Every day is an opportunity to try something new and expand your life in some way. Small or big, doesn’t matter. Amplifying your life is about pushing boundaries in the most immediate ways possible. The best time is now, the second best time is this weekend. So to inspire you in time to get organised (if required), here are ten ideas on how you can amplify your life, this very weekend!
- Go to your local, preferably independent, bookstore and pick something you would never normally read. Check out the recommended section or the staff reviews. Or ask a staff member for the best thing they’ve read yesterday. People who work in bookstores love to read so you know you’ll get something good. (Plus you get bonus points for talking to a stranger, always high on the amplify list!). If you’re a non-fiction diehard like me, pick a novel. If storytime is more your thing, opt for something factual. The aim isn’t necessarily to find something you like, the aim to discover something new and broaden your horizons a smidgen in the process.
- Invert your weekend style. Normally super organised? Don’t plan a thing. Make it up as you go along? Have you weekend mapped out by Thursday night, complete with reservations. Have a weekend love affair with Netflix and your couch? Call a girlfriend and discover a new cafe. Take off travelling every weekend? Discover the joys of bubble baths and books at home. Whatever your standard weekend approach is, give the opposite a go.
- Go the whole weekend without spending a cent. Find free things to do in your city. Spend three hours cooking an epic feed using whatever is in the fridge. Pull out that project that is gathering dust (mine’s a cross stitch from my Grandma’s birthday that was um 3 months ago). Having constraints forces you to get creative and then magic happens.
- Do a full life evaluation, My favourite way to this is to consider my life in five sections: livelihood & lifestyle, body & wellness, creativity & learning, relationships & society, essence & spirituality (these come from the Desire Map if they don’t work for you, pick your own). Ponder each one. Am I fulfilled in this area? Do I actually do anything in this part of my life right now? Consider each section individually and then look at the whole. Are they balanced? Is one area undermining the other? (The classic being that livelihood is undermining, well, everything else). Light a candle and journal. Record yourself diving in and listen back. Take a drive and just think. Run or walk and let fresh air loosen your thoughts. However, it is that you access your own wisdom. Come up with three actions, whether tweaks or full-on revolutions. Find your way forward.
- Go solo. Is there a new cafe you’re dying to try? Or a gig playing no one wants to go to? I’m a big believer in a) the most important relationship you have is with yourself so better get on and b) not having someone to go with is the worst excuse ever not to do something. So go see that movie or take your book out to lunch. See the new exhibit or attend a class. Spend a little time hanging out with number one.
Five different options and endless possibilities on how to interpret them. Literally no excuse not to amplify this weekend. Which of the five resonates the most with you and how are you going to try it?
If you don’t want to wait for the weekend, check out my list of ways to amplify your options right now.
An Independent Maven 