Routine is a BAD Thing (According to My Favorite Author)

I want you to succeed so here are some friendly reminders and tips about how to spend every day working hard toward your dreams.

I believe we all carry a memory that stays etched in our minds, even if the moment felt entirely ordinary at the time.

Personally, I can remember plenty of them.

They are difficult to forget because they altered my outlook and caused me to reconsider my life decisions. A few still terrify me. Some, when I look back, always bring a smile to my face.

One of those moments that really made me rethink my life choices happened eight or nine years ago.

I was on my way to work on a two-hour bus ride at the time. From the province, I was traveling to the city where our client was located.

It is hard to recall the exact date and time but during those long commutes, I always aimed to pass the time productively. If I was not checking emails, I would read books, listen to TED Talks, and sometimes have a podcast marathon like the School of Greatness by Lewis Howes.

One day, though, I decided to read The Alchemist, and that was the day when it all happened.

Usually, I would go straight to Chapter 1, but for some reason, I did not with The Alchemist.

While on the bus, I opened the book to the front matter and started reading about the author. I believe I did that because I wanted to check whether the claims online about the book being worth reading were true.

But yeah, as I read through, I stumbled upon a quote.

It is a quote by the author, Paulo Coelho, saying that “if you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it is lethal.”

At first, the quote didn’t really register with me. It didn’t make any sense. I mean, what’s so bad about a routine?

But after I looked out the bus window and saw some somber scenes while taking a break from reading, the meaning started to sink in.

Man, I will never forget those jam-packed buses right beside ours. People were crammed together like sardines in a tin can. One guy was even trying to catch a few seconds of sleep against his arm while he dangled from the overhead railings.

It’s sad.

I will also never forget the crowd I saw when we pulled into a stop. They were stuck in a queue that twisted and turned like chicken intestines because it was so incredibly long.

Worse, they were standing under the baking sun, waving their handkerchiefs as makeshift fans to survive the 31ºC sticky humid heat.

Soooo sad.

And honestly, through all those moments I could not help but notice how they have lost their spark for life.

I mean, they might be worn out from the exact same routine every single day.

Wake up super early → get stuck in traffic and deal with a hellish commute → work at a soul-sucking job for the paycheck → come home late because of more traffic jams → miss dinner with the family → go to sleep late. Repeat 5 times a week.

Heart. Breaking.

How did I know they were worn out? The news and documentaries I watched gave me a clue. But their faces gave away the whole story.

It’s like something has died inside every one of them.

No kidding, in those moments, everything felt deeply unsettling as I saw my future turning into a carbon copy of theirs.

I could not shake off the thought… “is this the kind of life I am going to have until I retire? God, please, no…”

Fast forward to today, much has changed.

My life’s trajectory is different now compared to the people I used to see. I’m building my business and I no longer commute to hell hole Manila frequently.

But, as I returned to my business tasks this week after focusing on self care and outside duties, I felt some friction.

(In context, I took a few days off so I wouldn’t burn out. I also went on a pilgrimage and visited seven churches in our country. Another thing, I helped put together a huge piece of furniture that took an entire day to finish. I also helped my dad clean a room at our rental to get it ready for a new tenant.)

Yeah, I did not feel 100% ready to get back to my day-to-day-building-a-business-routine which looked like this:

Waking up → doing morning chores → having lunch → heading to a coffee shop to write → buying groceries (sometimes work out) → interacting on Substack on the way home → eating dinner → reading some newsletters → returning to work → and finally going to sleep.

Perhaps the reason I felt this way is that the weight of Coelho’s words regarding the psychological risks of a repetitive routine lingers in my mind.

Living the same day repeatedly can lead to emotional and intellectual numbness where a person stops learning or growing.

I don’t want that to happen to me.

But I knew I had to keep making progress on my goals; I had to keep building my business. If I didn’t get back to my routine, how was I going to stay productive?

After thinking it over for a bit, I realized that Paulo Coelho’s idea about the dangers of sticking to a routine isn’t exactly 100% valid anymore, especially with how much things have changed.

So yeah, I’m sticking with my routine.

I mean, we all know how much our lives have changed because of technology. When Paulo Coelho said those words, it happened in a world that “no longer” exists today.

Decades ago, for the most part, you could only really discover or learn new things by stepping outside of your routine. This routine was mostly a five day work week from nine to five in a cubicle, where you had to sign stacks of corporate papers four inches thick.

If you wanted to learn something new, you had to visit the library to read a book.

To gain new ideas, you actually had to talk to people in person at a convention. You could also start a conversation with a friend in a park or cafe.

For a new experience, you had to join a physical event like an exhibit, a forum, or a community project.

But now, you can just sit in front of your computer and learn so much already.

You don’t have to break your daily flow anymore to learn something new. You also do not need massive variations in how you spend your day.

To tell you the truth, I feel like I am growing following my routine… or even though I follow a routine. I can’t emphasize enough how my routine allowed me to stay consistent with my business.

With my routine, I also encounter new ideas every now and then. That is usually when I go through the newsletters sent to my email. Through the activities that I do everyday such as writing, which is also a part of my routine, I deepen my self awareness. What I love the most about my routine is that I can build connections with people who truly understand my path, even when they live on the other side of the globe. These are just some of the reasons I’m keeping my routine.

That said, I also know from experience that learning by actually doing things, like traveling, attending social events, or talking to people in real life, is a whole different story compared to doing everything through a screen.

Life is not quite the same when you step away from your routine. It feels differently better when you have the spontaneity to do all those things in person.

OOOOKAYYY, now it gets confusing, so what is it really? Is a routine helpful, unhelpful, or what?

If we’re going to think about it, SOMEHOW, it doesn’t really matter whether we follow a routine or not.

What matters is our intention and how aware we are of the gains and drawbacks of the activities we do each day. Time management, a sense of urgency, and having goals and direction are important as well.

Especially for people with full control of their time and building their business, all of this matters a lot. I am more than certain that without these key factors, it is a slippery slope toward getting stuck.

Let me give you an example to explain it.

(1) Imagine you are a creator running an online business without a set routine.

You work only when you feel the urge or when inspiration happens to strike. You go on trips on random days.

The remainder of your week? You are out socializing, consuming content, publishing or creating products only once new ideas come to you.

(2) This time, let’s say you are a creative entrepreneur with a solid routine.

Morning, you wake up and knock out the most important tasks first. Then lunch, you hang out with other creators in town. Afternoon, you head to a cafe for deep work.

Then during evenings, you read newsletters, meditate, or journal about how the day went. Sometimes, you use that free time to lift weights or attend local events. Nighttime you spend quality time with people you care about.

Between the two, it’s obvious who is going to actually get things done over time, isn’t it?

If you ask me, I think the person in the second example got an even bigger advantage.

Why?

In the case of the person in the second example, there is an element of daily consistency in their routine that helps build momentum. That routine creates a flywheel effect or operational efficiency that leads to exponential growth.

So you may know, Flywheel Effect is a concept that explains how small, consistent actions compound over time.

And when we talk about building skills, the person in the second scenario also has the advantage.

How? For instance, if the skill you want to learn and master is writing, a daily routine that forces you to write every day will help you pick up the craft much quicker.

Why is that? It is all down to how our brains work.

Think of your brain like a dense forest. Learning a new skill is like trying to walk through that forest for the first time. It is difficult because there is no path; you have to push through branches and tall grass, which takes a lot of effort and energy.

Every time you repeat a skill, you are walking that same trail again. The more you walk it, the clearer the path becomes. Eventually, the grass stays down and the obstacles are cleared away.

This “path” in your brain is a neural circuit. Repetition makes the signal travel faster and smoother, so you don’t have to “think” about every single step anymore.

All in all, we can sum it up in this one sentence: having a routine is helpful, but it only works if we fill it with the right activities that help us learn, grow, and be more creative.

Now, here is a question we could reflect on: does your daily routine benefit you in the long run or does it only help you get through the day?

If your answer is the first case, then kudos to you!

Way to go to success!

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Thank You for Reading

Explore to Thrive Newsletter is part of my personal mission to walk alongside fellow creatives and show that it’s possible to build a sustainable online business from your lived experiences and passion. It’s completely free and open to everyone.

If it resonates with you and you feel inspired to support it, I would be very grateful for a tip. Your support helps me build Explore to Thrive, a community and resource I dream of creating where no creator feels alone and where we can grow, learn, and truly thrive together.

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I share honest insights from building an online business with a blog from the ground up, lessons from my mistakes so you can avoid wasting time, discoveries that lead to wins, and methods that support long term success as a creator.

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Progress Tracker

This section is where I share what I’ve been working on with Explore to Thrive Blog since the last newsletter. My goal is to be transparent about the process. And also to give a real sense of what building a creator business actually looks like.

What did I achieve?

Between the time I published this newsletter and when I started writing this letter, I’ve accomplished quite a lot!

However, most of those things are not related to building Explore to Thrive. 😅 I mentioned them during our discussion about routines.

It’s disappointing, sure, but, hey I’m still a human. Life happens. And life must be lived, not only behind a screen. 🙏🏻

Despite that, I finished one blog post, although it still remains in the drafts. It’s been proofread and is ready to publish. The reason why I have not published the post yet is that a travel planning page must come together when it goes live. The post covers travel preparation for a trip to Cebu and it makes sense that I publish it together with that travel planning page.

The thing about this post is that it’s a 3000-word article packed with firsthand experience tips that I’m sure travelers would read.

When I transfer the draft to my WordPress blog though, I must remember to put in proper navigation through a collection of anchor links. That way, the reader could easily find details about the tips I shared in the post.

Did I do anything interesting?

One way I want to improve my writing is by learning how to sound natural to native English speakers. That’s why I’ve been watching Young Sheldon again and again lately, haha.

Another way I’m doing that is with the help of AI. Whenever I proofread or do revisions, I ask AI to teach me how.

Here’s my prompt: “Suggest three ways to rewrite these sentences so they sound more natural to Americans. Keep the same tone and voice. Here are the sentences for you to revise: <insert a paragraph here>”

Did I run into any problems before this letter?

Apart from not having much time for my projects, there are no problems I encountered. I don’t know if it is a problem that I missed posting affirmation posts on X, Pinterest, and Substack, but I’m sure I’ll be getting back to it this upcoming week.

Btw, I am not sure what to feel though with the new Substack feature that enables the scheduling of notes. I think it’ll just LinkedIn-fy Substack

What do I plan to achieve next?

For next week, I’m looking forward to publishing the blog post about travel prep tips for a trip to Cebu along with the travel planning page where I offer affiliate products.

And since I don’t have any other personal activities or errands at home, I am now aiming to publish two more blog posts. Based on the project list I showed you in my previous letters, those posts will be a comparison post and a travel itinerary post.

With regard to the weekly goals, for the time being, I’m going to make the tasks mentioned in this section the short term targets for the week.

I’m still undecided whether it is reasonable to make page views for each post or project the gauge for success. I’m also considering the number of engagements, number of downloads, click-through rates for affiliate products, and more.

This is taking time because, aside from what is the right metric to measure, I also have to consider how I am going to find the data and how I am going to build a dashboard to show you for reporting.

Alright! That’s all for this week. Once again, thank you for reading. See you in the next newsletter!

Ciao.

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