Posted by:
davidkircos
7 years, 4 months ago
(Comments)
Moving to a new place is hard. It means starting over in a number of ways. Including making new friends, learning the local area and finding new places to hang out. Daily habits are also retooled. If used thoughtfully moving can be a great opportunity to reshape some of those habits in positive ways.
I moved to Boulder about two months ago from right near my hometown in Michigan. These are a couple of habits I have managed to change since moving:
- Exercise. In Michigan, I would exercise about once every two weeks. Here I've been in the rhythm of running or hiking about 3 times per week.
- Reading. My regular reading cadence was about 2 book/yr. Since moving, I've finished 5 books and next year I'm setting a goal of reading 25 books. I'm a pretty slow reader but am really enjoying it.
- Happiness. Which is not really a habit, but arguably the result of habit. My happiness has been (mostly) up since September 17th when I moved.
I've also been doing a couple things deliberately to meet new people:
- I set up a recurring reminder to meet at least one new person every week. My normal method of doing this has been reaching out to someone just outside my network and asking them to grab lunch. At the end of the meeting, I always ask "If there is one person in town I should definitely meet, who is it?" And then follow up with "Will you introduce me?" This is surprisingly effective, and often even ends up in multiple introductions. If I keep this up I will know over 50 people by September next year.
- Networking events. As an introvert, I really dislike them generally. However, they are a great way to meet like-minded people. In a small town, it's also a great way to keep up with other people that I've met a couple times in passing.
If anyone has other thoughts or tips on transitioning to a new place I would love to hear them!
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