Turn Your Life Into A Heroic Journey!

Do you remember what it was like being a kid?

Back when you weren’t concerned about bills, stress at work, or if your pants were getting too tight?

You just lived life.

And you probably grew up living it with reckless abandon; full of joy, wonder and dreams!

Dreams of exotic lands, fantasies of riding dragons, and plans to go off on glorious adventures…

Now, of course, some of them were unachievable or unrealistic (if anyone knows where I can tame and ride a dragon though, speak up. Now!) But I know way too many people who just straight up abandoned their hopes and dreams in response to “real life.”

And that makes me really sad.

Which leads me to my point… you may have noticed a distinct lack of articles this past month, that’s because I was off having adventures (and planning for a few more).

So we are going to talk about how to get started on your own heroic journey, and hopefully give you the kick in the pants necessary for you to venture out on your own epic quest!

Jerd! Where Have You Been?

Working out in Myanmar with Pro MMA fighter, Aung La Nsang

Myanmar.

I was in Myanmar with my friend, and teammate, Aung La Nsang to help him prepare for his latest Mixed Martial Arts fight for ONE Championship; and to cross off another heroic journey off my list.

Editor’s Note: If you want to hear more about the trip itself, and what we were doing, check out my recap here!

The trip was crazy, to say the least; and it was packed to the gills with stuff like:

• Epic workouts, twice a day, in 100 degree heat.
• Taking over instructing duties at the Yangon BJJ Club while we were there.
• All sorts of fantastic foods I had never tried before… Jackfruit, I love you!
• Up close and personal time with peacocks and elephants.
• And a ton of memories that will last a lifetime!

So seeing as I managed to mark something off my personal bucket list (participating in a professional MMA training camp), I figured it would be a great topic for discussion.

Let’s talk about why heroic journeys are important and how they work, okay?

What The Heck Is A Heroic Journey?

Acting like a fool on a Costa Rican zipline!

To me, a heroic journey is something you do that:

• Takes you outside the realm of your day-to-day norm
• Is something you have never done before
• Provides you with memories that will last forever
• Gets you into Valhalla

And bonus points if it is something you’ve always wanted to do!

My list of heroic adventures is constantly changing and updating based on the media I consume, the places I visit, and the experiences I have.

And despite the fact that my personal list is ever-changing, the foundation of every entry on the list follows those criteria.

I want to get out of my house and live life to its fullest!

I don’t want to sit around and let life pass me by while I play video games, and read comic books, all day (the video games and comics are for when I am resting in between adventures!)

I look at my life like one, giant game. And I want to play it to win.

As an example, here are just a few of my favorite heroic journeys that I’ve managed to cross off my list:

1) Train Martial Arts in Japan – This was my first real adventure outside of the U.S. When I was a wee lad of 21, my best friend and I hopped on a plane bound for Tokyo. We had no hotel reservations, no contacts, and only an approximate idea of where the school of Japanese jujutsu we wanted to attend was located. It was crazy, it was expensive, and it was probably the most worthwhile 3 weeks of my life. I don’t know where I would be in life without this trip, as it kindled the fire of world travel within me…

2) Explore Machu Picchu – One of my biggest heroes in life is Indiana Jones; and since as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by the concept of ancient cultures and the ruins they left behind. So when my wife and I decided to take an adventure trip to Peru, there was no way I was going to miss out on seeing this famous city of legend. I will never forget holding her hand and trying to catch our breath while looking out over its expanse. I also will never forget the mosquitoes, but that is a different story entirely.

3) Camp in the Sahara Desert – Growing up, to my child’s imagination, there was no place on Earth more mysterious and wondrous than Africa. So when we took the family on an Egyptian adventure, one of the things I couldn’t wait to do was ride deep into the Sahara Desert, wander around, and go camping… and let me tell you, it was the right decision! The night sky was so pure, so bright with stars… and the silence? It was magically deafening. (I know that makes no sense, but trust me… it was; and I will never forget it!)

That’s cool, but what do these heroic journeys mean for the site?

A Renewed Focus

Doing dips in the gap between tectonic plates in Iceland!

Every time I do something adventurous I always come home with a renewed passion to try and inspire others into action.

I won’t lie; the day-to-day rigors of running the site, and generating content, can really wear me down. And this time I let a little more time than I would have liked go by after I returned home… but I assure you, my passion is as strong as it has ever been.

So my plan is to channel the excitement from my trip into more articles for all of you awesome people!

I want to create a sustainable cycle of awesomeness. Something like this:

I do something über cool -> the experience excites me and I write awesome articles -> writing awesome articles inspires me to go do something über cool -> rinse and repeat.

How does that sound?

I hope it works for you; because I want my experiences, and the articles I write, to inspire you to do your own über cool, fantabulous stuff.

Like going on heroic journeys!

Why Embark Your Own Heroic Journey?

Why embark on your own journey?

Because otherwise how will you get the ring of power from the Shire to Mount Doom?

Duh.

Seriously though; as I have settled into my adult years, and took stock of those around me, I see so many people with unfulfilled dreams.

People who have never traveled, have never experienced other cultures, who avoid any foods except what they ate when they were 10 years old…

It makes me a little sad.

But you know what brings the most sniffles to my Jerd heart?

The people who ask me “why?” when I embark on my adventures.

The level of cynicism in this world is staggering; if you have a dream, or a goal, that is outside the norm… or would be outside of someone else’s comfort zone… more often than not, people will automatically $#@% all over it and hit you with nonsense like:

• “Why are you bothering with that?”
• “Why are you wasting your time?”
• “Why do you think you can succeed?”
• “Why waste your money on that?”

That sucks, because most of the time the proper response should be a smile and “Why not?”

Encouragement is free, and we are often so stingy with it.

I look back at that first trip to Japan I took; at the time I was struggling, running my own business, and I made a whopping $18k that year… $3k of which went into that 3 week trip. I cannot count how many people thought I was insane for trying to make that happen on my extremely limited budget!

16% of my income that year went into that one, poorly planned out, adventure.

Was it crazy? Sure. Was it difficult? Most certainly; I only had enough money for two meals a day, so I brought food with me (peanut butter and granola bars FTW!) Was I sacrificing things to make it happen? Of course, most worthwhile things in life require sacrifice. Was it worth it? Without a doubt!

Had I have listened to everyone asking me “Why?” I would have missed out on one of the defining experiences of my life!

It was that trip that ignited my desire to see the rest of the world, that cemented my life-long path in martial arts, that established relationships that still exist 23 years later, that directly laid the foundations for my current career, and so much more!

And let’s not even get started on the number of people telling me how insane it was for me, a 43-year-old IT professional, to get on a plane to Myanmar to corner a fighter and participate in a professional fight camp. I don’t think I can count that high.

Why am I harping on this?

Because I want you to know that anyone can have life-changing, and eye-opening, adventures… if you really want them.

And I think you do.

Adults never stop having those grand dreams that we did as kids… we just tend not to act on them.

I implore you; dump your time and money into heroic adventures!

It can be intimidating at first, I know. The comfort zone is real! But let me be the first to ask you “Why not?” I want to encourage you to get started on your own heroic journey; and before some @#$-$%^@er (or even worse, that voice of doubt in the back of your head) tries to tell you why it is a bad idea, I want to nip two of the most common objections off at the pass.

1) There’s not enough time – Look, there’s always stuff to be done. Life will constantly get in the way if you let it. There have been times where I blink and it feels like 6 months have passed without me doing anything but my weekly routine. My knee-jerk reaction is to blame it on being too busy, that there is just too much to be done, but the reality is that when that happens it is because I stopped making my dreams and goals a priority.

It is frighteningly easy to tell yourself that adventures can wait until things get less busy, but as we get older life will throw more and more at us. The #sadfact is, it never slows down! So remind yourself that you work to live, not live to work… and that experiences and adventures are what make life worth living.

2) The unknown is scary – I have lived my life by a simple motto… “Things will always work out.” Does it sound a little fairy tale-ish? Sure, but 43 years into this life and I have yet to be proven wrong. Now, does it always work out the way you intended? Of course not! But some of the best experiences, and memories, in life come from the unexpected plot twists that get thrown our way. 

I have been lost in countries where I don’t speak the language, had reservations cancelled last-minute leaving me stranded in third world countries, been caught in massive storms out in the middle of mountain ranges, handed food stuffs I never in a million years would have thought to eat, stepped off of trains right into massive anti-America protests… the list goes on and on.

Every single time, things have not only worked out; but in many cases have ended up being the best part of an adventure.

What I am trying to say is – Stop being afraid! 

Be open-minded, approach your life with a desire for new experiences, and remember that they won’t all be smooth sailing… and that is okay.

Enjoy this crazy ride called life while you can!

How To Get Started?

Sunburned and happy – Machu Picchu, Peru.

In case you hadn’t figured it out yet, I want you to go on heroic journeys and epic adventures.

Get out of your cubicles, put down your video game controllers, and get out there!

I want you to take stock of all those dreams you had as a kid, think about all the times you have seen or read something and thought “I’d love to do that;” and then ask yourself “Why not?”

And then I want you take these important steps to make some of those things a reality:

1) Categorize them – It doesn’t really matter what the categories are, but you don’t want a giant pile of stuff with no organization to it. This can be a daunting enough exercise as it is, so take a few minutes and make it easy on yourself by sorting through everything. For me, I separate my heroic journeys into three areas – travel goals, life goals, and fitness goals; but pick whatever suits you best.

Not to mention, the act of categorizing them will probably jog your memory for a few other things you’ve always wanted to do, but forgot.

2) Define them – When I talk to people about setting goals, one of the first things I make clear is that a goal has to have a measurable outcome. If your goal is to visit a country, that is pretty simple… but if your goal is something a little less cut and dry, you are going to have to put some parameters around it. You have to be specific! “Complete a 1ok race” vs “Run more” or “Play the lead in a Shakespearean play” vs “Do some acting”. You get the idea.

Also, putting them in order of difficulty is really helpful! It will help you from getting overwhelmed, and once you start ticking things off your list the momentum you are building will help give you the courage to tackle some of the more daunting tasks on the list.

3) Recruit help – Never underestimate the power of people. Having like-minded individuals around you, with similar goals, is not only motivating; but it also gives you the opportunity to pool resources and effort to achieve your goals. Having your own superhero team of awesome, all with the “why not?” attitude, can really make tackling those grander adventures a little easier.

Don’t get discouraged if you can’t tackle something on your own… remember, even Batman needs to enlist the help of the Justice League from time to time.

4) Get started – Once you’ve built your own list, I want you to pick one thing (preferably one of the easier items on the list) and get started on making it a reality. Complete one specific, concrete, thing that is necessary to get you closer to crossing that thing off your list. Want to travel somewhere? Get online and find the hotel you are going to stay at, so when it comes time to book your trip you can just reserve the room without having to research for hours. Want to run a marathon, but have never run a race in your life? Order a couch to 5k program.

Whatever it is going to be, don’t wait!

So, what life achievements do you plan on unlocking?

What’s On Your List?

That’s my list, as it stands now.

Like I said, I know it is going to grow and change over time. But, to me, that is half the fun!

I know there are going to be reading this article that have been here from the start, while others have probably just discovered the site today.

New or old reader, it doesn’t matter.

I want to hear from you!

I want to know what your dreams are; I want to know what your goals are and how you are planning to achieve them.

And honestly? Even though I am super interested in what you have in store for yourselves; I also realize that the more I know about you, the better I write articles that will help you achieve your goals!

Even if you aren’t in a position to go on a heroic journey yet, what are you doing RIGHT NOW that brings you closer to making an epic adventure a reality?

Tell me. What are you going to do, and when are you getting started? Speak up!

(Photo #5 credit)

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