Follow this rule. Change your life.

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:

1. New
2. Difficult
3. At least a little frightening
4. Reduces the amount of time spent watching television
5. 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 varies only when external factors force change upon them. Days bleed into one another, with the Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Thursdays of last year resembling those of the year before in almost every 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 experience when we were younger. We no longer see the value of variety.

Change keeps us youthful, interesting, happy, and motivated. Constant, relentless change is what 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.