I was inspired this morning by the content of my Daily Calm short meditation. Today’s focus was on viewing life with a fresh perspective, trying out new and different ways of doing things.
It’s easy to become set in our ways- whether they are useful or not. Habits create shortcuts, making us lazy. But the meditation topic made me think how we could challenge ourselves to do something differently and see what happens.
Habits are hard to break. We stick to them even if they aren’t serving us well. And this post isn’t a lecture about all the healthy things you might do- such as resisting a jam doughnut with your coffee. We all know what we ‘should’ do. But it is about reflecting on your habits and asking yourself whether there may be a better or different way of doing something. By trying new approaches and activities and breaking your routine, can your life be more fulfilling as a result? Here are some suggested activities to help ‘unstick’ you from your habits.
Activities
1. Wheel of Life
Taking each segment of the wheel in turn, ask yourself ‘On a scale of 1-10, how content am I with this aspect of my life?’ Where your score is less than a 10, identify what would need to happen for the score to increase. Why is the score where it is? If your score has been ‘stuck’ for a while, what could you do differently that might increase it? Is a habit preventing you from achieving a10?
Capture what you’ll do as a goal. Write it down. Break your goal down into small, achievable steps with dates to make them concrete. This is a way to start to develop new and different habits.
My husband and I were in a food rut. We were bored with the same meals and had run out of ideas and inspiration. Our Wheel of Life score for Eating Well was 3. We agreed that we’d buy each other a cookery book for Christmas and try out 20 new recipes to refresh our predictable repertoire. I’ve now tried out about 8 new dishes- some more successful than others- but it’s given me ideas for other, different meals. And it was an excuse to buy new pans. I’m now looking forward to my husband’s home made curry experiment.
2. Role the Dice
Write down 6 activities that you wouldn’t normally do. It may be something as simple as reading a book from a different genre. Or you could add in higher stakes activities. If your friends and family score was not where you wanted it to be, what about contacting someone you’ve not seen in years? Or booking a different kind of holiday? Roll the dice. Commit to following through on the activity number it lands on.
When I was single, I felt I was missing out on holidays- and booked a yoga and walking retreat. I threw the dice- and flew on my own to France and hired a car, feeling very nervous. I hadn’t done yoga before, gone on holiday by myself or driven abroad alone. However, I had a great time and would now feel much more comfortable holidaying on my own again.
3. Trios exercise
Meet with two friends.
- Each person identifies an area of their life where they’ve become stuck.
- Take it in turns to be A, B and C.
- A speaks for a few minutes, describing their ‘stuck’ scenario. B and C listen without interrupting.
- B and C then write down their suggestions for helping A to become unstuck. B and C share their suggestions with A- who listens without interrupting.
- A later decides whether she will follow up on any of the suggestions from B and C.
A may be stuck in her job. She’s been getting interviews but no job offers. B and C can offer up different approaches on interview techniques and approaches that A hasn’t considered.
This can be a great way to get different perspectives on a problem. It’s easy to go round and round in our heads, unable to see a different approach. Sharing the problem can help to jolt you out of habitual thinking and unlock alternative solutions.
Try experimenting with the different techniques. Broaden your horizons by stretching out of your comfort zone.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein
