The last drops of rain fall at the end of a thunderstorm in Boulder, Colorado. As the clouds dissipate to reveal a clear blue sky, Jeremy Jensen places a camping chair on the large green lawn of Chautauqua park. Casually dressed in shorts, a collared shirt, and a trucker hat, he sits, slips off flip flops, and stretches his feet into the grass while enjoying the late day sunshine. “The mountain west is where I thrive,” he says while admiring the striking view of the flatirons. With an easy smile, he continues, “Everything I’m doing brings me alive, and that’s how I know I am on the right path.”
Jeremy, what is your job?
hahaha that’s an increasingly complicated question.
I run the Adventurepreneur podcast. I’m one of the founders of Outwild. I work for the Flow Research Collective. And I’m starting the Crux Academy, I hope to launch that in the fall.
Let’s take a closer look at each - tell me about your podcast.
The podcast is in the outdoor space, the idea came to me one day in the shower. It’s about how people navigate their path, and build fulfilling lifestyles. My goal is to find what brings the guest alive.
I love your podcast. Can you share some details on your work with the Flow Research Collective?
The organization was started by Steven Kotler, a NYT bestselling author on the topic of flow. We do training and research on flow states. Neurochemical reactions in our brains can give us a highly motivated state where creativity is spiked - it’s when you feel your best, and perform your best.
And that flows through to what you do at Outwild (haha pun intended)?
It does, at Outwild I run flow workshops at our retreats. We do events for people who want to create a more outdoor, value-driven, intentional lifestyle. I co-founded Outwild with Sanni McCandless and Courtney Sanford, I met Sanni when I interviewed her for the podcast and that led to Outwild. We want to help people tackle limiting beliefs, realize their potential, and live life on their own terms.
OK, I’m seeing common threads through these endeavors… what are you cooking up with Crux Academy?
It’s an education platform for the outdoor community, online but as interactive as possible. Master classes with well known names in their sport or subject. I’ve been nerding out on the pedagogies and methodologies for adult learning, figuring out how to design learning and deliver it in unique ways.
What a multifaceted combination. How cool that you’ve tailored your pursuits to include so many interests you’re passionate about. How long have you been living in Boulder and doing these things?
I started doing them when I still lived in Washington D.C. and was planning to move west. I moved to Boulder just over a year ago. I lived in D.C. for 7 years, I did an MBA and was in consulting.
So you’re not just connecting with people about the theory of big life changes, you’ve actually done it yourself. I read somewhere that you encourage people to ‘live reactively rather than proactively’ can you tell me about that?
Words to live by, in my opinion. So many people live constantly reacting to the world around them, as opposed to taking the intentional time to work on or do the things they want to do. It takes courage and boldness to buck that status quo, but it is so important.
We’re not encouraged to think outside the box. It’s cognitively taxing, and it’s not the way our education system or culture is set up.
I could not agree more! We are set up to go with the mainstream, and most people never consider other possibilities.
It’s just tolerable enough for most people that they deal with it, instead of looking inward and saying ‘what do I really want?’
Do you get a lot of good ideas in the shower?
I do! So much so that I have crayons that you can write on the wall with, I jot things down.
The shower is a place where your mind has freedom, typically we’re so distracted. Billions of dollars are pumped into the economy to try and distract us, and take our attention, and it’s working. Attention is our most precious asset in many ways.
And our attention can get sucked away with things like social media, advertising, and alerts. Airplane mode is huge for me.
Distraction management is so important. If people are interested, I strongly recommend reading about cognitive load and attention residue. The book ‘Deep Work’ by Cal Newport is great.
Dopamine fasting is a really compelling concept. And I automate where possible, especially in the morning. Taking some decisions out of your day so you don’t have to think about it is a game changer.
Like Steve Jobs wearing the same thing. What do your mornings look like?
I have an amp ritual, to get amped up for the day!
I get up early, read, a little meditation, gratitude journaling, a little physical activity, maybe 100 pushups, 100 lunges,100 sit ups for a quick 20 minutes before a super, super cold shower.
Cold shower?!
The cold showers are key! It’s absolutely miserable for the first 20 seconds, but it works. There are physiological benefits, and the mental component, too. Forcing yourself to do something hard makes everything else easier throughout the day. I feel very alive after the amp routine, and ready for a sustained level of high performance about 7am.
The goal is a high flow lifestyle, I have an hour by hour calendar for every day of the week with my time scheduled out based on energy levels.
Any recent podcast guests who really inspired you?
All of them. I’m very lucky - I walk away from every conversation with a new nugget of wisdom, and I love that.
Just recently, I had Wyn Wiley, who created Pattie Gonia. Talk about stepping into vulnerability. I really admire the work he’s doing, and he taught me a lot. I leave those conversations changed, and with a new friend. I couldn’t be more grateful for those opportunities.
Huge Pattie fan myself. Any big concepts that have stood out, doing your podcast?
There’s a misconception, that some people have it ‘figured out’. They absolutely do not! We all deal with negativity, doubt, and issues, the key is to take action nonetheless. Acknowledge the fear and doubt, and move forward anyway.
Everyone has failure stories, and wouldn’t be where they are if they hadn’t pushed through. When you hear other people went through it, it gets normalized.
Have you been in that situation?
haha yeah, and at that time you think it’s absolute doomsday! When Sanni and Courtney and I put our very first event together we were so excited. We scraped together a down payment on a venue in Malibu, and got conned! It was a scam Airbnb listing, we lost $7,000 dollars. That was a big blow when we were trying to take the first step.
When you know others have been through times when they could have stopped or failed, but they didn’t, it can give you the strength and courage to persevere and move forward.
Any last general life tips?
Be honest with yourself. Don’t feel guilty for coloring outside of the lines. And Whatever you want to do, talk to people who have done it.
Thank you for sharing, Jeremy! So excited for the big things you have coming up!
More on Jeremy:
Adventurepreneur podcast:
Flow Research Collective, and courses to get you to peak performance:
Outwild: