Last week’s training session introduced two essential elements every man needs to feel more alive and fulfilled. While this isn't an exhaustive list, these elements are often easily disregarded if not pursued intentionally.
Our lives are often designed for maximum comfort. However, living in perpetual comfort can lead to passivity, making life feel mundane, boring, and unexciting. It's the challenges and overcoming hardships that create those defining moments we cherish. If you missed last week’s training, I highly recommend checking it out.
Adventure, though different for everyone, is crucial for feeling alive and fulfilled. Whether it's outdoor activities like hiking, fishing, camping, or indoor pursuits like playing a sport or building something, adventure is essential. Without it, life can feel lifeless, ordinary, and unintentional.
One man described his life as boring, ordinary, and unintentional. Upon examining his routine, it was clear he had lost the element of adventure. He hadn’t engaged in activities that brought him joy in a long time. It wasn't until he spent a day on the lake with his family that he realized how revitalizing such adventures could be.
Reflect on your life—are you intentionally making time for adventures that recharge you? A few weeks ago, I spent time in the Colorado mountains seeking direction and wisdom. I realized my mission is to help men overcome passivity and pursue their dreams. For me, this involves playing the drums and going on outdoor adventures. These activities bring me to life.
Upon returning, I shared this clarity with my coach, who was struck by how simple yet powerful this realization was. Many men neglect to spend time on what they love. My coach couldn’t remember the last time he engaged in activities that brought him joy.
To help you regain a sense of adventure, here are four steps to integrate recharging activities into your life:
Take time to identify what activities bring you life in four categories:
Create a list of these activities and keep it accessible. This can help you choose fulfilling activities instead of defaulting to less satisfying pastimes like watching TV.
If you don't schedule time for these activities, they often get left out. Plan ahead and schedule them into your calendar. This can give you an extra push to follow through, even when you don't initially feel like it. Ensure you include your spouse in this planning to avoid any strain on your relationship.
Pastor and author Mark Batterson challenges men to go on an annual adventure with friends. This could be a golfing trip, hiking, camping, or any activity you enjoy. Organize it yourself if no one else does—making lasting memories with friends is invaluable.
Regularly evaluate whether you’re investing in recharging activities. Have a weekly check-in to ensure these activities are part of your life plan.
If you’re not proactive about doing what brings you life, these activities will likely fall to the backburner. Spend time this week following these four steps to create your recharge game plan. The world benefits when men live fully alive, with passion, purpose, and energy. Ensuring adventure in your life is a key step toward that path.
In the training last week, I introduced you to two elements that I believe every man needs in his life to feel more alive. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but they are two elements that I see men easily disregard if they are not intentional.
The first is having some meaningful challenge in your life. Our lives are typically set up to be as comfortable as possible, but if you just live in the land of comfort two long without experiencing any sort of challenge or discomfort, it is very easy to fall into living a life of passivity - where life becomes mundane, boring, and unexciting.
It is the existence of challenge and the overcoming of hardships and difficulties that truly gives you those amazing, defining moments in your life. Check out that training if you haven’t yet.
The other element I believe that men need in their lives to truly feel alive and to live a fulfilling life is Adventure.
This can look different for each individual, but you must have some sort of adventure in your life, where you are doing the things that you enjoy and the things that give you life. For some it might be getting in the outdoors and hiking, fishing, camping, or climbing. For others, it might be traveling, or playing a sport, or building something.
The second that you completely lose this element in your life, I believe is when you are going to start feeling lifeless. You are going to lose a piece of yourself.
A man recently described his life as boring, ordinary, and unintentional.
Have you had seasons where you can relate to those feelings? I know I can. You might feel like that is you right now. Your life feels boring, ordinary, and unintentional.
When we took a look at this guy’s life, he was completely missing the element of adventure. He hadn’t done any of the activities that bring him life in forever. In the midst of work and family responsibilities, he was not making time for the things that he loves to do and it was slowly killing him.
It wasn’t until he spent a day on the lake with his family and his friends that he realized how long it had been since he had done something like that. He noticed how it quickly filled him as he watched his kids learn how to water ski and fish. He came alive being in the outdoors with good people.
Are you intentionally making the time to have some adventure in your life? Are you intentionally making time to do the things that you love to do?
A few weeks ago, I was in the mountains of Colorado spending time with God. I needed some direction and wisdom in life and so I got away and spent some intentional time resting and listening.
One of the things I feel like I was made to do is to help other men overcome passivity and pursue their dreams. I want to be someone who helps men go after their dreams and to build lives they are proud of. I truly feel like that is my mission in life.
And I was reflecting on this and I felt like God was saying, one of the ways that you help people fulfill their dreams is to pursue your dreams. You need to be a model of someone who pursues their dreams and does the things that you love.
And two things that I absolute love doing are playing the drums and going on adventures in the outdoors or traveling to new places. Those things bring me to life. They awaken something inside of me. I love doing them.
So I got home and I’m talking to my coach and I told him I got a lot of clarity over the week spending time with God. My mission is to help men overcome passivity and to pursue their God-given dreams. And then the things that I love to do are play drums and go on epic adventures.
I said those are the things that I am going to spend my time doing. I am going to pursue my mission with everything that I have. I am going to build something that helps men pursue their dreams. And then at the same time, I am going to make sure I am doing the things that bring my life. Without those things in my life, I can’t fulfill my mission because I will burn out or fall into a life of comfortable complacency.
And he looked at me and said, wow, that’s so simple, but so powerful. He said, do you know how many men are not spending any time doing what they love?” He said, I can’t even remember the last time I really made time to do the things that bring me to life.
It seems like this is something that would be easy, but with all of your responsibilities, it can be easy for adventure to be put on the back burner.
You must be intentional about spending time doing the things that recharge you. I call these recharging activities. And just as anything else meaningful in life, you must be proactive.
So here are four quick steps to help you regain that sense of adventure in your life and to help you do the things that bring you life and energy.
Step 1: You must first take some time to identify your recharging activities. Identify the things that bring you life.
Sounds simple right, but the first step of taking action is to actual identify those things. I asked a client the other day who was just so in the weeds at work, what brought him joy, and he looked at me like I was crazy. He couldn’t answer the question. He was so focused on building his business that he forgot about the activities that he loved to do.
We had to travel back in time to identify the things that he loved to do.
I’d like you to identify your recharging activities in 4 main categories
I would make an actual list of all the things in these categories. Have it accessible so you can review it. I have mine also broken down by if these things are free or paid. It’s nice to have some free activities you can just do at any point if you’re looking for something to do.
Instead of coming home and watching TV, look at your list and pick something fun to do and go do that!
Alright Step 2: You must schedule regular time to do these activities
Again, this seems obvious, but if you don't’ make time for these activities, they are always the things that got left out.
After I realized how much I love to play drums and to hike and do outdoor adventures, I looked at my whole summer and scheduled in camping trips and hikes with friends.
I can’t tell you how many summers where I have told myself I was going to camp and hike a ton, and then only went like once. Now that I took time to plan it out and put it on the schedule, I am doing it way more often.
It also just gives you that extra boost to go do it. There are weekends where I don’t feel like getting out of the house to get in the mountains, but because it’s on the schedule, I have gone and done it and every time I am super grateful I went.
One thing to emphasize with this step, is to make sure you are doing this part with your wife if you are married. This is absolutely crucial. The last thing I would want is for you to schedule a bunch of things without telling your wife and then it ends up causing strain to your most important relationship.
Have a good conversation with her about wanting to make more time for your recharging activities (and recharging activities you can do together!) and then take a look at the schedule and find something you are both excited about.
Along with this, help her identify her recharging activities and make sure she is getting time for those as well! Make sacrifices when you can to allow her to do the things that bring her life!
So step 2 is to actually get some of these activities on the schedule!
Step 3: Schedule an Annual Adventure with Your Guy Friends
I just had the privilege of organizing a men’s conference in Northern Colorado and we had Pastor and Best-Selling Author Mark Batterson come speak to the men.
He talked about a variety of topics, but one of the most memorable things that he challenged men to do was to go on an annual adventure with friends. At least one time a year, go down something that you love to do with your friends.
When I was having conversations with men after the conference, almost every single guy brought up this challenge from Mark. This was clearly something that really spoke to the men there. They realized this was something that they were truly longing for and something that they were not consistently doing.
Again, please bring your wife into this conversation and make sure she is excited about it too.
This could be a great tradition to start with your friends and a way to make lasting memories!
For me, these are golf trips, hiking trips, camping trips…it can look different for you based one what you enjoy.
Don’t wait around for your friends to set something up, you be the one to reach out and make it happen!
Step 4 to making sure you are living with more adventure and doing the things you love would be to have a regular time of reflection.
It is crazy how many guys I have worked with who have been so busy and so preoccupied with all their responsibilities that they didn’t even realize they weren’t doing anything fun or adventuresome.
Have a time once a week to evaluate:
When you plan your week, make sure this is an element that you are also planning. Make sure you are making time for these activities. Make sure you are making time to do these activities with your loved ones as well.
If you are not proactive in doing the things that bring you life, chances are they will fall to the backburner. Spend some time following these 4 steps this week and make your recharge game plan!
The world is better when there are men who are fully alive and living with passion, purpose, and energy.
Making sure that you have some adventure in your life is a great way to make sure you are on that path.
