Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Ogden.
Hi Aaron, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been an adventure bum my entire life. Since I could remember, I have been hiking, biking, skiing, and participating in all kinds of thrill-seeking adventures. Shortly after high school, I put a backpack on my back and traveled to Alaska for about 7 months. I had a similar experience to the famous book “Into The Wild” except I didn’t die.
This experience was a huge character developing experience where I developed a belief system to have confidence in pursuing my dreams. One of my dreams was to help people live their fullest potential. So I thought I would become a Doctor. But I hit a roadblock… Organic Chemistry.
I didn’t do very well and my counselor said I would have to take the class again if I was to be accepted into a medical school. That wasn’t an option. So I looked into becoming a Physical Therapist, but sadly the curriculum required Organic Chemistry. I couldn’t bring myself to take a class that, in my opinion, had no application to my dreams. So, I got my degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of Utah and became a personal trainer.
I have been a Personal Trainer for 25 years and it has been a perfect match for my personality in giving me the freedom to have my adventure bum life and at the same time helping people reach their potential. As a personal trainer I was shocked by how many people wanted to improve their health but by my definition didn’t really use their health. To me, it was more about disease prevention than really utilizing their efforts to attain health.
I have always been a person who made healthy choices so that I could use my health during my adventure activities. So, I started taking my clients on what I called “Gratitude Trips.” I would train my clients at the gym to prepare them to participate in an adventure with me. For the last 15 years, we have had many stories of people overcoming their fears as they rappelled off 300′ cliffs to running exciting white-water rapids on the Salmon River.
What I noticed over the years is that my clients were making long-term improvements in their lifestyle to be able to participate in adventure activities. People were attaining their health goals and were experiencing JOY in the process instead of just patching a “problem. So, I launched a formal behavior change model called the “Adventurous” Lifestyle that incorporates outdoor adventure activities into their health to create a longer-lasting lifestyle compared to a temporary weight loss program.
As I participated in this journey of providing adventure activities for my clients, I realized how dreams and passions are a major influence on the choices we make to improve our health, I have devoted my profession to teaching principles and processes to help people reach their potential as they embark in the bucket list events. And if they don’t have bucket list events, I help them with that too.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This question makes me laugh, are there any smooth roads to success? I have been inspired to choose this road but that doesn’t mean it has been an easy road. I have learned that riding rough roads is a part of the process of experiencing joy. It’s just like someone who wants to improve their health.
To experience that joy you have to be willing to execute what it takes to attain your goals. That means discipline to boundaries, sacrificing pleasures, and making mistakes and failures. It’s all a part of the journey. If we embrace the journey then it becomes a life-changing experience where we look back and see the divine intervention of how things fell into place.
But if you are not willing to do the work and overcome obstacles and challenges then you will sit complacently in your “box of life” wishing for the smooth road to magically appear for a really long time never learning the process to accomplish your capabilities.
My major obstacle is me. I am self-employed with an adventure bum attitude. Learning to balance life between adventure activities, family, and other responsibilities is still my major obstacle in reaching business success. I have grand visions of dreams and passions that I want to accomplish. I have a message for people that needs to be shared beyond my current influence, and I am trying to take the least bumpy road to share this message.
I have a tendency to take on too many roles and responsibilities. I am having to learn to delegate and distribute some of the responsibilities to others if I am going to be successful. Fortunately, I have some great mentors and coaches that are helping me with this behavior change.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I provide the opportunity to live the “Adventurous” Lifestyle. This is living a life centered around bucket list events that become the reason why you want to be healthy, they become your driving force for living, and they become the control center for establishing healthier habits to bring joy into one’s life.
I inspire individuals to pursue their dreams and passions, something that is meaningful that gives you purpose for wanting to improve your health so you can have an impact on life. I participate in their health journey as they learn the principles and processes for overcoming limiting beliefs and fears. How is this not one of the most wonderful “jobs’ ever?!
My main service is helping people change behavior. All behavior is addictive whether constructive or destructive. So, the difficult task is helping people change their beliefs so that they can change their lifestyles. The traditional way to change behavior is to set goals and then follow the program.
This usually includes components that do not develop long-term lifestyle habits. They are quick fixes to patch a problem. But eventually, all patches fall off and expose the pain and by then most people have regressed back to old behavior habits and lost all they accomplished from their program.
I have taken a different approach to achieving behavioral change through engaging my clients in adventure activities. These activities become the passionate motive for establishing healthier habits. I then use the adventures as steppingstones to embrace new lifestyle behavior. When a client prepares for an adventure activity there are 3 skills that we work on:
1. Health and Fitness: we create three habits that will prepare them for the activity
2. Adventure Skills: Generally speaking, it is exciting to learn something new and then apply the new skill in an environment that has risks. Many of the adventures we participate in have some form of risk and it is required that you are self-sufficient to perform the required adventure skills.
3. Adventure Mindset: When you participate in something that is challenging, it almost always initiates negative self-talk, fear, and insecurities. It is very important that when you participate in a challenging adventure you have a strategy for how to face these challenges. These are skills that we develop and practice during the adventure training program.
The most amazing part of this model is to watch people experience challenging activities that are out of their comfort zones and see the change in mindset from I Can’t Do This too I Can Do This.
As people learn these skills in our adventure activities, we talk about how these are life skills that can be applied to other components of life. I have been very successful with this model because it focuses on living life instead of fixing pains.
What are your plans for the future?
I am looking forward to the future. The pandemic opened the door of opportunity for me in a different direction that was not expected.
In the past, I have provided all my services at a physical location, but when our doors were forced to close, I needed a new way to provide my services. During the last 2 years, I have been using a training app to provide my adventure training programs.
I am very excited about the results of this app and will be offering memberships for the “ADVENTUROUS” Lifestyle. This will provide the opportunity for the client to engage in something that is meaningful and gives purpose for wanting to improve health habits to have a greater impact on life.
Pricing:
- $50/month Basic Individual Training Membership (starting in July) -30 Day Training Program -Trainerize. App -Fitness -Adventure Skills -Adventure Mindset Development – Monthly Meet-Up Adventure Activities.
- $150/month Premier Adventure Training Membership (starting in July) -30 Day Training Program -Trainerize App -Fitness -Adventure Skills -Adventure Mindset Development -Monthly Meet-Up Adventure Activities -Adventure Clinics -High Adventure Retreats -1 Guest.
- $250/month Family Adventure Training (starting in July) -30 Day Training Program -Trainerize App Fitness – Adventure Skills -Adventure Mindset Development -Adventure Clinics Monthly -Meet-Up Adventure Activities -High Adventure Retreats -3 Guest.
- $25/session Group Adventure Training at the Sports Mall.
Contact Info:
- Email: daogden@gmail.com
- Website: https://theadventureperspective.com/
- Instagram: @TheAdventurePerspective
- Youtube: Aaron Ogden
