The SPACE Method

Helping you build a fence around making space for YOU. Remember, these prompts are meant to spark creativity, ponderance, and a smile. A Grown Up’s Gap Year is your opportunity to reinvigorate your lifestyle, and enhance your wellbeing, sense of adventure, and chic. After all, this is your story, and it’s time to prioritise you!

The following checklist delivers the steps needed for you to immerse yourself in each of what I’ve termed ‘the four mid-life seasons’:

WINTER Feel Empowered

SPRING Feel Reinvigorated

SUMMER Feel Adventurous

AUTUMN Feel Connected

The Seasons do not correspond with the calendar year as we know it – each season is a sense – you will know when you feel it.

Remember, a ‘Grown Up’s Gap Year’ is a term. No-one is suggesting you literally leave for a year. Although if you want, and can, go you. For most, it is more relatable to envisage setting aside ‘a period of time for ourselves’.

Helping you build a fence around making space for YOU.

• Simplify Your Lifestyle (Winter)
  • Have you reinvigorated your wellbeing routine by decluttering your environment?
  • Have you simplified your finances by sorting out your financial literacy?
  • Have you simplified your daily routines, wardrobe, beauty routine, and home?
  • Have you set clear boundaries on where to invest your time
    and energy?
    
• Plan Your Mid-Life Project (YOU) (Winter/Spring)
  • Have you taken stock of where you are in life and reviewed your backstory?
  • Have you identified your core values and defined your second act purpose?
  • Have you designed a roadmap to guide the shape of your next life phase?
  • Have you started building momentum and mental strength to move forward?
  • Have you revived your mid-life mojo and sense of style?
    
• Action Your Wellbeing (Spring/Summer)
  • Have you checked off essential mid-life health tests and taken stock of your health?
  • Are you fuelling your body with nutritious food and building firm healthy habits?
  • Have you integrated strength training, movement, and fitness into your daily routine?
  • Are you prioritising sleep, mindfulness, and mental health?
    
• Connect With Your Tribe (Autumn)
  • Have you curated your tribe – deciding who to keep close, who to distance from, and who to meet?
  • Have you revisited your career path, explored new possibilities, or repurposed a new role that excites you?
  • Have you consolidated your new lifestyle design for the future?
  • Are you embracing love and joy in all its guises?
    
• Explore Your Adventures (Summer/Autumn)
  • Have you picked an adventure – a trip, event, or challenge – to ignite your sense of discovery and joy?
  • Have you researched different options that fit your interests and budget?
  • Are you exploring new activities and experiences that excite and fulfil you?
  • Have you found the courage to be brave, try new things, and explore solo travel for self-discovery?
    

LISTENING TO WISDOM

Chatting to my fit and engaged 83-year-old Papa, I asked for his wellbeing mantra – I received the following note:

Dear Eldest Daughter,

Not everything in my life has gone according to plan, but what I do know is a guardrail of sorts helps me feel consistently joyful – even when the road gets bumpy.

Key factors contributing to a joyful demeanour:

Living with a trusted life partner and experiencing love

• Regular communication with family
• A small circle of true friends
• Active outdoors lifestyle, daily yoga, and meditation practice
• Healthy eating habits
• Understanding that nothing is more certain than change
• Lifelong learning, awareness of current and global affairs
• Love of reading
• Social and community contacts, projects, and supporting
  selected charities
• Passion for ethical, moral, and sustainable values
• Love of nature and the planet
• Practising a creative hobby, writing, gardening

& have some FUN. EVERYDAY.

Isn’t this beautiful? Perfect, actually.

Ten (mostly free!) ways to put FREEDOM in your day:

Let’s not make any of this too hard. You don’t have to leave your city – or even your suburb – for life to feel fresh again, find FREEDOM & space. The possibilities are endless. After all, the best stories often begin with the words ‘I decided to try something different …’.

• Morning Music Ritual:
  Research shows music boosts everything from sleep quality to mood. Explore your neighbourhood with a fresh playlist in your ears.
  
• The Anonymous Café:
  Find a café several suburbs away where you can be gloriously anonymous. Bring a book or journal, or simply sit and people-watch.
  
• Random Bus Adventure:
  Head to your local bus stop (or train or ferry), board the first one that arrives regardless of destination, ride to the end of the line, and discover hidden gems in your own city.
  
• Creative Pursuit:
  Try a free one-day workshop or class online – pottery, painting, writing – something you’ve always wanted to explore. Shake off the routine and find a new side of yourself.
  
• Awe Walk:**
  Walk your usual route, but notice what makes you pause – overlooked architecture, or a resilient plant breaking through concrete. Approaching the familiar with wonder is as powerful as discovering new territory.

• Reconnect:
  Send a handwritten postcard or quick voice message to a friend you haven’t spoken to for ages. Surprising someone you care about creates instant joy—for both of you.
  
• Cultural Lunch Club:
  Every Wednesday for a month, try a new lunch from a different culture. Keep it simple: perhaps invite colleagues to take turns bringing a traditional dish to share—it’s tasty, communal, and enlightening.
  
• Jump into Water:
  Jump into the ocean, a lake, or a pool to reset your senses. Not keen or convenient? Try a daily cold-blast shower instead. Gradually build up your tolerance and notice how invigorated you feel. (Always check with your doctor first if you have underlying medical conditions.)
  
• Feet-on-the-Grass Break:
  Ground yourself (literally) by spending five barefoot minutes outside each day. Feel your mood elevate with each step.
  
• Solo Dance Break:
  Choose one song you adore and dance around the room. Let yourself go completely. The freedom is exhilarating.

**Experiencing daily moments of awe has been linked to reduced stress, enhanced well-being,
and a greater sense of connection to others.