Happy New Year! Happy 2020! Can it be 2020 already? Eleven years have gone by since I started this website? How is that possible?
And yet, it is. Someone told me, when I was in my early 30s, that when you turn 35, someone hits the “fast-forward” button on your life speed timeline. The years start speeding by with increasing velocity; faster and faster, the older you get. Perhaps it’s just that each year, as you get older, represents a smaller percentage of your overall life. When you’re 4, a year represents a quarter of your life. At 40, a year is a mere 2.5%.
But while I’ve certainly noticed the “fast forward” effect in my own life since I turned 35, I suspect more of the reason for the increasingly fast passage of time has to do with how busy we get; how many more responsibilities we have. When you never have quite enough time to get done what you want to in a day, the days fly by more quickly in a rush of continual catch-up. So New Year’s Day can spark feelings of not only a new beginning, but also a bit panic that another year has gone by and we haven’t gotten enough done, or that time is running out.
Nevertheless, the beginning of a new year is still an opportunity to take a breath, take stock, and give some thought about what INTENTIONS we’d like to bring to how we go about living in the year that lies ahead.
I like the idea of intentions, instead of resolutions, because it’s a less rigid goal. Saying I will work out five days a week can soon become a guilty burden that’s another stress point in a life already too filled with them (which is why so many New Year’s Resolutions don’t make it past Valentine’s Day). But saying that my intention is to work toward a more healthy life, (which may entail making more of an effort to work out, sleep enough, laugh more, eat more healthily, and let go of more stress), allows me more flexibility. It also gives me permission to find different ways to keep working toward that goal, even if one specific metric falls short, and keeps me focused on the reason I’m doing any particular task.
There are any number of helpful intentions any of us could choose to pursue, all of them good. But if you don’t already have something in mind, here’s a suggestion: set an intention to approach your life this coming year with the mindset of an explorer.
What does that mean? Well, first of all, it means being open to exploring. To pushing beyond what you already know. Reawakening your curiosity. Trying new things. Stepping out of your comfort zone. Questioning why you think or believe what you do, and looking for new perspectives on yourself and the world. But, second, it means approaching all those activities, and what they show or teach you, as an explorer with integrity would: as a curious, honest, unbiased, and non-judgmental observer, seeking new knowledge and understanding, whatever that turns out to be.
A lot has been made, in recent years, about the benefits of “mindfulness.” Mindfulness is learning how to step back from yourself enough to get some perspective and control over emotional reactions and feelings. Instead of just giving in to anger, it’s learning how to recognize that you’re feeling angry, and ask yourself why. Or instead of drowning in the sensation of physical pain, to remind yourself that pain isn’t forever or who you are; it’s just something the person you are is feeling right now.
There are huge benefits to learning how to do that, in terms of stress management, self-awareness, and emotional health. But mindfulness is, in essence, learning to observe yourself with a little distance, perspective, and a desire to understand. Which is to say, learning to approach yourself with the mindset of an explorer.
But embracing the mindset of an explorer goes beyond mindfulness. Because it’s not only about observing oneself honestly and becoming more self-aware. It’s also about exploring—consciously seeking new insights, new experiences, new perspectives, and new knowledge. And the benefits of that are powerful, as well.
For one thing, it’s only when we step outside of our comfort zones and push into unfamiliar places that we learn anything new—about the world, or about ourselves. We might discover capabilities we never knew we had, or become unexpectedly excited and passionate about something we’d never thought about pursuing before. At the same time, it’s only by undertaking and mastering new challenges that we gain more confidence and a stronger sense of self-worth. No matter what the self-help books say, you cannot gain that strength by telling yourself positive affirmations in the mirror. Confidence and self-esteem have to be earned, in order to be believed.
Exploring new people, situations, activities, environments, and challenges also helps expand our ability to see ourselves, others, and situations from multiple perspectives, which helps us find more creative solutions to problems in our work and lives. We become more flexible and less afraid of change and the unknown, which makes us stronger and braver. And as if those weren’t enough reasons to embrace this mindset, exploring new experiences and perspectives almost always reawakens our senses, bringing more joy to our lives.
An essay by a neuroscientist in The New York Times last weekend talked about how to keep a mind young. The author, Daniel J. Levitin, explained that many of the problems in memory and mental ability we attribute to aging (in the absence of brain disease) aren’t necessarily age-related. He argued that the reason many older people can’t remember recent events as well as memories from their youth is because when they experienced those youthful events, they were new. The first time you taste something, it’s electric. The 400th time, it blurs. So if we want to keep our minds sharp and young-feeling, we need to keep trying new things.
“My favorite chocolatier introduces new artisanal chocolates a few times a year and I make a point to try them—and to savor them,” Levitin wrote. “I go to new parks and forests where I’m more likely to encounter the smells of new grasses and trees, new animal musks. When I find them, these things I remember for months and years, because they are new. And experiencing new things is the best way to keep the mind young, pliable and growing—into our 80s, 90s and beyond.”
So this year—or perhaps every year—we should all set an intention to explore more, and to approach ourselves and the world with the mindset of an explorer. In addition to becoming more self-aware and psychologically healthy, more confident and capable, and more flexible and creative, we just might find ourselves feeling more joyful, youthful, and alive.
