Whether we notice or not, most of us tend to repeat the same tasks day in and day out.

This constant repetition can make life boring and monotonous. Don’t get me wrong– routines are good and I live with a man who embraces the good routine with open arms! Routines are comfortable and predicable. I know from experience that a certain degree of routine and comfort can help me get through a day without feeling too overwhelmed by stress and uncertainty. The older I get, I see how easy it is to lose out of opportunities for personal growth and to end up in a rut that can affect my happiness and my quality of life. Those Covid years actually had some benefits believe it or not.

Recently and forever ago, I have had some challenges that leave me complaining, emotionally conflicted and overall drain my love of life. I made a decision to learn some new things and accept a few challenges to help reclaim some joy and lightness in my life.

I take time every day to practice Italian and have a trip planned later this year to immerse myself in the language and culture I love so much. I also needed to find something physical to tackle, so I dusted off my dancing shoes and began ballroom dancing again. In fact, I will be performing this April in a showcase!!!

I am learning that pushing myself to learn something new has incredible benefits….

THE BENEFITS OF PUSHING YOURSELF TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW

1. IT CAN HELP GET YOU OUT OF YOUR RUTS

Learning new things is a great way to break you out of a mundane routine. It shakes up your life and wakes your brain up from the slumber of monotony.

2. IT PROVIDES THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW ABOUT YOURSELF

Learning a new hobby or trying something new out will teach you something you didn’t know about yourself. You may try a cooking class and realize yup you never really liked cooking! LOL

3. IT WILL GIVE YOU A CONFIDENCE BOOST WHILE HELPING YOU OVERCOME YOUR FEARS

Learning a new skill is often an extremely rewarding experience. If it’s something you like, you’ll quickly notice yourself improving, which can give you a great confidence boost.

In most cases, trying something new is often about overcoming fear. Fear of discomfort, fear of failure, fear of ridicule…But every time you actually go and try something new, this fear is shattered, which in turn also helps boost your confidence.

4. YOU MAY JUST LEARN A NEW SKILL

Trying out something new can teach you a new skill. This skill can be just be a hobby, but it can also be something marketable that you can use for professional growth!

5. IT STIMULATES CREATIVITY AND BRAIN PLASTICITY

Highly creative people push themselves to learn new skills in order to innovate and express themselves in new ways.

When you try new things, you force your brain to exercise in a new way. This stimulates creativity, which eventually rubs off in other areas of your life. As a result, you begin to see the world and think about things in new ways.

HOW TO BREAK THE ROUTINE AND START LEARNING NEW THINGS

So now you know the benefits of learning new things…but one question remains: how do you let go of your insecurities and actually start learning new things?

IT’S ALL ABOUT MINDSET

The first thing you need to do if you want to start learning new things is to change your mindset. I am here to tell you that you can teach an old dog new tricks! It may take a little more time, patience and ability to forgive yourself for mistakes but if you can let go and enjoy the process the rewards are great. When we grow we change. When we listen to that voice that says this is all we can do then we start to believe that little voice and we lose out in the long run on some amazing opportunities here on earth.

Go forth and learn something new today!!