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Do Something New

BY: T. Franklin Murphy  | March 1, 2013 (modified January 24, 2023)

 An empty freeway with a start sign. A Flourishing Life Society article on doing something new.
Adobe Stock Photos

We must fight stagnation by reaching beyond comfort zone and doing something new.


A challenge free life creates emptiness and flabby muscles. We discover richness reaching beyond comfort by pushing past ordinary boundaries and exploring the dark unknowns. The luring mirage of safety lulls us into stagnation, running from challenges, we sit and decay.


New Endeavors Sometimes Lead to Failure​​

Newness invites the possibility of failure, demanding focus and additional resources, more than we comfortably can give. When we venture beyond the ease of security, we have no guarantee of success; we must development new skills, while facing unpredictable challenges.

Many frantically avoid failure by dodging opportunities that require expansion. Their life of limitations avoids anxiety, creating stagnation and decay. Initially avoidance provides security; but the security is a mirage. Missed experiences accumulate, narrowing skills, and expanding vulnerabilities.

​See Fear of Failure for more on this topic


"​The list of things we can do differently is endless. When you start to change the way of doing things, you expand your mindset and make room for opportunities."  ~Laura Capell-Abra  |  No More Ifs or Buts
​


New Experiences Builds Skills​

Exposure from brave ventures—whether we failed or succeeded—builds life skills. Failing to develop job skills limits income, failing to develop social skills limits relationships, and failing to understand emotions leads to misdirected reactions. The skills from expanded expertise become resources to succeed. True security is competence in our strength, creativity, and courage—not from avoiding failure. Sometimes skills surmount a challenge; other times skills aide in recovery after failure.


Surviving Failure

We will occasionally fail when reaching beyond comfortable patterns. Failure is difficult. It hurts; but failure is part of learning. Pain from past failures resurface, sparking new fears, reminding that we may fail again. We must struggle through the inevitable learning-curve to gain new proficiencies—new expanded comfort zones. 

When we learn a new professional skill, secondary characteristics also develop, such as determination, humility, creativity, and courage. Even if we fail at the original goal, the secondary characteristics were still developed.
 
Exchanging relief in the present for long-term growth is simple; but by allowing failure, without viewing it as a catastrophe, we discover exhilarating challenges that demand full attention.

See Flow State for more on this topic
​

We find security not in predictable success but in our capacity to conquer. Our lives flourish when we engage in tasks and hobbies that challenge skills and intellect. 
 
Feel the exhilaration by engaging in something new, activity that pushes your abilities. The thrill of growth, the sense of meaning, and lifelong growth will follow.

​Do something new, I double dog dare you!

​
T. Franklin Murphy
T. Franklin Murphy
Wellness. Writer. Researcher.
​T. Franklin Murphy has a degree in psychology. He tirelessly researches scientific findings that contribute to wellness. In 2010, he began publishing his findings.

​​​Other Flourishing Life Society articles of interest on this topic:
Possible Selves. A Flourishing Life Society Psychology definition. Article link
Internal Link: Achieving our potential...Healthy growth depends on supportive environments. As adults, we must create an environment that provides nutrients and protection.
Environments dictate the success and failure of life. We flourish when environments are accommodating. But humans can transcend this, achieving more than the world would otherwise dictate.
FLS Link. Realistic Optimism: Optimism brings energy to action, motivating persistence in the face of difficulty. Our wellness benefits most from optimism when it is based in reality.
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Workable Plan. A Flourishing Life Society article link
Small moments in life can pull our minds from careless wandering, creating rejuvenating moments of flow, full of purpose and wonder.
Living a Virtuous Life. A Flourishing Life Society article link
Life is governed by laws. Many actions involve several laws competing fro dominance.
FLS link. Passionate Purpose. We need passionate purpose to energize our flat lives, giving fire to existence and joy to routines.
Eudaimonia: Living Well and Doing Good. A Flourishing Life Society article link
Flourishing Life Society article link. Building Resilience
Flourishing Life Society Link. Article Delay of Gratification. Delaying gratification is not from a strong will to resist, but skilled use of techniques to weaken temptation.
A Flourishing Life Society article image link. Self Determination
Behavior Activation. A Flourishing Life Society article link
We must fight stagnation by reaching beyond comfort zone and doing something challenging.
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