Bored With Yourself?

Note - If you are a follower of my Creativity and Risk Taking blog - http://igniteyourideas.blogspot.com/ - this first paragraph will sound familiar - but the story will end up in a different place so I invite you to reread it.

I attended an afternoon workshop on defining and working with all the resources available to you to move your personal development or your business forward. It was an interesting look at all we have around us that we typically forget or pass over as we rush through our week. We were asked to make a list of 100 resources that we have and were given a few minutes to complete the task. Pens and fingers on tablets moved furiously down the page listing person after person and item after item. Most people had 30 or more resources listed in a very short time. We shared part of our list with the group and the ideas from others in the room inspired us to add to our lists. One that I mentioned was clutter. We think of it as junk but if we were to go through many of the boxes stuffed in our attic or under a bed - we might find treasures that could be used in our work or in some other way we hadn't previously considered. A teacher friend of mine planned to have her students help her sort through some boxes of supplies she had accumulated over the years. She knew that they would be able to come up with numerous ideas on how the "stuff" could be used in alternative ways. Those little ones were creative problem solvers.

The speaker came highly recommended and I was initially enjoying his talk but my interest started to wane as he continued.  The resource list was a great reminder of all the treasures we have in people and "stuff" and how we could more effectively and creatively utilize those resources.  I was planning how I would add to the list every day and play with my resources in new ways to help myself and those I come in contact with.  But then a feeling started to emerge - like the speaker had given this talk before and he was starting to run on autopilot. He gave us an exercise and then proceeded to get lost in his laptop on some project.  He finished early and I found myself wishing he had given us more information and skipped the last exercise.

I have had yoga class attendees comment that they loved my class because it was always something new and they never got bored.  I was surprised because most of class is usually a repeat of the warm-ups and many poses you do every time. But I do try to give it a little twist every time with a different focus.  I go back through notes from a conference or look up something in a book or on the Internet that might help members deepen their practice.  No matter how I feel, I leave energized and renewed when class is over, inspired by the different energy participants bring each time.  

In my business presentations or classes I try to approach the session with a renewed enthusiam even though I may have presented the same topic numerous times before.  It is a new group and a new day and I try to play in a new way.

How are you approaching your day, your job, your family, your activities? Like you are bored and have done this 100 times and "here you to go again"? 

I invite you to consider how you could make the old "new"?  What small change in your attitude or how you look at something or someone could bring joy back to your life? 

Try it - I think you will like the results!