This week, there is a bit of a theme – the Quest.
The main article highlights a side quest and then the post might allow you to dig a bit deeper, creating quests for learning, play, or career transitions. I think a quest could provide an intentional (and meaningful) addition to your fall season.
If you are thinking “I don’t have time”, read the first blog post on the list.
Ditch the Side Hustle for a Side Quest
I came across a LifeKit podcast titled Find Your Side Quest, that talked about how the side hustle is being replaced by the side quest. The overview of the episode provides this description:
“In gaming, a side quest is a mission outside the main narrative or goal that players can take for fun. In life, it functions similarly. It’s a hobby or activity that doesn’t have any purpose other than bringing more whimsy, sparkle and exploration into your life.”
With the weight and responsibilities of fall coming quickly, I think it’s the perfect time to consider what your side quest could be for the season.
What do you want to do for fun?
How could you turn that into a quest?
Treat the quest like a game to add wonder to the season and break up routines.
Designing Your Side Quest
A great quest has an objective, a time limit, and a fun reward for finishing. Here are 5 steps to create your quest:
- Pick the Quest: What would be fun, low stakes, and not part of your normal fall. Here are a few examples to get the ideas flowing – visit new parks or coffee shops, take photos, cook new things, go tech-free, read, or spend time outside.
- Set the Rules: Create boundaries for things like time, budget, or location. Examples could be 30-day limit, locations within 10 miles, costs less than $10, etc.
- Define a Reward (Optional): You can pick a fun, low-cost treat for finishing the quest. This provides incentive if there are days you don’t feel motivated.
- Create a Tracker: Is this a daily challenge? Have a day tracker. Want to do the activity 9 times, use a bingo board format. Keep the tracker where you see it.
- Enjoy & Reflect: Have fun with the quest and at the end reflect on how it went, what you enjoyed and what you might do differently (if anything) next time.
Posts This Week
Is it Really About Time? We often say that we can’t do something because we “don’t have time”. This post, inspired by a Seth Godin post, suggests that time isn’t really the constraint we are facing.
The Personal Curriculum. This is a bit of a longer post that provides ideas for creating your own personal curriculum. With back-to-school energy in the air, this might be perfect timing.
4 Job Change Quests. This post ladders off a Harvard Business Review article that talks about 4 reasons people quit their jobs. I think we can use the insights even more broadly.
Play Personalities. This post links to an online quiz to determine which of 6 play personalities you gravitate towards. Maybe knowing your type will inspire you to bring a little more play into your life.
Finding Your Creative, Innovation, and Design Formula. We are all creative. This post provides 3 steps to help us define our special form of creativity, innovation and design.
Podcasts That Caught My Attention
With summer winding down and the school year starting, I thought the first two podcasts might provide some support on reducing the time associated with meal planning, prep, and clean up.
The Dinner Bowl Formula. 58 minutes. The Lazy Genius Podcast. This episode highlights a formula that you can use to create endless meals without taking much time or thought.
Fewer Dishes are Easier to Clean. 6 minutes. Before Breakfast. This episode has you considering the mess before you make it.
Does Your Work Light You Up? 33 minutes. The Next Big Idea Daily. This podcast provides highlights from two books. First, Stefan Falk summarizes his book Intrinsic Motivation: Learn to Love Your Work and Succeed as Never Before. Then, we hear a summary of Sparked: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work That Makes You Come Alive by Jonathan Fields.
Kaizen: The Japanese Method That Turns 1% Improvements into Career Growth. 40 minutes. Squiggly Careers Podcast. This episode covers several Japanese approaches that were part of my early engineering days – Kaizen, Gemba, Muda, and Hansai.
What Do You Think?
What do you think of a side quest? Do you have some ideas you might want to try?
What is your play personality? How could you incorporate that into your day-to-day routines.
What ideas did the posts & podcasts spark that you could implement in the week ahead?
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