Listen to the audio file (above) or read the transcript (below).
Adventure is not about visiting more countries than other people. It’s not about climbing tall peaks or kayaking dangerous rivers.
What separates adventurous people from non-adventurous people is having a mission in life. Having a purpose, a guiding principle, a “why.”
Your mission transforms life from an animalistic scrambling for food, shelter, security, sex, and entertainment into a grand game: a game infused with meaning, and a game that you’re trying to win.
Mission doesn’t have to rule your life or be your only focus. You don’t need a mission to motivate you to brush your teeth in the morning, exercise regularly, or be kind to your mother. But all these things enable you to lead a healthy, happy life, and that in turn lets you fulfill your mission.
So what is your mission? Who the hell knows? (And if you think you know for sure, you’re probably wrong.) You’re young, and you do not need to know “what you’re doing with your life.” Distrust anyone who insists otherwise.
But something you do need to know right now is: having a mission matters, and you should be actively searching for yours. “Searching” isn’t even the right word: it implies that you’ll find a preexisting mission out there, much like we’re encouraged to “find our passions.”
A better way to think of it is: you should be actively experimenting with lots of different possible missions. You should be exploring, probing, and immersing yourself in different fields, skills, and pursuits. You should be continuously building your version of how the world works, what’s important, what’s not, and what’s deserving of the precious little time you have on this earth.
That’s what we’ll do in this course. At the end, there’s no guarantee that you’ll have a mission. You probably won’t. But you’ll have gained momentum, new experiences, a sense of accomplishment, and if you choose to join us, a new online community.
Adventurous people purposefully put themselves into uncomfortable situations that lead to growth. They actively design their lives instead of accepting the one handed to them. Why else (and how else) would they do these things if they didn’t have a mission?
If you want to lead a life of purpose, excitement, and meaningful challenge: you need a mission. There is no other way.