Last year during Covid I ran a 5 day Courage and Vulnerability Challenge. One of the most enjoyable and successful activities was to Try Something New. I’ve included below the information from this challenge as a stand-alone article because I firmly believe that trying something new is something we should do as often as possible in our journey of finding our authentic selves. I’ve also included a link to a downloadable bucket list — a place for you to record all the new things you’d like to try.
We often associate being good at something with the enjoyment of the experience. These two things are not necessarily related. As a child I was never good at sport, I was not a ‘sporty’ person; I was a book person. I was self-conscious and not particularly coordinated. I did absolutely everything I could to get out of Phys Ed at school and literally hid in bushes or faked an injury when cross-country came around. In my late twenties, I started playing indoor soccer with a friend and you know what? I was terrible, and I loved it! I played for about seven years, I never scored a single goal and I look back on that time as golden in the memory banks. This experience taught me that being good at something is not the point of doing an activity. New experiences give you new skills, and great memories, and opens the door to meeting people you wouldn't normally come across in your day-to-day life. Challenge yourself to break the cycle of thinking something is only worth doing if you’re talented or can win at it — and enjoy the new experiences that will make you a more interesting and open-minded person.
Trying something new makes us vulnerable because we probably aren’t going to be very good at it, maybe we won’t like it, or maybe you think you’ll look a bit silly. But none of these things matter because we are going to take a deep breath and try something new that maybe has been on our minds for a little while.
A study found that just listening to new music can increase your mental acuity. Find time to listen to new and different types of songs to improve your mind. Study reported in Time
When we participate in something new we have a Beginner’s Mind. In order to learn new things, the mind has to be flexible and see things freshly — like a child. I remember when my children were first learning to walk — they would do what we called the “zombie walk” — so much concentration went into this new skill. And guess what — they did it — they both walk just fine! One of the best ways to cultivate creativity, freshness, and flexibility in our lives is to learn a new skill. And we need to go out of our way to become a beginner.
Neurologist David Eagleman found from his research that new experiences feel like they last longer. Try something new to help you feel like life isn’t moving too fast. Research reported in New York Magazine
Highly authentic people are always open to new ideas and life lessons. They know they don’t exist in a vacuum. And as we talked about with our first challenge, we are going to expand our safety zone slowly. You may not always decide it’s something you want to continue doing, but you emerge out of it all a more balanced, knowledgeable, and tolerant person.
Psychologist Rich Walker expressed that new experiences help you retain more positive emotions and minimize negative ones. See if trying something new can help increase positivity in your life. Time
I don’t know about you, but I am not a fan of new years resolutions as inspiration for trying new things. I already know that joining a gym and starting a diet is going to last exactly 11 days.
What I want in my life are new experiences.
I’ve used my annual bucket list for about 6 years now and it’s been a tool to get me out of my comfort zone, try new things, meet new people, and create some amazing (and hilarious) memories.
In the last six years I have:
Written and published a story
Completed some online courses
Finally gone overseas
Participated in a charity event
Visited a long-distance friend
Learned to draw (sort of)
Climbed a mountain
Played the drums
Grown a vegetable garden
Tried Stand up Paddle Boarding
Went indoor rock climbing
Plus a lot more. What’s also been really fun is taking photos and adding them to an album to look back on all the new things I did. My 2017 bucket listIt’s best used when you don’t treat it as a goals list, or a to-do list — that’s boring! Have fun with it. Do as much or as little as you can, but focus on trying new things. If you’d like to try it out you can download the pdf fillable template here for free.
Learning a new mentally demanding skill has been found to help older adults keep their mind sharp. An example of a mentally demanding activity you could try is photography. Association for Psychological Science
Ted Talk on trying new things:
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