Happy July. In the blink of an eye, we have hit the mid-year mark on 2018. It is incredible to think that six months have already passed since we set our intentions for what we wanted to accomplish this year, and equally as incredible to look at the list and consider what we actually were able to accomplish.

The other day, I had a radical idea — at least for me — as I was making good on one of my own personal resolutions and taking a walk. I thought to myself: “What if I committed to learn one new thing every day for a month?” I kept musing about this on my walk and decided, why not try it? I walked/skipped home, thinking about what form this intention might take, recognizing I needed to keep the task simple or else I wouldn’t follow through with it.

In its most basic form, here’s the challenge: Learn one new thing every day for the month of July. This could be a new word, a new concept, a new skill. Listen to a new piece of music, look at a piece of art, memorize a poem, learn with a child (always a fav!). Check out a new locale, change your walking/biking/hiking routes, take a new exercise class, taste a new food and learn all about it. Big or small, challenge yourself to expand your world with these new things. At the end of July, you’ll have learned 31 new things! And consider how this figure would grow if you kept the resolution for a year.

Look to children for inspiration. For them, every experience is new. They are infused with a sense of wonder and delight as they explore the world. As we grow up, that awe falls away. We risk losing the spark that lights up our creative engines, fuels our brains and lifts our souls. Life can become fairly routine and predictable over time, but we don’t have to let it stay that way. Rediscovering the joy that comes from new experiences — no matter how big or small — is invigorating, motivational and liberating. This month, I challenge you to challenge yourself: Go beyond your comfort zone.

For inspiration, I turn to William Shakespeare:

“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft
might win, by fearing to attempt.”

I think he had it right, as when we are afraid of trying something, we fail ourselves and miss the opportunity to surpass our norm.

Join me this month! Let’s exercise our brains and expand our minds as diligently as we care for our bodies.

Have a great month.

Martha

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