JAJT
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I stumbled into an idea I've been playing with recently, suggested in multiple books I've read but funny enough is always a side mention and rarely actually discussed in the productivity articles and communities like this.
The idea is no more complicated than adding novelty to your life.
Basically it goes like this: most people's lives are 'day in, day out', 'same old, same old' ad nauseam. You may be psychically well rested and getting 9 hours of sleep a night but your brain is bored to hell and metaphorically becoming a useless pile of mush. To keep it interested and operating at it's best you should go try to experience something completely new and novel to your life. Give your brain something it's never chewed on before.
I've noticed that whenever I do something so completely outside of my daily routine it causes me to feel hyper productive and focused in a relatively lasting way. Like when I joined the gym for the first time ever. New sights, new sounds, new people, new environment, new muscles being worked I never knew I had, new soreness, learning new exercise techniques and form and starting to think about diet and health, etc... just this one action (the gym) sent my brain into novelty overdrive and flooded my system with "new". When I went back to work on my boring grind it felt less boring. I felt more creative. I felt better about my situation and life and started seeing things from new angles.
Or the time I started waking up at 5am on purpose (Thank you "Miracle Morning", you've been one of the most useful books in my life to date). I still do this every day but it's another opportunity to read a new book, or meditate, or actually enjoy my coffee (when was the last time you sat down in quiet and thought about the taste of a damn good coffee you are drinking? It's awesome). Again - my brain gets a new perspective on life, new experiences, new books, new thoughts, peace and quiet that was sorely missing from my life, time to think, etc...
My plan for this entire year, and my wife is happily on board with this, is to not only have more date nights, but to make sure every date night is a new experience. And here's the important part - we don't care if it's something we think we'll enjoy. If we've never done it, but think we'll hate it, it's on the table. We used to just go to a favorite restaurant, have a few drinks, a meal, and call it a night. Relatively unsatisfying neurologically speaking. Next date night we're going to consider zip lining, or one of those paint nights they have at bars (I hate painting but I'm kind of excited to give it a real try), or an opera (never been), or a stage play (I've only seen like 2 ever but damn were they fun), or any number of things. I heard there's an ice hotel a few hours away where you stay the night in a room made of ice. How F*cking cool is that? I bet my brain would be chomping on that one for a while. At the end of the year, instead of looking back and saying "where did the the time go?" (The daily grind) we can look back and say "Holy shit, did we really do all this in just a year?" We'll have filled our lives with new experiences instead of monotony. We'll be people doing things and going places and trying new things and building life stories instead of the couple struggling to find something to talk about over a beer and a shitty steak.
It's been working for me. I've never felt so good about where I am in life since implementing these small ideas. And the funny thing is no matter how unrelated to business they are, it really does feel like I'm supercharging my ability to operate in them. I've never been so focused or dedicated to improvement in my life.
I mean, moving someplace warm is a GREAT idea. I live in Canada - I get it. But until that becomes financially possible. Maybe try throwing a dart at a list of activities you've never considered doing and try one out. See how your brain feels after reading a book on gardening. Or trying yoga. Or doing a cartwheel (when was the last time you tried a cartwheel? It's free and you'll probably get a huge rush from it, or a sore a$$, but better a sore a$$ from a failed cartwheel than an office chair you sit depressed in).
The idea is no more complicated than adding novelty to your life.
Basically it goes like this: most people's lives are 'day in, day out', 'same old, same old' ad nauseam. You may be psychically well rested and getting 9 hours of sleep a night but your brain is bored to hell and metaphorically becoming a useless pile of mush. To keep it interested and operating at it's best you should go try to experience something completely new and novel to your life. Give your brain something it's never chewed on before.
I've noticed that whenever I do something so completely outside of my daily routine it causes me to feel hyper productive and focused in a relatively lasting way. Like when I joined the gym for the first time ever. New sights, new sounds, new people, new environment, new muscles being worked I never knew I had, new soreness, learning new exercise techniques and form and starting to think about diet and health, etc... just this one action (the gym) sent my brain into novelty overdrive and flooded my system with "new". When I went back to work on my boring grind it felt less boring. I felt more creative. I felt better about my situation and life and started seeing things from new angles.
Or the time I started waking up at 5am on purpose (Thank you "Miracle Morning", you've been one of the most useful books in my life to date). I still do this every day but it's another opportunity to read a new book, or meditate, or actually enjoy my coffee (when was the last time you sat down in quiet and thought about the taste of a damn good coffee you are drinking? It's awesome). Again - my brain gets a new perspective on life, new experiences, new books, new thoughts, peace and quiet that was sorely missing from my life, time to think, etc...
My plan for this entire year, and my wife is happily on board with this, is to not only have more date nights, but to make sure every date night is a new experience. And here's the important part - we don't care if it's something we think we'll enjoy. If we've never done it, but think we'll hate it, it's on the table. We used to just go to a favorite restaurant, have a few drinks, a meal, and call it a night. Relatively unsatisfying neurologically speaking. Next date night we're going to consider zip lining, or one of those paint nights they have at bars (I hate painting but I'm kind of excited to give it a real try), or an opera (never been), or a stage play (I've only seen like 2 ever but damn were they fun), or any number of things. I heard there's an ice hotel a few hours away where you stay the night in a room made of ice. How F*cking cool is that? I bet my brain would be chomping on that one for a while. At the end of the year, instead of looking back and saying "where did the the time go?" (The daily grind) we can look back and say "Holy shit, did we really do all this in just a year?" We'll have filled our lives with new experiences instead of monotony. We'll be people doing things and going places and trying new things and building life stories instead of the couple struggling to find something to talk about over a beer and a shitty steak.
It's been working for me. I've never felt so good about where I am in life since implementing these small ideas. And the funny thing is no matter how unrelated to business they are, it really does feel like I'm supercharging my ability to operate in them. I've never been so focused or dedicated to improvement in my life.
I mean, moving someplace warm is a GREAT idea. I live in Canada - I get it. But until that becomes financially possible. Maybe try throwing a dart at a list of activities you've never considered doing and try one out. See how your brain feels after reading a book on gardening. Or trying yoga. Or doing a cartwheel (when was the last time you tried a cartwheel? It's free and you'll probably get a huge rush from it, or a sore a$$, but better a sore a$$ from a failed cartwheel than an office chair you sit depressed in).
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