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Every Day Do One Thing That Scares You
And more advice I love and live by
Every Day Do One Thing That Scares You
As they say, the magic happens outside your comfort zone. And just like we break our muscles down in the gym to develop bigger stronger ones, pushing ourselves past pain points, hypertrophy is how we grow.
You don’t have to conquer a life-limiting phobia every day. You don’t have to throw your fear-of-heights self off a bridge one day and out of a prop plane the next but you can make a phone call you’ve been dreading. You could submit your writing to a publication you admire. You can enter a photograph into a competition, apply for a new job or make the first move. Sign up for a dance class. Bring a friend with you if you’re mortified by your supposed lack of rhythm. Sing karaoke whether you have a great voice or not.
My sister and I once cleared a noraebang room in Seoul with our duet. While I feel bad for the new Korean friends we made that night we still laugh about how bad our singing must have been if such nice people felt compelled to literally leave the room.
Not only might the results surprise you but you are also honing the skill of powering through personal resistance. You are acquainting yourself with how your mind and body processes awkwardness and anxiety. And it’s ok to start by failing.
You’re building new muscle memory. You’re creating new neural pathways in your orbitofrontal cortex. You’re producing more endocannabinoids, the neurochemicals that inhibit goal-oriented behavior and allow “autopilot” habits to take over.¹
This is not to say that you have to dedicate every day of your life to adrenaline. You should, of course, give your soul the rest it needs. Investing in your inner peace is a stabilizing force that will sustain you through the inevitable ups and downs.
