Have you ever noticed how often your conversations are ...
"reruns?" And have you given any thought to how that
pattern is helping or stifling your business growth?
Let me explain what I mean.
We each tend to spend time with the same people in the same
environments, read the same type of books, watch the same
genre of movies or television programs, follow the same
sporting events... Year after year. Meeting after meeting.
Conversation after conversation. There's nothing wrong with
that ... unless you never create the space for 'new'
conversations.
Many of my clients (financial advisors and business owners)
comment that they're overworked and overwhelmed and don't
have time to think about their business from a new
perspective. And they believe they'd uncover new
perspective if they could just carve out time on their
workday calendar to think.
But they seldom create that time. AND when they do, they
discover that thinking time is not a guaranteed source of
new ideas.
What about leisure time? Well most of us repeat the same
behaviors and same conversations each evening, each
weekend, each vacation. We gather with friends and family
for repeat events and catch up on the same topics we spoke
of the last time we were together.
If you want new ideas, you need new information, new
experiences, and new conversations that change your
thoughts.
I learned this first hand when I moved to New York to work
for Avon Products and needed to find a place to live. My
new 'landlord' was a guy who'd been living in the apartment
the longest - a law school student who had turned down
Harvard in order to join the first law class of Queens
College. The new program emphasized public service law.
One of my other roommates was an opera student, working
evenings as an usher at the Metropolitan Opera House, while
being taught by one of the luminaries of the opera world.
And the third was an independent filmmaker.
And who was I in this mix? An MBA graduate doing strategic
planning for Avon's eight Pacific Rim markets.
We had very little in common in terms of background or work
experiences. So 80 percent of our conversations over many
evenings and weekends were new, fresh, and unexpected. That
time together shaped each of our lives, our choices and the
opportunities we uncovered.
Now I DON'T want you to think that the goal is to have new
conversations 80 percent of your time. It would be
wonderful if it could happen even 20 percent of your day,
but that's probably unrealistic too.
So let me share 3 DO's that create 'moments' when 80
percent of the conversation is 'new.'
DO Mix up the people you're spending time with.
This past week, for example, I shared wine and fine food
with an eclectic group of people - a bankruptcy attorney, a
music producer, a landscape architect, a technology expert,
a CEO of a symphony orchestra. Over the past years, a small
group of us has been the catalysts for these gatherings.
Each of us in is different professions and have completely
different groups of colleagues and friends. We started with
four or five people and invite others who enjoy wine and
conversation and set dates to get together.
Bringing changing mixes of people together has ensured
we've had unexpected conversations. Our discussion this
time lasted for nearly six hours. And less than 20 percent
of our talk was on topics we usually spend time on.
DO Change the locations where you gather.
We've invited people to join us anywhere wine and food
could easily and comfortably be enjoyed. So sometimes we
meet at restaurants, with the clatter of people coming and
going. Other times we meet in conference rooms of office
buildings, using their long table to spread out more than
20 bottles of wine in paper wrappers for an evening of wine
tasting. We've even gathered in homes, standing around the
kitchen and chatting while making the meal.
DO Hold on to your curiosity.
It's all about attitude. Everyone who sat around the table
this week enjoyed the mystery of being with new people and
the possibilities that creates. Wine tasting is our excuse
for coming together and less than 20 percent of our
conversation.
Whether you meet over wine, or at a non-profit activity, or
hiking, or playing golf, use these DO's to meet people you
don't yet know, to rejoice in the fresh conversations and
stir up new possibilities in your business and life.
----------------------------------------------------
Management expert, consultant, and coach Linda Feinholz is
"Your High payoff Catalyst." Linda publishes the free
weekly newsletter The Spark! to subscribers world-wide and
delivers targeted solutions, practical skills and simple
ways to build your business. If you're ready to focus on
your High Payoff activities, accelerate your results and
have more fun at it, get your FREE tips like these visit
her site at http://www.YourHighPayoffCatalyst.com
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