The Doorstep Mile: Live More Adventurously Every Day

There was no escape. I found the prospect appallingly bleak. I felt very small. We were in this for the long haul now. But this also meant that the only thing we could do was keep rowing. Stroke after stroke, day after day, week after week. If we kept rowing and did the key things correctly (harnesses clipped on, avoid collisions, close hatches) th

What are your symptoms of flabbiness that are an early warning of a deeper malaise? • Physical Flabbiness. • Mental Flabbiness. • Moral Flabbiness.

Mark up this table with how you use the 168 hours in a typical week. Each square represents one hour. Things to add might include work, sleep, travel, exercise, learning, chores, childcare, hobbies, social life/hanging out with friends and family, and weekend loafing.

Write down a bunch of gut feeling, top-of-the-head parameters and see where they lead. Use them to draw up a list of plausible projects. • Rank these by preference. • Select one specific project that you will take into the rest of this book and turn into action. • Slash a rejection line through all the other ideas on your list. You can return to th

Am I too busy to move to Africa for a year? • Am I too busy to cross Iceland for a month? • Am I too busy to go biking in Scotland for a week? • Am I too busy to camp out this weekend? • Am I too busy to climb a small hill and watch the sunset? • Am I too busy to go for a run at lunchtime? • Am I too busy to swim in a river before breakfast? • Am I

OVER TO YOU • What practical barriers stand in your way? • What mental barriers have you built up? • Which concerns can be shunted further down the line? Think of the most significant thing blocking you from living adventurously. • Now ask these questions, known as the Dickens Process: • What has that barrier cost you in your life so far? • What is

This led to me riding the Karakoram Highway from Pakistan to China.

OVER TO YOU • What should you work on more slowly than your impatient side wants you to?

OVER TO YOU • Think of something you have been doing for a long time. It could relate to your job, outside work or with your family. Ask yourself, ‘why do I do this thing?’ • Has the answer changed over time? • Is it still valid?