The seven · 07 / 07

The question

Am I growing — when did I last say yes to something that scared me?

Every Sunday, Adventure gets a number from 1 to 7, the same as the other six. The scale is the same for all seven:

1

Abandoned. Not in the plan at all.

3

Maintenance. Showing up, going through motions, no intention behind it.

5

In it. Deliberate effort, visible progress, a plan being run.

7

Fully lived. Lived at full intent. You would put this quarter on the record.

Goals people set here

Ideas, not assignments. Each one names a number or a date, so you will know whether you did it.

• Two trips this year to places I have never been.
• Climb something that scares me, with the date already booked.
• Say yes to three invitations I would normally decline.
• One weekend a month outdoors — a tent or a trailhead.
• Learn to surf well enough to catch a wave unassisted.
• Take the children somewhere they will still talk about in twenty years.

Things worth doing once

From the fifty-two actions — one a week, the same for everybody, chosen and never assigned. These are the Adventure ones.

• Start a list of things you want to doPlaces, skills, the thing you mentioned three summers ago. When a free weekend turns up, the list answers what to do with it.
• Put this year's trip in the calendarDates first, plans later. A week already blocked out is a week that happens.
• Check when your passport runs outMany countries want six months left on it. If it is close, renew it now, so a yes is never undone by paperwork.
• Write a packing list you can reuseEverything you always take, kept on your phone. Work down it instead of trying to remember.
• Keep a weekend bag half packedA charger, toiletries, a change of clothes. Saying yes to a last-minute weekend takes ten minutes, not an evening.
• Do one thing a month you have never doneA new walk, a dish, a class, a town an hour away. Small counts.
• Open a savings account for the next tripA standing transfer and the trip's name on the account. Next year's yes starts being paid for now.