Are you an adventurer?

[Ahnehnois]

Not really. I'm more of a long walks on the beach kind of guy.

 

[Rel]

I'm on the verge of taking a massive leap into the dark as I'm being made redundant from my current job. I'm planning on going back into performing/acting/voice-over/film extra/singing.

It was great talking to you about this recently and I'm excited about following along during your journey, Mathew. Keep me posted!

so where does the killing the bad guy and taking his stuff come into play...


not just theory but practice.

I know you mean this humorously but one of the things that I've had to learn to do is eliminate the negative people from my life. Or at very least limit contact. A couple people have asked me about my coaching business, "So what's Plan B if this fails?"

Plan B is to learn from my mistake and keep going! And if you're going to try and undermine my confidence and happiness then I'm not going to talk about this stuff with you. And if you insist on talking about it then I'm going to eliminate you from my life. I got no time for doomsayers.

Perhaps the closest I've come to having an adventure is surviving through the week in the aftermath of Katrina. Which for me, was more like camping.

There's sadly a lot of that going around right now in the northeast. Living in NC, I've been through a couple direct hits by hurricanes and it is scary stuff. But I did always feel like I had the skills to cope with the situation. And now that I look back on it, it was definitely an adventure.

Totally not an adventurer. But thinking about how much I want to play Skyrim, and why, makes me wonder why explorers' societies are not really a big thing...

They are out there! One of the ones that fascinates me the most is Adventure Racing. That's something I really want to do some day.

I adventure vicariously through my children now...

When I stare at the walls at home though, I can feel it in my own life. I feel like I've been sitting at a bus stop, waiting for someTHING to arrive.

How does that make you feel? Do you feel like things are passing you by while you wait?

Yes. Without a doubt and I always have been. I am on my second KickStarter and it is almost fully pledged after just 2 days after the first failed. I don't think I can learn or enjoy life without trying it.

I try to live by the motto "Live a life others dream about." Not in a selfish way but in the kind of way where even I used to see someone and say, "Man I wish I was doing that." Since I was 18, ended up with cancer and lived through it, I have been like this. If I want to do it I do it. Jumped out of airplanes, raced cars, tried to write 2 books, did the 1st KickStarter, now on my second, left a comfortable job for another because it just felt right.

Many of the skills I have did indeed come out of gaming. Attention to particular details, multi-tasking, identifying important steps and thinking outside the box.

I don't want to ever ever look back and say, "Damn I wish I would have..."

The recent Kickstarter is probably one of the scariest things. Because running a project about something I knew very little about was scary. I took a year to prepare, studied, learned, listened, studied some more. Its paying off.

I teach martial arts, competitive archery, and write and sell my own music. Why ever look back and feel any doubt about what you did?

I think that most of the time, not all, things do end up paying off. Life can through you a curve ball sure, but in the end you can still hit the ing curve ball out of the park.

This is one of the coolest things I've seen all week (and I've seen some REALLY cool stuff this week!)! I dig that you put in some time to prepare because that is a key to success at almost anything.

I love your energy and I just pledged some money for the kickstarter link in your .sig!

We lived on the outskirts so I had places to hike around in, which I did plenty of. But I had to get out of that mad house, so I joined the Air Force and had a few adventures there.

I may have told you this before, Scott, but thanks for your service to our country. That's an adventure shared by many but I still always feel it is worthy of recognition.


Thanks to everybody who has responded so far! I am really looking forward to writing this weekly column. But I only get the chance if you show your interest by keeping these comments coming!

 

[Rel]

Not really. I'm more of a long walks on the beach kind of guy.

In the last week on the east coast, that sort of activity has been pretty adventurous!

 

[Scott DeWar]

*massive snippage*


I may have told you this before, Scott, but thanks for your service to our country. That's an adventure shared by many but I still always feel it is worthy of recognition.

*more snippage*

I believe you have told me that, and once again, your welcome.

 

[Karak]

This is one of the coolest things I've seen all week (and I've seen some REALLY cool stuff this week!)! I dig that you put in some time to prepare because that is a key to success at almost anything.

I love your energy and I just pledged some money for the kickstarter link in your .sig!

Thanks I appreciate the kind words and the pledge!

I also think that prep is vital in most success. It seems that many people just don't understand how much prep is needed for some things. I usually define prep as, twice as long as a person who is interested in something took to learn it. So if I need to learn something I am not stoked about I go at it for around 2 times as long as someone I know who is successful at it because they love it.

It has always worked for me. Sometimes you may run out of time, energy, money, whatever but most of those recharge(except for time) and that is why time is so important. Why start something unprepared and waste the litle prep time AND the entire failure time of a project.

Go into it with a head of steam built on like a train that has taken awhile to get to full speed but once it is going...WATCH OUT!

I just don't want to waste a single moment.

 

[WhimsyTheFae]

Adventurer? Nada. I play it pretty safe, for the most part.

Dream job? Nada. I do what pays the bills, because I don't think I can come close to making what I do now if I were to pursue what I'd rather do.

Unfortunately, I find myself second-guessing many of my decisions because of this. I end up with various regrets.

To be fair, I have a good job. I have a good home life. My regrets are not the regrets of someone who made a ton of "wrong" decisions, but instead, while I have made some "wrong" decisions, my regrets are mostly that I made sub-optimal decisions, safe decisions and decisions that did not bring me closer to pursuing my dreams.

Perhaps one day I will become adventurous and pursue my dreams.

 

[Ahnehnois]

In the last week on the east coast, that sort of activity has been pretty adventurous!

While I don't currently live near water (much to my chagrin), I am taking a previously planned trip to Delaware's beaches this weekend. Adventurous indeed.

 

[Janx]

Adventurer? Nada. I play it pretty safe, for the most part.

Dream job? Nada. I do what pays the bills, because I don't think I can come close to making what I do now if I were to pursue what I'd rather do.

Unfortunately, I find myself second-guessing many of my decisions because of this. I end up with various regrets.

To be fair, I have a good job. I have a good home life. My regrets are not the regrets of someone who made a ton of "wrong" decisions, but instead, while I have made some "wrong" decisions, my regrets are mostly that I made sub-optimal decisions, safe decisions and decisions that did not bring me closer to pursuing my dreams.

Perhaps one day I will become adventurous and pursue my dreams.

Well, at the risk of being negative, but I'm not sure the world has room for all 7 billion of us to pursue our dreams and suceed.

I doubt anybody wants to be a garbage man, but somebody's got to do it. There's just not enough room on the beach for all of us to run surf shops.

I exagerate, but there's a limited band where some people can be free to ditch their crappy job for something truly better, and a much broader band where folks have to work with what they have and put up with it, because it's work.

I can appreciate the concept of "avoiding negative people", and in fact, when us normal folks hear somebody's "crazy idea" we should hold back from crapping on it with such "what's your plan B" comments.

but in turn, those folks who are taking the chance to pursue their dreams need to cut everybody else some slack. All these "negative people" did the same calculation on what to do with their life as you, and they got a different result that tells them to accept life as it is. to them, the likelyhood of failure is high and the consqequence is severe, as compared to accepting their status quo.

To a dreamer, I suppose that makes them look negative. But to those people, they are being pragmatic realists.

 

[Rel]

Thanks I appreciate the kind words and the pledge!

I also think that prep is vital in most success. It seems that many people just don't understand how much prep is needed for some things. I usually define prep as, twice as long as a person who is interested in something took to learn it. So if I need to learn something I am not stoked about I go at it for around 2 times as long as someone I know who is successful at it because they love it.

It has always worked for me. Sometimes you may run out of time, energy, money, whatever but most of those recharge(except for time) and that is why time is so important. Why start something unprepared and waste the litle prep time AND the entire failure time of a project.

Go into it with a head of steam built on like a train that has taken awhile to get to full speed but once it is going...WATCH OUT!

I just don't want to waste a single moment.

This brings to mind a principle that I've come to employ a lot recently. It's summed up as "If it's not a 'HELL YES!' then it's 'No thanks'."

Time is really precious to me these days and I try to spend it doing things that fulfill and energize me. I've gotten rid of as much stuff as possible that I consider to be a drag.

Even so I get approached with lots of opportunities to get involved with projects or organizations or activities. I am a very positive and helpful person and I go through life with a pretty "say yes" attitude. But I've learned to step back and ask myself, "Is this thing really good for me to spend my time on?" And if my answer isn't "HELL YES!" then I tell them, "No thanks."

It's pretty liberating to think that way.

 

[Karak]

Adventurer? Nada. I play it pretty safe, for the most part.

Dream job? Nada. I do what pays the bills, because I don't think I can come close to making what I do now if I were to pursue what I'd rather do.

Unfortunately, I find myself second-guessing many of my decisions because of this. I end up with various regrets.

To be fair, I have a good job. I have a good home life. My regrets are not the regrets of someone who made a ton of "wrong" decisions, but instead, while I have made some "wrong" decisions, my regrets are mostly that I made sub-optimal decisions, safe decisions and decisions that did not bring me closer to pursuing my dreams.

Perhaps one day I will become adventurous and pursue my dreams.

I think many live in the "safe" zone. Its the way humanity is wired for the most part. At times an excellent practice and at other times a sad reminder of past instincts.

I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. However, many people I know who make safe decisions don't regret them as they fit in line with their expected outcomes. I would say at the very least try to identify why there is regret and if there is an underlying issue. Sometimes you can take care of the regret without making a hang-glider out of rubber bands and trying to see if it flies. Expected outcomes are where regret seems to pop up its ugly head.