Routine’s Bad Rap
Most of has have heard, or even said it at one point, that routine is bad. So why even address it’s rap or try to change it? I was always prone to routine, but kept on doubting it as a tool, because of how it was being interpreted in society. So first off – why is it considered bad? Well, because it supposedly blocks our willingness to see new things, disabling us from actually experiencing what life offers us. For most of my life, I didn’t know why these arguments felt wrong to me. Now I want to argue that routine, used in the right way, can actually empower us to live more.
The reasons why most of us can’t harness the power of routine is simply because we’re doing it wrong and misunderstand its potential usages, like pedaling a bicycle in reverse and not being sure why it isn’t working. It’s the type of routine we choose that matters, and the why’s: routine can be used to help us grow and expand, or it can be used to help us dull ourselves from external stimuli. And since active personal growth has been considered »woo-woo« for a long time, only the negative aspect and consequences of routine were seen. Nowadays, pursuing a better version of ourselves, instead of drifting through life on auto-pilot, still isn’t really encouraged, but the results of it are. Can routine be used as a tool for growth then?
SHOW UP AND REPEAT.
The answer is yes – because of repetition. Any athlete, musician, anyone that’s invested in themselves by going on the path of the »10,000hrs rule«, knows that practice makes perfect (or rather, gradually better). Whether it’s being physically active, meditation, art, relationships, anything that we’re actively present in and showing up regularly, is a »vote for the type of person you wish to become« (James Clear, Atomic Habits). By spreading some routine positive actions throughout each day that in the long run help us grow, we are actually letting go of a lot of built up expectations, taking charge and responsibility for our lives, actively building towards being better versions of ourselves. So now, with proper doses of positive routine, we actually do get to enhance our willingness to see new things, and experience what life offers us, more.