So much of my life is routine; like I’m living on autopilot. The crazy thing is, because I live so many minutes of each passing day without thinking, I don’t even realize how routine and mundane much of it is.
Routine
I wake up everyday, well, nearly everyday, at the exact same time. I grab my iPad and check my email, while it downloads, I wait for my eyes to open.
After my email is checked I roll out of bed, head to my computer and turn it on. Then I take a shower. I even shower the exact same way. Always washing my right arm first. I assume because I’m left-handed?
After my shower, it’s time to get to work. I usually spend an hour or two submitting voice over auditions, talking with clients and recording booked jobs. Then I spend an hour or so catching up on social media and updating and connecting with those in my network.
At 12:30p I make a sandwich. Either that, or I drink a glass of milk. It depends on whether or not I remembered to buy bread.
My afternoon looks much like my morning. More auditions. More chats with clients. More recordings. More social media.
In the evening, I make something quick for dinner. I hit the treadmill for a while or, if the weather is nice, I go for a walk. Sometimes both. I watch TV for an hour or two then I sit in my recliner, flip my satellite radio on to the 40’s on 4 and I read until around 2a. Then I go back to bed.
Breaking The Routine
There is a comfort in the routine I suppose. A familiarity. But it can’t be good to live your life on autopilot, can it?
Last night I did something outrageous. I walked my regular walk backwards! I know, right? Crazy!
I took my usual loop around my neighbourhood in the opposite direction. Understand that I’ve walked this walk literally hundreds of times. But with the simple act of taking it backwards, it was like taking it for the first time.
I saw everything differently. I actually saw things I’ve never even noticed before because I was always facing the other direction!
Fresh Perspective
Have you ever found yourself in a rut in your voice over career? In a dry spell where there are no jobs? Where none of your auditions seem to get you anywhere? Where none of your regular clients are calling?
In those times, it’s really easy to fall back to the comfort and familiarity of routine. To do everything like you’ve always done it, hoping that eventually things will get back to normal.
What if, instead, you came at your problem from an entirely different perspective? What if you walked your regular walk backwards and saw everything from another direction?
What if, instead, you came at your problem from an entirely different perspective?
What if, in that other direction, in that fresh new perspective, you found an entirely different solution? A way of doing things you’ve never done before? A way of trying something you had never considered? A way to blow up your comfortable universe, as you know it?
How much fun might that be?
QUESTION: Have you ever tried an entirely different approach? Did it work?
