The top 40 spur-of-the-moment activities everyone should have tried are booking a last-minute weekend away, going on a road trip or popping in on a friend you haven’t seen in ages.
A poll of 2,000 adults found 70 per cent could be getting more out of each day, with 65 per cent claiming they need more excitement to break up the daily treadmill of work and other tasks.
Other must-do spontaneous acts include extending a holiday while they’re already on it, jumping on a random bus or train, or getting up in the middle of the night to stargaze.
The survey found Boomers – those born between 1946 and 1964 – are most likely to feel their current life is too predictable and monotonous.
And they’re also the age group that most often feels stuck in a rut with their everyday routine.
However, Gen Z will do something to shake themselves out of a rut twice as many times a year than those who are Gen X or older.
But a lack of cash (45 per cent) is what’s holding most people back from saying ‘yes’ to more opportunities.
A spokesperson for chewy sweets brand Mentos Fanta, which commissioned the research, said: "Being spontaneous is liberating.
“Doing something new and different doesn’t have to involve skydiving out of a helicopter onto a jet-ski in a volcano.
“It can be something as simple as buying a totally different sandwich in your daily supermarket meal deal – or giving a new flavour a chance.”
The study also found 35 per cent of adults don’t have the energy to say yes to fun new opportunities.
And 29 per cent don’t have enough time, while 27 per cent fret that if they do try something new, they might not enjoy it.
In fact, only nine per cent of respondents feel they are ‘very much’ living their best life – with Gen Z most likely to feel this way (17 per cent).
Nearly two thirds (65 per cent) of all adults wish they were braver when it comes to trying new things.
Those aged 35-44 are the most likely to feel this way, with a whopping 83 per cent saying they’d like to be braver.
But 23 per cent of adults believe they would experience more joy and fulfilment if they lived a more spontaneous and exciting life.
And 38 per cent do want to get out of their comfort zones and experience new things, according to the OnePoll.com figures.
Mentos Fanta’s spokesperson added: “Those in the middle age ranges seem to be stuck between two poles.
“They’re not young and carefree anymore, but they’re not so old that they’re past wanting to experience new things.
“It seems like Gen X really need to shake things up and try something new more than anyone else!”
Brits’ 40 favourite spontaneous acts:
- Book a last-minute weekend away
- Go on a road-trip
- Visit a friend you’ve not seen in a while
- Say what you really think
- Extend a holiday
- Jump on a bus or train to see where it takes you
- Go to a free event in your local area
- Stay up to watch the sun rise
- Set yourself a fitness challenge
- Strike up a conversation with a stranger
- Get up in the night to look at the stars
- Go to a comedy night
- Rearrange your furniture
- Buy a present for someone and take it to them that day
- Dye your hair a different colour
- Donate to charity
- Tell your parent/s or other family you love them
- Offer to help at a local animal shelter
- Give blood
- Start a business
- Buy a pet
- Ask someone out
- Say yes to everything all day
- Get a radical new hairstyle
- Visit a psychic
- Get a piercing / new piercing
- Go off grid for a night (no social media)
- Collect a household item going free in your local community
- Quit a job
- Go camping with a friend – right now, for one night only
- Book a dance lesson
- Call in sick to work when you’re not ill
- Check out a new neighbourhood
- Go and support a local sports team
- Go skinny dipping
- Do karaoke
- Smash something on purpose – like a plate
- Buy a musical instrument
- Sign up for a new sport
- Sign up for a foreign exchange programme
