Friends, this page is dedicated to the good souls who have embraced the idea of the BSP and wonder what it might be like to try it themselves. It’s doable, it’s fun, it’s surprising, but it takes a little bit ‘o effort and commitment. So I’m sharing what I’ve learned in setting up this experiment in living a wider life. Feel free to use this guidance, adapt it as you wish, and create a project that truly resonates with you.
Top 10 Tips for Your Own Big Scout Project
Tip 1: Decide what you would personally like to get out of your scout project.
Everyone’s goals for this kind of project will inevitably be unique—and that’s super cool. In my case, I want to reignite the abounding curiosity I had as a 12-year-old girl. I want to re-learn so many of the things I’ve forgotten as I’ve aged, and learn a ton of things I thought I’d learn as an adult but never did. In short, I really want to live a wider life.
But what if your own goals are really more about learning to love the great outdoors again? Or learning some basic science skills? Or being a better citizen? Or falling in love with arts and crafts again? If that describes you, that’s great! Who says you have to do all of the badge work? You could construct a project around the goals that matter to you most. And who knows? When you’ve accomplished these goals, you might want to move on to others.
My two cents? Sit with this question for a bit until you know with clarity what you’d love to get out of this project. Whatever the scope of your project should be, the minute you know it in your heart, you’ll be chomping at the bit to get started.
Tip 2: Find the right framework for your project.
I’ve chosen to follow the badges currently available to Jr. Girl Scouts because I left scouting around that age. You, however, might want to go in a different direction altogether, and that would be completely wonderful. You might want to look at other age levels for scouts, or revisit the badges from the handbook you used if you were a scout as a child. You might want to look at Boy Scout badges, or find some other configuration altogether. IMHO, the key is that you should choose the framework that feels as though it best meets your own goals.
To decide what kind of framework will work best for you, I strongly recommend that you read over a number of handbooks/badge books to see what makes you most excited. You can order new ones directly from the Girl Scouts’ online store (and support them in the process!), but you can probably find used copies online and in used bookstores as well.
Tip 3: Set a start date—and an end date—for your project.
This is really just basic “project management” (eeee-uuuuuwwww, did I just use that term?). I chose my 50th birthday to start the BSP because, well, it’s one of those obvious milestones. Choosing the right end date will be completely up to you, but I’d strongly recommend that you do it. Research (and personal experience), suggests that setting deadlines are critical if we really want to get something done.
My two cents: base your end date on your goals, the framework you’ve chosen for your project, and your reality. For instance, if you have a career, care for children or parents, or have other regular responsibilities, you’ll need to gauge how much you think you can realistically get done in your time frame.
I’ve chosen to take three years to do this project because a) it’s actually a massive amount of work, and b) I don’t want it to feel like it’s going to last so long that I can’t feel the end in sight. Completely personal, right?
If life seems too damned busy to pull off the kind of project you want to do, don’t despair. Scale back your goals for the time being, or extend your project timeline. And remember this really great quote (though I actually can’t remember where I read it): People always overestimate how much they can do in a day and underestimate how much they can do in six months.
Tip 4: Remember the GS motto: Be prepared.
In other words… plan, plan, plan. This one tip will give you the running start to set you up for lots of fun and great success. In my case, I took a whopping ten months, but that’s mostly because I came up with the idea in January and didn’t want to launch it until my 50th birthday in October.
You certainly don’t have to take that long, but I really suggest that you give yourself some time to plan. Trust me – I’ve read the books backwards and forwards, and it takes a little work to do it all. Here are just a few things to think about:
- Do you need to clear some time on your calendar to kickstart your project?
- Do you need to save a little money to buy any supplies you need?
- Do you need to do any advance research for your project?
- Do you want to line up your own troop leader(s) or a blog to help you stay accountable (see below)?
- Are there conflicts on your calendar or other responsibilities that could delay your work on this?
I’ve spent part of the last few months giving a lot of thought to how I’ll fit all of these 600 or so tasks into my (already busy) life over the next three years, and this prep work has helped. For instance, it turns out that sometimes tasks for one badge really complement tasks for another badge; by doing them together, I’ll save some time and deepen my learning, too.
Y’all know that I’m already convinced that this is a really, really good way to spend a few years of living. But I’m soooooo glad I took time to think about it all in advance.
Tip 5: Stay accountable.
If you’re anything like me, then you might need some way to hold your feet to the fire. Certainly it helps to choose an end date for the project. In my case, I also asked a few dear friends/family to serve as my Virtual Troop Leaders, and I’m also using this blog to stay accountable to the larger world.
Your project could follow a similar trajectory, but it doesn’t have to. You could ask friends to join you for coffee every other month to hear about your progress, or you could even do this with those friends as a group project.
As a corollary to this tip, set some ground rules for your project. This one’s a little difficult for me to sum up, so I’ll just direct you to my own Ground Rules to explain what I mean.
Tip 6: It may not be as easy as it seems (or seemed to me, at least).
This tip may not apply to you, but about a month before launching the project, I had a depressing epiphany. I scanned the tasks for all of the badges, looking for those “slam dunks”—tasks which I could easily say I’ve accomplished regularly as an adult. Let me repeat: I was looking for tasks that I’d done – frequently and successfully – as an adult. Doing tasks rarely or poorly did not count in my book.
Now, I’m a fairly well-educated woman, I’ve got an actual career in public health communications, and I’m a working performing songwriter, too. Out of 600 tasks, I assumed that I’d have “frequently and successfully” accomplished at least 10% (60) of those tasks. At least.
But no. I can only claim to have done about 10 of them. That’s 1%. In other words, I’d better get a move ‘on, cause this is no slam-dunk.
Tip 7: Wisdom is all around you.
You’ll need to tap into wisdom everywhere around you for information for your project’s tasks. We’re pretty danged lucky to have the Internet at our fingertips. Ask (Google), and ye shall receive. Ask (YouTube), and ye shall see the light. Ask (iTunes University), and ye shall hear the lecture.
And beyond the Internet, a really pleasant surprise came in realizing that I’ve got dozens of friends and acquaintances who are stone-cold experts and professionals in the very areas I’m about to study. I’m inviting many of them into this project as content experts, and I really look forward to sharing their work with BSP readers over the next three years.
In other words, excellent and trusted sources of information are at our fingertips and in our lives. Start there.
Tip 8: Share what you learn with others.
I sincerely believe that this is an important step in the learning process—whether we’re kids or octogenarians. Learning is reinforced when we can apply a skill as we learn it ourselves, but many tasks require scouts to observe and research, rather than apply. Sharing this new knowledge with others can help us hold on to it.
So… share it on this blog! Comments are always welcome, and I’d love to hear from any of you who might be interested in providing a guest blog or two (or more) about your experiences. Or share it on the Facebook page If you’re on Facebook, just click “like” and you can start sharing on the wall.
You can also share your experiences on your own blog, share them around the dinner table, or share them with friends over coffee. It doesn’t matter how or where you share them—people who love you should love that you shared.
Tip 9: Trust your vision, trust your instincts.
As you talk to others about the vision for your project, don’t be surprised if you get a lot of well-intentioned (but unsolicited), advice from others on how you “should” do your project. Some of that advice will feel great to you (take it), but some of that advice will feel like an anvil on your head. Trust your instincts, and stay true to the project you envision because your vision rocks.
And, of course, you can always recommend that these good souls to take on their own scout project. 
Tip 10: Have a blast.
Yes, I know—this one should go without saying, but I’ve written it here as a reminder to myself as much as to anyone else. This project isn’t about getting the kind of extreme thrill that comes with jumping out of a plane, but it is a process of steady exploration and discovery, and that’s cool.
So, should you decide to take on a scout project of your own, I hope it’s not only incredibly challenging but incredible fun, too.
Looking Down the Road
Without the benefit of precognition or a trustworthy crystal ball, it’s hard to say if others out there will pursue their own scout project. If, however, it looks like a number of personal projects are popping up, I WILL find a way to pull them together—even if it’s informal—to share resources, information, stories, and successes.
I promise to update this page with additional tips that emerge as this project evolves over time. I’d also love to hear your feedback, so please comment below or send me an email at bigscoutproject@gmail.com.
