We get really good at the things we practice.
But do you know what you’ve been practicing? We all practice several things every single day! Even if you haven’t thought about it as practice.
By “practice” I mean the things that we do over and over and over. It’s why experience matters.
The funny thing about practice
Is that it’s still practice, even if we don’t think we’re paying that much attention. If we’re doing anything over and over, our brain is paying a lot more attention than we may think we are.
But that doesn’t mean all our practices are serving us.
If we constantly pine and yearn for things we don’t have, we get really good at feeling lack.
And if we fixate on our perceptions of the bodies, relationships, careers, finances or lives of others, then we get really great at cementing the gap between where we are and where we want to be.
Yikes!
Anything we do over and over – actions, thoughts, choices, mindset – we perfect.
What are you perfecting?
If you’ve spent enough time perfecting the things you don’t actually want, you’re not alone.
Maybe at some point, all those things were serving you.
But now if you want something else, you’ll need to change things up. It doesn’t mean you need to overhaul your life or anything! But you’ll have to do something to spark yourself out of that rut.
Here’s what I suggest
Find something to do each week that is a departure from you’d normally do. Doesn’t have to mean anything wild or inauthentic! But it does need to be something different.
Perhaps it’s just a different variation of something you already do.
Or a different flavour, or category, or route, or style. Of anything.
Maybe being a little silly and drawing a happy face on your bandaid.
Try it. One modification every single week. It’ll signal to your brain that there are other things to notice in life, and help you to see new opportunities that are already around you.