Dear Fabulous Traveler ,

Picture your personal self-improvement journey as a series of small experiences that combine to bring about big change.

Collect Experiences

Think about the last time you went on a trip. You probably experienced ups and downs during the trip, but in the end you felt as if you’d grown as an individual. As they say, “You’re never the same after a journey.”  This is what we aim to accomplish with Sphere.

The more experiences you can cram into each day, the more lessons you will be exposed to and the greater the opportunities to grow. Living with your eyes glued to a computer screen, with your nose in a book, or with your head in the clouds can teach you many things, but not everything. The spirit of adventure, of trying new things with an open mind, can be more helpful on the road to success than even the highest IQ.

Read this passage on the passionate life of Teddy Roosevelt and how he tried to do as many things as possible:

“In addition to boxing, wrestling, body-building and his daily hours of recitation, the young freshman attended weekly dancing classes, hunted in the woods around Cambridge, taught in Sunday school, organized a whist club, took part in poetry reading sessions and carousing with his friends, making the night hideous with his harsh, unmusical singing.”

Your character is developed through a million individual life experiences. It is this collection of thoughts and experiences that have led up to the present moment. Each day permanently shapes our future selves, for better or for worse. Choose to spend each moment seeking the adventures that will change you for the better. Deliberately refuse to live the same day over and over again, for if you do, you will cease to grow.

Live Deliberately

Samuel Johnson, one of the most influential English literary critics in history, is a great example of someone who lived deliberately:

“He threw himself into London life. He interviewed prostitutes. He slept in parks with poets. He did not believe knowledge was best pursued as a solitary venture. He wrote, “Happiness is not found in self contemplation; it is perceived only when it is reflected from another.” He sought self-knowledge obliquely, testing his observations against the reality of a world he could see concretely in front of him. “I look upon every day to be lost in which I do not make a new acquaintance,” he observed.

With every ounce of new experience, with every point scored over laziness, overeating, shyness, and addiction, your character will be built, consolidated, and strengthened.

Use Sphere to cultivate a lifestyle in which novel experiences strike you from every direction, adding flavor and wisdom to each day. The world is a book, and those who do not try new things have only read one page.

Don’t forget to schedule some time to just sit and think as well; The benefits of these new experiences will be amplified if you take the time to reflect on them

This Week’s Plan

Now is the time to start a new secret project, to encapsulate as many new experiences as you can.What’s something you’ve always wanted to do? Something you’ve always told yourself you will do when you are older, have more time, or have more money? How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

Your one-time action

Choose your secret project. Here are some ideas:

Organize a Fabulous Circle where you invite friends over once a month to tackle a subject. It could be about helping homeless people, it could be about sharing new insights you’ve learned, it could be a general discussion on how to apply Fabulous habits.

Take up a dancing class. Dancing will help you feel cultured and more flexible in your abilities.

Join an improv class. Improvisation can teach you how to respond better in stressful situations and how to be a better conversationalist.

Organize a themed potluck dinner! Invite only your best friends and tell them that you simply miss them.

If it’s a project that needs preparation, decide when to dedicate that time. It could be in the morning before you leave for work, or at night when you get back.

Your goal

Work on a secret project, something you’ve never tried or done before, at least five times this week. It doesn’t have to be the same one every day; the point is to try new things.

Aim to do things you’ve always wanted to do, or even things you’ve never imagined that you would do.

What We Are Doing

Your brain is like a muscle; you must exercise it daily to keep it in tip-top shape.  And like exercising your muscles, breaking out of your routine and pushing your limits can be the best way to achieve growth. Trying something new, preparing a unique gathering, or spending time on a novel craft is the best way to keep your brain on it’s toes.

That’s why it’s important to try new things every day. Even if you don’t retain or perfect all of the skills you learn, you’re keeping an open mind to new experiences.

Make something great this week, Fabulous Traveler, and don’t ease up yet, we’re nearing the culmination of this journey!