#273: The Unexpected Transformation: How 1 Adventure Can Change Your Life Forever

0:00:00 - (Kevin Lowe): Do you consider yourself to be the adventurous type? Are you the one always volunteering to go first? Are you the one who are game for any time your friends say, hey, let's go do something crazy? Or are you the one who kind of sits in the back of the crowd who would rather just chill out than go doing something insane? Well, today we're talking about adopting a sense of adventure, but not in quite the way you're thinking about.

0:00:33 - (Kevin Lowe): So I promise you don't need any hiking boots for today's episode. You darn sure don't need to strap on a parachute, but you do need to come with an open mind to think about life in a little bit different sense and begin to understand how living with an adventure mindset, it can totally change the game. My friend. Let's dive into episode 273. What's up, my friend? And welcome to grit, grace, and inspiration.

0:01:05 - (Kevin Lowe): I am your host, Kevin Lowe. 20 years ago, I awoke from a life saving surgery, only to find that I was left completely blind. And since that day, I've learned a lot about life, a lot about living, and a lot about myself. And here on this podcast, I want to share those insights with you. Because, friend, if you are still searching for your purpose, still trying to understand why or still left searching for that next right path to take, we'll consider this to be your stepping stone to get you from where you are to where you want to be.

0:01:39 - (Kevin Lowe): Inside of today's episode, we are talking about why embracing adventure is so important, even if it's a little bit scary. It's a true transformational experience. Well, I guess I should say it can be a transformational experience if you go into it with the right mindset. I'm going to have you understanding that when we talk about adventure, we're not just talking about stepping into the unknown or jumping out of an airplane.

0:02:11 - (Kevin Lowe): We're talking about a boost to developing who you are. We learn so much about ourselves when we step outside of what is comfortable. That's when we get to not only experience life, but we get to experience parts of us. We never know if we're going to like something if we never give it a try. And what comes out of it? Whoo. We never know what that's going to be. It may light a fire in you of something you had no idea you were into.

0:02:45 - (Kevin Lowe): And yet now, oh, my gosh, it totally changes the course of your life. This is important stuff, living with adventure. And that's why I felt like it was time that we explored the idea to help bridge the gap between maybe where you are right now in your life and to where I'm trying to get you. I feel like we need to be sure that we're talking about the same thing when we're speaking about adventure. So let's get some understandings of what exactly I'm talking about when I'm talking about adventure.

0:03:20 - (Kevin Lowe): But of course, friend, before we dive into that, I want to remind you if you are on a mission to become the best version of you, if you are excited to start living out your best life possible, well, I've created a tool to help you achieve that. It's called the rise and thrive personal development tracker. It's totally free and it is all yours. All you have to do is text the word rise rise to the phone number 33 seven seven.

0:03:52 - (Kevin Lowe): Again, simply text the word rise to 33 triple seven. Or you can also find the link inside of today's show notes. When I say the word adventure, what do you immediately picture? I think most of us picture some type of rugged outdoor setting. I know for myself, I immediately picture the middle of nowhere. I picture snow capped mountains. I picture woods and whitewater rafting. And, I don't know, maybe skydiving.

0:04:23 - (Kevin Lowe): That's what I picture in my mind. But my question is, but what does it really mean to embrace a sense of adventure? From my research for today's episode, I came to understand one truth when trying to figure out what do people say about adventure? And this is what I found. Some say that adventure is stepping into the unknown. They say that it helps to break the chains of routine and it pushes us to adapt to new situations.

0:04:56 - (Kevin Lowe): And of course, it helps us to overcome fears and think creatively. That is what I found as what some people are saying adventure is because for me, adventure, well, it takes on a different meaning. Adventure to me is not just about stepping outside of what is comfortable. It's not just about going out and doing something crazy. No. It's about you choosing to live life to the fullest. It's about embracing every day, every opportunity with open arms.

0:05:33 - (Kevin Lowe): But most of all, it's us having the guts to chase our dreams, to put it all on the line in seek of what we desire. That is what I call adventure. And that is exactly what I want you to start living with is that type of adventure mindset. So with that said, let's face the elephant in the room is the fact that you quite possibly resist adventure. You tend to not want to embark on the unknown. Well, why is that exactly?

0:06:09 - (Kevin Lowe): Number one reason, it's fear. It's fear of the unknown. It's fear of failure. It's fear of the what if scenario. You could basically say it's risking what is comfortable for what is potentially there. It's a risk that we take, and it's a risk that many people aren't willing to take. They would rather stay the same. They would rather stay with what is comfortable than to dare test the waters into something new.

0:06:42 - (Kevin Lowe): But here's a mindset shift for you to think about. What if failure isn't the opposite of success, but rather a stepping stone to get you there? Did you hear what I just said? What if failure is not the opposite of success, but rather merely a stepping stone that is helping you get there? That, my friend, is powerful. That, my friend, is a mindset shift that I hope you will remember. Because when you fail and you think to yourself, my gosh, look what I've done. I've wasted everything that I've done.

0:07:21 - (Kevin Lowe): Or if the fear of failure is keeping you from moving forward, I want you to stop and I want you to realize the failure. It's okay. It's part of the process. It's another stepping stone to get you to where you want to be. Now, let's talk about the transformational impact of adventure. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, adventure. Adventure mindset. It can truly change the game for your life. Every adventure, big or small, it has the potential to evoke change in your life.

0:07:57 - (Kevin Lowe): As I said, it's about more than just adrenaline. It's about learning something new. It's about taking in an experience that you've never done before. Maybe you saw a part of the world you've never seen before. Maybe you made a bold move that you never thought you would take before. This has us growing in ways that we never knew were possible. These are the things that let you see how amazing you truly are about the time you think you got it all figured out.

0:08:34 - (Kevin Lowe): If you start living with a little bit more sense of adventure, I guarantee you that you're going to start to see things about you that you didn't realize. Or maybe you realized, but you've just put it on the back burner because, well, like I said, you'd rather just stay with what is comfortable, what is routine. And I get it. That's okay. But this podcast is here to push the envelope. It's here to have you thinking about life from a different perspective.

0:09:05 - (Kevin Lowe): My hope is that this podcast inspires you to maybe get out there and look at life from a different view and to. Huh, what if I do listen to Kevin. What if I do start to embrace a sense of adventure? What might my life look like tomorrow, next week, next month, next year? I guarantee you the impact is monumental. I went out to Los Angeles, California. I trained one on one with an instructor, a guy who I have become friends with today.

0:09:42 - (Kevin Lowe): His name is Brian Bushway. And on the third day of our training, I saw through sound. I began the process of retraining my brain's visual cortex to see through sound. I, my friend, could see again, just in a whole new crazy way. But here's what I didn't realize. I thought I was simply setting off on this adventure to learn this skill, to be able to see through sound like a bat or a dolphin. What I didn't expect was the transformation that would take place in my life.

0:10:24 - (Kevin Lowe): The transformation that happened in a single moment, that has impacted my life today, all these years later, and will continue to impact my life from this day forward. By me learning this skill, by retraining my brain to see through sound, to use echolocation, I changed my life. I came home to a world that is no longer just black, but instead it's a world with shapes and objects and dimension. No, I don't see like I used to, but I can see in a whole new way.

0:11:03 - (Kevin Lowe): And it's a darn sure a whole lot better than my world. Before learning how to use echolocation again, I set off on an adventure, expecting one thing, and what came out of it was a lifetime of benefit, something that I had no idea about. That's where I'm encouraging you, too, to set off on your own adventure, in whatever shape or form that looks like. Now, I understand if you are new to the podcast and you haven't heard me talk about echolocation, and you're kind of intrigued, wanting to learn more.

0:11:39 - (Kevin Lowe): Well, I'm going to leave a link to a recent interview I did on the remarkable People podcast, and a big part of our conversation was about me using echolocation. So be sure to check out today's show notes, where I'll leave a link to that episode. On the remarkable people podcast, my adventure. It was setting off to do something that we thought was impossible. But what is your adventure? Maybe it's you, finally getting the courage to chase the dream. Maybe it's you at your current workplace, getting the courage to talk with the boss, to speak with your supervisor about moving up, moving up the ladder.

0:12:22 - (Kevin Lowe): Maybe it's you setting off on the adventure of maybe starting your own business, doing your own thing, or maybe it's you opening your heart to love again. It's you choosing to love yourself for you choosing to put yourself first. For you choosing to make the hard decisions that you know, though, are the best for you. Adventure. It comes in so many different shapes and sizes, but all the while, it's adventure.

0:12:57 - (Kevin Lowe): And it's going to leave a transformation in your life if you choose to embrace it. I want to be sure that I give you some practical, tangible takeaways in today's episode. And so I got three different tips to help you if this whole idea is still seeming a little too difficult. So the question is, okay, how do I cultivate this sense of adventure? I just live a pretty ordinary life, Kev. What am I supposed to do? Well, here's some ideas for you.

0:13:29 - (Kevin Lowe): I want you to remember to start small. Adventure. It doesn't mean that you jump right out and start scaling to the top of Mount Everest. No, I want you to think of it as a trial run, testing something out, trying a new hobby, putting on a pair of roller blades. I don't even know. Do they even still make rollerblades? Maybe not. I'm sure that's not the cool kid thing anymore. But whatever it is that you want to do that you're the least bit intrigued by, but yet maybe you don't do because you're scared.

0:14:03 - (Kevin Lowe): You're fearful that you're not going to be good at it. Well, friend, you're never going to know if you never give it a try. So I encourage you to do it, to give stuff a try. Stand up paddleboarding, that's something that people do. And I'm like, I don't know about that. And I certainly don't have any desire to do stand up paddleboarding, so I'm not going to. But maybe you, on the other hand, that's your game. It's summertime, so why not give it a shot?

0:14:32 - (Kevin Lowe): Just do it. That's what Nike says, isn't it? Let's embrace that type of mindset. My second tip or piece of advice, however you want to look at it, is for you to be curious. Yes, I am talking about you cultivating a sense of curiosity, and that means asking questions, looking up answers to stuff that you want to know. It's you continually learning. It's honestly the compass to you embracing adventure because you're curious about stuff.

0:15:06 - (Kevin Lowe): Like I said, adventure. It comes in so many different shapes and sizes and forms. Maybe you need to read about something to figure it out for you to even figure out. If you want to do this adventure in the first place. And my third little piece of advice is I want you to start working on it, and I want you to go into it with the mindset of building resilience. As I said, you may be fearful of if it doesn't work out, what if you fall? What if you're not good at it?

0:15:37 - (Kevin Lowe): Well, that's okay, because every time you do fall, every time you're not so good at it. Well, that helps to build your character. It helps to make you a little bit more resilient. It helps to make you a little bit tougher, a little bit more eager to be sure that you crush it next time you give it a try. I want you to gain the confidence that you can tackle big things and bigger things each time you give it a try.

0:16:07 - (Kevin Lowe): But you're never going to do it if you never give it a try. So, friend, give it a try. Adventure. That's what we're talking about. As a bonus tip for you, I want you to seek out community. Community of people who too are on the same type of journey as you. Maybe they are people who are wanting to. I don't know. Let's think of something that you might want to do. Maybe go kayaking, maybe start swimming at the YMCA.

0:16:39 - (Kevin Lowe): Well, find some groups, some clubs that are people wanting to do the same thing. It's so much easier for us to do something uncomfortable when we're with other people who are also doing something uncomfortable. It's like that theory of a rising tide lifts all boats. Same deal with this. So get involved with a group of people and see where that takes you. My friend, here's the thing I want you to realize.

0:17:08 - (Kevin Lowe): Life, it's full of the good times and the bad. It's full of the ups and downs. It's full of awesome memories and events in our lives that, gosh, we wish we could forget. But we have to be willing to live life. We only get one chance at this life. And if you've not had something happen in your life to make you realize it, I'm here to tell you, our time here on earth is so limited. If you think that the days go by slow, friend, I'm telling you it's going faster and faster.

0:17:47 - (Kevin Lowe): It seems like the older I get. And so I'm here to encourage you that if you have the opportunity to get out there and do something, then, baby, do it. It's the age old thing of you don't want to sit it out. No. You want to dance. Dance the dance the dance with life, the dance with adventure. And with that, my friend, I want to thank you. Thank you for being here today, embarking on this sense of adventure.

0:18:16 - (Kevin Lowe): And as always, I hope so much that something I said today that will be a spark to ignite a flame that says, you know what? I think Kev is right. What type of adventure am I going to set off on? You do it. I want you to get out there, enjoy your life. Enjoy every opportunity with an adventure mindset, my friend. I'm Kevin Lowe. This is grit, grace and inspiration. I will be back next week, and until then, hoohoo. Get out there and live adventurous.