Everyday life should be a great adventure, shouldn’t it? The kind of adventure where you are excited to jump out of bed each morning, with the potential to score some life goals every single day!
I’ve always looked for opportunities to keep life exciting, fun, and adventurous — but like everyone else, I’ve sometimes found myself falling into a bit of a slump here and there and needing to get back to basics.
As kids, it’s usually pretty easy to see the magic and wonder of everyday life. Everything seems new and exciting, after all, ranging from special events where our parents dress us up in things like dresses from A Little Lacey to our first view of the ocean.
Here are some tips that I’ve found help me to find more adventure in everyday life.
Look for opportunities to get into flow states each day
A “flow state” is that beautiful feeling you get of being fully immersed in an activity, to the extent that your sense of self-awareness disappears completely — without either your awareness disappearing or your “self” disappearing.
When you’re in a state of flow, time flies by and you’re one with the activity you are engaged in. You’re “on fire.”
People often find themselves getting into flow states when doing things like playing music, creating art, or playing sports. But I’ve found that many different activities can put me into a state of flow, as long as they are engaging enough, and I’m focused enough.
Look for opportunities to get into flow states each day, and life will automatically come to feel a lot more adventurous and exciting.
Set yourself some big goals and take the time to regularly shape how you feel about goal-related activities
I can think of a good handful of occasions where I was working towards some meaningful goal in life, and felt totally excited and enthusiastic as I was making progress towards those goals.
Goals are essentially adventures, and it’s at least as much about the journey as the destination.
If you don’t currently have any goals in your own life — maybe because you’ve been disappointed too many times in the past by failed ambitions — you’re setting yourself up for a sense of aimlessness and boredom.
The goals you set don’t have to be big 10 year plans. They can be things you want to achieve in the next couple of months. But setting yourself goals can be a great idea.
At the same time, regularly take steps to shape how you feel about goal-related activities. For example, if you find exercise unpleasant, question and take apart that feeling in your mind until you start to see things in a different light.
Try new things and don’t get too entrenched in your comfort zone
Is there any more surefire way to feel a sense of adventure than by setting off on a new journey and trying new things? If there is, I’m not sure that I’ve come across it.
It’s easy to get caught up in our comfort zones in life and to just end up going through the same motions day after day. But this naturally tends to lead to a life that feels unadventurous.
Try new things, and don’t get too entrenched in your comfort zone.
