Here’s a rule to consider when living your life:
At least once a year (and much more often if possible), you should try something that is:
- New
- Difficult
- At least a little frightening
- Reduces the amount of time spent watching television
- Has the potential of becoming something meaningful – a new hobby, a new career, something that you can be proud of – if done well
Change in our lives is essential, and yet so many of us avoid it at all costs. An enormous percentage of the population slowly settles into a daily routine that only varies if external factors forces change upon them. Days bleed into one another, with the Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Thursdays of last year resembling the Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Thursdays of the year before in almost every possible way.
So many of us forget how good a new struggle can feel. We fail to remember the joy of self discovery that we so often experiences when we were younger. We no longer see the value of variety.
Change keeps us youthful, interesting, happy, and motivated. Constant, relentless change is the thing that prevents us from feeling like time is flying by. It brings greater meaning not only to our lives but to the individual days of our lives.
Following my suggestion just once a year is a reasonable goal. An admittedly low bar, but a good start. The chance to bring something new into your life. The chance to change your life.
