Planning & Preparation
There are many ways to prepare for an adventure. How much planning that’s needed for an adventure is different for all of us and we gather information in different ways.
First and foremost, an idea has to grow, a dream, something that you want to experience and/or achieve. Some people want to experience something special, but the adventure transforms into ticking off miles rather than exploring it. Some want to enjoy a laid-back adventure, while others fight hard for a goal few people have reached before.
Today we are easily inspired and saturated by information and images from social media. Many people want to copy the experience shared by others, maybe they get jealous, some get gloomy and low. However, we do not usually know how or what happens behind the scenes. My thinking with this is that it is positive to be inspired by others, but that you should stay faithful to yourself and run your own race.
Reading a book about a person crossing a continent may inspire you to run in the woods or start training. Be inspired, find your own way and shape your dream. The answer is not always clear but these tools help me a lot while planning something new or thinking about today’s agenda
It’s a balance between travelling far enough to finish the adventure
measured against slowing down enough to savour it all.
Timeline map
Imagine a map with start and finish, dashes in between. Like a pirate map! There are obstacles along the way. Some are difficult, others are easy but they still have to be overcome. You often have to do them in the right order to maximise your success and avoid the traps. The first X marks where you stand today and the second X is when your adventure begins. Take a paper and fill in training, tasks, deadlines and other things concerning the upcoming adventure that need attention, to be ticked off along the line. Color code it.
Narrow it down
Doing many things at the same time is usually not a good idea. The funnel is a good tool for reducing and building a good structure. There are often many things going on but not everything can be in focus at the same time. Perhaps a bigger task or thing can be followed by something smaller. Write down everything you want to do and place it in or above the funnel. What goes down first?
What, How & Why
Imagine a peach. The outer skin is what I do and what other people see and the flesh is how I do it (the machinery behind it). The core of everything, the answer to why, is in the stone. When you plan something, try to think of these three.
If you like this text about planning & preparation I think you would like my text about how to make a travel & safety plan too.
Remember progress, not perfection!
