Be Adventurous and Become A Better Leader

The word ‘adventure’ means different things to different people. For some, they imagine skydiving or climbing mountains or racing a supercar. For others, it means taking a different route to work. Leadership skills need fresh ideas to continually improve and evolve, and a little adventure can give anyone a kick start.

Do You Want To Explore The Beautiful World Around You?

It takes courage to step out of your comfort zone. We tend to become settled in our routines, and we don’t really want to deviate from our norms. But your leadership skills will also ‘settle,' with this kind of attitude. If you're going to remain relevant in this Imagination Age, settling isn’t going to work.

The things you experience in your life help determine how well you can cope with stressful conditions. Neuroscience has shown us that positive experiences, or those that give you increased social, physical, cognitive and sensory stimulation, can overcome the negatives of stress. Fortunately, fear memory, or the memory of bad experiences, can be altered by diverting the flow of information coming from the amygdala in the brain (Hegde, 2017).

It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves—in finding themselves. 

Andre Gide

Take a moment to think about your life. What is something that you have ALWAYS wanted to do? Is it learning an instrument, hiking a tough trail, exploring Rome? Whatever your heart desires. This is the adventure that you need.

As a leader, you want to inspire people to find the passion within themselves. Our global economy requires a level of collaboration that was simply unimaginable a hundred years ago, or even thirty years ago. You have to first overcome your own FEAR response that occurs in your brain (FEAR means False Evidence Appearing Real). Science has shown us that it is possible to recognise the false threats that bombard us constantly.

Change Your Response From Fight Or Flight To Adventure

If not today, then when? To say that you will get around to something so important to you ‘someday' means that you will likely never get to it. If financial issues are a concern, then start small. There are home-grown adventures out there, just waiting to be found. Whether it’s trying a new park or museum or restaurant, or even finding a group of new people to explore your area with, you can begin an adventure without spending anything at all.

The most significant hurdle you can say is probably the time. But your time is the most valuable thing you have, and do you not deserve some of this time for yourself?

Give Yourself The Courage To Find Something New

The  can ensure that your leadership skills are up to par with this hectic, fast-paced, electronic world. You can find the courage to embrace this adventure that we all call life. Recondition your brain to alert you only when there are actual dangers, and not imaginary, perceived risks. The adventures are out there—so what are you waiting for?

Citation:
Hegde, P., O’Mara, S., Laxmi, T. R. (2017). Extinction of Contextual Fear with Timed Exposure to Enriched Environment: A Differential Effect. Annals of Neurosciences, 24(2), 90–104. http://doi.org/10.1159/000475898