Exploring something new

From a young age it is likely that you were taught to figure out what you wanted to do with your life. That in turn dictated the choices you made and paths you chose for many years that followed.

Sometimes what ends up happening is you end up creating a very specific life where you rarely explore something new.

Whilst there is nothing wrong with knowing what you like and what you’re interested in, you don’t want to be so set in your ways that you’re closed off to the unknown.

Exploring something new every once in a while allows your mind to stay fresh. It could lead you to take a new path or just remind you that you’re exactly where you want to be.

When it happens again

If you find yourself experiencing a difficult situation, similar to something you have faced in your past you have the opportunity to handle it differently and with new knowledge and experience.

Don’t just caught up in the thought of ‘why is this happening to me again?’. Instead thing about what you can do to get the outcome you desire.

Answer the questions:

What did you do last time?

What did you want to happen?

What was the outcome?

What can you do differently this time?

Even if things don’t turn out perfectly, it’ll feel good to know that you handled things better than you did in the past

You might need driving lessons

One of the biggest surprises I’ve had since starting work is the fact that I have to be a driver (drive your career, propel things forward in your desired direction), as in steer my own ship.

In school you do what you’re told and you can’t really defer from what doesn’t interest you in fact it’s discouraged and sanctioned. But in the workplace it’s almost the opposite.

You’re rewarded for going after what you want and if you don’t take the initiative to be a driver, well you’re doomed.

I’m really starting to understand what Godin means when he talks about cogs and Linchpins.

If being a driver isn’t in your nature you might find yourself feeling discontented at work, wondering why you’re career isn’t going as you thought.

The only choice is to change.

Maybe, you don’t know how.

Or maybe you just need to learn how to drive.

And if that’s the case know that driving lessons are available.

It could be fun

Last year I wrote a few haikus. I didn’t do anything with them so I have no collection of opinions of how dreadful or amazingly amazing they are.

But I found 5, 7, 5 (the pattern of a haiku) to be a fun and interesting way to express a thought or feeling in a new way.

I’ve written poems before but writing a haiku forces me to think differently which I like.

It’s useful sometimes to try something new or to find a new way of doing something you’re familiar with. You might learn something from it and it could be fun.