Tapping Into Your Spirit of Adventure

This Week's Mindset:

 Adventure

*This is an excerpt from Janette Valentino's newsletter -  to read the entire article please CLICK HERE. 

It's fun to hear from different people what they think is adventurous. For some, it's all about testing their bodies - runs, hikes, bike rides, surfing, etc. Or it can be about traveling to exotic places or maybe doing (crazy, at least in my mind) things like sky diving or bungee jumping. No matter what kind of Adventure you choose and whether it is big or small, it's really the Spirit that accompanies the concept that we can learn a lot from. So, take a moment and think back to the last good adventure you had. Maybe it was earlier today, last week or last year. What about that adventure made it so good, would you say? What are some of the elements that were present that made it really feel like an adventure?

In general, one of the most fundamental things about Adventure, is that it brings an element of excitement with it. Whether it's something dare-devil like or perhaps an everyday unknown for us, it still feels exciting. There's that feeling of new-ness and/or possibility. What will happen if I do this?, you might think. There might be uncertainty, which can feel scary AND exciting at the same time. And there can also be an air of playfulness around it--that feeling of play that we sometimes forget about in our daily lives.

One part of the spirit of big adventures is the feeling of testing our limits. It could be argued that the more you are testing your limits, the more adventurous it feels. I remember when I went to Sweden in 2002. I'd lived there before, but never on my own. I decided I wanted to try that and to try teaching Business English (also a new thing for me). I had a temporary place to live (for a couple weeks) and I had some ideas for work, but nothing concrete or stable at all. So I went off - figuring it would all work out & if it didn't, then I'd just go back home to California.

For some people, going off to another country with 2 suitcases is very brave. For me, mostly it just felt adventurous. It did bring up the feeling of testing my limits in some ways. In this case, it was the limits of living with the unknown - having a general idea of the work I wanted and just knowing that things would fall into place in terms of somewhere to live and a job that I liked. It did work out. And there were plenty of smaller adventures along the way. For me, this period of my life was full of the adventure spirit - excitement, new-ness, exploration, learning & growth.

So, now over to you...what are some of your favorite types of adventures? Is it time for a new big adventure in your life? Perhaps you'd like to start a list of some of the adventures you'd like to experience at some point in your life. Go ahead...start that list right now.



Janette Valentino is a Certified Professional Life Coach who works with clients around the world. With her MA in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), she spent 11 years working at the university level and in the corporate world with students and executives -- supporting them in their personal growth related to language development. With the shift to coaching, the focus changed a bit while the qualities of support, fun, creativity, encouragement and inspiration that Janette brings to work with clients became even stronger. Coaching is like going on a journey and having lived in Europe in four different periods for a total of 18 years, Janette knows a lot about journeys. She loves to be a traveling companion to her clients on their personal journeys of exploration and discovery -- whatever the destination. Janette has made and had many big changes in her life and is passionate about coaching people through changes (either ones that have happened or want to happen) and the transition process that follows. She can be reached at janette.valentino@mymindset.com

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