The Adventurous Mind

What is a true adventure? True adventure is the pursuit of something with no guaranteed outcome. The chasing of a dream, not knowing whether success or failure awaits. True adventure says…

“I am going to give this everything I have. I will commit to following this path to its completion. I don’t know what lies at the end of this path, nor what will happen along the way, but there is no plan B. I know full well the unlikelihood of achieving my dream, but no matter. This is the path I have chosen to follow.”

Ups and Downs of Adventure

Adventure is then everything that happens along the way of that pursuit. It’s true adventure because no one knows what will happen. There’s no guarantee of success. Each day is spent striving forward, towards something that you have chosen. Towards something that you want.

What is worth giving your all for? What is worth surrendering your plans and your security? What ultimate dream is worth the sacrifice of every other easier thing you know you could accomplish? What is worth that blind leap of faith?

When you find the answer to these questions, sacrifice all else for the pursuit of that dream. Become all that you can be. Push yourself to be disciplined in the chase. Grind every day. Don’t take your foot off the gas pedal.

Become obsessed.

Adventure Requires Sacrifice

Allow yourself to be fully swept away by the pursuit of your adventurous dream.

This is no joke. It’s your life, and an adventure like this takes work. Don’t wake up 30 years from now with regret.

To taste true adventure… you must martyr yourself to your dream.

No matter the odds of success. No matter how unlikely it is to achieve. The magic of the dream itself lies in the chase, not in its attainment.

Did I Choose the Wrong Dream?

When the question of “should I have pursued something different?” arises, you can know that you are following the right path simply because it is what you chose to follow. It’s the right path because you made the decision to follow it. You chose it.

And you have to choose something.

You can’t bounce from thing to thing, doing whatever sounds fun and putting in poor quality work. No. That’s not true adventure. Adventure takes work. Putting in half-assed effort is weakness and a sign of running away from responsibility.

That’s not chasing a dream. That’s not pursuing an adventure.

Deciding to Follow an Adventure

The time has come to decide on a path and follow it to its completion. When hiking a mountain, you choose one mountain to climb. If you bounce from trail to trail, and mountain to mountain, you get nowhere.

You gain nothing unless you commit yourself to one path, regardless of its outcome.

Only after following a path to its very end can you pack up with pride and return to follow another path. Only after reaching either a summit or a dead-end, can you then pursue the next adventure.

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I hope you find your adventure. And when you do, I hope you commit to it. I hope you chase after it with everything you have. That’s where the magic of life is. Genuinely.

Let me know what you’re chasing right now! I’d love to hear what incredible adventures and dreams everyone has!