Last week I arrived in Florida and was inspired by its surrounding beauty. I wanted to share how we might be able to bottle some of the natural boosts that our surroundings might provide to improve our mood and outlook. To read more about what inspired me, see my post on LinkedIn Pulse HERE.
My FIRST TIP was about losing your mind in the present. My SECOND TIP was about letting someone else guide you for a day.
My third one is about trying something new or something that you haven’t done for a long time.
When we get to a certain age in our lives, we get into a comfortable routine. We know what we like and don’t like; we know what we’re good and less good at. But, like our bodies, our brains need exercise. And the more we continue to do the things we’re comfortable with, the less of a chance our brain gets to exercise. Its craving to form new synapses can only be satisfied by doing something that’s unfamiliar to it.
So if you have a routine of exercising your brain with crossword puzzles, or Sudoku, or by reading a certain genre, or even having a physical exercise routine, your brain is not really getting the exercise you intend for it as it is already used to the routine. If you want to breathe new life into your brain and clear out the cobwebs, you need to give it a new challenge!
My recommendation is to try something completely new or doing something that you haven’t done in a long time! Is there something you had toyed with trying so many years ago that you never found the time for? Well, if you’re the type of person that makes new year resolutions, this might be a good one!
It can be anything: from cooking a new dish to trying rollerblading to rock climbing to singing in a choir to painting to learning a new language to learning ballroom dancing to readying Greek mythology (or anything else that will expand your horizons) to making a new acquaintance.
You catch my drift. Giving yourself a new challenge is not only good for the mind, it’s good for the soul and the body too.
Next tip: “Say ‘hello’ to a stranger!
