Try Something New in Order to Reinvent Yourself

When was the last time you took a class attempting to learn something you’ve never explored before? Or the last time you experimented with a brand new recipe? When did you last go dancing, pick up a musical instrument, play tennis or learn a new card game?

Want to know why you’re in a rut? It’s because you’re doing the same old things, and you’re not trying new and different things that challenge or stimulate you. Why is that important? Because boredom is your enemy, and it leads to feelings of dissatisfaction, apathy, listlessness, restlessness and joylessness. To be bored is to lose interest in your surroundings, activities or people around you.

So try something new, different, out of your comfort zone. Challenge yourself. Try exploring what you would need to do in order to reinvent yourself. Here are some ideas:

Which parts of your life do you find most rewarding? Would it be wise for you to do this more often, or more frequently? Which parts do you find most challenging?

What could you do that would offer you greater fulfillment at this point in your life?

Are you pursuing a goal that requires more than you can give right now?

What relationship problems are you avoiding or not confronting?

How recently have you made a new friend or reconnected with an old one?

Is there another culture that you would be interested in visiting or learning more about? If so, what could you do that would help you begin to make it happen?

Whom do you have the best relationships with? Whom do you want to improve your relationship with?

How are you frittering away your time? A fritter is something you do that takes your time, energy and life force, but you don’t feel better for having done it.

What life or career goals do you have that you’re not actively pursuing? What could you do to follow up on those goals and begin your pursuit anew?

Which activity, relationship or endeavor in your life has the potential to teach you the most?

What have you done—or are you doing—that will outlive you? Do any of these represent what you think of as your legacy? What is your legacy?

How recently have you participated in a new sport or a new game?

What would need to be different about your life in order for the next 20 years to be better than the last 20 years?

Is there anything you’re doing now—or not doing—that you’re going to regret later on?

What are you still looking to accomplish?

In the end, it’s your relationships that matter the most in life, and which will ultimately bring you the greatest sense of fulfillment and belonging. So whatever you can do to repair broken connections with people, or whatever you can do to love more fully and with fewer conditions—do so.

Remember to challenge yourself and try new things if you would like to reinvent yourself. Regrets don’t come from trying and failing. Regrets come from not trying.

“If there is a sin against life, it lies perhaps less in despairing of it than in hoping for another and evading the implacable grandeur of the one we have.” —Albert Camus

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