Why New Things Are Good Things
For most of us, Groundhog Day Syndrome is a real thing. While the term is something I just made up while typing this, the concept is not foreign. Our routines, tendencies, and plans get us into an overly familiar pattern that breeds comfort and familiarity, but also the potential for neophobia.
If this treadmill-like schedule sounds familiar to you, then it's time to introduce a little change for your benefit.
While this disruption to your comfort may seem unappealing, there are numerous benefits to trying something new that you may be overlooking. These benefits can improve you both personally and professionally, so in this newsletter, I'll share both sides of the blessing of changing things up.
Create Creativity
When you start treating your mind like a muscle, amazing things happen in your world. As any trainer will tell you, changing your workout routine will continue to shock and grow your muscles as they can plateau over time doing the same thing over and over. By trying something new, you force your brain into a new path of thought, allowing it to spark new ideas.
Personal Benefit - Creative people tend to be happier. The act of creative thinking triggers dopamine which fuels motivation, learning, and joy. By changing things up, including a creative task in your day, or even a short daydreaming session, you expand your mind to more possibilities and delight.
Business Benefit - A recent poll showed that 60% of CEO's valued creativity as a critical leadership skill. Creative leaders are better at problem solving, ideation, and looking for new opportunities. Their openness to creativity also fuels their team to develop new and innovative ideas. Creating a once a month brainstorm meeting with your team could uncover some incredibly valuable insights to improve or create opportunities for your company.
Increase Your Marketability
While this seems like a true business benefit, when was the last time you thought about your friends' personal brands? Think about the first 10 people that come to mind and what you would say about their willingness to try new things or their general level of curiosity about life. Without fail, these are likely to be the most vibrant, energetic, and positive people in your world vs. someone who absolutely is stuck in a routine, likes their life in a light shade of beige, and will resist any change to routine.
Personal Benefit - The more you exude the above mentioned qualities, the more likely people are going to be drawn to you due to your raise in positive energy. You will be brought in on more ideas, creative conversations, and opportunities that wouldn't likely be presented to someone who would fall under "Stick in the mud" branding. These opportunities could wind up being some of the best moments of your life.
Business Benefit - One of the most painful statements a company can ever make when discussing their culture or their future vision is along the lines of "That's the way we've always done it." Think about the last time you searched for a job and think about comparing two offers, one with a creative mindset and one with a rigid one. If the offers were identical, wouldn't the brand that allowed for more opportunity and growth potential be more appealing?
Discover More About Yourself
I think we would all say we know ourselves pretty well, right? I mean you've been around yourself your entire life and pretty much know yourself better than anyone ever could. But what if I were to tell you that there were things about yourself (likes, interests, passions) that were just hiding away inside of you, waiting to be discovered? What if I were to also tell you that these discoveries could lead to moments of joy or a path forward with a new outlook on life?
If you never try anything new, you may miss out on these moments of absolute heaven simply by playing it safe.
Personal Benefit - By trying something new in your life, you may discover something you're actually really good at, or you may find new joy in your current status (see also my failed experiment with ice/roller skating). Either way, if you don't try, you'll never know. Through attempts at new activities, you get to know more about your unique personality, what your strengths and weaknesses are, and you can solidify what you want your future to look like.
Business Benefit - For 10 seconds, I want you to imagine a boardroom full of executives at Netflix saying, "What? Digital streaming? Original content? No way. We'll stick to DVD's thanks."
Your content intake would be drastically altered the way you know it. Businesses that are incapable of change and trying new things will soon see the end of the road on their horizon. As mentioned earlier, conduct brainstorming sessions and try new ideas in short, low-cost sprints to test ideas without major risk involved. You may just find a better, more creative way of doing business, or you may completely revolutionize your industry, or even one that doesn't exist yet.
If you don't try, you'll never know.
Rich Bracken is an energetic keynote speaker and marketing executive who blends data and research with emotion and case studies to share insights and strategies on how to implement sustainable positive change. His focus and passion is to help individuals and organizations perform at a higher level both personally and professionally. He has served numerous Fortune 100 clients and global organizations as a keynote speaker and consultant and is a Professor of Leadership and notable media personality appearing in such outlets as ABC, ESPN, Thrive Global, Vice, and Goalcast, and this fall he will be presenting on the TEDx stage.
To inquire about Rich's speaking availability for your next event or conference, contact him at rich@richbracken.com.
