The excitement in life doesn’t happen from going to the same gym every morning at 8am but rather driving to the oceanfront to watch the sunrise on the beach. Ditch the self-help books and reverse what you think you should do and you might just find out life’s fluidity is something that is too often overlooked.
We are often told that routine helps people thrive. Structure is good. Oftentimes though I think we get so caught up in following a day-to-day schedule we forget the spontaneity that is life itself. Many of us don’t have our days planned minute by minute but have a schedule we follow. By no means am I saying to abandon your schedule altogether and live life on the tip of your toes. Rather, account for shifts in your days and embrace them with opportunity.
Whether you’re a true die-hard fan of self-help books, can’t stand their mantras, or read How to be a Badass for your one and done with this genre, I think we can all benefit from a little reflection. Say you wake up at 5am every morning to go work out at 6:30am. Now some people truly do enjoy this, while others don’t. But if you have a terrible night’s sleep, are you still going to go in the morning? That’s where our culture is misled.
With viral trends such as 75 Hard and Keto Diets, slip-ups aren’t accounted for in making these plans or rather aren’t allowed. You know, it’s ok if you decide to take 2 rest days from working out instead of just 1 on some weeks; or when you’re feeling tired, workout after work instead of before. I and many others claim this to be stress-inducing. Why should a schedule that’s supposed to alleviate stress and provide good structure instead be anxiety-evoking? There really are many factors that play into this but it all truly boils down to one main category or word: Stability.
Our schedule keeps us stable and allows us to know what to expect every day. This provides enormous benefits but do these benefits outweigh all the risks? Sometimes sleeping in on the weekend instead of going to a social gathering with friends can outweigh the benefits of social interactions. One favorite thing that I didn’t learn until later in life is, “If you slept through your alarm that means your body needed it”. Flexibility and fluidity in our lives complement one another.
Ultimately our days are fluid and we can’t expect them to fit into a fixed rigid schedule that we “have” to follow. Sometimes you need to call in sick to work, not because you’re sick but because you just need a day to lay in bed and have a homemade brunch. Is that one day where you deviated from your schedule going to disrupt you for weeks on end? No. There really is no excuse. One day outside of the structure isn’t bad but it is good. Too many times people believe if they don’t follow their routine, the whole world will fall apart. I challenge you to take one day and do things differently, not in a drastic manner but subjectively 40% different. How do we know what works best for us without trial and error? Oftentimes our minds want something that our bodies don’t and vice versa.
Maybe switch up your workout routine and take a group fitness class or skip the morning Starbucks run and make it an afternoon stop in for a thirst quenching refresher. The excitement in our lives is not found in our daily routines. Structure is good but it also is limiting. Self-help is by no means the god given answer to all our problems but sometimes reversing what we think is self-help proves to be a lot more beneficial. So are you finally going to stop doing your laundry all on Sundays and maybe do it throughout the week? Or should we skip the morning run and do an evening cycling class tonight?