All of us get stuck in a rut at some point in our lives. We end up doing the same things with the same people all the time and we rarely experience anything new. This means we really aren’t making the most out of life. To help you grab life by the short and curlies and maximise your way through it, we’ve come up with some ways for you to make the most out of your time on the planet. So, open your mind and read on, and you’ll soon be looking back on how dull your life used to be.
Watch the dawn
Not a morning person? Well, just try it once and you will be glad you did. Prepare by picking out the perfect place to watch the sun rise. This might be the beach, a local beauty spot or even just your own back garden. Get yourself a nice strong coffee, sit back and watch the new day begin in front of you. You’ll find that your day gets off to a really positive start. You don’t have to do it every day, but taking the time out to do it occasionally can really give your life a boost and make you appreciate the beauty of the world.
Scare yourself
This is one you’ll have to think of yourself, but what really scares you? Spiders? Heights? Amusement park rides? Take the opportunity to scare yourself occasionally. Taking yourself out of your comfort zone is one of the key parts of making the most out of your life. That creeping fear, the rising heartbeat and the sweaty palms are all signals that you’re outside of your comfort zone and you’ll get such a good buzz once you have confronted your fear.
Get lost
Our lives these days are so structured and ordered, wouldn’t it be nice to just drive somewhere you have never been before? Turn off your sat nav and just start driving. You’ll see places and people you’ve never seen before and you’ll benefit from the feeling that you’re not actually striving to reach a particular destination. If you do actually get lost and you need to get home, you can always turn your sat nav on again.
Learn a new language
Ever find yourself just watching a really poor programme on TV just because you have nothing better to do? Why not utilise these wasted moments in your life by learning a new language? There are loads of ways to do it now, from classes, online courses to local meetup.com groups. The next time you go on holiday, you’ll find it so much more fulfilling to know a bit of the language and it will open up a whole new dimension. The girls will love it too!
Smell more
We engage with life through our senses. We see things, we touch things, we taste things and we hear things. But how often do we take time out to really appreciate how things smell? When was the last time you smelled a beautiful rose bush? Really savoured the smell of roasting coffee or appreciated the fresh salty smell of the sea? Smell is an incredibly powerful sense and the more you utilize it, the better. You’ll find yourself appreciating things so much more and enjoying life better because of it.
Become involved in your local community
So many of us work such long hours and have frantic lives, we barely know our neighbours or anyone in our local community. Humans are social creatures so we all benefit from interacting with our local communities more, so why not get involved? You can do it in so many ways. Volunteering can be good, whether it is with a local youth group or a charity, whatever you do you’ll feel so much better for it. You may even find it opens up your mind to a whole new career! Go here for more information.
Go to work a different way
Always go the same way to work? Then take a different route. Changing your routine is a sure way of shaking things up a bit. You’ll go down new streets, see new sights, smell new things and overall feed your soul with something new. Always drive? Well, why not try taking the train or even better start walking? A vigorous walk to work in the morning can really get you day off to a good start.
Listen to some new music
Always listening to a particular radio station or type of music? Try something different for a day. There is a whole host of musical delights out there to be savoured but you never will unless you stop listening to your usual stuff for a while. Take the time to try something completely different like jazz or classical. These styles of music may not be the sort you’ll appreciate straight away but give them a chance and you might just open up a whole new avenue of musical wonder which will enrich your life.
Turn off your phone
How much ‘me’ time do you ever give yourself. Just to kick back in your house or flat and simply do nothing. We’re awash in a sea of texts, WhatsApp messages and Facebook to ever be truly alone and relaxed. Do yourself a favour. Once a week, give yourself a few hours where you turn your phone off for a while and enjoy the silence. You certainly won’t regret it, and you’ll probably find yourself doing it more often.
Call your family
How often do you call your folks? If it’s not very often, you should do it more, they won’t be here forever. What about your aunts, uncles and cousins? Family is a very special thing yet so few of us make the most of it. Take the time once a week to call someone in your family, it will help bring you all closer together which is never a bad thing is it?
Exercise outdoors
It’s great to be fit, but if you are always exercising in the gym, then why not try exercising outside more? The gym is all well and good exercising the physical side of you, but you can do that and more outside. Go for a run in the beautiful countryside or along the beach. You’ll find yourself not just feeling better physically, but you’ll feel better and more positive in yourself too. You might find you like it so much, you can save yourself some gym fees!
Be kind more
Ever seen someone struggling with their shopping? Someone looking a bit lost or upset? We all tend to pretend that we’ve not seen these people and simply move on but why not try and help people like this more in your daily life? It is genuinely true that you get more out of helping others than yourself, so give it a try and spread a little kindness. If you’re lucky, you might just get a little bit in return.
Go on that holiday of a lifetime
Always to busy to book three weeks off for a fantastic holiday? Well this year just do it and book yourself a holiday to somewhere you have always dreamed of going to. Do you really want to grow old and be on your deathbed full of regrets? The time away will reinvigorate you, refresh you and fire you up to tackle the future with a positive energy you could previously only dream about. And, if you go somewhere hot, you’re going to end up with a wicked tan.
Travel in the UK more
Just as it is good to go overseas and experience the wonders of a foreign country, we really don’t appreciate our own country do we? There’s probably loads of amazing places within half an hours travel that you’ve never been to and probably never knew existed. Get yourself online and learn a bit more about where you live and explore it more. You’ll really open your eyes and start to see your life and your locality in a whole new light.
Just sit
Go to your local park, sit down and just watch. People watching is a great way to pass some time and it’s fun to do too. Ask yourself who they are? Where have they been? Where are they going? We very rarely take time out to look about what is going on around us, so doing this can be very life enriching. As as you learn about other people,, you’ll probably learn more about yourself.