A Life of Adventure (Goal Setting Process)
A Life of Adventure
One Goal at a Time
Our lives are at a frenetic pace every day, filled with daily routines of work, errands, and chores. These daily routines are only interrupted by the weekends where we can pause to restore ourselves and prepare for the next week of routines. These weeks turn into months which turn into years, and if you are not careful, you will stop one day and look back on your own life and wonder where was the adventure. The casual week vacation at the Florida beach over spring break, the up-north vacation at the family cottage, and the occasional ski trip in the mountains or hike the north country trail are relevant memories. You hope for more of these but wonder how you can do it given your responsibilities at work and with your family at home.
I had several moments that converged into my thought process during a time in which I was examining my own life and reflecting on what I had done up to this point and how I wanted to spend my time and resources in the next phase of life. People experience middle age differently and some crash right into and make an abrupt change hoping to awaken their soul. Others embrace middle age and move through it with grace and confidence.
As I reflected on my own life, I was grateful for some of the experiences I had the opportunity to be involved in and hopeful about what could possibly become in the next phase of life. Yet, I was also sad about many of the lost opportunities that I turned down, or said no to as I thought at the time I was too busy or that the same opportunity would be available later only to realize that it wasn’t.
If you are not careful or intentional, time will get the best of you and the years will go by and you may miss out on some incredible experiences and adventures. I have been fortunate to discover a process and surround myself with people who are passionate about living a life of adventure. I have learned a few things along the way and my desire and hope for you is that your life is filled with adventure, and purpose. If I can help you as you become more intentional with your resources, and focused on writing your story of adventure, please reach out to me.
I share the following process for goal setting and adventure pursuing. This thought process was adapted from the work of Bob Goff in his book, Dream Big, and the work of Mark Batterson, in his book Win the Day: 7 Daily Habits to Help You Stress Less & Accomplish More.
What is a Sherpa?
Life works better when we have Sherpas to help us along the way. A mountain climber will have a Sherpa to help make our own path easier and clearer as we move toward our own journeys and paths. I am not a guide. I want to be a Sherpa. Guides tell people what mountain to climb, Sherpas, on the other hand, let the climber pick the mountain to be climbed, then spend their time helping the climber lay the ropes so the climber can go faster.
Here are 6 steps to help you discover your own adventures
Overcoming overthinking:
✅ Retire the old soundtrack (thought patterns and self talk)
✅ Replace with a new soundtrack
✅ Repeat the soundtrack until it becomes automatic
Retire | Replace | Repeat
Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure.
Almost anybody can accomplish almost anything if they work at it long enough, hard enough, and smart enough.
1. Start with Why
Setting goals begins in your mind and requires you take the time to dream big on how you want to spend your time and money. St aside 24 or 48 hours. Turn off your phone and I would encourage you to spend time in a place that is of special significance to your life. Mark Batterson wrote that a change of pace + change of place = change of perspective. Take a journal with you to capture your ideas and thoughts. Your life goals are always in draft form, but it is important to capture these ideas and dreams.
Organizing your thoughts around these three questions will help you accomplish in the future what you haven’t been able to make happen in the past.
Who are you? Where are you? What do you want?
Who are you?
What happens at a social gathering and you meet someone for the first time. The question that is invariably asked, What do you do for a living? As if we have our identity linked to our profession. Or we talk about who we are through our own kid’s sports accomplishments, or the place we work or the neighborhood or church we attend. If we are not careful, our identity is tied to something external rather than internal. Yet, if we are brave enough, most of us know the deeper answer, but are afraid to say it out loud. I am an addict., I am coasting in my marriage. I’ m selling myself short. I am afraid I will be discovered.
Where are You?
Hurling through space around the sun, at 25,000 mph, the earth is spinning 1,000 mph on its axis, Your brain can process what your eyes see in 13 milliseconds. If you think you are moving to slowly you are wrong. Everyone is somewhere.
Trying to be everyone who thinks or expects of us is exhausting. Discovering who you really are and what makes you tick is worth the effort. If we can learn what the core motivation behind our actions are, we can figure out where they came from and take the necessary action to move forward.
For me, I am going so fast and doing so much I am missing the important things I could be sharing with friends and family.
What do You Want?
This is something we each decide at some point. We have an ambition and then face the headwinds that discouragement and reality and failure bring our way. That is when we have to decide if our goal is worth it. Pick big enough goals that matter.
As Bob Goff writes, If you set selfish goals, you’d be better off not accomplishing them. That’s why you need to take a long look in the mirror and make sure you’re going after it for the right reasons. Mark Batterson writes, a goal is only as good as the motivation behind it. Make sure your goals pass the motive test.,
Earlier in my journey, one of my financial goals was to make a lot of money and have a million dollars in the bank, but I met a man who had the goal of giving away a million dollars and he encouraged me to change my perspective from “getting goals” to “giving goals” I realized that my own goals did not meet the “motives” test and as Mark Batterson said, Those giving goals changed my focus—you want to make more so you can give more. Don’t focus on standard of living, but on standard of giving.
Mark states, I had a paradigm shift when it comes to financial goals. I stopped setting “getting goals” and started setting “giving goals.”
2. Under Pressure
It is hard to get started on goal setting and far too often people feel the pressure to write these big goals. Or too often people only focus in one area of their life. It can be hard thinking about goals. As you begin thinking about goals, I would encourage you to think about several areas of your life and different categories. Some common types of goals include physical, mental, spiritual, occupational and financial. Those are all good categories and a great place to start. You can also think in terms of experiential and influential goals. Experiential goals include the places you want to go and the things you want to do. Influential goals are other-focused. They revolve around the legacy you want to leave.
Far too many people start off with too big of goals. I want to run a marathon is often a good physical goal but don’t be afraid to start smaller in your journey to the marathon. Maybe it is couch to 5k program first.
To jump start the goal-setting journey, google and look at a few life goals lists I have included mine on my website. I’ve borrowed some of my goals from others, but I’ve always found a way to put them in my own journey.
3. Thermometer
Mark Batterson writes, If a goal isn’t measurable, it’s not manageable. You have no way of knowing if you’ve accomplished it. Losing weight and getting into shape are not goals, they are wishes. You turn wishes into goals by giving yourself a target weight and a target timeline.
Make sure your goals pass the thermometer test. Put a time-stamp on your goal and keep track of the dates when you accomplish your goals. What do you need to do today to reach toward accomplishing your goals for tomorrow?
There are goals, I want to accomplish during different decades of my life. Be patient work on the goals in front of you today. Just like a person checks the temperature or weather for today, you must also do that with your goals.
Sometimes, It’s not easy attaching numbers to your goals, especially giving goals, but I’d rather aim to high and fall short than aim low and hit the target. If you realize that you didn’t dream big enough, it’s okay to make revisions to your visions. I have seen people change their goals once they hit a goal realizing that the limitation was all in their mind and I have experienced failure. It happens.
You swing for the fences, you run with joy and anticipation and the wheels come off. Resist the tendency to be discouraged.
4. Write It Down
“Write down the vision,” said the prophet Habakkuk to the people of Israel, When I was in school the analogy was the shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory. Today there is an APP for it.
Something powerful happens when you verbalize a goal, especially in writing. Neuropsychologists call it the generation effect. We have a better memory for things we write over and above things we read. James Clear, in his book, Atomic Habits indicates that when we write down our goal and then tell someone our goal, our chance of accomplishing that goal increases significantly.
Only 3% of people have written goals (o.k., I have no idea but it sounds scientific). Writing down your goals helps you remember them, but it also holds you accountable. You can change your goals at any time. Life happens, interest change or maybe circumstances prevent you from accomplishing that goal but write them down. Plus, you’ll have a written record when the goal is accomplished.
5. Better Together
My goals used to revolve around me, myself, and I. I have replaced many (not all) of personal goals with shared goals. How? By adding a relational component. A journey with a friend or family member is better than a journey alone. Kissing my wife, Cindy on a cruise ship in the Caribbean is much more meaningful than sailing the Virgin Islands (that sounds like a parable with a deeper meaning, what do you think?).
Make sure your goals pass the relationship test. Nothing cements a relationship like a shared goal. Goals are relational glue, and they double the joy when the goal is achieved. Many of my goals revolve around my family—they are tailored to the unique personality and passions of my wife and children. I want to hike the Grand Canyon rim to-rim with my wife Cindy, dirt biked with my sons, and do missions trips to other countries with my sons.
If you want to achieve your goals, don’t be all balloon and no string in your life. We need to be anchored and tied to one another.
Practically speaking, our availability to on another is a pretty good measure of how available we will be to opportunities that come our way. Availability is the most reliable predictor of engagement, which will be the most reliable predictor of success.
If you want to make progress on your goals, ask other people about their goals. Engage in noteworthy conversations and write down what you learn and opportunities will find you. Availability attracts ideas.
6. Celebration is Important
As Mark Batterson states, goals come in lots of sizes and shapes—big and small, short-term and long-term. You need some over the top goals that will take a lifetime to accomplish. Why? Big goals turn us into big people! If you want to dream until the day you die, set goals that will take a lifetime to achieve.
I rode my motorcycle in every state in the continental U.S., yep all 48 states. This was a 5 year journey that included 50,000 miles on the bike. It started with the daily commutes to work, logging miles, developing my confidence on the bike, and increasing the miles driven.
I didn’t just celebrate when I crossed the last state line, I celebrated new mile makers along the way. When raising children, we rewarded the behaviors we wanted as parents. Goals work very similar. When you accomplish a goal, throw a party. You will end up doing similar goals with each celebration.
Don’t confuse a lot of activity with a bunch of progress. Rest is wise, preparation is wisdom. Don’t think taking care of yourself-lying down for a nap, lounging in a hammock, or sitting in your chair-means you are slacking. The path to your ambitions is not one long race, it is a series of wind sprints that covers the distance of a marathon.
Today matters. Start now and enjoy the journey.
Resources
Books
Win the Day- 7 Daily Habits to Help You Stress Less and Accomplish More, Mark Batterson,
Dream Big- Know What you Want, Why You Want it, and What You are Going to Do About it, Bob Goff
Goals- How to Get the Most Out of Life, Zig Ziglar
Atomic Habits -An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones, James Clear
Dream It. Pin it. Live it. – Sa Alkatheri
Intentional Living – John Maxwell
Everyday Visionary – Focus Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Jesse Duplantis
Factfulness – Ten Reasons We’re Wrong about the World and Why Things are Better Than You Think, Hans Rosling
Websites
Log and catalog all the stuff you want to accomplish before you expire. Read stories and watch videos by people who checked items off their own bucket lists.
https://www.locationrebel.com/bucket-list/
We’re going to teach you how to build a lifestyle business that will let you leave your job, work from anywhere, and spend more time doing the stuff you love. On the site you’ll find resources for how to do this, as well as content from our own adventures
https://www.thebucketlistlifestyle.com/
Chase was a small town guy in Oregon, working long hours as a caregiver and settling in every area of life. When his life was flipped upside down and he was totally lost, he wrote a Bucketlist.
Join me in my life’s journey
