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DoWhat!?
Support & Inspiration for Taking the Road Less Traveled
Hello!
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Do What!?
a
newsletter dedicated to providing support and
inspiration to those who take the road less traveled.
If you are receiving this first issue, you are among
the people I most enjoy and respect on earth. As
such I wanted to share with you my thoughts about
my own wonderful, quirky journey into the world of
coaching, and help inspire you to step boldly forward
on your own less traveled road.
I hope you will enjoy my messages and want to hear
more. If you wish to continue receiving
DoWhat!? please join my
mailing list. (To subscribe click here.)
Otherwise you will not receive this
newsletter again.
In the meantime, keep making
those challenging decisions. May these newsletters
give you creative ideas and inspiration along the way!
Warmly,
Laura
Fresh Perspectives
Time to Read: 4 minutes
It’s January again! That time for resolutions and
amped-up willpower. It may sound “un-coach-like”
but I gave up on new years resolutions because I can
never keep them. I want to enjoy the sense of
possibility that comes in the early months of the year
not feel guilt for once again breaking my promise to
exercise or eat better!
So let’s focus on the opportunities that await us in
2006. What big projects do you have in mind?
Today’s newsletter explores the realm of fresh
perspectives, and will give you some new
ideas and approaches to help you move into the new
year full of wonderful new possibilities.
In this issue:
- Child's Play
- Exercise: Shifting Perspectives
- Exercise: Inspiration on the Newsstand
- Bonus Resource: Invention at Play
Child's Play
Watching my daughter the other night, I was amused
to see her playing “computer” with my alarm clock.
She was teaching her dolly to type on the alarm
buttons and showing her the screen – a big red LCD
with the time. When I asked her what she was doing
she replied, “Working.” (Yikes!)
Her play got me thinking. I would never have
thought that the alarm looked like a computer. My
adult eyes categorize those familiar things – alarm
clock, laundry basket, shoe – and I see what I
expect. But with less experience of the world, my
two year old sees computers and boats and bowls.
What are we missing by relying on our
adult “knowledge” of the world?
In the ‘70s computer scientists at Xerox PARC, one of
the world’s foremost research and development
facilities, involved children in the design of computer
systems. An R&D lab doesn’t seem like the place for
kids, but observing how children interacted with
computers inspired the researches to design the
overlapping windows and graphical interface we take
for granted on today’s PCs. Talk about the power of
fresh perspectives!
Adding a little child’s play to your thought processes
may offer you the fresh perspectives you need to
inspire your life or projects. Following are a few
exercises that will help you imagine the possibilities.
Enjoy!
Shifting Perspectives
Don't Forget the Ridiculous!
This exercise requires some physical movement and
mental attention to the feelings in your body to help
you shift your thinking. Whatever you do, don’t
forget the ridiculous!
- Stand in the center of the room, breath
deeply a few times, and think about your dilemma or
a decision you’d like to make.
- How do you feel about this right now?
Are you feeling stuck? Anxious? If this feeling you
are having were a place, what would it be? A hectic
train station, for instance, with too many different
tracks? Or a dry, hot, desert with no one else
around? What is your unique place? Label this
perspective by the place you have identified.
- Now, turn 90 degrees to the right and
take in the first thing that catches your eye. Imagine
what this thing you’ve noticed would tell you about
your decision. For example, seeing a telephone on
the wall might make you think that the only way
through your “wall of indecision” is to communicate
your intentions fully. How does that perspective
feel? What kind of place is this?
- Turn 90 degrees again, repeating the
exercise. You will do this two more times. At the
end, you will have your starting perspective and
three fresh views.
- Finally, when you are back to the starting
position, close your eyes and think of the most
RIDICULOUS thing you possibly can. It might be
anything – an ice cream cone, your dog, a trumpet –
any idea that comes immediately to mind will work.
Ask yourself what that crazy thing would tell you
about your decision, how it makes you feel and what
kind of place it is.
Now you’re armed with five different perspectives.
Which felt the best to you? Which place felt the most
comfortable? Choose the perspective you like best
(or combinations) to help you move forward on your
decision.
Inspiration on the Newsstand
This next exercise comes courtesy of Daniel Pink’s
book A Whole New Mind. (Speaking of
fresh
perspectives, this book is a good one for a new look
at our socio-economic future!)
Newsstand Roundup
- To freshen your thinking or work out a problem
visit the largest newsstand you can find.
- Spend 20 minutes browsing the selections then
choose 10 publications you have never read and
probably never would nevere buy. The key is to
purchase magazines you have never noticed before!
- Spend time looking through the magazines to get
an idea of what each magazine is about and what is
important to its readers.
- Now look for connections to your own work and
life.
Mr. Pink says that doing this exercise helped him
come up with a better way to make his business
cards (from Cake Decorating) and get
an idea
for a
newsletter (from an article in Hair for
You.)
See
what new ideas pop up for you!
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