better me, better you

I spend a lot of time doing the same things. I work Monday through Friday, I work out, I make dinner, I watch TV, I’m a pretty typical adult (without kids). So lately I’ve been trying to find new ways to stimulate my brain during my day to day routine. I’ve been doing this, not only to entertain myself, but to gain knowledge – both culturally and educationally to make me, what I believe to be, a better person.

Because I know so many of my readers have a similar life schedule as myself, I wanted to share a few things that I’ve been doing that way some of you may also breach out and better yourselves:

Read More. I can’t really stress this one enough, but as I am already an avid reader this one may be a stretch for some of you. Lately though, I’ve really struggled sitting down and reading a book. Choosing pages over Instagram feeds and Pinterest boards has been difficult to say the least. However, I’ve made myself a monthly goal to finish at least 4 books (of no particular length). Below are my June reads, and as you can see, it’s only the 15^th and I’ve already finished four. Some of these are fairly short books that I could read in just two days, but others were longer. You may also notice that some of these are classic stories, this is a personal preference, but I must tell you that if you’re struggling with reading than you should choose a childhood classic that you loved. Help your brain and nostalgia rediscover your love of books. Walk before you run.

Watch what you haven’t seen. I mean this in both television and movies. I am extremely guilty of picking up a movie or TV show that I’ve already seen and rewatching it because I love it. However, I noticed recently that because of this bad habit I’ve missed out on a lot of things. I’ve taken some time recently to go back and watch older classic movies (you know, the ones that won awards) like Forest Gump and Good Will Hunting, both of which I can’t believe I’d never seen. For date night recently, Big A and I have taken up sharing a movie that we love that the other person has never seen which has been great to expose me to new movies, while learning more about each other at the same time. Another way I’ve done this similar experience is with my roommate. I’ve never seen the TV show Friends (her favorite) and it’s now become something we do together that bonds us both. If you have a roommate or a significant other, I encourage to try this sharing process. It could be good for both of you.

Educate yourself. I know that not all things in documentaries can be believed, however, I have started to listen to one or two a week, either at work or before bed about mundane things: animals, plants, etc. (I’m not going to encourage political or conspiracy theory ones, but that’s your prerogative) Learning about the world and all the wonderful things that are in it will make you feel more well-rounded and lately it’s given me plenty of fun talking topics with friends and loved ones.

Eat more food. I don’t mean take in more calories, I mean try what you haven’t been trying. I’ve been doing this in few different ways: picking out one thing at the grocery store every week I’ve never had (a variety of fruits, veggies, drinks, etc.), eating at restaurants I’ve never been to, and cooking all those Pinterest recipes! For fun, I’ve been recording the recipes that I’ve cooked (that actually were worth recooking) in a journal. I’m up to 15 now and still going strong. But just in the past few weeks I’ve tried countless different foods: mango, peaches, meringue cookies, sushi, etc. and I’ve learned so much about my taste buds since starting this, I can’t wait to see what comes.

Do more. I know so many people that do the same things week after week. They go to the movies, they go to the bars, they go to dinner, and slowly but surely their brains are melting I assure you. So... my final suggestion is to do things you don’t normally do. Save the weekends for special things. Go somewhere you’ve never been, go to museum, go to the park, go to a live show, a musical, take a walk through the city, and experience the place you live in like a tourist every single weekend. I promise, it will start to feel like a vacation.  

That’s all I have for now, but if you have any suggestions, please let me know!