Photo by Miquel Parera on Unsplash
Are your habits stopping you from living life? Do you find it hard to try new things that are out of your comfort zone?
My parents and my brother are going on a trip to Japan. Due to several life circumstances, we weren’t sure if I would even be able to go with them. But now, life is clearing up, and I have the opportunity to join.
If you were offered a trip to an exciting location, what would you say?
I assume most people would say yes. That seems like the logical answer. This would be a great experience, and an opportunity to learn about a new culture and spend quality time with my family. So, here is where things get complicated.
In enters anxiety.
***I need to give a disclaimer – nothing about this scenario is actually complicated, it is just me getting in my own head.
The thought of being away from my home and my routine for such a long period of time makes me feel really uncomfortable.
I openly acknowledge that I am someone who enjoys routines. However, while my routines make me happy, I don’t want them to prevent me from having new experiences.
I know this trip will require me to push myself in some ways, so I am choosing to lean into that. My plan is to embrace this challenge by making a point to try new things regularly to practice getting out of my comfort zone in preparation.
Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash
This challenge is coming out of a place of self-compassion. I am not at all shaming myself (or anyone else) for liking routines. I am viewing this as an opportunity to intentionally take a break from my routines to try out some activities that I’ve been wanting to do, but are different from what I typically do in my day-to-day life. My intention is to find a balance between routines and trying new things.
The first thing I did was brainstorm a list of the activities I wanted to do for this challenge. I’m including it here to offer inspiration:
Activities to push myself and grow
- Work at the library
- Work at a coffee shop
- Go to a bar alone
- Face mask
- Journal
- Color
- Paint
- Make mood boards
- Sit in new spots in my house
- Try new foods
- Go to the park with a book
- 1 activity from my bucket list
- Mindfulness
- New shows/movies/music
- Wear something I don’t usually wear
- Cook a fancy meal
- Use different bowls and plates
Some of these are smaller daily habits, while others are activities that involve more planning. I plan on implementing a mix of those. My initial plan was to pick 3 of these activities per week. But what actually ended up happening was that I just started incorporating these activities without thinking about a specific metric. I kind of like that approach better.
I’ve been documenting my experience with trying new things so that I could share it and inspire others to try new things.
2/14 Working Somewhere New
The first activity I did was walking to the library to work instead of working at home.
2/18 Cook a “fancy” dinner
I describe my method of making meals for myself as “assembling” rather than “cooking.” Basically, putting together items that require little prep work or advanced kitchen skills. One of the activities on my list for this series (and also one of my 2023 New Year Intentions) was to cook a fancy meal. I’ve been wanting to learn how to make salmon like they do in restaurants. Where it is crispy on the outside and soft and flaky on the inside. A Google search that was something along the lines of “how to make salmon like they do in restaurants,” guided me toward pan-seared salmon recipes. So, I set out to make pan-seared salmon. This might be one of the fanciest, most involved meals I have ever made, and it came out good. I was very proud of myself.
2/19 Reading at a coffee shop
I got woken up by my roommate saying she thought we had a gas leak. We had to leave the house while we waited for someone from the gas company to come. So, we went to a coffee shop. I brought my book to read there. This was an unexpected outing, but it fits right in with the theme of this series.
Apparently, I accidentally left the gas going on one of the burners after cooking last night. That was embarrassing, but accidents happen.
2/20 Different walking path
I like to go for a walk most days, and I always walk the same route. There is a short hiking trail very close to my house, but I haven’t walked there since before moving in. So I decided to go on an adventure and make that my walk for the day. It was a beautiful day. When I got to the top, I got to enjoy the sunshine and look at a beautiful blue sky. It was while I was up there that I was listening to a podcast about how to monetize your blog and getting excited about my decision to focus more time and energy on my blog and business.
2/24 New yoga video
On Friday, I did a yoga-pilates fusion workout YouTube video. I do a lot of yoga, and I’ve done pilates a few times in the past, but this was something new for me and was different from the types of videos I usually choose.
2/25 Going out with friends
My roommate invited me to go out on Saturday night with her and a friend. I’m usually a stay-in-and-relax kind of girl, so this was another perfect opportunity to push myself. I’m very glad I did, and we had a lot of fun.
2/28 Walking in the morning
I noticed that I’ve formed the belief that I don’t like going for walks in the morning. While it is true that I prefer taking my walks in the afternoon, that doesn’t mean that I can’t also enjoy walking in the morning. I checked the weather and saw that it was going to start raining at 11 am. So, if I wanted to go on a walk and avoid the rain, I would have to go earlier, which I did. I’m glad I did because the weather was still nice and it was a very nice walk. I can now disregard that belief about myself, knowing that I enjoy walking in the afternoon, and I also enjoy walking in the morning.
3/1 Making oatmeal
I decided to make oatmeal this morning. Oatmeal isn’t outside of the realm of something I would typically eat, but it is more involved than what I usually make for breakfast. I’m talking about the stovetop oats, not instant oatmeal packets. This is by no means a complicated meal – the oats are very simple to cook. But it still is a little different for me, which supports what I’m working towards. I even took it a few steps further by sitting in a different chair than I normally do and using a different bowl.
3/7 Going for a walk with a friend
I went for a walk with a friend I haven’t seen in a while. I like to go for walks most days, but I don’t usually go with anyone else. So, it was different for me to walk with someone else, plus she also took me on a path I’d never been on. It felt silly, but I was a little nervous during the day before this. That feels silly to me, because, logically there is no difference between going for a walk by myself on a certain route and going on a walk with someone else on a different path. I guess that is the thing I’m noticing about established habits. It almost starts to feel like I’ve subconsciously convinced myself that there must be some deeper meaning behind why I do things a certain way. When, in reality, these small details have no real significance beyond the significance I assign in my head.
3/7 Putting on makeup
I haven’t been wearing much makeup lately. I wanted to shake things up by putting on makeup, even though I was staying home.
Ongoing activities
Sitting somewhere different
Whether I’m on my computer, eating, watching tv, or doing pretty much anything else, I usually gravitate towards the same spot in my house to sit. So, I’ve been making a point to switch things up and sit in different seats throughout the day. This might seem silly, but it is a perfect example of what I meant when I referred to smaller daily habits. Even though this is a small act and doesn’t have any real significance to it, sitting in different spots feels weird because it is not what I’m used to. Which is the point of this challenge.
Different yoga setup
A similar habit I’m switching up is the way I set up my yoga mat when I do yoga. Instead of always having the same setup I’m used to, I’m putting my mat in different locations. Even though I’m still in my room, I’m turning the mat in different directions to create a slightly different setting.
Meditation
I used to meditate somewhat regularly, but I fell out of that practice. And, truthfully, I haven’t felt the motivation to start again. Don’t get me wrong, meditation is great, I just have been more focused on implementing other habits. But, there were a few times this past week that I did the 5-minute meditation that Yoga With Kassandra links at the end of her videos. And I’ve also gone on to search for short guided mindfulness meditations on YouTube when I felt like I wanted to calm my mind.
I hope sharing this idea to practice trying new things and offering suggestions for activities will help other people who want to learn how to get out of their comfort zones. I want to repeat that I don’t think there is anything wrong with enjoying the comfort of routines. But, there is a problem if this is stopping you from having new experiences. That is why I decided to start this journey, so I practice getting out of my comfort zone more often, strengthening my ability to do well with new opportunities.
If you want more information, you can check out PositivePsychology.com’s take on the Comfort Zone. I do have to provide a disclaimer – while I think this is a great and informative article, I would take the advice to try a new diet or exercise routine with a grain of salt. I don’t recommend taking health advice from online resources, Only you and a medical professional can determine what is right for you.
Life by Julia 
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