Lessons from 6 Years of More Life Adventures

Hi friends,

I’ve been asked by some of you for behind-the-scenes founder stories, so I'm writing you the first one below. I sent this to our mailing list last week and I received feedback that it was helpful. I hope some of it resonates with you; let me know either way!

6?Years?of taking you on Adventures

This February we will mark?6th?years?since we started trading as?More Life Adventures. The first three?years?it was an exciting side project, and in the past three?years?we have become a full-time business.?

My aim was to give city folks a way to get healthy outside the stress of the city and we are now a small team making it a reality.?

Do the things you're dreaming of doing

Back in 2019 when MLA was founded, I was working as a PT at an awesome gym in the city of London. I had previously worked at other gyms and had 10?years?of working in architecture practices behind me, so I had a taste of the corporate life that my PT clients were living. I absolutely loved my job, and the only thing missing was travel. What kickstarted?MLA was my father passing in 2018 and me realising that life is short, and you must do the things you’re dreaming of doing, while you have the chance.?

Lessons from the past?6?years

Work Lessons

• Purpose.?This business is fundamentally here to do good and this will keep me working for a very long time refining it. When things get tough I remember that this is it, I wouldn't be doing anything else.
• Quiet planning time.?It helps to have a well-rounded year plan, and life is a succession of such plans. I plan the year in the first week of January, the bulk of it on 1st January. I take myself off to a quiet location in nature and spend hours with a?journal and then update the roadmap for MLA.?
• Communication.?We must find our voice and use it to express our needs, our dreams, our feelings, our creativity. Repression leads to depression.?
• Change is essential.?MLA would not have started or grown if I hadn’t quit architecture and stopped PT-ing, both amazing jobs and careers.?
• Hire awesome people.?MLA has grown with amazing people who’ve worked with me over the?years?and brought their energy and passion to work.?
• Block time.?I write down what I need to do for the week and allocate it to different days. I have some non-negotiables for each week that must be done by Friday. At least once every hour I stop working and walk around.?
• Attention management.?My browser has tens of tabs open, some find it absurd. It’s how I tell myself ‘all of these need to be moving forward this week’. There are now many apps to manage ADHD symptoms and I have found the?Inflow?app has helped.
• Mistakes.?I’ve made plenty of mistakes in mostly everything, as well as put on trips that didn’t sell that we had to revisit. But you can’t grow without making some mistakes, so I’ve had to see them as experiments and learn.?
• Time Off.?I take both days off every weekend. I take at least two proper holidays a year.
• Connect while working.?I sometimes work from the?Conduit?and from?Opus, which has expanded what we do. This year I went to?Synergy The Retrat Show, a meeting for retreat leaders,?organisers and venues.

Life Lessons

• Sleep.?There are 16?hours in the day to do amazing, game-changing things, provided we are well-rested. So we can afford to sleep for 8 to give ourselves the chance. Whatever hours I miss during the week I try to make up at the weekend.
• Nature.?Time in nature is a non-negotiable. I live in central London and try to head off to a greener place at least once a week. Once a month we can do this together with?Adventure Club.
• Hire coaches.?For?years?I have worked with Aoife Burke on my weightlifting and strength, and with Tom Foxley on nervous system regulation. During the lockdown, I also worked with a life coach.
• Therapy.?I have an incredible therapist that blends listening with coaching, which I find most helpful. If you need a recommendation, please reach out.??
• Mornings.?Every morning I listen to Brendon Burchard’s?daily fire?as I get ready for the day, it's like having a wise uncle who wants the best for you.?
• Gut health.?My gut will give up digesting if I’m stressed. I then sit down and write down what’s bothering me until I have a solution. Gut health relies on a healthy nervous system.
• Food.?Travelling throws a lot of my food routine out of the window but when I'm home I order weekly boxes from?Riverford?and cook what they send me.
• Hydration.?For?years?I was overcaffeinated and underhydrated, which landed me in hospital twice with dehydration. These days I drink almost always decaf and lots of hot water.
• Social media.?I love social media for its capacity to connect us from afar, but I try to stay off it at the weekends to stay present and connected with those around me.??
• Keep learning, keep reading:?I had a long architecture education, a (much shorter) PT qualification and several courses since then lasting between a few weeks to a few months each. There are also courses I’ve started and have yet to finish, and those are on this year’s plan! The best book I read recently was?Four Thousand Weeks, by Oliver Burkeman.

Fitness over 40?

Staying in good physical condition while also trying to run a business has not been easy. Routines were the basis of all the PT work I was doing, and what we aim to do at retreats now, in a condensed manner: give you better routines to take home. Ironically, routine building is pretty hard for me, but some hard-won lessons have been learnt:?

• 3 Stimuli.?Endurance, strength, flexibility:?training those 3 goes a long way towards bulletproofing your body for life.
• Flexibility.?When we get stressed, we get tight in various places, and tightness ignored can lead to injury. I have my own stretching routine in place, made of poses I've picked up over the?years.?
• Cardio.?Back at university, I took up running for mental health reasons and learning to breathe during long-distance runs helped my nervous system calm down and process thoughts. I still get my best ideas when I do cardio, whether it’s an endurance class, or swimming or just a fast walk.?
• Strength.?Fitness over 40 is essentially a strength-building effort.

• Variety.?Outside of 2 weightlifting sessions a week, I get into classes to push myself, get a sweat, build a skill, and have fun. I keep it varied.
• Intention & Appreciation.?I always set an intention before I start a session, even if it’s simply to enjoy moving. I try to walk back from the gym, which is a time of appreciation for what the coaches do and what my body can do.

Over to You: Let's make the most of this year together??

If you read this far, I'd love your input! As we start a New Year, there is so much potential and momentum for us to support one another in making the most of our time on this planet.

If I can help be a soundboard for your own life's lessons or routines you're considering this year, don't be a stranger, send me a reply!?And if you'd like more of these articles in your inbox each week, you can subscribe here: https://mailchi.mp/morelifeadventures/newsletter-sign-up

Love from Stella at More Life Adventures