30. Life Is Shorter Than You Think with Jim and Amy Yurchenco

My guests this week are Jim and Amy Yurchenco. Jim and Amy have both live and work in Palo Alto, California. Jim was the first employee for worldwide engineering firm Ideo and Amy, most recently as a software engineer for Intuit. In addition to their professional careers, they have canoed the Mississippi River and hiked tens of thousands of miles in 10 different countries (Wales, Turkey, Spain, Scotland, Slovakia, Japan, Italy, France, Australia, USA). In case you didn’t know it is 24,000 miles to travel around the world! Their mileage is incredible.   It’s no secret that this year has taught us how much we value the outdoors, silence, nature, and adventure. This is a fascinating conversation where we discuss: how to prioritize what matters most to you and live it out the lessons you learn by spending extensive time in the back country what it is like paddling the Mississippi River from start to finish  Living differently than your peers Life is shorter than you think Each of their different perspectives about work No one starts as a master builder If you’re willing to fail you’re willing to learn how every adventure ads up Leaving your mark on the world and more!    This conversation was a blast to have, and I am excited to share this week’s episode with Jim and Amy Yurchenco with you. For more information on Jim and Amy you can check out their website here: http://doingmiles.com/about-us/     RECAP 1:32 Daily rhythms of an active lifestyle 5:31 Enjoy practicing my craft 6:36 Fell in love with a shared passion 9:49 Sunday tradition, hiking every week sun up to sun down 10:26 Completely changing our environment 11:00 How much we don’t know 12:37 Natural World was not created for us 16:12 The river is so much bigger than you are 19:02 Software development pays the bills 21:22 Career advancement was not important to me 26:32 I drew the line with work and non work 31:14 Compounding miles 31:32 No one starts as a master builder 44:59 By the time you’ve reached stress your prepared 48:44 Passion for getting as much out of life as possible 51:22 Riding for the joy of riding 52:00 Knowing when to turn back the risk is not worth 55:07 Not failure, I just learned it won’t work 56:36 We were prepared for whatever could happen 1:01:34 People who died always prepared for the expectations they expected 1:02:22 What’s the opposite of the desired outcome I want 1:13:54 Clarify what’s necessary and what’s not 1:16:55 Life is shorter than you think 1:17:15 trade offs for what you value 1:21:36 How do you make your mark on the world   RESOURCES http://doingmiles.com/about-us/ Matt Haaga State Farm: https://www.matthaaga.com/ https://abjets.com/