By Heidi Siefkas
If you are like me, you have been in this situation before maybe even this week. As you are right in the middle of posting your awesome #SASSYLIFE photos on Instagram or emptying your inbox on the commute to work, an annoying pop-up alerts you that it is time for a software or app update. On your screen, you see two options: update or later. Unable to continue with the previous task, you press snooze instead of taking the minute to update the software. When the same scenario happens again, what happens? Yep, you press snooze again and again and again. However, when we continue skipping the update little by little, we find that the app slows, not all of the bells and whistles work, and bugs and glitches rear their ugly heads. Eventually, it crashes.
Although I have been talking about technology, this blog post has very little to do with bits or bytes, it’s about your life. Feel like you are at a plateau? Is there a major glitch that needs improvement or even removal? Newsflash: Updates aren’t just for your Smartphone! It’s time for something called Life 2.0.
Although Life 2.0 is a reference to software and updates that are needed to improve technology, don’t we all need life updates? Whether you are at a crossroads in your life or not, you should periodically check-in with yourself, your charted course, priorities, and perhaps iron out some of the kinks in the process. How do we get those same pop-ups to appear in our own lives?
Well, there are two types of life updates. There are the unexpected updates that hit us like a ton of bricks or in my case a thousand-pound tree limb. Whether it’s Batman, you, or me, we all have had difficult times where it has been one loss after the other and you wait for the next shoe to drop. These moments are so powerful for life transformation because they force us to pause and reevaluate what we hold most dear. Although these dark, scary times provide perspective, we have no control as to when these pop-ups appear.
However, there is good news! The second type of life update allows you to tap into perspective without a traumatic accident or your own health scare. In fact, you can get a dose of perspective on your own schedule: daily, weekly, or monthly. You can even select how you want to get your dose as long as the activity puts you in the moment AND interrupts your routine or norm. However, if you don’t like doing it, whether yoga, listening to meditation tracks in the car, or other, you won’t do it. So, you might as well be pressing the snooze button!
Because I’ve tried just about every type of yoga, meditation soundtrack, and app, but I’m not in love with any of them, I wanted to reveal my secret recipe for tapping into perspective. It may sound counter-intuitive, but adventure is my meditation.
Now, hear me out! I’m not saying that you have to be an adrenaline junkie to live a Life 2.0. Adventure can be in many forms when defined as such:
Adventure is something new, challenging, and perhaps frightening. In almost all cases, it’s all consuming. Deciding to do it and then executing it despite the fear is what makes it an adventure.
Whether trying a new sport or class, traveling to a new place or a familiar place, but in a new way, all adventures require you to be in the moment and interrupt your routine. Even deciding to enter the dating world or writing a book are adventures. Regardless either heightens your senses and focus, allowing you to see your world with new eyes.
Adventure puts us in the zone. That powerful state that athletic competitors seek to reach Olympic gold is not only for athletes. You too can tap into your zone to improve glitches, tweak your course, or rise above a plateau to live your Life 2.0.
Example adventures:
· Do something physical that is new for you: outdoor biking, kayaking, spin class, Zumba
· Go for a scenic ride of your hometown but by plane, boat, or motorcycle
· Learning a new language or social media platform
· Attend another SSL networking event, head to West Broward or down to Miami
· Write your first SSL blog
· Travel near or far, perhaps Havana or Hotlanta
Start adding adventure to your life and see how your Life 2.0 flourishes. There is also a great beneficial side effect to tapping into perspective frequently; you will be better prepared for when the unexpected updates come!
If you’re in for a life update and your Life 2.0, please comment with what’s your next adventure and when?
About Heidi Siefkas
Heidi Siefkas is an author, speaker, and adventurer. Originally from small-town Wisconsin, Heidi hangs her hat in South Florida. However, as an adventurer, Heidi is rarely home for very long. The author of three inspirational, non-fiction books, When All Balls Drop, With New Eyes, and Cubicle to Cuba, she has created the mantra Look Up and speaks to groups worldwide. You can connect with her at www.heidisiefkas.com.
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**BTW, my books When All Balls Drop, With New Eyes, and Cubicle to Cuba are available in print, ebook, & audio.
