Achieve Your Adventure – What’s in the name?

Preface - This blog post was originally written back in 2015 when I originally launched my first Wordpress Blog titled "Achieve Your Adventure." It was written in a fun, casual, voice but delivers an important message while also outlining how the brand "Achieve Your Adventure" came to existence. I hope you enjoy this throwback post!

Behind the Name – Achieve Your Adventure

With this post, I wanted to outline the meaning of the name that I chose for my blog – Achieve Your Adventure. I’m sure some of probably read the title of the group and thought to yourself, “Come on, Brent, that doesn’t even make sense, but okay,” and you decided to follow the page anyway. Honestly, on the surface, it really doesn’t. If we look a little closer, I hope to give you some clarity into the name and why I chose it.

Again, since I’m an engineer and numbers are more my thing, it may be beneficial to reference the ol’ virtual Merriam-Webster again – I’d say we could dust it off, but I’m not sure I will give it enough time to collect any dust.

     Achieve – verb

          : To get or reach (something) by working hard

          : To become successful: To reach a goal

     Adventure – noun

          : an exciting or dangerous experience

          : danger or excitement

Alone, both words are pretty self-explanatory. It is when we use them together where things get a little fuzzy. Literally, the name – Achieve Your Adventure means, “To reach your exciting or dangerous goal by working hard.” Okay, we are making progress. We all know that in order to achieve anything in life we must first be willing to put our blood, sweat, and tears into it to make it a reality. You might be saying, “But I know so-and-so that has a natural ability to do almost anything they try. When they want to do something, they just do it without having to put in the hard work like everyone else.” Yeah, we all know those people. They may be good at certain things in life, but undoubtedly have a few underlying challenges of their own. Everyone does, and if they say otherwise, they’re lying – Which is something they could work on.

First off, we need to get rid of the ever so tempting need to compare ourselves to others. It doesn’t matter what other people think of us. This is a personal journey. Your ability to achieve your goals depends on you, alone – no one else! Though I encourage and expect that we will all support one another throughout our journey together, the initial desire to change something in your life starts with you. It needs to be a conscious choice. A simple shift in thinking is very powerful! There is a reason it is not called “Achieve His/her Adventure,” “Achieve Their Adventure,” and so on. It is “Your” adventure and it starts with you!

You may have already noticed that I have used “Goals” and “Adventure” interchangeably. You might be asking, “Why not just call it ‘Achieve Your Goals?’” – BOOOOOOOOOORING! Goals are good but the adventures are better. Though you may not want anything else in the world but to achieve a personal goal, it is easier said than done. Goals worth pursuing take time. Don’t be surprised when you don’t see results overnight. Stay the course! Don’t give up. Maybe you have a bad day – Don’t quit. Bad days happen to everyone. Don’t let them define you. Achieving a goal is not an overnight process, it is an adventure!

Like I mentioned in “My Story,” I made sure to set small milestones for myself throughout the journey. Often times, my motivation was to get in better shape so that I could enjoy a certain trip, or “adventure.” I felt that many of the physical, outdoor, activities I love would become more enjoyable if I was able to regain my health and fitness. For example, my goal wasn’t to reach a certain weight for my Colorado elk hunt, but rather it was to increase my endurance so I was able to hike the mountains without huffing and puffing. I was confident that if I could maintain a healthy diet and increase my endurance with the goal of making my adventure that much more enjoyable, the weight loss would come. Deep down, my main goal was to enjoy my trip. The weight loss was a byproduct of achieving my adventure.

Main Take-Away:

In summary, to Achieve Your Adventure you must be willing to make a conscious decision, a shift in your mindset, prior to putting in the time, blood, sweat, and tears necessary to reach your goals. The decision to change starts with you! Though I admit it is difficult, it is essential that we avoid comparing ourselves to others. Finally, I encourage you to break up your goal by setting smaller milestones. Focus on the adventure while keeping your seemingly unattainable goal in your peripherals. Enjoy the journey, but don’t lose sight of your overall goal completely. It will be difficult, but it will be worth it.

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”

 – Muhammad Ali

Born in the Mind. Achieved in the Backcountry.

Achieve Your Adventure