The idea of the breakthrough is a misconception that has left many people unable to embrace the true ways they can live the lifestyle they prefer. There is so much to one’s life. Adjusting to work, balancing family responsibilities, living up to parental expectations, having hobbies, and maintaining friendships all take up time. People can find themselves years later living a life that does not fulfill them.
The pandemic has disrupted everyone’s lifestyle and, in an unexpected way, served as the breakthrough people needed to see that they need to live meaningfully. This can take different directions for different people. Some city-dwellers are finally seeking out their dream of owning land and an estate in a suburban community. Childless couples are choosing to leave their desk jobs and pursue entrepreneurship. Parents choose to homeschool to spend quality time with their children and enjoy parenting instead of simply providing.
These are big changes and quite significant. But the way to maintain these big changes is to establish micro-habits that help you develop your intended lifestyle. These micro-habits help you challenge yourself in controllable ways that will cause you some disruption but in a manageable way. You will find growth at your own pace.
Risk Reaching Out
People are often scared to take risks because they fear rejection. But through rejection, you will find direction. Take the risk of reaching out to people you admire to seek mentoring or guidance. Ask to join an artist’s collective so that you can develop your love of painting. Reach out to a local theater and ask for information on ways to join their practice classes. Send your manuscript to a booking agent or start self-publishing it. Taking a risk can result in failure, but the possibility of success is worth the pain of rejection.
Artistic Expression
Indulge in doing a bit of artistic expression every day. Write a page or a paragraph every day. Join a flash fiction book club so you can find inspiration to write short stories. Listen to new music outside your tastes and imagine how you would rearrange the scale or change the lyrics. Set up a corner of your home as an artists’ studio. Dab a bit of paint on a canvas every day. Get your children involved so you can feel the fun of creative expression. Paint one wall of the house with chalkboard paint and spend an evening every week drawing and coloring with your kids.
Dance your way through your bathroom routine. Put on some fun music and enjoy brushing your teeth to a beat.
Make a Budget
Trying out new hobbies can be expensive, so it might help you make a budget that helps maintain the home’s normality for your spouse and kids while giving you the finances to indulge your needs. If your spouse is on board with your plans, and they are themselves in need of making a change, this can help to cut out the unnecessary expenses and re-route them to the new hobbies.
Art or gardening can take some investment to set up an effective system and collection of the necessary tools. You could find good quality used artistic tools like brushes and easels online, which can help keep your costs low. Plant enthusiast groups on social media can give you plant cuttings as long as you supply your own containers and soil. This is a way to redirect your funds into preparing your garden and plant pots instead of buying expensive plants.
Seek Mindfulness
When we are in that transition period, we can sometimes be very reactionary to people and situations that seem to hold us back. This is emotion and fear, and you must learn to reduce its hold over you.
Seek mindfulness and calm through deep breathing techniques and guided meditation. This will help you to bear the stress and upheaval that comes from making changes to your life with more equanimity. It will allow you to put your energy where it is important and avoid responding to unnecessary stimuli.
Start doing yoga or taking a walk with your family every day. The exercise will improve your stamina and help you feel more connected to your physical body. It is also a great way to improve your relationship with your spouse and children and connect with them meaningfully every day. Keeping these important connections with yourself strengthened and constant will help you deal with any disruptions to your plans healthier.
The small details of living every day will always remain the same. You must come to terms with the fact that the needs of daily life remain the same even when you are living your best life. If your desire to change your lifestyle comes from wanting not to do dishes or work every day, you might be experiencing burnout. Burnout can make you feel unfulfilled even when living a life that you do want.
Every day needs like taking out the garbage, and cooking meals will remain a reality. If you feel this is too much and the exact thing you want to change, you must seek counseling or therapy. If you are burned out and unfulfilled inside yourself, then no change can help you. Big or small, change will only serve as a temporary salve for the pain inside you that needs healing to help you be your true self.
