How To Blow Up Your Routine
Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming
Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running
- Smash Mouth
Rules. So many rules. There are laws you have to follow and then there are societal expectations. I think we are loosening expectations and people are more frequently pursuing their own paths which break from the mold, especially when you can not count on a traditional career path to bring you a cushy life anymore. In fact, there are so many people breaking the mold that there are entire communities dedicated around them. There’s van life, FIRE, off the grid people, you name it and you can probably find your people thanks to the internet.
At some point if you don’t change it up, you grow complacent and wear a path deeper and deeper. Some would call it consistency, others may call it a rut. Depending on your point of view it could be comforting or boring. However, if you keep up routines over long periods it is going to seem like your life speeds by. The CEO of Airbnb has an article how unique experiences create memories and make time seem like it isn’t going by quite so fast. If we are to follow his advice and create more memorable experiences what are we to do?
You could certainly book a trip somewhere, which is often what I do, perhaps too often. We are creatures of habit, so sometimes you need a bigger push. I call it blowing up your routine. How do you go about doing that? Anything big will do it: moving, having kids, even getting really good at a new skill.
If you go from having 0 (pets, kids, partners) to more than 0 it will certainly change your life. They will need time and attention and you will have to give up hours of what you used to do and focus on them.
Learning a new skill can be really enjoyable. Maybe you want to learn tennis and you find a great group to play with. Or perhaps something more solitary like learning an instrument on your own is what changes up your routine. One person did a learning challenge where each month they would learn a new skill like a backflip, get good at random memorization, draw good portraits, and more.
Moving is a big one and often will dramatically change your routine. Even within the same city you probably won’t go to the same places as much, may change school districts, and neighbors. However, maybe there’s a medium step that is enough to change your routine and more like a rental experience to try things out. What if you rented out your house or did a house swap? Then you could change things up without committing fully to it.
The pandemic was certainly a jolt that changed all our routines. Many options became banned. People adapted and found new hobbies. Sourdough was in, nobody was out.
Conclusion
If you are living your dream, great. If you think your life could use some new experiences, then start brainstorming of what you could do differently. A lot of times you need a push to get out of your comfort zone. I’m not saying dive into the deep end, but maybe be more open to a change.