Are You Stuck in Sameness?

Not too long ago, I talked about a friend of mine, who took up skateboarding lessons to add more “new” to her life. I also mentioned how inspiring I found her search for new experiences and decided to embark on one of my own.

In the meantime, I got to thinking: what stopped me from doing something like that before, and I did get some answers from an interesting article I came across the other day.

Apparently, there are three main hinders, preventing us from experiencing new things.

 1. Procrastination. 

We have a tendency to put off that which will challenge us to become more, do more and all the responsibility that comes with having more. We are afraid of failure, but surprisingly, we are also afraid of success and everything it may bring with it.

So we just have to get over the fear and accept the new responsibilities, as they are the ones that will make us better.

2.   Opinions of others

Getting out of your comfort zone is scary enough on its own – and even more so with others watching. Trying something for the first time means you may be no good, you may look ridiculous and people may simply not get it. However, we all have to start somewhere. Take Nelson Mandela’s quote for it: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win.”

3.   Impoverished mentality

This one means we tend to focus on perceived limitations, on what we can’t do before what we can. We think about everything that can go wrong before everything that can go right. Surely, this may prevent us from embarking on a discovery of something new.