Why you need to learn something new now!

This weekend I did my first ever fantasy football draft.

Ok, I am not being 100% honest here. I actually participated in fantasy football one other time for work but I phoned it in. I just picked whoever had the highest rating or anyone who played for the Packers or Lions. I did absolutely no prep or research and let my husband set my line-up every week.

But not this time.

This time was different. First off this league is just ladies who haven't done fantasy football before (this is the best idea to learn the ins and outs of fantasy in a safe space). Second, the only real rule was husbands are not allowed to help on draft day.

I hit Jake up with some questions on where to start researching who were the best players for my league (apparently there are different rules and different point value structures) and some general strategy tips...

But draft day was just me baby!

And I am gonna do this fantasy football thing all on my own for the whole season. I will set my line-up every week on my own. I will do the research. I will read the articles. I may even watch a few of those sports talk shows.

I am owning this! And it feels so good!

Learning something new is part of living life to the fullest! Trying something for the first time is good for you!

It can help you overcome fears. We fear the unknown and create fake stories about ourselves saying that we can't do something. But if you just try it (whatever it is), you will learn that that the doubt is fiction and that "it" is actually easier and comes more naturally to you than you thought. And you will be more apt to try something else new next time!

It increases your confidence. There is something about facing fears and mastering a new skill that makes me feel like a badass! Even if I'm not great at whatever the "new" thing is, at least I can be proud that I put in the effort to try, learn and do something to push me that much more to be better.

It expands your skills set. Trying something new gives you a new skill! Whether it's learning how fantasy football works, or learning to cook a new dish, trying a new workout, or figuring out pivot tables you are expanding your mind friend! All of these new skills make you a more well-rounded person. Heck, all these new skills could help you land you that promotion or dream job you've wanted.

It slows down time. Yeah you read that right. David Eaglemen is a neuroscientist and professor at Stanford University who spends most of his time studying the brain and how it perceives time. He writes in his book, The Brain: The Story of You, “When you go and experience something novel, it seems to have lasted longer because you’re more focused on collecting the unfamiliar information into a memory. It’s why time seems to fly by so much faster as an adult then it did when you were young. When you’re a kid, everything is novel and you’re laying down new memories about it. So when you look back at the end of a childhood summer it seems to have taken a long time because you remember this and that, this new thing, learning that, experiencing that. But when you’re older, you’ve sort of seen all the patterns before.” Break up the patterns and do something new!