Map Your Ordinary World: The First Step to Changing Everything (Module One)

A Beta Adventure Quest™ from The Lab

Apr 22, 2025

This week, I’m gifting this post (and the next three in the series) to all Call for Heroine’s subscribers (free and paid). If you'd like to know why, you can read about it here.

This post is (usually) for Lab Members only, aka the inner circle shaping the future of The Heroine’s Adventure. As a Lab member, you get early access to every course, workbook, and tool I create before anyone else sees it. Your feedback (or silent lurking, no judgment) helps shape what’s next. In your "Spoiler Alert” posts, you’ll also get behind-the-scenes insights from someone who built and sold a 7-figure business from scratch. I’ll show you the real systems, strategies, and decisions behind this adventure so you can use them in yours.

The Power of Three: Understanding Your Story's Structure

Are you feeling stuck? Do you need help identifying what needs changing or how to create meaningful shifts in your life?

If you'd like a clear map of your desired changes, to understand the root causes of your challenges, and have practical steps to author you own transformation story, then you're in the right place.

Welcome to this Adventure Quest, which will teach you how to use the secrets hidden in the structure of stories to change your life. In this series, we are going to conduct some magical experiments and participate in some alchemy exercises to make it clear to you how stories and fairy tales told throughout history hold all the secrets you need to help you plot your way to an extraordinary life.

Ever notice how the most powerful things come in threes? Three wishes from a genie. Three ghosts visit Scrooge. Three clicks of ruby slippers to get home. What if the secret code to transforming your life has been hiding in plain sight, within the structure of every great story ever told?

WHY THREE IS MAGICAL (AND PRACTICAL)

We're not talking about mystical numerology here, or some witchy spells you missed out on learning during your "Wicca" phase (though Bob Dorough wasn't wrong when he sang "Three is a Magic Number" in Schoolhouse Rock). This mystical, but practical idea (and I'm all about mystical yet practical) has manifested throughout human history, from the holy trinity, to the three laws of motion, to everyday life (basic principles like past, present and future, to three meals a day.)

This isn't just a cute coincidence. Your brain is literally wired to process information in threes. It's the smallest number that creates a pattern your mind can grasp and remember. Think about it: past-present-future, beginning-middle-end, ready-set-GO!

In story, the power of three traces back to Aristotle's observations of Greek drama, which showed that every story had three distinct parts: the setup, the confrontation, and the resolution.

THE THREE-ACT TRANSFORMATION

Here's where it gets juicy. Every meaningful change in your life follows the same structure as your favorite stories:

1. The Ordinary World (aka "Well, this isn't working...")
2. The Upside-Down World (aka "Everything is chaos and I'm growing!")
3. The Combined World (aka "Same scene, new me")

Pause right here and think about a significant change in your life. The change could be changing jobs, moving cities, or ending a relationship. Can you spot these three phases? Jot them down. I'll wait.

MAPPING YOUR HERO'S JOURNEY

Let's break it down using everyone's favorite tornado-riding heroine, Dorothy:

Ordinary World:

Current situation: Stuck in Kansas
Inner wound: Feels misunderstood and restless
Limited perspective: "Somewhere over the rainbow is better than here"

Upside-Down World:

Challenges that force growth
New allies and enemies
Skills and wisdom gained

Combined World:

Return with new powers
Same external situation, transformed internal landscape
"There's no place like home" (but now you know why)

The three-act structure is constantly replicated in everyday life. You don't need an entire narrative arc to support this structure either. You can spot it recurring on the smaller scale, like in a project, or a situation.

Think about something like buying a car.

Ordinary World
- Your car breaks down, and it's the last straw. You've been avoiding it, but it's time to buy another used car.
Upside-Down World
- You head to the dealer and face a series of challenges. The salesman doesn't want to give you credit for your trade-in, you can't find all the features you want in a car that is available, and the dealership won't budge on price.
Combined World
- You succeed in your mission and drive home with your new car.

When an author works on a novel, getting the ordinary world right is essential.

Without the Ordinary World, the reader won't know:

The rules and norms of the society in which the main character lives.
The wounds and flaws that the main character lives with that may be inhibiting their life.
A list of what things the character needs to "fix" while undergoing their upcoming adventure/journey/transformation
A clear point of view, or perspective that is inhibiting the main character from living their life to the fullest

Without mapping YOUR Ordinary World, you won't understand these things either.

Here's the wild part - you're already living in Act One of your next transformation story. But unlike Dorothy, you get to consciously choose your tornado. Tomorrow, we'll reveal how to identify precisely where you are in your story's structure and what that means for your next move. (Spoiler alert: You might already have everything you need, just like those ruby slippers...)

Ready to map your own hero's journey? Stay tuned for Module 2: "Mapping Your Ordinary World"...

Over to you, Lab Heroines!

This module will be our first Heroine’s Adventure Questbook™

(These interactive courses will be listed for $47 per adventure. As a lab member, you get them all in beta format as part of your membership.)

The Blurb…

You are not stuck. You're standing in Act One of your transformation story, and this Questbook is your portal to change.

In this interactive mini-course, you’ll use story structure, the Heroine’s Journey, and the power of narrative alchemy to examine where you are, uncover what’s keeping you there, and take your first step toward the life you actually want.

Designed for midlife Gen X women who’ve done all the “right” things but are still asking “what now?”—this Questbook doesn’t ask you to fix your life. It invites you to author it.

This is your origin story. Let's make it epic.

This is your invitation to shape the final version of this Adventure Quest.™
✨ Does it resonate?
✨ Is anything unclear or missing?
✨ Do you need more of something?
✨ Would you want to keep going to the next module? If not, what’s stopping you?

Your feedback helps me make each quest stronger and gives you early access to tools that can change your life. Every note you share sharpens the impact for the next heroine who picks up this quest. I can’t do this without you. Let’s build the adventures together.