Do you remember being a kid and everything feeling new and exciting? It's so easy as an adult to lose your sense of adventure and instead become weighed down by responsibilities. Approaching each day with a sense of adventure comes naturally to kids, as they are continually encountering new experiences and learning new things. As an adult, the days, weeks, and months can often seem to fly past, until they all merge into one.
If you are growing tired of being stuck in the same old routine of going to work, eating dinner, catching up on some boxsets, and then repeating the same habit over and over, it is time to make a change. Reclaiming the spirit of adventure and the enthusiasm that you had as a kid can help you to rediscover your zest for life, and help to break you free from a monotonous routine.
Rediscovering your sense of adventure doesn't mean that you need to quit your job and shirk all of your responsibilities. Instead, it is about opening your mind to new experiences and living a fuller life. Being more adventurous brings a little extra happiness and excitement into each day, and can set you on a path that helps you to live the life you want to live. With a sense of adventure, who knows where your journey could take you? Here are some ideas to inspire you in your quest for adventure:
Visit New Places
The first and most obvious way to fuel your sense of adventure is to set off on a journey and visit new places. Travel is believed to have many wellbeing benefits, but one of the greatest things about traveling is that the sights and sounds of somewhere new provide fresh stimulation and a new outlook. This change of perspective is particularly beneficial if your routine is grinding you down, and you are craving new experiences. There is nothing like the feeling of butterflies in your stomach as you set off on a journey filled with a sense of anticipation.
Traveling alone is one of the biggest adventures that you can embark on in your lifetime. Setting off on a journey on your own is one of the greatest ways to remind yourself of your freedom to make your own choices and live life on your terms. Whether you will be studying abroad or heading off on a road trip alone, it is vital to make sure that you stay safe during your travels. This article on How to Stay Connected When traveling Solo offers many useful tips to consider when making your travel plans, that will enable you to stay safe on your adventure.
Try New Things
Stepping out of your comfort zone and giving new things a try is a sure-fire way to rekindle your sense of adventure. Once you try one new thing, you create a kind of domino effect that makes it easier to keep on giving new experiences a try. Breaking through a fear of the unknown and realizing that stepping out of your routine isn't quite as scary as you thought it would be will give you the confidence to continue to try new things.
Giving new things a try has many psychological benefits. Research shows that people that have more experiences in their lifetime retain a higher number of positive emotions when compared to people that engaged in less of a variety of experiences.
Have you got something that you have always wanted to try, but always put it off because it isn't the right time, or you worry that you won't be any good at it? Why not give it a try, you have nothing to lose by giving it a go.
A new experience could be anything from choosing to eat at a restaurant you have never tried before, rather than sticking with an old favorite, through to changing your hair color. If you’re stuck for ideas, try fast-forwarding to 10 years time, what would you be most disappointed not to have tried? A parachute jump, learning how to play the mandolin, speaking a foreign language—whatever you would like to try doing think about it from a positive perspective, rather than merely focusing on the reasons why you shouldn't try.
Meet New People
Just as trying new things, and travel can open your mind and reinvigorate your love of adventure, so too can meeting new people. Widening your social circle and getting to know new people is a great way to engage in new experiences. Meeting new people can help to build up your social circle, but more importantly, it opens your mind to the opinions of others, and different ways of life.
There are many options available to meet new people, and many go hand in hand with trying new things. Joining a group or a class can help you to not only gain a new hobby or interest but also to make new friendships too. Joining a choir, starting a pottery class, or becoming a member of a book club, are all perfect ways to step outside of your comfort zone and to meet new people in the process. While you may not be deliberately searching for a new best friend, these kinds of groups offer the opportunity to spend time in the company of other people and to allow friendships to form naturally.
If you want to do good as you socialize and meet new people, you could opt to join a charity or to become a volunteer in the community. Volunteering will not only help you to step out of your comfort zone and break up your routine, but it also offers you the chance to connect with others and develop new skills along the way.
Rediscovering your sense of adventure is ultimately all about not letting your self-limiting beliefs hold you back. Instead, adventure is all about seeking out opportunities to live a life packed with new experiences and creating the life that you deserve.