The first line of my friend and former business coach Colleen’s recent email hooked me. She wrote: “No, I’m no Indiana Jones, but I did step out of my comfort zone and try something completely new last Saturday.” By the end of the day, after trying something new, Colleen felt like an excited little kid who’d rediscovered her sense of adventure and who couldn’t wait to tell everyone the tales of her day.
Doing Something New
Even though she doesn’t think of herself as an “outdoorsy” person, she’d signed up for a 4-hour adventure in geocaching at a nearby city park. (And if you’re like me, and don’t have a clue what geocaching is, it’s an outdoor treasure-hunting activity where participants use GPS-enabled devices to find hidden containers (geocaches) at specific coordinates, often containing a logbook and sometimes small trinkets for trading.) You can learn more at https://www.geocaching.com/play.
It wasn’t so much what Colleen did, but the fact that she did something new. Taking that step to sign up for this new adventure made her realize the power of micro-adventures which can bring new-found fun and joy into our lives. Colleen defines micro-adventures as “little steps into the unknown that can help us reconnect with ourselves.”
What Are Micro-Adventures About?
Micro-adventures can reignite our curiosity, get us unstuck from our same routine and out of a rut, add spark to our life and help us rediscover how much fun it is to try something new. Most likely, we’ll meet new people, go to new places, try new things and in the process add fun, joy, excitement and discovery into our life – without overwhelm and a lot of commitment – one micro-adventure at a time.
Colleen was so impressed by the positive impact this one new adventure had on how she felt that she realized she could help other women over 50 experience the joy of their own micro-adventures. So, she decided to create a simple self-study program that she could make available to all of us.
How to Find Micro-Adventures
She documented the entire process she went through to find resources and ideas for her local micro-adventures and what she did to plan them. This documentation process helped her create an easy self-paced, online program (which can be easily downloaded) that provides a step-by-step roadmap to creating simple, fun experiences that bring fresh energy into our lives. Colleen’s program includes:
- A Quick-Start step-by-step guide.
- A Comprehensive Planner to design, plan and track your micro-adventures.
- A Curated Adventure Vault of over 90 adventure ideas to inspire you.
- A Resource List which is a collection of go-to sources for finding new adventures.
- And she also included an AI Adventure Guide where we can learn how to use ChatGPT to uncover and plan unique experiences.
And Here’s How It Works
Step 1: Download the planner and start with the Starter Map.
Step 2: Use the planner to brainstorm and schedule your micro-adventures.
Step 3: Try your first adventure and track your experience.
Step 4: Keep the momentum going – one small adventure at a time.
By the end of the program you’ll have your first three micro adventures planned and completed which will help you reignite your curiosity and discover what excites you. And, fortunately, Colleen has made this program available to more of us by deciding to price it at an extremely reasonably cost of $27.00. I know I’m really excited to get started!
So, if you want to:
- shake up your routine or
- if you feel restless, uninspired or unsure of your next step
- or if you want to do more exploring, are a life-long learner and want to experience some low-pressure excitement
- or if you crave more adventure, connection and joy in your everyday life,
Micro-Adventures just might be your cup of tea. Here’s a link to the Micro-Adventure program if you want to get started.
She Helped Me, Too
And by the way, I would never have been able to start my YouTube channel without Colleen’s wonderful help. Colleen is a corporate refugee turned entrepreneur who at the age of 50 was laid off. In 2018, after 20 years of marriage, her husband passed away, and she once again found herself having to recreate who she was.
The next year she launched a business to help women from the typewriter generation launch their own businesses (which is when I found her) and her commitment to helping women over 50 start their own businesses doing something they love remains as strong and unwavering as ever.
Her 3rd Act Collective is an online business school for women over 50 as well as a community-based resource. The women in her program – who come from a variety of interesting career backgrounds (including teachers, nurses, private chefs) – meet with her each week over Zoom to learn how to create different types of online businesses.
Colleen also has a regular newsletter called “Third Act Field Notes” where she shares information on making money online as well as advice on how to build a new life and start over in our third act. You can learn more about her work through her website, her Facebook page, Tik Tok or Instagram.
Also read, Reflections on My Challenge to “Do New Things” in January.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
Have you heard about micro-adventures? Would you try one? Do you think you would benefit from doing something new?
