soccer internationally

and the levels of poverty that existed

in some developing nations

i decided to start a soccer specific

social mission company

with my best friend it’s called

universal dialect

our mission is to give as many soccer

balls as possible

to kids that can’t afford to play the

sport they love

i wanted to share my passion with the

kids and i wanted to help

now let’s travel back to mount

kilimanjaro where my talk began

now you might have thought that i went

there to climb the mountain but i was

actually there for something much bigger

my company organized a soccer ball

giving event with a local school in

moshi tanzania

that’s what i was there for i simply

checked kilimanjaro because

i love to challenge myself and i

couldn’t pass up the opportunity

to reach africa’s highest peak while

visiting

so while descending down the mountain i

turned my attention to what the next day

had in store

we were going over to the school to

donate soccer balls

the next day as we arrived at the school

a crowd of young

energetic tanzanian students formed

around the car

the school’s headmaster spoke to the

kids in swahili

the local language and they formed a

circle

large enough for me to set down bags of

soccer balls

a quick look at the kids told the entire

story they were glowing in anticipation

with smiles that stretched across their

entire faces

they wanted to move to play to take a

soccer ball and run around

while i opened one of the ball bags an

eager girl came forward to receive the

first ball

her reaction was something that i’ll

never forget

she thanked me in swahili put the ball

at her feet

and set off dribbling into the crowd of

school kids

in a flash the whole group was in motion

sprinting

to a dirt field next to the courtyard

then one boy ran over to me he took my

arm

and guided me into the most exhilarating

game of pickup soccer that i’d ever

experienced

that’s when it hit me this wasn’t about

soccer

the act of playing was an adventure and

it was the kids adventure

we were present we were excited and we

were open to new experiences

see the kids didn’t need to be far from

home they didn’t need to put their lives

at risk

they didn’t even need to have much money

they simply needed to experience

the qualities of adventure

we were happy and we were truly living

in the moment

so we played we sweat and we had

ventured under the hot sun

for hours

reflecting on that magical day two

things became clear to me

number one while i used to think of

adventure in its typical definition

i learned along the way that adventure

is attainable

something as simple as playing soccer is

just as much of an adventure

as climbing the tallest mountains in the

world and you don’t need to be far from

home

to access meaningful adventure and live

a happier life

the truth is that you can turn any

experience into an adventure

number two despite years of growing up

playing soccer

i realized that soccer wasn’t my true

identity

i was an adventurer all along and soccer

was simply the vehicle

i’ll leave you with this i challenge you

to change your definition of adventure

to adopt an adventurous mindset and to

seek out new experiences

as small as nurturing a new hobby and as

large

as climbing a mountain i challenge you

to become an adventurer

because after all the world would be a

happier place

if we became a bit more adventurous

thank you