We’ve all heard the quote; “ The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.”  Last week I confessed that my daily routine was boring and keeping me from my desire to feel energized and creative.  Therefore, I have come up with a plan to do one thing different or differently each day.

I will blog each day about my experience.   I encourage you to follow along with me.  You can do what I do, or come up with your own ideas to shake up your February.  I would so totally love to hear about your experiences!

Here is The Plan, one different thing/day, starting February 1st:

1st)  Get up 10 minutes early and do nothing.

2nd)  Make conversation with a stranger.

3rd)  Eat lunch for breakfast, supper for lunch and breakfast for supper.

4th)  Drive to a different neighbourhood for walk/run.

5th)  Give $20 to charity and don’t ask for a receipt.

6th)  Give 5 compliments today.

7th)  Hand write letter to my mom

8th)  Read a poem.

9th)  Go to Google dictionary and learn the word of the day. 

     Use it in a sentence some time today.

10th)  Buy coffee at a different coffee shop than your usual place.

11th)  Light candles for dinner

12th)  Turn on favourite song and dance the whole thing.

13th)  Wear a hat

14th)  Eat ONLY really good chocolate/favourite chocolate. Buy it for yourself if you don’t receive or have any you really love.

15th)  Comment on someone’s blog or Facebook page (everyone loves comments).

16th)  Spend 10 minutes alone sending forgiveness to every person you are mad at or       who has hurt you.

17th)  Send someone an e-card, just because.

18th)  Remove one item from each room in the house.

19th)    Go to Youtube and watch funny pet videos for at least 10 minutes

20th)  Learn a joke and tell it today at least once. http://www.coolfunnyjokes.com/

21st)    Throw out old underwear &/or socks

22nd)    Download lyrics to that song you always sing, but aren’t sure of the words and sing it out loud

23rd)    Buy $1 scratch and win ticket

24th)    Organize one drawer or closet.

25th)    Draw, doodle or colour for 10 minutes

26th)    Read a Wikipedia bio of someone you are curious about.

27th)    Phone or visit that person you know you should phone or visit.

28th)    Fly away to vacation. Or in your imagination.

29th)  Bonus Day.  Think of your own fun/creative/wacky idea.

I’m taking inventory of my daily routines in order to stick with my mission of letting go of the things that aren’t getting me where I want to go.  My daily list looks something like this:

Meditation/prayer, yoga, morning pages journal, eat fruit, eat vegetables, add flax seeds to everything, make green juice, take Vitamins – D & C, supplements:  Iron, B12, Omega 3, 8 glasses of water, green tea, 30-60 minutes of exercise – mix of cardio and resistance, dress nicely and put on makeup and do something with hair, work 3- 9 hours (depending on the day), keep up with current affairs and social media on-line, try not to eat after 8 p.m., brush and floss teeth after every meal,  do household chores, get at least 8 hours of sleep.

This routine has evolved over time as I have incorporated random advice from various sources.  I did not notice that not only does it consume most of my day, it has become my day!  Where is my life?  Where is my fun?  All of these things are great, no question, and their point is to make me fit and healthy enough to sustain a happy, healthy life.  But, not BE my life.

I have come up with a plan to shake things up, one small step at a time.  Starting in February, I am going to do at least 1 thing each day to push me out of my routine &/or comfort zone.  I will post the daily list next week.  I will blog the next day about each experience.  You are invited, heck, you are encouraged to  join me!   Follow my plan, or make up your own.  I will post the list next week.

When we are children, it is accepted that our job is to learn.  We are not expected to know what we don’t know, or to ‘get it’ the first time we try. But once we become adults, if we don’t know something, we pretend that we do or that we’re not interested if it will make us look dumb.  How can we possibly learn everything we’re interested in between the years of 0 and 18 or 21?  Why is trying something new, as an adult so fear inducing?

I’m taking a writing course.  My teacher is an Ivy League School MFA graduate.  My classmates are honest to goodness writers.  They are extremely gracious and generous.  I’m so out of my league.  But I’m having the most wonderful time.  I am learning and growing so much.

Is there something you’ve always wanted to try but talked yourself out of it because you didn’t want to risk embarrassing yourself?  Guess what? The fact that there is a ‘thing’ you want to try means that you should be trying that very thing!  Your essential self is prompting, urging, leading you on the path that you should go.  If the only thing holding you back is fear, then you must go for it!

I took my first piano lessons in my adulthood.  I suffered through recitals, boy did I suffer!  Did I embarrass myself? Big time!  And my family too…but they grinned through it and kept encouraging me – they are a very special bunch.  Now I am a piano teacher who completely empathizes with my students who don’t want to do recitals.  Do I make them do recitals? You betcha!  Because I know that the process is what grows us as people.

I risked downhill skiing last year.  I’m sure I looked foolish on the bunny hill, but I did not care, because I was having so much fun.  (And I knew I would probably never see any of those people again, and if I did, they would not recognize me without my helmet!)

In order to become what you must become you must be willing to try even if you suck!  But what is worse than sucking is staying stuck, staying the same, staying small.  Step out.  Risk.  You won’t die, I promise.  If there is something you want to do, be willing to do it badly.  Don’t expect that if you’re not great out of the gate, that it’s not for you.  Give yourself credit for starting, for trying, then commit to practicing until you are somewhat skilled.  You have no idea how long that will be, so you can’t put a time limit on it.  Learning piano in 3 weeks may be possible for a genius child, but it took me 10 years before I could play reasonably in front of people. 

Am I going to write a bestselling novel anytime soon?  Probably not. But maybe!  I’ve given up trying to figure things out before I start.  I have no idea where learning writing skills will take me, but I am going to enjoy the journey.