7 Simple Changes that Make Life Less Boring
by Alex Mathers
I always say that to be bored is a choice. You rarely hear anyone saying they’re bored these days because we can all quickly escape to TV shows and social media at the click of a button. But that isn’t usually helpful for us in the long run. In most cases, they keep us from our goals and fry our dopamine receptors, making it harder to enjoy everyday beauty.
Here are some ways to keep life interesting without unnatural stimulations:
Welcome silence
Instead of seeing silence and space as reasons to escape, how can we begin to incorporate it into our lives more often? What if you did nothing for 10 minutes? This gets much more interesting when you see the benefits of befriending silence. Why? Because silence and nothingness encourage personal insights. We get rewarded if we can handle the idea of sitting without distraction. Our minds tend to be more still; with this, we become calm, and ideas flow.
Welcome silence, and you will gain a level of insight and creativity that puts you at a considerable advantage.
Stop thinking it’s boring
Think of this for a moment: boredom is a man-made concept. You got that right. It isn’t a thing. It isn’t real. It’s an illusion. You thinking you’re bored makes you feel bored. Feeling bored makes you resist reality even more. You’re literally painting yourself into a corner that feels uncomfortable, thanks to the power of thoughts. What’s the key to releasing you from this? You guessed it.
Let go of the thought that you’re bored, and your perspective will be replaced by curiosity, awe, and gratitude.
Master something
Most of us coast through life doing just enough to survive and get through the day. I get it. It’s not easy for everyone, but half of the reason we struggle is that we’re not pushing. We’re settling. We undersell ourselves in our slovenly actions. It’s the truth. The moment you say I’m done and focus on one thing you can become great at, your entire life changes. The world takes on a fresh, new color.
What can you become exceptional at? What can you pour time and energy into to make people do a double-take because you’re so good? That’s the direction to go in. This will energize you. Wasting time won’t even be an option anymore.
Nurture spirituality
Many people think spirituality is woo-woo made-up nonsense practiced by people who wear flowing robes. And yet here you are worrying about money, status, and happiness, all of which are ideas you made up in your mind. Same thing. Anything that can be comprehended beyond the world of the material can be regarded as spiritual. And science confirms it. Most of physics concerns itself with the spiritual––they simply don’t call it that. Developing an understanding and reverence for this part of your life can be powerful.
Spiritual awareness makes it possible to perceive astounding beauty in everyday things like children playing, a flower, the clouds rolling by, and the reality that we’re all connected.
Have mini adventures
You don’t need to book an expensive trip to Mykonos to bring more novelty and adventure into your life. Sure, that might be fun, but many of us are too quick to shut down the possibility of having adventurous experiences in our backyard. Visit a part of town you don’t usually visit. Take pictures. Start a vlog to give you an excuse to absorb your environment and suck the marrow out of your everyday experience.
I emphasize mini here because they don’t need to be long. You can spend 30 minutes in your park, and that counts. You could take a tedious walk to the shops to buy groceries, or you could treat the walk as an adventure, smiling to people as you go and taking notes. What’s more enlivening?
Make art
Any form of creation is essentially art, but how about getting out some pencils or paints and being expressive on paper every now and then? Or you could get into photography or fashion, making quick YouTube videos or 3D animation. Remove the seriousness that often accompanies work, because in your mind you want to sell your paintings or grow an audience, or whatever. That’s stressful. Leave that for now.
Make art for its own sake, even if it means carving out six minutes to doodle on a napkin. Enjoy the process and use the enjoyment you gain from such a side project to fuel your energy for other things.
Gamify
Ever notice how you can light a person up just by introducing play into proceedings? Watch children’s eyes sparkle when you ask them if they want to play a game. Use game dynamics to add depth and excitement to your own projects. All this requires is some creativity on your part. Make everything you can a game. Humans were born to play and have fun.
Time yourself to do things quicker than last time. Track your progress. Have a big board on your wall that marks all your wins. Collect stars and do it with an accountability partner. Short on income? Challenge yourself to make $5k extra in 30 days. How would you do it? Make it public for added incentive to act.
___________________
Finally, you can see the common thread in all these is finding a way to enjoy whatever you’re doing without relying heavily on the external.
You can enjoy so much when it starts with you.