Maximum Productivity: Adventure
Life November 21st, 2008
This article is part of a series called, "Maximum Productivity " in which I’ll explore the topic of adventure.
See the rest of the series here:
Intro: Maximum Productivity: Series Introduction
Part 1: Maximum Productivity: Perspective
Part 2: Maximum Productivity: Attitude
Part 3: Maximum Productivity: Focus
Part 4: Maximum Productivity: Persistence
Part 5: Maximum Productivity: Adventure
Part 6: Maximum Productivity: Connections
Expect the Unexpected
If there is anything you can definitely expect in learning to maximize your productivity, it’s going to be that you will have some new experiences. Some good, some bad, some productive and some not but all will teach you something and all are useful to learn an important trait of any productivity master, the trait of adventure!
As you read in my last article about persistence, once you have that underway, you will find yourself needing to change plans and try new action steps to find what works and does not work. This will undoubtedly bring new challenges and you will certainly have new adventures along the way.
Learn From It
As you progress with your new perspective, focus, attitude and persistence, you will be building many experiences and adventures to learn from. Take account of what changes you’ve made in each of these areas and how it works to expand your productivity. Adventures are also wonderful ways to remember things. The mind wires far more associations for new experiences that are adventurous than it does for boring and unexcited regular events. If you think that you can maximize productivity without having any adventures that excite the mind, you’ll be missing something. Making things more exciting, taking risks, and just being more energetic in your activities is adventurous and an easy way to make tasks more fun, contagious and easier to do.
Story Telling
I’ve written about the advantages of storytelling before but looked at it with a number of advantages except that for productivity. There is definitely a lot of advantages in having adventurous stories to help teach and learn things. I think that the spirit that is needed for successful storytelling is the same that is needed for an adventurous spirit for productivity. These are all similarly important for using adventure to be more productive:
- look for the positive things
- make a strong point
- highlight humorous details
- stay excited and energetic
- put expression into the way you tell it
- reuse successes and stories that work well
- paint a vivid picture in your mind
- enjoy telling and remembering it
All these things are important for an adventurous spirit and it’s that spirit that builds on your attitude and actions to be even more productive.
Connections and Relationships
While you can certainly have adventures on your own, most people would agree that they are much more memorable and exciting if you have them with other people. These relationships built during adventures can be very deep as they don’t just connect people at a daily superficial level but in some exciting shared experience. It feels good to share these memories with others and it definitely reinforces the desire for such adventures when they go well. The same applies with being more productive, if you do it together with close connections and relationships, it is much more satisfying to share the successes together. You can feed off each other and encourage each other to get through some of the difficult times and you can make a more difficult adventure much more bearable by having a friend at your side. Becoming productive is not all easy and you will certainly reach points where it just doesn’t feel good. That could be due to struggles, difficulties in learning new things, tough habits to break, relationships strained because of change, challenges in not know the answers or right approach. All of these make maximizing your productivity hard and so any close connections and relationships you have to get through that are very important.
Comfort Zone
An adventurous soul is one who is not afraid to try new things and take on new challenges. This happens only when you break out your normal life habits that feel comfortable and get into a new zone of change and unknown. Its these areas that you will discover the most and learn about yourself. Think about the most amazing and inspiring stories and adventures you have ever heard. Where they about a guy who did his day job for 45 years, played golf and bingo for 20 more and then died? No, they are about people who do the unthinkable, challenge the impossible, overcome unbeatable odds, continuously do outrageous and ridiculous things. They are the adventures and people who have surprising events, massive change in their lives, zero or little comfort and are happy and willing to do what most consider to be a little on the side of crazy. It’s about reaching past your everyday life and expanding it, stretching your abilities and pushing yourself and your limits farther than most are willing. That comfort zone we settle into with a wall of possessions holds us to a level of complacency and comfort that is tough to break free of. Change That! Look for some adventure and get out of your comfort zone. Do it in areas of productivity and you will discover things about yourself you never know possible. You can do more than you ever knew and you’ll quite likely, find you enjoy it a whole lot more than you ever thought possible.
I hope I can encourage at least some of my readers here to take a serious look at this with your productivity in your life. Whether you are a student, worker, blogger, teacher or parent, recognize the things you are repeating over and over in your life. Do they make you happy? Do you want more of those or is there some room for change and new adventures? What have you always wanted to be better at but never taken a step to master? Is there any adventures you could take to help you study and increase your productivity in your life? I hope so. I’d love to hear about your ideas, please comment below or add your stories of adventure
Prev: Maximum Productivity: Persistence
Next: Maximum Productivity: Connections
Mike King
November 21st, 2008 at 7:24 AM
Mike,
I thought of my comfort zone. Firstly, I thought “No!” I’m never in the comfort zone. When I work, I challenge conventional beliefs all the time. I love to meet new people; see new faces.
HOWEVER, I feel that in some aspects; I am never out of the comfort zone! I don’t like going to new places. I never try to find a new place for a dinner with my girlfriend. I never want to go shopping in another department store except my two favourites. There are other things as well.
There is an adventure that I should make though, bungee jumping! I am afraid of height , no! not afraid, terrified (my comfort zone is zero altitude, at the sea level). Bungee jumping itself will not directly make me more productive. It is, however, a symbol that I can conquer fear. It will make me think back when I have fear or anxiety. The memory of this adventure will shout in my face that I can do it.
But no! I’m not ready for it at the moment! 🙂
November 21st, 2008 at 10:35 AM
Hi Viriya, yes there are always places people are and are not comfortable. As for bungee jumping, do something smaller to conquer that fear like leaning out over a small bridge or going up on the roof of a tall building. Something that you can be ready for right now! Don’t forget the other steps of this whole process. Make a plan and persist with repetition. Apply that to challenge fear of heights or even your comfort zone. Pick something to make progress.
I’m glad I’ve sparked some thoughts at least, I hope you take some action on it as well.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:20 AM
The first thing I thought about reading this was a 4 day whitewater rafting trip I went on this summer with my family. It was an awesome adventure, and we bonded with a group of people we never had met before – relationships were formed around our adventure. And that is what made the trip what it was – much more than doing it solo.
As for doing this in day to day activities, I’m working on some things right now, that, if they go as planned – will probably be the biggest adventure I’ve been on – and scariest. As I’m not fully committed to it yet, I don’t want to get into any details, except to say that this will challenge me mentally more than I’ve been challenged probably. And the thought is very exciting.
And this is all leading me to the belief – that I desire my life to be an adventure – one full of new and exciting things – it’s what makes life worth living for me.
Excellent article Mike – you nailed it!
November 21st, 2008 at 9:51 PM
Mike,
What you’ve outlined here is one of the most important, and underrated concepts of personal development. They say Leonardo Da Vinci was a brilliant man, and that’s why he was a genius in so many different areas of his science, art, and design.
Instead, I think it’s because he exposed himself to so many different areas that he started to observe patterns in things no one else was capable of seeing. This ability to recognize such abstract patterns was the reason for his genius. Not the other way around.
Great article!
November 21st, 2008 at 10:28 PM
Excellent content and style…keep up the good work!
November 22nd, 2008 at 7:57 AM
Thanks so much Lance! I love how you always have more value to add and the personal reflecting is great to read about as examples for these techniques. Awesome stuff!
Rahul, thanks for pointing that out. I’m never studies L. DaVinci really but can agree that many great leaders and geniuses in their time have taking adventure (among others) to its fullest and they have certainly gained from it. Aren’t those all the stories we still hear about and learn from now years and years later anyway?
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:09 AM
Mike,
The series is just getting more exiting. I praise your effort.
To make sure the I got the most out of this part I’ll repeat your points in my own words:
1. Expect the unexpected: put in mind that you will need to find new action steps, new plans, what works for you and doesn’t work. Because, there will be new challenges, i.e. new adventures. So, be ready for the challenge!!
2. Learn from it: whenever you experience a new adventure that is full of challenges your brain will not forget it easily. So, having experiences accompanied by adventures is a great way to remember what we learnt and experienced. That why we were told learning from our mistakes is the best technique to explore and learn. The mistakes we face through learning is a trigger for the brain to start thinking more deeply why those mistakes happened and will try to find a way to avoid these mistakes in the future.
3. Story Telling: well, I would consider it also as a perfect tool for those seeking to practice their speaking skill, improve fluency, widen active vocabulary …etc. (and I’m one of them). The more story telling, the more vocabulary will be placed in the active memory section in your brain. Thus, the more professional you will be in telling stories, and that will maximize your productivity from this perspective.
4. Connections and Relationships: sharing with each other, feeding off each other, encouraging each other, helping to get through more difficult adventures. That was one aim of having friends. The more true friends sharing the same adventure you have, the more productive you will be, and that because “One Hand doesn’t Clap”.
5. Comfort Zone: if you are afraid of doing a new challenge, nervous, or anxious then plan to do it immediately. Doing a presentation for the 1st time, conversations, meetings, interviews …etc are all an example of situations that you get anxious if you do it for the 1st time. Breaking your comfort zone will let you discover new things about yourself. It will reveal your weak and strength points in your personality. Eliminate your weaknesses and strengthen your strengths.
See you soon with the “Connections” part. Till the next time keep up the hard work up!!
Regards
Husain
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:24 AM
Thanks Husain, you’ve capture the essence of each point very well in that summary! I’m impressed by how much thought and time you put into a response. And thanks for the compliments with this series!
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:41 AM
Hey Mike,
Thanks for dropping by at my site. Excellent and quite inspirational contents you’ve got up here. I will be back and thanks for sharing your thoughts.
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:58 PM
Thanks Richard for the compliments. I hope to see you again and more of your comments, its always appreciated!
December 21st, 2008 at 9:54 PM
Love the blog! some great information about whitewater rafting, it’s one of the biggest passions in my life. I’ve bookmarked your blog so will be back.