How Doing One New Thing a Month Changed My Life
It started with a New Year’s Resolution. I don’t usually do New Year’s Resolutions, because let’s face it. They never last right? A friend I worked with suggested that we try one new thing a month and post it on Facebook. It sounded like a fun experiment. My husband, by the way was super excited. New things for Facebook, and new things not for Facebook--just stuff that I’d want to try for myself.
Truth be told, I never expected to stick with it. I’ve never been an especially adventurous person. I was typical as you come--I’d been a teacher and preschool director for over 20 years, lived in a nice suburban home, 2 kids involved in sports. But my family was all in for the experiment, even if the early attempts were mostly mom eating sushi and making new recipes (trust me, it gets more exciting). I quickly graduated to belly dancing, glass blowing, a trip to Vegas, and trapeze and ziplines, and vodka distilleries. My teens very quickly coined the phrases #onenewthing and #makestories--they are awesome that way.
That was eight years ago. And yes, I’ve done a new thing every month (sometimes more) every. single. month. Some big, some small. Some posted to social media, and some just for me. And it’s completely changed my life.
I’ve learned that most fears are in our heads--stories we tell ourselves. When you know you’re trying one new thing a month, you know you only need to try this one time, so you’re a little free to just try.
This brings me to my second point. I’ve only had 1 true fail. We went to a super notable sports place just outside of St. Louis just after a ball game. It was wall to wall people and I had a huge panic attack. I learned that I have serious crowd anxiety--and how to handle it. But I also learned that you need to try everything twice. One time to try it, and a second time to make sure you did it right.
Manage the moment. You’ll plan a lot of your new things and look forward to them. But some of the best ones just appear in front of you. That’s taught me to be truly grateful for the small moments in my life.
Share your experiences with others. My friends and family became some of my greatest champions with my new things--they began to experiment with their own new things. They would often tell me “oh this would make a great new thing for you!”
My one new thing helped me take a big leap. After 30 years, it was time for me to take a break from my teaching career. Lots of health issues were starting to get in the way, and at the same time I was having a hard time deciding what the next step might be. After years of new things, I would be taking on a new thing on a grand scale. I was leaving a life that was known and comfortable, but unhealthy for me, for the promise of something better. I had lots of practice for this--so I knew that even if I had missteps, I was free to try. To try again. To fall into the moment and share my experiences with others. And that’s gotten me where I am today.
