
Why We All Need to Have Things to Look Forward to
What are you looking forward to, besides your next day off work? I asked myself this question and realized the sad truth. Lately, I’ve been so busy that the weekend is all I ever look forward to. It’s my days off, time to get more sleep, do errands, hang out with friends and family, and occasionally get more work done.

But there has to be more to life than anticipating the next weekend filled with the same old activities. After a while, the same pattern starts to get old.
But sometimes, when you don’t have anything really exciting to look forward to, you have to create it.
One thing I did was schedule a hair appointment to get a long-anticipated haircut. It seems small, but…
It’s at least something different that I can genuinely anticipate…and afford.
What gets you excited that never happens or doesn’t happen very often?
Whether it’s something small (like changing your look, a weekend road trip, or a spa day) or something big (like that dream vacation that never seems to become a reality), we all have things we can genuinely look forward to. Reflect on what those things might be for you.
How often will you incorporate things you can be excited about into your life?

Will you commit to taking a proper vacation or travel somewhere you’ve always dreamed of going at least once a year? Go to a concert of a favorite band whenever they’re in town? Attend a Broadway show every season? Whatever you do, I’ve found that timing is important. For me, having some activity or event (big or small) to look forward to at least once every two weeks is good timing. Not too far in advance but soon enough that I can just see it around the corner. What would your timing be like?
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that sometimes you can have several months ahead of you with absolutely nothing on the horizon you’re anticipating. It’s easy to happen when things get busy. Life gets busy. The usual awaited weekend starts to get a bit stale. And without intentionally making the effort (and time) to add things you can look forward to, life may start to get boring, uneventful, and lackluster. Moreover, the items on your bucket list will continue to remain unchecked. It’s time to break the pattern.


