Life to you is a dashing and bold adventure".

While I certainly believe that in a big-picture way, there's a reason I have it on my mirror.

It's one thing to think this way while you're off viewing wildlife in the rainforest, or exploring ancient Greek ruins.  But what about the rest of life? What about the dull days spent toiling away at the office, or even (heaven forbid!) doing the accounting?  What about the difficult days, when disappointments arise, problems loom large, and tears well up?  Are those days part of the adventure, too?

This looks like a fun adventure!

Adventure
"1. A risky undertaking of unknown outcome. 2. An exciting or unexpected event or course of events." ~ Collins English Dictionary

Adventure and the dull days

Adventures don't have to be dangerous, physically challenging, or geographically distant.  You don't have to follow in the footsteps of Indiana Jones, searching for long-lost treasure, while evading jungle natives and outwitting German spies.

Walking around the block can be an adventure, when you first arrive in Hong Kong, you're jostling through the crowds, absorbing all the strange and fascinating sights and sounds, and you don't know what's around every corner.  Walking to the mailbox the same way you do every day - not so much.

But even then, are there ways you could add adventure to it (aside from darting between the cars on a busy street)? Perhaps set a goal to discover one new thing on the way every day, or take a daily photograph, and create a photo montage for the month.  A cloudy sky, reflections in a puddle, or recording a flower as it blooms and fades - there's beauty everywhere, if we take a moment to look for it. Discovering something new every day would bring lots of unexpected things, and the challenge and creativity would add a lot more fun and excitement.

Adventure and the difficult days

Problems are part of adventures, too. They go with the territory. After all, you don't get to the top of Mt. Everest without enduring plenty of difficulty and hardship on the way up. Even Indiana Jones got beaten up, captured, and thrown in a pit with a thousand snakes. That's the risky part of adventure.

Hmm, temple of doom....

In terms of travel, I've always found that the worst experiences at the time can make the best stories later. If you're going to laugh a year from now about the time you spent 2 days sleeping at the airport, or your bus broke down in the middle of nowhere, why not take it in stride, and laugh about it right away?

But it's a big step from there to viewing challenges and hardships in our "normal life" as part of the adventure. When you're in the middle of the snake pit, it's scary, and it's not where you want to be. It's hard to step back from there to see the larger view, where this is one of the ups and downs that make life exciting. (I'm not speaking of real tragedies here, but the many types of obstacles we have to overcome.)

It's difficult to get that perspective, even though we know that in the long run, the hard times are just part of life. They build ability and confidence, as you know that you've made it through another trial.  The next time you're in trouble, you can think "I can do this - it's nothing compared to the snake pit." They make the good times that much sweeter, as you suddenly appreciate any day without snakes. And sometimes they make great stories later, too!

Attitude is the only difference between an ordeal and an adventure." ~ Larry Hazan

So this year, my goal is to keep that adventurous outlook, regardless of what's happening.  I intend to have adventures afield, adventures close to home, and even adventures on days when I have to do accounting. And when I hit a difficult patch, I'll do my best to picture it as a yawning chasm or a pool of quicksand - all just part of the adventure!

What do you think? Do you see life as an adventure, or would you like to?  There's nothing required except an adventurous spirit.  I'll keep you posted on how it goes - I foresee one awesome, rocking year ahead!

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For 2011, my resolution is to explore the concept of adventure.  I'm not spending the year trekking unexplored mountain passes, but wherever I am, and whatever I'm doing, I'll be looking for the adventure in it.  Can every day be adventurous, even the dull and difficult ones?  That's what I aim to find out, in the Year of Living Adventurously!
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Related posts:

1. About Us - Adventure is the spice of life
2. The first post - Philosophy of adventure
3. Wilde about the senses

It was too hot for outdoor activities, and I could work up zero enthusiasm for the gym. The plus side was long days of getting work done. The down side was long days of sitting at a computer.

Boot camp? Really?

Then, a Groupon happened across my desk, for a discount on outdoor boot camp workouts, starting at 530am to avoid the summer heat. 530am? For a confirmed night owl like me?

I posted on facebook, "Am I insane...?", and friends confirmed that I was definitely off my rocker. To prove them right, I went ahead and signed up with Urban Athletics boot camp. Spoiler alert - I'm glad I did! Sometimes temporary insanity has advantages.

I wasn't sure whether the most difficult part would be getting up about the time I'm used to going to sleep, or the workout itself. Perhaps the testimonial quote on the website "Seriously the hardest workout I've ever had" should have given me a clue, but I was fixated on that pre-dawn alarm.

Day 1 (Sound of heavy breathing)

The first day was tough! I was exhausted after the warm-up, and it got harder from there. I can't even remember what all we did - it's a blur. There was a point where I felt like I was going to collapse on the grass, but then somebody passed me a relay hand-off and I just kept going. Miracles do happen!

The day after, I was SO sore. Walking down the stairs was a minor ordeal, and my arms were so sore I couldn't brush my hair. Just goes to show how much I needed it, right? After a couple of sessions, the pain went away - an unmistakable sign of progress!

Routine (Getting into the swing/push/pull of it)

At this boot camp, every workout starts with a warm up run, then stretching, and ends with more stretching. In between, each session is different, incorporating plenty of sprints, lunges, push-ups, bench dips, jump squats, keg tosses, sit-ups, leg push-downs, plank jumping jacks, and more. Some days are on the flats, other days are hill workouts.

Our fearless leader

One of the things I like is that every workout is different, so you never know what to expect next. Paul Rose (our demanding drill sergeant, encouraging leader) mixes it up, and keeps it interesting. It's a friendly session, and Paul has a sense of humor that can sometimes even coax a laugh out of worn-out people doing "another set of bench dips?"

The other thing I like about every workout is that sooner or later, it ends. No matter how tired I am when I drag myself out of bed, or how tired I am after running up, down and around for an hour, I feel pretty darn good at the end of the workout!

Results (Ooooh - I can feel it!)

After 6 sessions, I could feel enough of a noticeable difference in my body, that I wanted to continue that trend, and signed up for a bunch more. Yes, me, voluntarily getting out of bed before dawn, to go get my butt kicked around the park - and paying $$ to do it! Temporary insanity again, or pure logical reasoning this time?

Food (To eat, or not to eat?)

When I got home on day 1, after seriously the hardest workout I've ever had, I was freezing cold, putting on layers of clothes and huddling under blankets.  And this is Arizona in the summer! I called a workout fanatic friend of mine, and he said it sounded like my blood sugar had dropped so much it was hard to stay warm. He advised eating beforehand (if possible), eating immediately afterward (including protein & carbs), and drinking Gatorade (the full sugar version) during the workout to keep my sugar level up. So far, that's working a whole lot better for me.

You'll need to experiment with food. It's hard to find anything appetizing at 430am. I open the fridge, and think "yuck, yuck, yuck...", but I need something, even if it's just 3 bites of cereal and some Gatorade. Some people do yogurt, others manage with nothing - see what works for you.

Lessons & Tips

Location, location, location. Some boot camps are inside, others outdoors. Of course, in some climates outside isn't always possible, but for an outdoors girl like me, every minute of it feels so much better in the fresh air, vs. inside a stuffy gym. The downside is it's weather dependent, and you'll be down in the dirt and grass doing push-ups and more. Put that detergent to the test!

Becoming a morning person (or not). Picking a workout time radically different from your normal schedule adds its own issues.  I tried going to bed early, but couldn't sleep, and hated giving up my nights (a favorite time of day)! My new system is that I stay up late and get ~3 hours sleep at night, then take a nap or two later in the day. It's actually an easier, flexible version of polyphasic sleep, compared to what I tried before. Of course, depending on your employer, afternoon naps might not go over so well!

Medical stuff, etc. Every exercise video in the world says to talk to a doctor before starting a new program, so I'll repeat that oft-repeated statement.  I'm sure it's good advice, even though I never do it. It would also be smart to talk to your group leader when you're considering a boot camp, and see if it's going to work for your fitness level and needs. They also have modifications available for people, if you need an easier version of an exercise, or have an injury to work around.

Ready for a change? If you're tired of your normal exercise routine and ready for a new challenge, give this a try.  Change is good in fitness, as it is in life in general. As Ellen Glasgow said,

The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions."

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If you're in Tucson, I highly recommend Urban Athletics boot camp. (Don't let me scare you off!)  If you're somewhere else, then check Google to see if there's a similar program in your town. It's a great way to break out of that rut, and kick your fitness program into high gear.
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Related posts:

1. Fit for adventure: Gym-a-holic or Adventurous Wench?

On the downside, no A report card so far!   On the upside, I've identified 5 simple rules to make sure your resolutions fail.

Failure is achievable - you can do it!

5 Simple rules to achieving failure

Don't allocate time in your schedule for new tasks.  Simple, and so effective!  I have a very full work schedule, that goes until after midnight most nights.  Why not add a resolution to do daily writing, without changing the schedule?  Saying "every day from 9 to 10" would be far too simple - introducing a recurring scheduling dilemma is much more effective. While this rule on its own won't guarantee failure, it's a big step in the right (wrong?) direction!

Make your new tasks as big as possible. This fits hand in glove with the rule above.  It's not such a big deal if 15-minute tasks aren't scheduled.  But give yourself tasks that could easily take 1/2 day each, and then try to squeeze them into a full schedule - now we're talking!  You can easily expand the work with a couple of judicious words - for example, "write and publish".  Those extra two words add all the time needed to find graphics, quotes, links, do formatting and testing.  See what I mean?

Avoid setting clear priorities. The recurring schedule dilemmas are much more fun if you can also question the priority of your resolution several times a day.  Whenever you think about working on it, just say "is this really more important than issue X that is sitting in front of me?"  Every time you ask this question and the answer falls in favor of issue X, your failure probability goes up!

Add other big changes at the same time. Simply put, the more things you try to change at the same time, the greater your chance of failure.  So if you started the month with a single resolution, like writing something every day, find something else you can add to the mix. Perhaps this is also a good time to start a new exercise program.  And why not start getting up a few hours earlier, too?

So tired... Can't go on...

Minimize your physical capacity. The more energy you have, the more you can accomplish. For the purpose of failure, aim for the opposite.  One possibility I can recommend, is starting a kick-butt bootcamp workout, so early that you need to get up about the time you're used to going to bed.  The schedule change will mean you're always tired, and an aggressive workout can leave every muscle in your body aching.  With physical and mental deterioration like this, just watch your results sink through the floor!

Note: Be careful about working out. If done on a regular basis, it can actually lead to the opposite results, increasing your energy, focus, and capacity. When you're looking for the way to failure, avoid that consistency - you want big changes, all at the same time.

That's it! With these 5 simple rules, you can set yourself up for almost certain failure, on any resolution or goal. See how easy that is?

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Plenty of lessons learned here! I'm working on course corrections to try to salvage my monthly resolution, but I sure set it up for failure! I think I may have a hidden talent here, since I wasn't even trying - all these rules just came naturally!
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Related posts:

1. The number of times I fail?
2. New Year's travel resolutions and resolution aids
3. New Month's Resolution: Write something

So how are those New Year's resolutions coming along? Still exercising regularly and sticking with that diet plan? If you're still on track with your resolutions, you're among a select few.

You may wonder why I'm writing about New Years resolutions in June! Well, this is my latest experiment - New Month's Resolutions, designed to avoid some of the pitfalls that plague the annual version.

What's wrong with New Year's Resolutions?

The problem is that far too often, by mid-January those good intentions have already fallen by the wayside. By the time June rolls around, it's hard to even remember what they were! Though I hesitate to cite myself as an expert, I do have years of experience with failed New Years resolutions!

Why is this so hard? Well, there are a bunch of factors, but here are few key reasons:

Too many.  Full of optimism and idealism at the start of a brand new year, we make a long list. "I will quit smoking, and read 100 books, and learn Spanish, and empty out the garage, and stick to a budget, and . . ."  That optimistic spirit feels great, and making a list like this feels fantastic!  Woo hoo, I can do anything!  Then real life hits, and pretty soon the first item bites the dust.  Then the second one falls off.   By then, it's time to forget about resolutions altogether.

Too much.  Learning from years of "too many", we decide to focus on just one to three resolutions, max.  Of course, if we're going to dedicate the year to achieving just a couple of things, they'd better be important, worthwhile, big-ticket items, right?  So this year, "I will get to size-0 and be financially free".   Of course, these are so daunting that we doom ourselves to resolution disappointment before we ever get very far.

Too vague.   So how about a simple resolution like "I will get in better shape"?  Sure, sure.   It's an admirable goal, really!  But it's way too vague on the subject of exactly what I'm going to do to get there, or even where "there" is.  Do I really need to go to the gym again, or how about if I just walk to the bank instead?  Or I could just eat a salad for lunch - surely that would count, right?

Too all-or-nothing.  This is the flip side of the vagueness problem.  Here we make a goal that's absolute.  "I will exercise every single morning before I do anything else."  This has some hallmarks of a good resolution.  It's definite, measurable, and achievable.   But it's also easy to fail.  One morning I'm sick, or groggy from a long plane trip.  The way this goal is written, I've already failed.  If that happens again, then I'm a double failure, and might as well give it up.

How's that list of resolutions going?

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An alternative:  New Month's Resolutions

Make a single New Month's Resolution at the start of each month, and make it something specific and definitely achievable within that month. If it's the kind of thing that requires a plan of action, then that has to happen in the first week of the month, leaving the other 23 or so days for implementation. If it's the type of thing that involves setting a new habit (or breaking an old one), then a month is a good amount of time. Some experts say that it takes 21 days for a new habit to really take hold, so a month should be enough to have it well-established.

If this works, then by making one simple resolution each month, it should be possible to get 12 of them done in a year. And what would the odds be on doing all 12 in a year if they were on one massive New Year's list? I don't know about you, but for me that would be somewhere near absolute zero.

The experiment

My body is telling me that it wants to get back to running, but unfortunately this time of year that requires either doing it on a treadmill (uninspiring) or getting up early in the morning (more inspiring, but trying to also turn into a morning person would make this a double-whammy resolution). I don't want to set this up for failure the first time out.

So instead, my resolution for June is to write and post 30 articles this month, either for this blog or for another site. I know I've let writing slide too long, so this goal does have value in getting me back in the habit.  I'm targeting one a day, but to avoid the all-or-nothing pitfall, I can miss a day and double up on another day, as long as I end up with 30 items by the end of the month.

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I'll keep you posted, and let you know how this turns out.  I barely got #1 in before midnight, but so far so good... one down, 29 to go!
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Related posts:

1. New Year's travel resolutions and resolution aids
2. How to make sure your resolutions fail
3. The Year of Living Adventurously

With all the negativity about the election and the economy, it's easy to get down in the dumps. On a bad news day, I end up surrounded with negativity -- Radio, new sites, TV, blogs, and twitter. All bearing bad news, prophecies of coming doom, and discussions of who, how, why, when we got into this mess. Elections bring their own special brand of negativity, with constant attacks, spinning, mud-slinging, finger pointing, and fear mongering.

It's enough to get a person down!

On the other hand, I know that wallowing in the bad-news morass can sink me into a depressed state, and that's not a productive way to deal with anything. I mope around, doing things in a half-hearted way.  What's the point, when the sky is falling, the economy is tanking, and nothing's going to work anyway? Low energy, low motivation, and low productivity.  This is hardly what I need!

Retraining your brain

So, I've decided this week to get back to a positive thinking diet. My approach here is a combination of Tony Robbins' "10-day Mental Diet", and the "21-day No Complaint Experiment" that I got from Tim Ferriss.

There's a lot of similarity between these plans.  The gist of it is that over this period of time, you train your mind to focus on positive thoughts, not negative.

When a negative thought emerges, don't allow yourself to dwell on it more than a minute.

Don't verbalize your negative thoughts

Immediately replace the negative thought with a positive one.  Where you can, focus on a solution rather than just the problem.  If the problem is too big for you to have a solution, then focus on some other related thought that's positive and empowering.

Whenever you break the rule and hold your negative focus more than a minute, you need to start all over on day 1.

A key element that the "no complaint" plan adds is a bracelet.  When you find yourself focusing on a complaint rather than a solution, you have to switch your bracelet to the other wrist, and start again.  The bracelet acts as a tangible reminder of what you've committed to, and helps you stay on track.

By the time you've gone 10 days on this plan, you've really accomplished something!  I can say from prior experience that it feels really amazing when you can keep this up.  Banishing all that negativity makes life seem a lot rosier.  You're accomplishing more because you're focused on solutions rather than problems.  You've got more energy, life is better, and you're a heck of a lot happer.

As for this morning?  I've got a long way to go!  I've swapped the bracelet half a dozen times so far, and I'm having trouble making it through 21 minutes, let alone 21 days. Oops -- that sounded like a negative thought there, didn't it?

Quick change: The mere fact that I'm working on this is already making me feel better!  With a little bit of practice, 21 minutes will be no problem at all. By tomorrow, I'll practically be an expert!

Gee, I'm feeling better already!

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I'm heading out soon for our San Francisco and Napa Valley trip.  For me, the most stressful part of any trip is the few days right before it, when I'm trying to get everything done before I leave town!  It's always hopeless, there's too much to do. -- Ooops! Quick change -- I get through as much as I can, and the rest of the to-dos will still be there when I get back. Sometimes aging them a bit mellows them out.
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Related posts:

1. The leading cause of stress
2. PCs, Macs and the change slider

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of."
~ Benjamin Franklin

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Old Ben had it right.  Time.  It goes by so fast (geez, another year nearly at an end?), and there's so little of it (especially compared to my to-do list)!  Life has a limited number of hours, and we choose how we use them.

I think about that whenever I see people veg out watching TV for hours every day.  I feel like somebody needs to remind them "Your life is going by, and you'll never get those hours back again!  Is this really how you want to spend the time of your life?"  Then I think I shouldn't be so judgmental, and everybody lives life their own way.  But back to the time / to-do imbalance...

I've decided to try Polyphasic Sleep. This means that rather than sleeping one long sleep at night, you use short blocks of sleep, spread throughout the day. The purpose is to literally put more usable, waking hours in my day.

Buckminster Fuller termed this Dymaxion Sleep (see Time Magazine, 1943).  Fuller said 2 hrs sleep was plenty, as long as you spread it out over the day.  Other frequently cited polyphasic sleepers are Leonardo da Vinci, and good old Ben Franklin!

I experimented with this about a year ago, and found some interesting things...

-  Night & day start to become meaningless.  You're just as likely to be doing any given thing at any time.  Some time blocks are just darker than others!

-  Life needs new rules. When you sleep 6 times/day, do you still brush & floss before bed & when you get up?  You might become a dental poster child, but think how fast you'd wear out the toothbrushes!  When do you exercise, shower, eat dinner?  And when's cocktail time? 

-  When I had 6 naps of 30-40 min, the system seemed pretty stable (3-4 hrs sleep/day).  I was able to get a lot done, and felt good most of the time.  My level of energy was in line with what it is on a "regular schedule".

-  When I had 6 naps of 20-30 min, the system was more fragile (2-3 hrs sleep/day).  It worked OK if I stuck to it exactly, but when something happened to interfere (conference call goes too long, dinner out doesn't fit your window quite right, etc.), I would get so tired I'd crash and burn.

-  At those crash times, the line between waking and sleeping seemed to blur.  One time, I read over something I'd just typed, and realized that it had no bearing in reality.  I had just typed my dream! Weird!

- I get a lot done in the middle of the night! There's something very cool about looking around at 6am, and seeing how much you accomplished while the world was asleep! This is the biggie, and why I'm back on the system now.

Right now, I'm doing a 40-min nap, 6 times a day. After a few days, it's going well.  I'm getting a lot more done, which is just what I needed.

I couldn't ever switch to this schedule permanently, since it doesn't fit well with the real world and my job.  "You guys carry on down the trail, I've got to stop for my nap".  Don't think so!  But for occasional bursts of work, when extra hours are worth their weight in gold (?), I love having this as an option.

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I'm cramming right now to get everything ready for our Patagonia trip and our Belize trip, before I leave for our Santa Fe trip. It's all very cool stuff, and I love it to pieces -- just a lot to get done! Here's to napping!
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Related posts:

1. Is not life a hundred times too short. . .
2. Never forget: This very moment we can change
3. You will never find time for anything

They said laughter is a social thing, and that people don't laugh alone. They don't mean when you're home alone watching Letterman, or goofy YouTube videos. In those cases, there's still an external source involved. Their point was that without that, people don't laugh alone -- it's a social thing, and we laugh in the company of others.

But that's where they're wrong. Or maybe I'm weird. Because I DO laugh alone. Do you?

Here's a good example: The other day, it was a beautiful morning outside, and I was driving through the desert. I had the roof down, tunes on, sun was shining, weather was perfect, and I had the winding back road to myself. It was so gorgeous, and so free, that a wave of incredible happiness came over me, and I had to laugh out loud. It wasn't social (I didn't bring imaginary friends that morning). It wasn't something on the radio. It was internal -- joy at a beautiful day that came bubbling to the surface as a laugh.

So that's my question, and it seems important -- do you laugh alone?

I'd hate to think there's a segment of people who don't get this same bubbling happiness, because surely everyone deserves to feel that wonderful sometimes -- so happy you just have to burst out laughing, even if you're alone!

I'd love to hear from anybody out there, so feel free to comment. Please, say you do too, say it's not true...

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Surely it's not just me, right? Or is it one of those things that happens but you're not supposed to admit it, like drinking alone? Maybe I'll go have a glass of wine, too.
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1. Happiness via mind control
2. That's when the joy happens
3. Business, wine and inspiration

Digging for ideas

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I just ran across a cool tool -- the "Big Dig" over at Idea Sandbox. They describe this as a set of thought starters and problem solving techniques, collected from great thinkers and writers.

If you're feeling stuck on a particular problem -- whether a business issue, personal matter, or writer's block -- you can dig in their sandbox, and it comes up with a suggestion. A couple of tries netted me the following, both of which had a kernel I could make use of:

Consider looking up. You may be trying to solve something that is really a small part of a much bigger problem."

It's not enough to be good when you dream of being great."

Great stuff indeed, and I'm glad I tried it! You can start solving some of your own problems at

Idea Sandbox: Big Dig problem solver
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The safest memories are those in the mind of someone who can't remember."

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No, I didn't make that up! It's the astonishing conclusion of a scientist who was part of the Radiolab episode on memory and forgetting.
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Memories of things you can't remember

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In case you haven't discovered Radiolab, it's a fascinating podcast, exploring a variety of subjects (like memory, time, or life) from different angles. Very well done, always intriguing and surprising, and one of my favorites. Highly recommended.
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My all-time favorite (if the concept of "all-time" even makes sense, but that's a different episode!) is Greatest hits of ancient garbage. Very cool!
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The good news is I have a lot of very safe memories! Now what was I going to say?
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Related posts:

1. Do you laugh alone?
2. You've gotta be there, do that

And now I’m a Competent Communicator!  It sounds a bit like something your kindergarten teacher would write, right? Really, that’s the new name for the level you reach at Toastmasters when you do your 10th prepared speech. The old name, Competent Toastmaster, sounds much more advanced, doesn’t it?

Last night was my 10th TM speech, so I made it! This was the Inspiring Speech assignment, and after watching who-knows-how-many speeches during the presidential primaries, I decided to to give my own campaign speech. I should have a bunch of Toastmaster votes come Super Tuesday.

Have you ever wanted to improve your public speaking skills? I can highly recommend Toastmasters. I used to be terrified of public speaking, though I knew it was something that would be good to learn.

First, I did some of Lee Glickstein’s Speaking Circles. Those were helpful as far as getting more comfortable standing in front of a group. Toastmasters goes far beyond that, giving you a lot of practical education on organizing speeches, using vocal variety, etc.

After a little while in TM, I found (to my surprise) that I could be pretty good at public speaking. And then an even bigger surprise - I found that I enjoyed it!

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If you’re ever interested, check the TM website for a club near you. Groups vary widely, so you might want to try out a few to see which suits you best. I know I found a winner with Gilbert Toastmasters!
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1. Action is a great restorer
2. Will the real Blarney please stand up?