Outside 365 5-Year Anniversary: Personal Choice Will Always Be the Key

Durango, Colorado. Photo: Josh A.

Today marks an astonishing milestone that, at the outset of this goal, I never even considered achieving: I've officially covered at least one human-powered mile outside every single day for 5 years in a row. 

Five years. If I can complete Outside 365 for 5 years in a row, what else can I accomplish? What other areas of my life can I make positive changes in that could radically reshape my well-being and my outlook on what it means to be alive?

Areas of my life that I'm currently working to reshape include my relationship to alcohol and other intoxicants (I recently eliminated alcohol from my life), my diet (can I go 100% vegan?), my mindfulness (what changes do I need to make so I can meditate every single day?), and so many other areas of my life.

Personal Choice Is the Most Powerful Tool in the World

If the past 5 years have taught me anything, it's that personal choice is the key to unlocking the freedom that we all seek in life. In addition to the choice, we also need to take responsibility for the choices that we make and the actions that we take.

You have the agency, the free will, to make any choice that you'd like, right here, right now, in this moment. You only have to choose and then act.

I finally started reading James Clear's bestseller Atomic Habits, and one quote from the early chapters has already struck me so hard that I had to scribble it down in the cover of my journal (where I keep a list of the most inspirational quotes that I've come across in my studying): "Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become."

Read that again:

"Every action you take is a vote for the person you wish to become."

Every action you take helps shape your identity—the person you are and the person you are becoming. And each action is preceded by a choice: whether immediately before the action or long before, which created a process and a pattern—a habit—from which all the other actions then arose.

Christine and I continue to choose to be the type of people who exercise outside every single day. As we continue to choose and act, these actions create an identity. From that identity that we've created, more choices naturally spring. The cascade of choices comes easier and easier as you make more and more of them, take more and more actions—cast more and more votes for the person you wish to become.

Here are just a few of the major choices that we've made in the past year which have helped us continue to create our Outside 365 identity:

We chose to get married in a national park instead of in a building.

Phot by The Outlovers

Even though it ended up being a state park instead of a national park due to a landslide, we chose to get married outside in the raw elements of nature. While this meant cold temps and gusts of wind whipping our faces with sand, this choice embodied our identity and our values superbly.

This wasn't just an "outdoors" wedding on a grassy lawn in a city. This wedding was raw and visceral... nobody wears a down puffy jacket during their wedding ceremony!

We chose an active, adventurous honeymoon instead of a "relaxing" one.

Monte Fitz Roy, Argentina

Instead of sitting on a beach in Mexico or getting a manicure in a spa, we chose to shape our honeymoon around trekking in the rugged Andes mountains of Patagonia. I personally hiked a few of my longest days in recent memory while on our honeymoon—something that few people can claim.

Even during the city-bound leg of our trip to Argentina, we continued to embody our Outside 365 identities by choosing to walk commute to the grocery store and restaurants instead of taking a cab every time. We explored the city under our own power, covering double-digit miles on most days as we saw the sites.

We chose a town and a house that enabled our Outside 365 lifestyle instead of inhibiting it.

Durango, Colorado

As our full-time #vanlife adventures came to a close, we were faced with a substantial choice: where do we choose to live? This one question opened up a slew of decisions, and as we navigated the torturous decision trees, we continued to make choices consistent with our identities and values—with Outside 365 remaining at the forefront.

We chose the town of Durango, Colorado, as it's one of the best adventure towns in the world. Even still, this choice was difficult, as larger towns/small cities beckoned with cheaper housing and more convenient amenities. But choosing Durango was 100% the right choice for our active lives.

Even once that choice was made, another critical decision still loomed: where exactly in Durango do we choose to live?

The housing further out from the city center proved to be substantially more affordable and more newly built, but we eventually chose a house in the heart of town—because location is of paramount importance for an Outside 365 lifestyle. Many of the better-priced rentals were not bikeable to downtown (or even trailheads) due to a lack of infrastructure. So, choosing to live in town enables us to walk to work, to the grocery store, and to restaurants without having to start the van. On top of that, the closest singletrack trailhead is just two blocks away, providing access to Durango's expansive world-class trail system. Other trailheads around the city within biking distance from our house provide access to a total of 4 distinct trail systems... all without having to drive.

Choosing to live within walking distance of a coworking space means that I'm now walking between 2 and 4 miles per day on my rest days and covering many more miles on bike or foot on my adventure days. The bar has effectively been raised by making this one decision, leading to even more time moving my body outside, despite moving from a van into a house.

Voting with our Actions

These choices naturally lead to a multitude of actions. And with these actions, we cast our votes for who we wish to become in the future.

The choices above were just some of the most substantial ones that have a direct impact on our Outside 365 lifestyle. Even more important are the constant small daily choices, the little actions every single day. Choosing to walk a few extra blocks to get to a restaurant instead of driving. Getting up early to squeeze in a ride before the summer heat gets unbearable. Hiking up the hillside to watch the sunset in the evening. All of these choices and actions add up as we continue to make them year after year.

As year 6 begins, I plan to continue to make choices that enable my freedom and thereby vote with my actions. Honestly, I can't even fully envision what the next year has in store, so I'm excited to explore the possibilities as the next 12 months unfold!

What positive choice are you going to make today? How are you going to vote with your actions? Let me know by responding to my email newsletter.