Trying New Things – Why to do it and Many Things to Try!

On trying new things (plus a list of many possible new things to try):
I think it’s wise to try things that are substantially new to you nearly every time you have the chance, so long as:

• The new thing seems likely to be beneficial or enjoyable OR is different enough from things you’ve done in the past that you don’t think you can accurately predict how you’ll react to it

• Trying the new thing doesn’t require a substantial investment of time or resources AND is extremely unlikely to cause you long term or significant amounts of harm (or cause other people harm at all)

Personally, I almost always accept the chance to try new things when they meet these criteria. There obviously isn’t much point in pushing yourself to do new things that you don’t consider valuable (e.g., punching yourself in the head), unless of course, your model for what is valuable for you is not very accurate (e.g., maybe you think there would be no value in doing an improv class, but actually it would teach you useful skills and help you overcome fears).

The benefits of trying new things:

• Sometimes you’ll discover new things you really like, which you can then choose to do many times in your life (e.g., by trying mixed martial arts I learned that I really like it, and it became a hobby as well as a method of staying fit)
• Building a more accurate model of yourself, which you can use to predict your responses to other things in the future (e.g., by going to a tea tasting, I discovered a lot about my tea preferences, including the fact that I typically prefer mid-priced teas over both expensive and cheap teas)
• Gaining a better understanding of what the thing is and why others might enjoy it (even if you don’t end up liking it yourself), hence deepening your ability to relate to others (e.g., spending a day going bird watching, which is definitely never going to turn into a hobby, but which gave me a greater understanding of people who take joy in cataloging activities and of the richness in those sorts of activities)
• Deepening your knowledge of how things work or of the variety that exists in the world (e.g., taking a tour of a traditional home in Bali taught me about some interesting differences in living arrangements and burial practices across cultures that I hadn’t previously known about)
• If the thing makes you irrationally afraid, challenging that fear and teaching yourself to push through (unfounded) fear more generally. There often is value in challenging yourself to do things you are afraid of that you know are not actually dangerous because, in addition to the benefits of the new thing itself, it helps ensure that you don’t let fear prevent you from getting the most out of life (e.g., taking opportunities to speak in front of a group when I had very little time for preparation and knew I would have to do substantial portions off the cuff)
• Causing a positive change in yourself (e.g., trying meditation made me more aware of the way in which my mind is not usually fully focused on just one thing and what an alternative might look like)
• Potentially deepening relationships with others, either by doing the new thing with people you already know (creating a memorable shared experience) or meeting people during the new activity

Possible drawbacks of trying new things are:

• They take time, and sometimes other resources like money as well.
• They are sometimes unpleasant while you are doing them (though this is mitigated when they are the sort of thing you can stop in the middle if you want)
• They can (in rare cases) be traumatic or cause long term harm.

Overall, I suggest using the rule of thumb: “if it is new to me, relatively easy to try, and not likely to be harmful but may yield benefits, I should try it.” I think that following that heuristic will usually leave your life richer, more enjoyable, and more full of growth than the alternative.

You can, of course, proactively seek out new experiences, rather than waiting around for opportunities to arise (e.g., committing 2% of your free time to new things).

Here are some activities you could consider trying, if new to you:

Experiential

• spending a day listening to many different types of music that you wouldn’t normally listen to
• asking your friends for their favorite movies and then watching the ones that you wouldn’t normally choose to watch
• beginning a daily practice of writing in a journal
• miracle berries
• eye gazing
• going to Burning Man
• traveling alone in a foreign city
• going a week or longer without electronic devices
• going blindfolded for a day while still trying to do your daily activities at home
• wearing earplugs for a day while still trying to do your daily activities at home
• fostering a pet
• trying a totally new diet (e.g., going vegan for a week)
• jotting down your dreams each day when you wake
• making a list of 3 things you’re grateful for every night before bed
• making a list of 3 things that went well today and what caused each to go well each night before bed
• thinking of one thing you’re excited about each morning as soon as you wake up
• going to a therapist
• fantasizing about something you’d never normally fantasize about or trying to come up with a new fantasy that you find highly appealing
• volunteering for a day to work with people in need
• having a week where you spend at most only a tiny (fixed in advance) amount of money each day
• trying a new cuisine
• cutting out caffeine for two weeks
• cutting out all unhealthy foods for two weeks (by whatever your metric for “unhealthy” is)
• not watching any TV for two weeks
• exercising every day for two weeks
• spending a whole day trying to be as aware as you can of each of the thoughts you have
• spending a whole day trying to be fully optimistic about everything that happens
• spending a day where you only allow yourself to do fun things
• cuddling non-sexually with a consenting close friend
• buying a few healthy snacks that you’d not normally try and see if you like any of them
• observe carefully in a mirror how exactly your face changes when you make expressions of fear, anger, surprise, happiness, sadness, and contempt
• walking a route home that you have never taken
• consciously designing an adventure for yourself and some friends and then going on it together
• imagine a future life for yourself that you’ve never seriously considered
• house sitting for a month in a place you’d never considered living permanently
• running or sprinting a few times per week
• going to a convention or conference about something you really like
• spending two full days without communicating with another human being

Skills

• toastmasters (for public speaking practice)
• tying martial arts
• meditating daily for a month
• massage lessons or practice
• cooking class
• improvisation class or acting
• creating art of a form you wouldn’t normally attempt
• giving a lecture on a topic that interests you
• trying a team sport you’ve never played
• try high-intensity interval training daily for a week
• trying a form of exercise you’d never done before
• language classes (e.g., sign language)
• circus arts
• explore a nearby neighborhood that you’ve never explored
• go to a familiar neighborhood and try to notice ten things you’ve never noticed before

Social

• organizing a retreat for your close friends
• throwing a themed party or social experiment of your own invention
• trying speed dating
• doing activities you used to love as a kid but haven’t done in many ears
• chatting with total strangers in an online chat room
• going to a nude beach
• trying new sexual activities you’ve never tried before
• going to a Meetup
• starting a new Meetup
• going to a few events where you know you won’t know anyone and challenging yourself to have a certain number of conversations
• doing the “20 questions to fall in love” with your romantic partner or with someone you don’t know well
• imagining what sort of person you’d most like to be and then act as though you have that personality for a day
• purposely doing five kind things for five different people in one day
• going to a store and trying on clothes that you wouldn’t normally try on
• calling someone who you haven’t talked to in many years
• becoming a “big brother” or “big sister” or mentor for a young adult or child
• starting ten conversations with strangers in one day (who seem open to conversation, without forcing them to talk to you)