To Your Health
February, 2011 (Vol. 05, Issue 02) |
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Rule 5: Make Your Own Map
Do you ever find yourself sitting in your car at your final destination and wondering how in the world you got there? You can't remember anything; it's like you were on autopilot the entire trip.
Normal routines get ingrained in your brain, to the point that every stop and turn is mindless. This is the epitome of ritual rut! You go from home to work and then work to home, making ceremonial stops along the way. How about changing up that boredom and choosing an alternate route? Make a left instead of a right, take a different highway, choose a more scenic route, go straight instead of turning, be creative and become your own GPS. If you have an actual GPS in your car, type in "alternate route" as an option and let the GPS decide for you. The idea is to change it up and let your mind capture the new surroundings along your new journey.
Rule 6: Just Say Yes
Whenever you feel like saying "no" to something or someone, just decide to say yes! Jim Carrey made a movie several years ago called "Yes Man." The movie's premise revolved around a guy who was stuck in a rut; his life was boring and humdrum with a set routine every day. He always said no whenever someone asked him to go out and do something fun or different. One day, after seeing a motivational speaker, he decided to start saying yes to everything and his world transformed. New experiences, new people and exciting moments began occurring in his life.
When we say no, it is usually because something is pushing us outside of our comfort zone. We tend to pull back into our zone because of an underlying sense of fear. Face the fear and do it anyway. Don't really want to go out on that date? Say yes. Don't want to go to the office party? Say yes. Don't want to volunteer for that project at work? Say yes. Don't want to go on that diet? Say yes. Let the transformation begin! In most cases, you'll probably say to yourself, I can't believe I almost didn't do that.
Rule 7: Volunteer
The act of volunteering your time, energy, expertise, companionship, friendship and energy to helping others will change you forever! By taking attention off yourself and devoting it to others, you will automatically feel more happiness and less stagnation. People often feel they have limited time in their own lives and that finding more time for volunteering is impossible. Yes, our lives can certainly be crazy and hectic in this fast-paced society. Everyone is forever on the go, being pulled in a million different directions. But if you take the opportunity to really look at how you spend your days, you will find many opportunities to replace trivial wasted moments.
How often do you sit in front of the television every week? The average American watches three hours of television per day! What a waste. Invest that time in helping others. Search for a national or local organization and discover how you can become involved, even if it's only for one hour a week. Transform yourself and improve the world in the process. Can there be any greater gift than that?
Rule 8: Try a Change of Taste
The simple act of changing your food selections can bust your rut. Do you always order the same thing off a menu? Well, stop doing that! Go for something completely different and make a 180-degree turn in your choices. Try eating ethnic foods for a change of taste. Visit an ethnic restaurant and experience the flavor of other cultures. Visit the worlds of Greece, Thailand, India, Middle East, Europe, China and Mexico, to name a few. Wake up those taste buds and spice up your palate.
Food is an emotional experience. How many moments of our lives are spent with others around the dinner table? It's how we socialize and foster relationships. So many new relationships lie in wait from the people you will meet in the "New World" restaurant tour. Change up your menu at work and home, too. Choose different foods for breakfast and dinner. If you go out to lunch with colleagues at work, pick a different venue every few days.
If you want to make over your life, start with a few little changes and work your way to bigger ones. A primary reason people fail in their quest for lasting change is that they alter too many things at once. In their zest for getting out of a rut, they alter everything and it ends up being an overload. Slow and steady wins the race. Small adjustments in your routine can have enormous impact on how you feel. Have you ever had a small pebble stuck in your shoe? Did it hurt every time you took a step? To get rid of the pain, you simply take the pebble out of your shoe. Now take control and remove the small pebbles from your life. Small is big.
Perry Nickelston, DC, is clinical director of the Pain Laser Center in Ramsey, N.J., where he focuses on performance enhancement, corrective exercise and metabolic fitness nutrition To learn more about Dr. Nickelston, visit www.painlasercenter.com/Our_Practice.html.
