Rebelling against the Ordinary: Lessons from a Smartwatch

Ever felt weighed down by the monotony of life and craved a little mischief? In this week's episode I'm talking about breaking routine with an unusual smartwatch experiment and sharing the profound, surprising impact of accepting a challenge! You'll hear about the entire journey, from the doubts to the epiphanies, as I dive into how shifting my watch-wearing habit shook up my identity and sparked some intriguing dialogues.

Looking to add some fun into your life? I'll also introduce you to our very own little 12-day challenge, a festive-inspired (but not Christmas restricted) quest, starting in December, designed to break the everyday cycle, forge connections and sprinkle kindness. This isn't just about disrupting daily drudgery, it's about embarking on a mini adventure that toasts to our rebellion against the ordinary.

*With thanks to my friend Phil @the.adventures.of.phil.jones for the inspiration behind this episode and getting me out of my comfort zone! #insidewristsmartwatchchallenge

Transcript

Zoe Greenhalf: 0:01

It's a mini, mini episode this week and I'm talking all about challenge. What is a challenge? A stimulating task or problem, or an invitation to compete in a sport or activity? Ready for it, let's go.

Zoe Greenhalf: 0:15

Hello, it's Zoe, and welcome, or welcome, back to the Mischief Movement podcast, your weekly inspo for people looking for more hell yeah in their life. Consider this you're one way to get out of mid-life mediocrity towards fun and positive impact via playful disruption. Wouldn't you love to wake up and feel like a total badass? How about breaking some rules, throwing two fingers up to society and doing more of the things you love? I'm talking full on freedom, adventure and those meaningful connections I know you've been craving. Stop waiting for your amazing life to happen and go get it. I'll be picking the brains of some true game changers and mischief makers so I can share what I find and hopefully inspire you to shake things up, do more of what makes you feel alive and boldly rebel against the ordinary. I've no idea what I'm doing, to be honest, but I've got a mission and I'm here to start a movement. It's going to be quite the adventure. Care to join me? Okay, here it goes.

Zoe Greenhalf: 1:19

Hello, welcome to another shorter solo episode this week and I'd like to talk to you about something that's been on my mind recently. It's this idea of challenge. Now, I first started mulling over the word in the summer, when last week's guest, liz Mosley, was leaning into her 100 rejection challenge to push herself out of her comfort zone. You can hear more about that in episode 32. By the way, around the same time, my friend Phil suggested I try his inside wrist smartwatch challenge. Now, I wasn't sure why I would want to do that, but I decided to give it a go because it seemed like a random, fun thing to do and he was so keen for me to try it. I'll tell you how that went. I lasted two out of the seven days and then abandoned the idea I won't say gave up, because that's really not in my nature, actually, but I did feel like I had enough things going on. I didn't need another, especially as though I wasn't sure what the benefit even was. It won't like that. I've said that. But anyway, I was highly skeptical.

Zoe Greenhalf: 2:24

Fast forward to autumn 2023, and somehow these two things came round again First, with lining up a date for me to interview Liz for the podcast, and then, secondly, talking with Phil and he was urging me to try again on wearing my watch on the inside. His enthusiasm was really all I needed to give it another go, and he wrote me a wonderful email also to back up his argument. You may have seen the reel that I did about it actually on Instagram you can just look for the image of the smartwatch on my grid and he claimed that I would find it more comfortable, that I might see a more accurate reading of the data and that, in any case, wearing it differently to most people was not only unconventional but also a challenge to myself. Could I break the habit of a lifetime in just seven days? Ah, okay, unconventional. Now you're speaking my language.

Zoe Greenhalf: 3:19

So it's been four whole weeks since I started this strange test and I have to say, despite the initial discomfort and having to remember every now and again to swap my watch over from the outside to the inside, I seem to be converted. I am consciously and intentionally wearing my watch on the inside of my wrist. It's actually a great conversation start as well. Anyway, why am I telling you this? It's not because I'm promoting the smartwatch challenge, sorry, phil. It's to share with you my three observations from having undertaken this little experiment, because my job here is to inspire you, empower you and help you to think differently. So first of all, I was surprised by how fun I found it to compete with myself. Could I complete the challenge and do this thing for seven days without cracking? Ooh, a fun game, let's try it. Isn't it bizarre how something as banal as wearing a watch can suddenly be made more interesting? Which got me thinking a lot, actually, about the idea of challenges and adding an element of fun to monotonous tasks.

Zoe Greenhalf: 4:30

Interesting the second thing I noticed was around habits. I've worn my watch the same way on the same wrist my left since I was a child. Now that's probably about 35 years or so of putting it on and taking it off completely on autopilot, and I've never previously given it a second thought. Interesting Could I now break this habit? Because that's exactly what it had become. According to the dictionary site Marianne Webster, a habit is an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary.

Zoe Greenhalf: 5:08

The thing that fascinated me about this little experiment was that it had taken me 35 years to become aware that I had a watch habit, but only eight days to consciously break it. So I wonder how many other habits I've been picking up without ever even being aware of them. How many do you have? Imagine how many good habits we could bring into our daily life if we became intentional about them, or, alternatively, how many bad habits we could break once we were aware that they don't service Interesting. I'm not going to get into the whole psychological debate about how long it takes to create new habits, because I'm not an expert and I've heard all sorts of things, from two weeks to 90 days, whatever but I can tell you that it took me about eight days to interrupt the pattern of watch wearing, and that surprised me.

Zoe Greenhalf: 6:07

Finally, having shared on social media that I was embarking on this strange activity, the third thing I noticed was that people rallied around me to share their experiences and messages of support for what I was doing. I found this so fascinating. I wasn't training for a marathon or quitting smoking or anything else, that's, I don't know, life changing. I was simply saying this looks fun and a bit different. Let's see if I can keep it up. Oh, and if I do, I get the satisfaction of beating myself and I get to feel a little bit quirky and unconventional. And yet the comments poured in, like this one from Lauren, saying I find it weird to begin with, but now it feels odd if it's the boring way around. And another from Mabecca it does feel odd at first, but I did eventually prefer it Stick with it.

Zoe Greenhalf: 6:59

So what inspires people to reach out and share their thoughts on something random like a challenge? I think it's that sense of belonging. Comrade Rieven, here we are united by a cause, albeit a slightly funny one, and they were helping me with their encouragement to reach my goal Amazing. So I learned that challenges are also community building, isn't that awesome? Now I would love to take these observations and turn them into something practical. It's all well and good, me sharing my learnings, and maybe you'll even think a little bit differently as a result. But how about, instead, we embark on a challenge of our own?

Zoe Greenhalf: 7:41

We're coming up to Christmas as this episode goes out, so I'm calling it the 12 days of mischief, and it's going to focus on three pillars Turning something that's pretty dull or ordinary on its head and making it the most fun game with yourself, getting people talking and creating connections and giving back and feeling good. What could we all achieve in just 12 days amid the chaos of life and Christmas preparations? Well, we won't be breaking any bad habits, but we'll definitely aim to spread a little cheer as we embark on a series of 12 acts of micro mischief, guaranteed to bring good vibes and embracing the concept of how do I want to make others feel this is not about Christmas as such, so it's open to everyone, no matter your religion or beliefs. It's just a great excuse to piggyback on a time of year that's essentially about giving to other people but, at the same time, can become a bit overwhelming on the organizational front. Enter the 12 days of mischief 12 days to complete 12 tasks that will get you connecting with people, feeling good, giving back and proving to yourself that you have the self discipline to stick to a challenge and complete it Win-win. Now.

Zoe Greenhalf: 8:57

Personally, I work in a boring office, so I feel like I have a huge advantage in the mischief stakes. We are clones on clone desks with matching computers, generic beige backdrops and a sea of dull emails and Zoom meetings on a daily basis. How can I shake things up and bring some mischief to the monotony and leave others feeling good? Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be perfecting my little challenge and launching it on Instagram with daily prompts that will get you thinking creatively, acting mischievously and feeling like a badass through your own commitment to this rebellious cause. Details will follow, so keep your eyes on the gram. If you're not an Instagram user, sign up to mischief mail using the link in the show notes and you'll be notified once we're ready to rock and roll. Next week, I'll be back with another inspiring interview, so stick around for more rule breakers and troublemakers as we near the end of season three, and you are not going to want to miss any of these.

Zoe Greenhalf: 9:58

In the meantime, please just take a second to consider this idea of challenges and ask yourself where creating your own 7 day, 14 day or even 30 day game against yourself could turn something mundane on its head or even be the beginning of your own mini transformation. Could you challenge yourself to pitch 100 people, like Liz did in her rejection challenge? Could you commit to five minutes a day to learn the language for 30 days? Spoiler, I did this one and I'm now still going after more than a year. Perhaps you just want to be able to drink two liters of water a day like a proper adult, without downing the entire bottle when you remember a bedtime, incidentally. If that is you, please get in touch, because I really do need this challenge. As with most things, mindset and self awareness are key, but if you really simplify the task into micro, micro steps, building up gradually in some cases, you may surprise yourself. Anyway, I'm always cheering you on. So if you do decide to try changing through challenges, please get in touch and let me know so I can send you some personal encouragement in your DMs or your inbox. I will catch you next time, so keep making mischief, my friend and I'll see you next week.

Zoe Greenhalf: 11:24

Oh, I hope you love today's episode and it made you think differently or perhaps nudged you into changing something in your life that's not working for you. I'd love to give you a shout out right here on the podcast too, so do let me know what you think or you'd like to hear more of, or how you've been inspired. Let's keep in touch over on Instagram at the mischief movement Ah, it's changed, did you see that? Or click the link in the show notes to sign up to my mischief mail newsletter, where you'll get exclusive insights on upcoming episodes and your chance to submit questions to future guests. But shh, don't tell anyone, it's our secret. Now, please keep spreading the word about the podcast. You're doing an amazing job and I'm also super grateful for your five star ratings on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, because these seriously helped my mission to inspire and empower more people like us to choose mischief over mediocre. Have a great week and keep making mischief, ciao.