At the start of each new year, in lieu of a resolution, I experiment with making small, specific changes to my lifestyle. If the changes become habit, I usually stick with them. If they’re bothersome, I give them up. I suppose this seems a little wishy-washy when compared with the firm resolutions of others, but I personally find putting less pressure on myself usually means I can view these sudden lifestyle changes as fun challenges and thus get better results. For example, one year, I tried going vegan, basically expecting to give it up after a month or two. But five years later, I was still at it!

This year my experiment is avoiding elevators and escalators. By taking the stairs each day, I’m hoping I can gain at least a tiny bit more strength and endurance. So far, it’s been working well (although when I visited some friends who lived in a 14th floor apartment they refused to let me take the stairs… and one was a doctor, so I figured I couldn’t argue!). Since I have a fourth-floor apartment, and two of my classes during the week are five stories up, it’s made for a small but palpable increase in my exercise. I hope I can keep it up! 

It can sometimes prove rewarding to rethink our habits or tendencies. I hope those of you reading can experiment with changing something small in your life, too. To be honest, there is one other lifestyle change I’m trying to make, but I won’t write about it here. If you’re interested in what it is, please ask me and maybe I’ll tell you! 

Ryan