Try Something New

People get stuck doing things they way they've always done it.  Despite always getting the same results with which we are NOT happy, we continue to do thing the same way.  We can't see another way. We're unwilling to try something new.


Years ago I bought a book called Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain. One of the exercises in the book is to take a picture and turn it upside down and then draw it. The rationale was that by not allowing your brain to fill in the gaps – by seeing the picture in a new way – you'd be more successful at capturing the various elements. It works.


If you have found yourself saying something like, "No, that won't work because…" so that you don't have to try a new way of acting, thinking or being, could it be that you've exchanged the excitement of discover for the comfort of predictability?


In a Fortune interview several years ago, Larry Page, co-founder of Google, said, "You have this fear of failing and of doing something new, which is very natural. In order to do stuff that matters, you need to overcome that."


The same is true of life. If you're unwilling to try something new, to push yourself out of your comfort zone, to go beyond the predictable, you'll always be stuck with the same outcomes.


It takes gumption to overcome the natural fear of change. But you can do it. Think about:


What you really, really want. What's important to you? What and who do you care about? Where do you currently devote your attention? Where do you want to focus your attention?


Who are the people in your life that you affect? Hardly any of use go it alone. We have co-workers, friends, BFFs, mates, children, mothers, fathers, sibs… a huge array of people with whom we interact. While you cannot live your life for these people (except your children because you chose to bring them into your life, accidentally or on purpose), you need to understand how their responses may affect your action (or contribute to your inaction).


How hard you're prepared to work? You know the old saying, 'Actions speak louder than words?' This is it! Are you just going to whine and complain, dream and spin, blather and yak, or are you going to DO something? Most of the people who have what they want busted their butts to make it so. Are you ready to bust your butt?


As you embrace something new, be prepared to let go some old stuff to make room for the new. Old habits and old emotions may all have to go so you create the space for new emotions and new habits. So think about what's dragging you down. Then blow it out to make some room to try something new.







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Published on July 15, 2011 00:57
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