Welcome to the Create Your Own Adventure Challenge!
Here's a handy-dandy guide to help you make the most of the peer support system. By checking in with your buddy regularly, you can help motivate one another to keep your momentum going and coach each other through difficulties you encounter along your adventure.
First step
With having been paired with your adventure buddy, now it's time to get to know each other and to make your plan for moving forward.
Contact your buddy and set up a day and time for your first meeting. This is just a meeting between the two of you and can be over text chat, video, phone, or by whatever means you two are comfortable with, but this first meeting needs to be real-time since you'll have a lot to discuss in order to help each other through this challenge and in reaching one another’s goals.
Please keep in mind when scheduling that this is a global community and folks are spread across different countries and time zones.
Your first meeting
This meeting is all about helping you set up your account-a-bili-buddy for success and them doing the same for you! Here are some things to get you started:
- You'll be checking in with your buddy twice a week (or more often as needed). Come to an agreement on how best to communicate for your check-ins. For example; phone, text, email, Discord, etc.
- Discuss what the best type of check-in is for both of you; do you just want someone ask “Hey, what have you accomplished so far?” Or do you want some greater level of accountability such as “Did you stick to the first step/portion of your goal?”
- Share your goals with one another. Help each other to break down your goals across the 2 month challenge period.
- Anything else you might need help with?
Regular check-ins
Your regular, twice-a-week, check-ins don't have to be scheduled, real-time meetings. They can simply be texts/emails back and forth.
Be sure to reach out regularly with your buddy and ask them how they're doing. Don't wait until your buddy asks for help - because people often have trouble asking for help. Instead, offer help. It's super effective.
Is your buddy getting stuck? Just listening goes a long way. And cat photos, inspirational quotes, or GIFs couldn't hurt either.
You may also want to set a reminder on your phone/calendar to help you remember to check in.
Need more support?
Join the PaperDemon discord. We'll have a #cyoa-challenge channel where you can ask questions, share your progress, etc. We'll also be hosting a chat meetup on PaperDemon's discord every two weeks. We'll be emailing you the meetup schedule soon.
That's it! Easy-peasy. Happy adventuring!