Try Something Different

In the beginning of the summer I spent a couple of days with a friend that I hadn't seen in quite a while.

She's been going through some hard times yet she's still energetic, optimistic and upbeat. I asked how she managed to maintain those positive characteristics in the face of constant stress.

Her secret? Something that costs absolutely nothing.

Each day she makes it a point to try something new. As she explained, it doesn't need to be something major. It could be taking a different route to work, having a cup of tea instead of coffee, eating dinner at 6pm instead of 7pm.

Why does it work?

For my friend, waking up to start the day was a major challenge due to the stresses she faced. Now, by thinking of what she's going to change that day, she created a sense of excitement and anticipation of something different. Making one small change each day has kept her from being defeated by the stresses in her life.

Being inspired, I started to make one small change a day but somehow lost focus over the course of the summer. Although my attempt was short-lived, I noticed that a small change could give a new perspective to my ordinary routine.

I was reminded of this the other day when I read a post by Chris Brogan about the patterns in our life so I'm going to try once again.

I'll be curious to see what happens this time and also curious about what will happen if I make one small change each day to my business. I'm intrigued by the fact that during the short time I did it during the summer, I had a new perspective. That could be immensely helpful for a business.

What do you think? Are you willing to give it a try? Let me know if you do and what happens.