Flex_ Do Something Different - Ben [32]
Check the other options before agreeing to something.
Do some background research before diving into something new.
Wary? Try being more trusting.
Don’t ask for reasons why.
Allow someone to do things their own way.
Let another person make a decision for you.
Tell someone a secret.
Disclose something personal about yourself in public.
Make friends with someone online.
Start a public blog relating all you do.
Practise saying, ‘Go ahead, I trust you.’
Put all your treasures on display to the world.
Invite anyone who wants to join you on holiday.
The next time someone suggests something fun (and safe!), give it a go.
Try delegating a job to a colleague/friend/family member.
Play the game where you fall backwards into someone’s arms, then return the favour.
Have a shower with your eyes closed.
Let someone do something that you think you can do better.
The calm/relaxed-energetic/driven dimension
Calm and relaxed? Try being more energetic and driven.
Take on a new role or activity.
Take 20 per cent less time over everything you do.
Do something you’ve been putting off for a long while.
Take some initiative when you’d normally leave it to somebody else.
Exercise first thing in the morning to raise your energy levels.
Set yourself deadlines for everything you do.
Walk somewhere you’d normally take the car/bus/taxi.
Walk up and down the stairs just for the sake of it.
Fix something that needs fixing.
Cook something new when you would normally order in.
Practise saying, ‘I’ll do it straight away’ (and mean it).
Take up a hobby that’s fast-paced.
List five things that need doing – then do them today.
Energetic and driven? Try being more calm and relaxed.
Take five minutes’ time out just to think, once an hour, every hour.
Do something really slowly instead of rushing through it.
Put something off until later.
Let go, of others and the outside world, and focus only on things you can control.
Let yourself be bored – don’t fight it.
Imagine you have staff who will take care of everything for you.
Go for a walk somewhere nice and think about the word ‘relax’.
Imagine a summer’s day and that you’re a bird flying from one place to another.
Hide from someone until they notice you’re not there.
Write down three things that make you feel relaxed and positive.
Practise meditation/breathing slowly.
Put a picture or phrase that relaxes you in a place where you’ll see it.
Close your eyes at least once today and visualise a favourite place.
Go out for a fifteen-minute aimless stroll today.
The reactive-proactive dimension
Reactive? Try being more proactive.
Take the initiative.
Carry out some research to support a future decision.
Learn a skill you might need in the future.
Express a feeling that will start or alter a relationship.
Put a strategy in place.
Prepare a prenuptial agreement.
Do something that will repay you in five, ten or twenty years’ time.
Investigate a prepaid funeral plan.
Ask yourself, ‘How can I be better prepared for what’s to come?’
Write a letter to yourself in the future.
Get Christmas organised before the end of August.
Find out about/take up a new form of exercise.
Plan the meals you will eat for the next week.
Run a personal health check on yourself. Do something that will improve your long-term health.
Ring a person you have not spoken to for a while; surprise them.
Buy cards/presents for the next three events (e.g. birthdays, anniversaries) coming up.
Stock up a first-aid kit and learn a first-aid technique.
Do a safety/security check on your home (fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, window locks, carbon monoxide detectors).
Proactive? Try being more reactive.
Let another person take the initiative.
Express how you feel in the moment.
Go with the flow on something.
Commit to someone on the spur of the moment.
Express your first reactions to someone.
Indulge in some instant gratification.
Dance or sing along when you hear a song you like, wherever you are.
Respond to the weather, however