For the Adventurer.

My personal brand. What is it? Where am I going? Why? Questions, questions, and more questions.

I feel like I usually pressure myself to write “coherent pieces” for my blog, but lately I’ve been exploring different styles of writing grâce à my 1000 words a day challenge. Today, I’m hoping to explore the idea of an adventurer. I made an off-the-cuff video discussing this subject, but I want to try formalizing these principles in writing as well. So here we gooo..

Who is an adventurer?

Anyone and everyone who sees life as an adventure. With curiosity about the world, and energy to expend, adventurers are fearless in their exploration of the world (not necessarily just the physical world). Adventurers get excited about the journey, often not caring about a specific destination, choosing to wander in some general direction instead. Adventurers are always learning and developing new skills to be added to their toolkits, but are not afraid to get lost, mess up, or face setbacks on the way. Adventurers embrace everything thrown their way and are intensely connected to the energy of their inner child. Deep down, there’s an adventurer in us all.

What is the triad of adventure?

Ha, ha, ha.. I love analogies so buckle up. The triad of adventure includes a kite, a map, and a broken compass. The kite represents the spirit of the adventure, the spontaneity, the curiosity, the restlessness of always wanting to push forward. The kite is very childish, in the best possible way, with boundless energy and a profound openness towards the world. The kite does not have expectations and doesn’t necessarily care which way the wind blows. The kite is along for the ride.

The map is a tool, or rather a visual representation of accumulated knowledge, learned skills. A map can help us navigate chaos and uncertainty, no matter where we are. Learning how to use a map aka learning how to learn and how to change, is necessary for a map to be maximally useful. The more we learn about ourselves and the more skills we learn, the more extensive the map in our toolkit. Armed with a solid base of habits, routines, and skills, we can be confident that no matter what comes along, we’ll be able to find our way.

The third element of the triad is the one I’ve only recently begun honoring: the broken compass. The broken compass represents having space and reverence for getting lost, and for negativity in general. Fear, uncertainty, and failure are all essential elements of a great adventure and without them we would never get anywhere exciting. Learning to see these “negative” emotions as the opportunity they are, changes the nature of the game.

Where are you going with this Grace?

To be honest, I don’t really know. And it doesn’t really matter. I’m here for the ride and am learning to fall in love with the cycle of exploring, messing up, and trying again. Honestly, there’s nothing more satisfying than being a beginner and recklessly absorbing information over, and over, and over again. The nascent energy of being a total novice is unmatched. I truly can’t explain how awesome it is to just be so excited by the world :)

Why?

I wanted to create a brand, an image that would capture everything I stand for. Not just as a symbol, but also as a constant reminder to stay true to myself. Wandering is great, but falling off a cliff not so much. I’m hoping that by formalizing my ideas and inspiration, I’ll enact a positive feedback loop of energy, momentum, and enthusiasm.

What do you plan to do with this Grace?

I can only tell you what I’m working on right now. I love writing and it’s the perfect platform to document whatever ideas I’m exploring at the moment. I also love making videos so YouTube is a place for me to play around with explaining my ideas visually. Obviously this is just the side that the rest of the world will see, and I’ll be prioritizing the tenants of the adventurer in my day-to-day life. I like making myself uncomfortable, trying new things, and challenging my existing beliefs and systems. I like running experiments on myself, learning, messing up, and jumping right back in.

I’m running out of questions to ask myself.

one second

How does this all make you feel?

Honestly, at this point, the word adventurer simultaneously evokes excitement and fear and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The excitement is pretty straight forward I think, but the fear is because I’ve never really put myself out there like this before. Because it’s so personal and so me, sharing it makes me vulnerable, in the best possible way. I want to make sure I’m always expanding my comfort zone, so being a little afraid is absolutely necessary.

What do you hope people will take away from this idea?

It’s your responsibility to make your life a series of adventures. Be curious and fearless, learn and develop skills, and fail gracefully. Then do it all again. An adventure might look completely different for different people, but the spirit of an adventurer is in us all.

Where should we start?

This all sounds fine and dandy, but what should I do to live, or to start living, like an adventurer? Hmm this is a tough question because it might look a little different for everyone. If you have an idea of where you want to start, then 100% start there. I’m all about trusting our intuitions. If you’re looking for a little more guidance, I would say that there’s sort of an inherent order to the triad of adventure, the same order I discovered them in myself. First the map, then the kite, then the broken compass. Personally, I needed to start by building skills. Learning about myself, learning how to change, learning how to learn… And then developing systems that support me and my lifestyle. I found that this unlocked energy. So much energy that I then used to help me reconnect with my inner child. Energy to explore both curiosity and the physical world. From there I slowly started seeking out discomfort and fear. Using them as valuable guides on my journey. Only then, did I begin appreciating the depth these “negative” moments provide us with.

If you’re looking for somewhere to start building skills then I would recommend my kaizen series, or a fun self-improvement book, your choice.

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The moral of the story is it’s more than just self-improvement, it’s an adventure.