Like millions of people, I watched Glastonbury on the telly,
safe on my sofa, with a great view of the Rolling Stones and a cup of tea in my
hand. To many, this sounds terribly
dull. I have attended loads of festivals
in my time - the last one was V at Chelmsford and returning to my hotel room
after watching the Manic Street Preachers, the bliss of being able to get the
dirt out of my hair in the shower was indescribable.
But I digress.
While watching the wall to wall BBC coverage, I came across
a young girl band I'd never heard of called Haim. Their set (on TV at least) was short, but
electrifying. Their sound was different
- a cross between Siouxsie Sioux and early Police, and the lead singer, bassist
and keyboard players were intense and very, very focused. It's been a long time since I was really
interested in something new in music, but I've just downloaded some of their
songs.
Which got me wondering - what prompts you to try something
new?
The first thing of course is exposure. It’s difficult to try something new if you
always see the same people, go the same places, read the same stuff. Recently, I went back to Birkbeck for their
annual Business Week
(http://www.bbk.ac.uk/business/about-us/events/business-week) but instead of
visiting the events for the school of Organisational Psychology, which I
normally do, I went instead to a couple of events on happiness and well-being,
hosted by the School of Business, Economics and Infomatics.
It was fascinating, taking me into a discipline I didn’t
know with authors I hadn’t read – but now want to. It gave me a different perspective which has
enriched my experience and my knowledge. So – tip number one:
1. Go somewhere
you’ve never been before, with people you don’t know.
Research indicates that what holds most people back from new
experiences is fear – of being uncomfortable, of not enjoying things, or making
their “stuck” situation worse.
However, if your “new” experience is well crafted, it need
not commit you to years of misery if you don’t like it – my foray into the
world of economics lasted four hours. So – tip number two:
2. Keep it short!
The physical environment is a key determinant of our
mood. A serene vista of water and fading
light may make us gentle and reflective.
It’s the same in the office. Some
people feel much more capable when they clear up papers, and have a sense of
starting anew with a clear desk. But for
me, one way of certainly changing your perspective is to physically move. So
tip number three is:
3. Move where you
sit and work.
Moving where you sit and work enables you to see different
things, feel different light and heat, and maybe even sit next to someone you don’t
know. When I’ve worked in culture change
programmes, changing where people are located may sometimes be painful, but it
signals very clearly that something different is happening. New conversations
are had, new relationships are formed – even around the kettle in the kitchen.
So try something a little different. Small and contained at
first, which will give you confidence, and be low-risk. Pretty soon, you’ll be
climbing mountains, studying for that degree you always wanted, writing the
novel or changing careers.
After all – as the NLP practitioners say – “If you do what
you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.”
Postscript:
I saw this article a day after I'd posted this. Interesting additional reading!
