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