“Most days of the year are unremarkable. They begin and they end with no lasting memories or anything of significant. Most days have no impact on the course of a person’s life.”
That’s the final quote from the “[500] Days of Summer” movie. Yes, it’s a chick flick; yes, I watched it… (It was a long flight to Dohar and I was bored. Honest.), and I have to say that yes, I actually thought it was pretty good. I realize that this now probably loses me a few masculinity points in most people’s eyes but don’t worry, I’m currently sporting a rather fetching and particularly rugged manly mustache and so can afford to lose a few.
The problem with modern day living is that we’re far too comfortable, even if by being comfortable we’re bored out of our minds.
These days there’s rarely a sense or a desire for adventure – we seem to have lost the need to explore our world and in the process, ourselves.
Modern day man (or woman) is less Indiana Jones and more Mr. Jones who works at the bank; less James Bond and more his administrative assistant.
We’ve become apathetic towards and unappreciative of life.
Call it apathy; call it a reduced survival requirement; call it whatever you want but it seems to me that very few days in people’s lives are remarkable and have a significant impact on the course of their lives.
Surely this is a waste. We’ve so few days available in our lifetime that it seems ludicrous not to make the most of them. We’re content to let so many of them slip past without challenge or risk.
We’ve tried to eliminate risk.
Even our modern day holidays seem geared towards reduced risk. We have all inclusive holiday packages that ensure we manage to make it out of our own country and into a foreign hotel and back again without having to actually engage with the locals of the country we traveled to. We have short city breaks that allow us to cram an entire city experience into less than 48 hours so that we don’t miss work.
And we all have any number of excuses on why we didn’t do such and such, missed out on that experience, wasn’t able to take part in that event, or didn’t speak to that person.
Imagine if most people’s lives were made into a Hollywood movie. How much would these movies bomb at the box office?
Get some excitement into your life people, whatever form that works for you.
If someone was to make a movie of your life, I would like to think that you’d at least hope it would have some chance of being a box office hit.
But to do that you need to make things happen, not just sit around and hope they turn up. Life doesn’t work like that.
For those of you that have been unfortunate enough or bribed into reading some of my other posts, you’ll know that I recently quit my job and moved to Thailand to live life as a traveling entrepreneur.
This is quite a drastic move and it definitely impacted my life course like the meteor in the movie Armageddon. It did however, completely change my life and not in the cliche way either.
Is your life adventurous or just plain boring?
Are you living life like an adventure? Is your life like a Hollywood movie in which you are the star? If not, why not?
If your life is currently drifting through space like a slow moving planet and you’re suspicious and worried at where this current path will ultimately lead you, then you need to inject some tactical meteor strikes into your life and shake things up.
If you’re trying to derail a planet, you need a big impact. Small ones will chip away at the outer crust but ultimately prove ineffective. Big ones change courses.
From experience, I realized that if I was going to be serious about retiring before age twenty-five and pursue my life’s ambitions, then I needed to do something big.
I was in a good, well-paid job with excellent potential. I had a good life but it wasn’t a great life. To get the great life I had to risk the good life.
So, four months ago I decided to quit my job and get out of the country even though I had no real idea what I was going to do or if it was going to work out.
Whatever position you find yourself in now, you have the same decision to make. You can risk nothing and live like you’ve always done, and be safe in the knowledge that you know where you’ll be in 20 years time, or you can put on your hat, pick up your whip and search for adventure.
So, who are you, Indiana Jones or Mr. Jones?
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G'day! I'm Gordie, founder and editor-in-chief of Lifestyle Design For You. I want to welcome you to the center of the universe when it comes to lifestyle design and personal development blogs. We're a team of ten writers providing you with articles to help nourish your mind and improve your life. Lifestyle design is about designing your life so you can do what you want when you want. 
{ 61 comments… read them below or add one }
India Jones actually. This is spookily similar to my latest post about how to avoid leading an average life. I’m an adventurous spirit currently trapped in suburbia but I’ll never settle down or stop traveling and a package holiday definitely doesn’t count as travel for me.
Thanks Gordie for the guest post and to Jonny for writing it. Good luck with all your plans lads. I think 2010′s going to be a big year.
Hi Annabel,
This afternoon, I saw your post and also thought it was on a very similar topic. Show’s that you and Jonny must be on the same wave length. I also have a good feeling about 2010. I’m moving back to New Zealand after not being back for nearly a decade. It’ll be a an adventure trying to get used to the lifestyle there again.
Perhaps this was something I could have attempted 30 years ago, but now I have a family to look after, and I’m not about to throw away their security for a bit of added excitement.
Besides, I’m not bored at all. It’s a jungle out there. Everyday I have to dodge fast moving vehicles that continually threaten to shorten my life. Every day I have to manage a cutthroat business and make sure that I stay in front of the jackals. Every day I have to come home to a demanding family who love and admire me for what I do.
Boring? Hardly.
Sire´s last blog ..Update On Probloggers And Commenting
In some ways it’s a mind set, isn’t it? You can add adventure into your daily life.
That is true Gordie, if you keep telling yourself your life is boring, it will be. A positive outlook on almost anything that comes down your path is sometimes necessary to help overcome hurdles that jump in your way.
Sire´s last blog ..Update On Probloggers And Commenting
Thats exactly right Sire, in no way is everyones adventure taking off with a rucksack and travelling the world.
It is definitely more about having a mindset of adventure and appreciation of life, however you choose to live your life.
It’s the difference between playing with the intention of not losing and playing to win.
Why not take the risk for some fortune and glory!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqR_p_KFNsw
NomadicNeil´s last blog ..Why I was banned from my local Thai beach bar
“It’s the difference between playing with the intention of not losing and playing to win.”
That sounds pretty cool. A great example of a negative and positive affirmation in the same sentence. The latter is so much more effective.
It’s funny, b/c it is at the exact age of 42 when I want to be Indiana Jones. At 42, that is when I will have worked for 20 yrs, and hopefully have enough savings and such to be able to really do anything and everything I want.
For now I’ll just keep trucking along. Life isn’t bad at all here in SF, but it’s the adventure that is missing.
Financial Samurai´s last blog ..Are Credit Cards Weapons Of Mass Financial Destruction?
I’m coming to the end of my 7 year adventure in China. It’s been just such a turning point in my life. It’s caused me grow in confidence and become so much more open-minded. I came here with no money and am leaving with a little. But it’s been worth it as far as I’m concerned.
Your China experience must have been AMAZING! 7 years, wow that’s unbelievable. What an eye-opener, and transformation over the years!
Financial Samurai´s last blog ..Why The World Forgives Rich And Famous People For Cheating
This is a very nice and interesting post. I have been a bit of both Jones’, but my entrepreneurial spirit has led me to the adventurous side of things. Of course there are some I wish I had avoided, but nonetheless, you have to follow your heart and task some risk during the course of life.
I really like the movie analogy, it fits the message very well.
Thanks for the post and thoughts on life, Jonny and Gordie.
BTW – I admire the courage of you two, picking up and exploring new lands. Great stories.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Adjusting to Stay On Target
Hi Jimi,
Thanks for your kind words my friend.
Jonny | thelifething.com´s last blog ..A Happiness Fundamental: The Social Spiderweb
To be honest my life has been such a roller coaster I’d be grateful for a little peace and quiet!
Kevin Tea´s last blog ..Chrome’s Extensions Complete Firefox Challenge
Hounds of Hades!
It doesn’t necessarily take a major life changing decision to add adventure into your life. I’m a full time blogger, and sitting here typing day after day is hardly adventurous (although making enough money each month can be!), but you can inject adventure easily into an otherwise humdrum life.
In the last year I’ve sailed a Yacht to Africa, ridden as camera motorcycle for a world class marathon, swam from one island to another (only 2KM, but still..) and I won’t bore you with more examples, but my point is you need to put yourself “out there” to do more. Find out what’s happening where you are via the internet and fire some emails off: “Can I help? Can I cover the story on my blog?”
Mike CJ´s last blog ..I really don’t want to be that blogger
Mike that is awesome, you have really pushed the boat out and lived adventurously.
I love the idea of just e-mailing to ask if you can help. I will definitely try that.
Jonny | thelifething.com´s last blog ..A Happiness Fundamental: The Social Spiderweb
I’ve lived my entire life being nervous, and I’ve found that it helps me keep reaching beyond what I thought I could achieve. I can usually tell when I’m not on course because I’m bored and much too comfortable.
Good post.
Nathan Hangen´s last blog ..3 Keys to Accomplishing Anything
That’s what will make you one of the great online superstars one day, Nathan. You have a natural urge that makes you want to do and achieve more.
lol, for a second I thought it read un-natural, which is what my wife calls me. Not in a good way!
Nathan Hangen´s last blog ..The Truth behind a Product Launch
No matter what the excuse, I can’t believe you watched that movie.
I’m too busy for Indiana Jones, or Mr Jones. In fact I wonder if Indiana can keep up with me.
Ok perhaps I need a different kind of excitement. Maybe some more adventure of a different nature. You know a change is as good as a holiday.
I’m not a risk taking type of person, Yet I like risk. Strange.
Robert Bravery´s last blog ..Do you thank your blog visitors?
Well with a name like yours you have a lot to live up to
Jonny | thelifething.com´s last blog ..A Happiness Fundamental: The Social Spiderweb
For the past 5 years my life has been routine and boring. That’s no way to live a life you only have one chance at. So this year I have decided to jump in and follow my passion. I’m scared as hell but excited at the same time. So this post could not have come at better time. I’m just about to head out the door to meet with clients who have sought me out before I have even launched my business, and this has been a great little “pep talk” for me.
Patty Reiser´s last blog ..Adorable, no?
Patty,
I am really glad it helped.
Jonny | thelifething.com´s last blog ..A Happiness Fundamental: The Social Spiderweb
Hey Jonny.
I would say I am Indiana Jones in my mind, and maybe Mr. Jones to others, for now at least, but usually what is in our minds later materializes, so that is a good thing.
We sure have become apathetic towards life. One big problem is having enough before you realize what enough is. Your mind assumes that those items are part of regular living, and doesn’t see what it took to get them. It is very bad to get soft in this way.
Eliminating risk sure seems good at first, but it is like covering a child with protective rubber so he doesn’t get hurt, leading him to grow up without small injuries, leading to a larger injury down the road. The small bumps and bruises keep us resilient and aware.
Cool stuff here.
Armen Shirvanian´s last blog ..You Don’t Know What Works Until You Fully Try
Hey Armen,
Yeah, here in China, with the one child policy, children are so overprotected and told not to take risk that when they grow up they become so boring with no interesting experiences or adventures to share.
I hadn’t even thought about that. That has a huge impact on how people act as adults. It is cool that you pointed this out.
Running away from risk is like running towards an unreachable destination.
Armen Shirvanian´s last blog ..You Don’t Know What Works Until You Fully Try
I aim to please.
Mmmn, my favorite part:
>>>We’ve become apathetic towards and unappreciative of life.
Call it apathy; call it a reduced survival requirement; call it whatever you want but it seems to me that very few days in people’s lives are remarkable and have a significant impact on the course of their lives. <<<<
When my family moved to the 3rd poorest country in the nation in the middle of winter into a house without heat, stove hook-up, or a refrigerator, life suddenly became an adventure. Those 5 months of cooking and heating with wood, storing our perishables on the back porch and hoping the milk and eggs wouldn't be frozen in the morning, freeze drying our laundry, bathing an entire family with a 5-gal hot water heater, filling the washing machine with buckets filled in the tub, etc are some of the most memorable and precious of all my years thus far. Our family learned to appreciate things like walls without frost on them, a washer that fills itself, etc. haha
I'm currently in a state of same ole-same ole and am looking forward to an adventure… hopefully soon! I dislike stagnant life!
Erica Mueller´s last blog ..You Know You’re An Entrepreneurially Minded Family When…
Hi Erica,
Wow! That sounds like an adventure I prefer hearing about rather than actually having. Lol!
What’s your plan for your next adventure?
I have to agree with Gordie, sounds like an incredible adventure.
Adventure really is a state of mind. While the more dramatic changes and challenges tend to spark the imagination, I know that some of the most difficult adventures I’ve had to embark on all hinged on a single decision. Getting engaged, moving house 2000km’s for work, becoming unengaged. Whenever we stop taking the easy path, when we stop living our lives on auto-pilot, we start making the right decisions and all of a sudden life becomes scary and exciting again.
Michael Fletcher´s last blog ..Why meditate and what is meditation?
Hi Michael,
You’re the first person I’ve met besides myself, who has been engaged only to become unengaged. For me it happened back in early 2003 two weeks out from the planned wedding. You’re right in that it was scary and exciting.
Ah another member of the ex-fiance club, had my unengagement party in 2007 thankfully before we’d settled on a date.
I have to say I don’t recommend the experience to anyone, but I guess it’s one of those things that if it has to happen to you, you can either let it knock your stuffing out or make you stronger. In many ways though it was the start of my self development journey so I should probably be thankful for it…
Michael Fletcher´s last blog ..Why meditate and what is meditation?
My personal development journey really only started this year, but it’s never too late.
The Adventure State…I like it
Jonny | thelifething.com´s last blog ..A Happiness Fundamental: The Social Spiderweb
Yeah… I’m very familiar with the Mr. Jones lifestyle. I have always been self employed so have always taken risks in that way. However, I have put my life on hold for everything else and have failed to really do the things that make me happy.
My rather new blog, forty2fifty.com, will follow me through my transformation while helping others transform their lives too.
I’m too happy I’ve happened upon your blog as I love seeing people changing their lives.
Thanks.
Jason´s last blog ..Weeble’s Wobble but I won’t fall down
Welcome Jason!
It’s great to see you’re going share with the world your lifestyle design journey. I hope 2010 turns out to be a great year for you.
Nice post. The extraordinary life is the goal. I think minimizing risk is smart but trying to eliminate risk is pointless. Thanks for the reminder.
Ralph´s last blog ..The Ultimate Guide to Giving and Taking Constructive Criticism
Welcome, Ralph,
Good point about trying to eliminate risk as being pointless.
You’re right: I’m not really a risk taker, though I did return to school which was a big step for me. I like to be the significant impact on someone’s’ life.
Rose´s last blog ..Body jewelry- Bejeweled Plugs for your Willie
Hey Rose,
I’m sure the risk of returning back to school turned out right.
Two credits achieved. Two subjects to go.
Rose´s last blog ..House of Chaos- My Stressful life
Great, Rose.
Let’s have and online graduation party for you when you’re done.
For me I want my family to remember me when I’m gone and tell their children and grand children stories about me.
I want to leave a legacy and that means going for the opportunities that are out there but you need to go and get yourself!
Top post
TheInfoPreneur´s last blog ..My 100th Post
Looking at your goals for 2010 on your blog, I think you’re going to start creating a great legacy in 2010.
Hello all,
Cheers to all that have forgone the extra cup of coffee and taken the time to add a comment.
For anyone else reading this late feel free to add your views as I am trying to push the blog into Gordie’s top 5 of all time.
Sad isn’t it.
Jonny | thelifething.com´s last blog ..Your Blog Is Awesome and I Am A Shameless Whore – The Risky Second Series
I thinking of closing the comments when it reaches number 6.
My life is uneventful and boring, yet I long for adventure. Not the tedious day to day grind that slowly suffocates all creative thought. Wish I could just quit my day job and live my dream, but I’m afraid I’m either stuck in a rut or a comfort zone (is there a difference?)
Hi Cheryl,
I think there are ways to quit your job, but you have to have an income still to live. Even though I’m living abroad here in China, I still have to do part-time English teaching to make ends meet. I’m not sure what your circumstances are, but it’s easier now than ever before to set up a business online, but it still takes time and hard work to get the income up to so you can quit.
I work at our local post office branch, and believe me, there’s truth to the saying “going postal…” lmao. I’m really truly not cut out for a office/9 to 5/scheduled or routine job. So yeah, determination to better my circumstances is a step in the right direction, now I just need to stock up on the hard work and effort.
Besides my personal blogging site, I also created one for my artsy stuff. It’ll go live soon
The Shackled Muse | Cheryl-Anne Roelofsz´s last blog ..Proudly South African
That’s cool Cheryl,
Apply the great information you can learn on blogs like Problogger.com, Copyblogger.com and DavidRisley.com. You’ll learn how to write and sell well. Good luck!
Make your life exciting, eh? Doesn’t work for me. I’m stuck in a crummy job. I do see a way out though….it involves learning how to draw, then using what I have learnt creatively enough to stand out from the crowd (if you thought drawing well was easy, try practicing it until you get calluses at the areas where you hold your pencil).
Lots of grind and boredom involved. I do like learning something, but when you get stuck doing it 40+ hours a week…the experience tends to sour a bit. No choice though, I got no talent so I have to use all the time I have to improve (and maybe catch up with those who’ve been doing it since they were kids).
Add to that the sleep debt and the frustrations you get at your full time job……
Sometimes I do wonder why I keep learning it. Yes, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel, but it’ll be at least 3 years (or never!) before I can actually break out and get my prize. It’s either that or give up and live a mundane life (and then I’ll consider myself as a failure – might as well lie down and let a car roll over me).
No sirree, no excitement for me for a long, long time.
Sorry for the whine. I guess I do talk a lot – got not many people to talk to (they’ve all given up on asking me out or talking to me via MSN and such). Must…practice..
Time to sleep, I got work tomorrow. I’m sorry for hijacking your blog and ranting in it, but I do feel slightly better now.
Glad to be of service!
You mean learning drawing was your passion or still is your passion?
Great post Gordie. Btw, you had me at Hello gorgeous!
Y’know I was thinking about how hard it is to just let go and go after my dreams last week. Then today I’m sitting on an overpass while driving and just kind of reflecting on what’s happened in Haiti. Considering what death means and how it would change my family’s life. Would I regret not doing anything? I know it seems morbid a bit, but it was actually quite freeing. I could have perished in that quake (metaphorically, not actually). If that did happened any of the fears, anxiety, nervousness, inadequacy would mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING . So it seemed perfectly logical to go after my crazy dreams with all the gusto of an F5 tornado. Actually, it’s really illogical not too. –GM
GM Baker´s last blog ..Anatomy of A Blog Post: SEO Optimized
Welcome, GM!
Yes, things like seeing natural disasters occur, even in other countries can make one tack stock of our lives and what we’re doing with it. At any point we could be hit by a bus and not having gone after our dreams. That’s a real tragedy.
Thanks, for visiting. Don’t be a stranger.
Basically my life has been so boring the last 15 years that you can’t even imagine…oh my god how i want a vacation somewhere maybe in Australia or a Safari in Africa…that would be awesome…
Bijou´s last blog ..NY Escort
Hi Bijou,
If you come down under, don’t forget to check out New Zealand, too.
Great content, Gordie. I’ve been planing my vacation to try out some un-boring stuffs in my life. Love this post.
Local Seo´s last blog ..Gold Level Package
Dear Jonny, you said “So, four months ago I decided to quit my job and get out of the country even though I had no real idea what I was going to do or if it was going to work out.” Man, that was really touching me! First of all, congrats to this fresh blog. THis is actually something me and my buddy wanted to do for a long time already
You see, all those false safety concepts around us keep us in a state of fear and far from realizing our dreams. You wrote a great article but those who didn`t do this step, won`t feel you or still have to get over their fear created by educated and modern society. Wish you good luck and thanks for this blog! Made my day and I bookmark it 
I was moving to Thailand last year and it was exactly a movement towards freedom of safety
Cheers
Tobi
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