Learning is the heart of adventure.
For some people, “learning” is a four-letter word. This tends to happen when you associate “learning” with “being taught” and assume that all learning must happen through school.
But real learning doesn’t always require an institution: fundamentally, it’s about gaining the knowledge, skills, and awareness necessary to achieve your goals.
This is why adventurous people are always learning. When you throw yourself into an uncomfortable situation that leads to growth, there is no blueprint or “how-to” manual. There’s no school, course, or teacher. You’ve got to teach yourself everything you need to solve the problem at hand. This is what it means to be a self-directed learner. (I wrote a whole book about self-directed learning that you might want to check out—you can get the audiobook for free.)
In the following section, we’re going to focus on the building the most important skills for learning quickly and effectively on your own, without a formal teacher or school to guide your way.
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At this point, it’s time for you to make a choice: do you want to participate in this course casually, or do you want to take it seriously?
If you just want to be casual, then go ahead click through to the next page, and ignore everything you see about portfolios.
If you want to get serious, then you’ll need an online portfolio: i.e. your own blog or website where you can publish the stuff you create in this course. If you don’t already have one, you can get one for free one at WordPress, Wix, Weebly, or Squarespace.
As you move through the course, you’ll add items to your portfolio, eventually ending up with a robust set of stories from your adventures.
Once you’ve got your portfolio ready—or not—then…