Break your routine

Tonight you're going to be doing a fair amount of writing and thinking so choose a meal that is easy to prepare. Which of the following would you never normally eat: fish and chips; Indian or Chinese takeaway; a hummus sandwich; miso soup; tofu stir-fry? Choose one that you have never (or rarely) eaten before.

Thinking about routine

1. Light a green candle (to symbolise fresh beginnings) and maybe burn pine or lemon aromatherapy oil.
2. Write down how you spend your life now. What is your daily routine? Be specific: do you always get up in the same way? What do you eat for breakfast? How do you get to work, etc.?
3. Do you do specific things on specific days? Do you take your holidays at the same time or go to the same place? How much routine is there in your life?
4. How does this make you feel? Do you feel comforted by routine or stifled by it? Sometimes it's hard to tell until you try making a shift. This weekend you are going to do things completely differently, as often as possible. It may sound contrived but just try it. Sometimes even a small or silly shift can produce a radically different perspective and open up new opportunities. So play with this.
5. Next to every entry on your paper, write down something opposite or totally different. For instance: buy a croissant on the way to work for breakfast; or make a home breakfast of fresh fruit salad and muesli.
6. Go through the day in this way and resolve to shift absolutely everything you can this weekend.

Wishful thinking
Take out a large sheet of paper and make a list of 100 things you really wish you could do in your life. They don't need to be practical or sensible and they can range from the small and humdrum (get a haircut; buy some incense) to the medium range (visit a health farm; learn to read tarot cards; go to French evening classes) to really wild scenarios (start your own business; travel round the world; have cosmetic surgery; move to another country).

At the end of the weekend commit yourself to doing at least one during the following week. Underline what you would really love to do. Make a time frame: commit to doing some in the next year. Work out what you could do towards achieving your long-term goals - for example, put aside a small amount of money each week towards that round-the-world trip; find out how to re-train for your ideal career; spend an hour each day (or week) writing your novel.

It's time to rearrange the way you see things.