Core value · Wonder family
Adventure
Seeking new and exciting experiences
Also covers Travel
What does adventure mean as a core value?
Adventure as a core value means seeking out new, exciting and slightly uncertain experiences, and valuing the person you become while you’re in the middle of them.
Adventure pulls you towards experiences with a bit of edge: a trip without every night booked, a country you’ve never seen, a project where nobody quite knows how it’ll go. The appeal is the aliveness, the story you’ll tell afterwards, the version of yourself that only shows up when things are unfamiliar. When adventure is a core value, too many predictable weeks in a row leave you restless, and you start planning an escape, even if it’s only a weekend away.
What does adventure look like in practice?
- You pick the destination you’ve never been to over the one you know you’ll enjoy.
- You say yes to the night hike, the cold swim or the last-minute invitation abroad.
- You volunteer for the new market launch that nobody else wants.
- You keep a list of experiences you want to have, and you actually work through it.
- You take the family on holidays that involve a bit of discomfort and a lot of stories.
When is adventure overplayed?
The shadow of adventure is never staying long enough for anything to deepen. Relationships, careers and homes can start to feel like the boring bit between trips, and people close to you may feel they’re competing with the next thrill. Adventure can also become a respectable way to avoid what’s hard at home. The grounded version finds excitement inside commitment too. It might be worth planning your next adventure with the people you’d usually leave behind, or close to home, and seeing whether building something can be its own kind of expedition.
Often confused with
Adventure vs Exploration
Exploration is going beyond the familiar to discover what’s there. Adventure is about the experience itself: the excitement matters as much as what you find.
Adventure vs Risk-taking
Risk-taking is backing yourself when the outcome is uncertain, including in quiet decisions like a career change. Adventure seeks out experiences for the thrill of living them.
Adventure vs Spontaneity
Spontaneity is acting in the moment. An adventure can be planned for months; what matters is that it’s new and exciting.
Questions to sit with
- What experience have you been postponing for years, and what is the real reason?
- Where in your settled life could you find adventure without leaving home?
- Who pays the price when you go looking for your next thrill?
More values in Wonder
Curiosity, adventure and the thrill of the new.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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