Tag: learning curve

Why You Need To Have An Adventure Goal

an attitude of adventure is life changing“Adventure” is a word that repels many people, yet it’s the process of working towards an adventure goal that fills me with excitement and energy for the future. Adventure isn’t always fun and games. It can be pretty hard work too, with frequent floods of sweat, tears and frustration. So what’s the attraction? Why does anyone need to have an adventure goal? And why would you go through that turmoil when it’s so much easier to sit back and watch everyone else do it?

YOU: Why do I need to have an adventure goal?
ME: Let me count the ways!

Adventure is fun!

Well, maybe not your everyday kind of fun where you spend the whole time laughing, relaxing, and at ease with the world. That’s what we call Type 1 Fun. Adventure often falls into the category of Type 2 Fun where it sure as heck didn’t seem fun at the time, but afterwards you recount it with a big grin on your face and the level of pain seems to diminish in comparison to the whole experience. In other words, the investment you made was worth it! Sometimes adventures turn out to be Type 3 Fun – not fun at the time and still not fun afterwards. However there are plenty of other rewards for an adventurous life besides having fun (like telling the story afterwards and laughing at yourself) ….. or not.

Adventure goals are motivating!

If you ever need a boost to get out of a rut, setting an adventure goal for yourself could be just the thing to kick-start your motivation. Make sure you choose your own adventure though – it’s got to be something YOU would like to do, and not too easy or too challenging either.

Adventure goals are stimulating!

Adventures are the perfect workout! They get your mind and body working together as a team. As your body goes through the motions of a physical challenge, your mind is right there alongside working hard to learn, problem-solve, adapt and connect with the outside world.

Adventure goals are inspiring!

When you work towards a goal that’s got just the right amount of challenge in it for you, you set off an internal loop that keeps you inspired, not just about your goal, but about other things in life too!

Adventure goals are satisfying!

When have you achieved something you though you might not be able to do? Something that seemed hard enough that you had to practise, or that you had to work at for a while before reaching your goal? The feeling of satisfaction (and even elation) that goes hand in hand with adventure-seeking is a natural high that’ll have you coming back for more. Find a purpose in your adventure, and you’ll be set for life.

Adventure goals stretch you to be your best self!

Dip your toes into the waters beyond your comfort zone, grow new skills and become your best self! You deserve it. The world deserves it from you too.

Adventure goals grow your skills!

With any new activity comes a process of learning, and adventures are no different. Choose your own adventure and develop physical skills such as co-ordination, balance and endurance; mental skills such as persistence and focus; inner skills like regulating your emotions, behaviours and energy levels; and even social skills, travel skills and money management skills! The sky’s the limit!

Adventure goals make you feel good (often after you feel a bit bad for a while, but mostly they make you feel good!)

Working on an adventure goal using a well-planned method adds significantly to your mental health and sense of wellbeing. You’ll learn heaps about yourself, what your truly capable of, and what makes you tick. You might detour on your way to your goal, or even change your goal altogether, and that’s all absolutely fine! It’s the insights you gain to your inner life, and the choices you make in your best interest that matter more than anything else!

Have I missed any important reasons to have an adventure goal? Let me know by sending me a message, and while you’re at it, tell me:
What adventure goal are you working towards next?

Daisy Spoke

Discovering mountain biking as life’s ultimate parallel universe in her middle age, Kathryn Walton shares information and reflections in ‘Daisy Spoke’ that inform, inspire and empower women to a healthy and active lifestyle.

Another 5 Things I’ve Learned About Life Through Mountain Biking

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When you open your mind to learning and growing, you discover opportunities everywhere around you. Over the past ten years, mountain biking has become a parallel universe for me to learn about myself and the world around me. As my enthusiasm for this style of learning has developed, so too has my love of mountain biking. I wanted to share my excitement with everyone around me and so I began my blog, Daisy Spoke. And my very first post in Daisy Spoke was “5 Things I’ve Learned About Life Through Mountain Biking”.

So ….. now here at last are another five ways that mountain biking has helped me to keep learning and growing as an individual!

1. Look up

Look upI instinctively look straight down in front of me when I ride my bike. This means I wobble a lot and react to every little lump and bump in the terrain. Having a one way staring competition with the trail right in front of me does me no favours. My imagination fixates on small details that don’t really matter. I didn’t even realise this was happening until I learnt at a coaching session the importance of looking up, to keep my eyes focused further along the track. This gets me into flow and enjoying a smoother, more connected ride. I’m still learning to trust myself, to have confidence that my brain has registered the terrain directly in front of me and that my body will know how to handle it. Every ride is a reminder to keep my sights focused ahead in all areas of my life – my work, my personal life, and my riding!

2. Absorb the bumps

Absorbing the bumps while mountain biking
Photo from Chicks in the Sticks 2017

The bumps and jumps are all part of the fun of mountain biking – in fact a very large part of it! But it’s taken me a long time to see it that way. Fear of falling and lack of confidence creates tension which in turn leads to a rigid framework, sore muscles and stiff joints at the end of a ride. Learning to relax my stance and go with the bumps instead of resisting them is an ongoing process. Mountain biking gives me the opportunity to experience a sense of lightness instead of a sense of lack of control. I can visualise my legs as natural built-in shock absorbers. With improved inner resilience, or bounce-ability, I’m also able to relax a bit more in life in general, to see past the hiccups, and rise above the challenges.

3. Move around

Move moreHaving ridden mostly on smooth paved surfaces like roads and bicycle paths for most of my life, it’s been a huge learning curve getting onto mountain bike trails. You need to move your weight around constantly adjusting for the ever-changing terrain. Forward and back, side to side, up and down, as well as every possible combination of these movements. The hard lesson is that if you don’t shift your weight around you can’t get up that hill, or down that steep slope, or round that tight corner. Riding can quickly turn into hike-a-bike (which isn’t much fun) or hitting the ground (which also isn’t much fun). So when I ride I try to be conscious of how I move my body – above and around my bike frame. As in life, the more you move around, the more fun you’ll have and the healthier you’ll be.

4. Be present in the moment

Mindful concentration while mountain biking
Photo from Chicks in the Sticks 2016

A distracted mind is on a road to mishap. At least, that’s my experience on my mountain bike and life in general. On my bike, the terrain is constantly changing and I need to keep my wits about me at all times. When I tune my sensory antennae into the environment around me, I’m fully present in the here and now. At least that’s the theory! The reality is that sometimes when I’m riding my mind wanders off and suddenly, oops, there it is, a rut the size of the Grand Canyon about to swallow me and my bike. It’s an ongoing learning process of training my brain to come back to the present, Not only does this make me safer on my bike, the ride is heaps more fun too. The same technique applied to other areas of life can lead to more satisfying relationships, more efficient and effective business decisions, and reduced anxiety.

5. Keep trying!

Patiently persist!Throughout life I’ve tended to focus my energy and attention on things that come most easily to me. If I couldn’t do something perfectly the first time, I’d usually move on to the next thing fairly quickly. As far as mountain biking goes, I’d had a few short rides on unpaved paths and paddocks over the years but didn’t develop much interest in “that kind of riding”. I’d fallen off a few times so there wasn’t a lot of incentive to keep going, so my bike tended to stay in the garage most of the time. A few years ago I decided to give it another go. Maybe there was an inner knowing that it would open up a whole new world to me, that there was much more to be gained from riding than simply mountain biking skills. With the support of my Courage Coach, I learned to develop persistence and this has had a profound impact on me. I’ve discovered how valuable persistence can be when life gets tough and I feel like giving up. Persistence speaks to that fiercely determined part of my soul and keeps me trying, practising, modifying, trying again, and finding ways to bring my hopes and dreams into reality. I’ve learned that I can work really hard at things that don’t come naturally to me and to experience immense satisfaction from that!

Read PART 1 of this article (my very first ever blog post!) “5 Things I’ve Learned About Life Through Mountain Biking” including:

  • Look where you want to go
  • Lean into what you most fear
  • Going slow is ok
  • Take a break when you need it
  • Practice, practice, practice

Discovering mountain biking as life’s ultimate parallel universe in her middle age, Daisy Spoke aka Kathryn Walton logoKathryn Walton shares information and reflections in Daisy Spoke that connect, inspire and self-empower women to make healthy choices for themselves. She integrates her love of physical exercise, family, nature, gardening and creative arts with her professional background in mental health social work to facilitate change with individuals, groups and communities of women who are committed to living life to the full.