Changing course in our business or our personal life is it worth it? I say yes.

Sometimes you just have to pivot in your business and even in your day. See the benefits of changing up routine and pivot.

Pivot?

What does that mean? Like the hinge move in a slightly different direction. To pivot from your day means you’ve already made plans, what your day is supposed to look like, in your personal and professional life. To pivot means taking the opportunity to do something different, to do something fun, to enjoy life to its fullest. Having fun and enjoying life to its fullest will look and feel different for everyone. It’s OK to pivot in your day to have fun.

Are there benefits of changing up our routine?  Yes, there certainly can be a huge plus to our mental and physical health, brain function, quality of life and relationships.

Change Up: How Varying Your Routine Can Improve Brain Function

Increased Enjoyment in Life

When setting a schedule in one’s life it is easy to get set into a pattern and not deviate from that pattern. In fact, this is one of the benefits of having a schedule: that your day can become predictable and help alleviate stress and anxiety from not knowing what is coming next.

However, this could end up being a drawback as well. It could be a drawback in that one may end up feeling like a robot, just going through life doing the same thing over and over again. A schedule doesn’t always allow for freedom to do other things, like things you may enjoy in life. Breaking from a routine, therefore, allows one to do things apart from what is in one’s schedule.

Of course everything in moderation. We still need to work, keep the house clean, brush our teeth, cut grass and go to school.  Life is all about moments. Life is all about moments that make you feel good, that make you feel happy, that make you feel energized that make you want to see tomorrow. Pivoting from a normal business day or the routine of your personal life under the Covid cloud means we are giving our self personal space to have fun. It means you’re permitting yourself to enjoy your day and the moments that give you pleasure and happiness.

For example, I was planning on spending my Sunday morning visiting my mom on her porch, then working on my weekly blog and other business ideas for the upcoming week.

An email changed part of the day with a meeting about construction on our yard and then a surprise opportunity to spend some time with friends on a boat. Like that was awesome.  It’s been a long winter. It’s been a long time since we spend time with these friends because of the many restrictions. It was an opportunity to pivot from my day and enjoy a boat ride for the afternoon.

And enjoy we did.

We drove to the Winnipeg Beach rendezvous point and were pleasantly surprised to see everyone already in the boat. I put on my lifejacket and nestled down for a fun afternoon.

Our friends, D and D like to have spontaneous boat rides and we were both very happy to have received the text at that moment before we got busy and missed the message and unable to have this opportunity. Vroom, we were off.

The wind blowing in our hair, hanging onto our hats and anything that was flyable, catching a glimpse of the odd bird in the sky. In the distance observing the beachgoers playing on the sand along the shores of Lake Winnipeg.

The bow of the boat bouncing the loan occupant sitting in the front who clearly was enjoying her fun in the sun. David and I sitting stern with less bounce but also gleefully happy.

After about 20 minutes we stopped at a beach and once the anchor was down we climb down the ladder and were able to safely walk to shore in the shallow waters. Not warm enough to swim (according to my warm water radar)but certainly warm enough to wade in 3 feet high lake water.

Squishy soft sand between our toes, casually strolling along the shore, looking around in wonder as if we were walking along the streets of Paris. That same wonderful experience, different places but the same magical moments. Engaging in conversation, we found pretty shells, coloured stormed, the odd fish carcass, a couple of fishing nets, large uprooted trees, interesting smaller sun-bleached branches.

I found some shells of clams that were so big, I wasn’t sure if they were real. All my life I’ve never seen shells that big in Gimli. To coolness of the gentle breeze kept the scorching heat from cooking us.  It was a hot one.

Glancing around at my fellow beach strollers, I was thinking are they enjoying these moments as much as I am. Were they thinking about what they had to do this morning and then decided to pivot and have some fun? It didn’t really matter?  The ultimate enjoyment was in these moments.

Why Having Fun Provides Some of the Best Stress Relief

Many people have stressful responsibilities that they must take care of, to the point that having fun feels like an unnecessary luxury. However, including fun activities in life may be one of the best stress relief tips you can follow.

You see it’s incredibly important that each of us takes care of our mental health. This will look and feel different because we are all different and our mental health needs are unique. It’s OK to take a break from your day, it’s OK to change your mind and go out and play. It’s OK to take time out and then get back to business. And you will find that taking me is pivotal moments of adventure you are in fact more energized, confident and emotionally re-charged to tackle any situation.

This is called self-care, and the only person you can make happy with is and you the only person you can change is you. Next time you are feeling stressed in your personal and professional life, choose to change up, vary, pivot and try something new. Embrace new adventures.  It is good for your mental health, relationships, productivity and life in general. You are worth it!