Different is the Difference
by Colle Davis
It’s old news. It’s the same old ‘been there, done that.’ The pandemic-induced isolation forced the opportunity for us to vary our routines. The ones that worked, we’ll keep. The rest will be looked back on with amusement.
The majority of our daily routine is exactly that, old routines. We repeat our behaviors at specific times during the day. Wherever you are today has been reinforced by daily rituals and your carefully crafted behaviors.
- Change a morning ritual. The simple act of shaving is the best example. For those who shave, it is a process where little thought is required. Start washing or shaving on the other side of your body. You grasp the shaving instrument in your dominant hand, attack the exact spot where you always begin, and immediately start to do the deed.
- Start by shaving on the opposite side of your body. If you use a bladed instrument, do not use the non-dominate hand for this, it’s dangerous. For example, start on the right if you usually start on the left. Insight: this change takes most people a week or so to remember to make the change — a sticky note on the mirror helps.
- When putting on your underwear, start with the other leg first. No, it is not easy, and sorting for differences makes your world bigger and presents you with opportunities you could not see before. Insight: Put a note in your underwear drawer and see how long it takes to change your life.
- Here is a hard one. Put your shirt or blouse on by starting on the opposite side. Insight: This change may feel so awkward you may have to think about it several times before grasping how you put it on.
- If you wear a wristwatch or activity tracker, move it to the opposite wrist. Insight: You see time differently by moving your timepiece to the other wrist.
Why does this work?
Any behavioral change forces your brain to process
incoming information differently.
Your old ways worked well, and now the brain has to look for new ways to make the new input work. This difference requires more energy and focus and prompts your brain to look for other ways to incorporate the new input. This awareness creates a new routine that integrates the changes, devotes less energy, and returns to a fast idle.
Why would you want to change excellent habits that make your day easier?
Because your current habits are
not giving you the outcomes, you say you want.
For those who commute, use a different route to work for a week or two, and your life will change. Your brain has to think through the outcome, then back to the beginning. It will find the most elegant solution to solve the puzzle. That’s what your brain does best. Habits kill incentive and risk-taking.
Let’s return to the example of shaving for a moment. Starting in a different location each time you shave speeds up the process of brain training and enhanced risk acceptance. New behaviors require thought and energy. However, our brain uses all information in the least energy-intensive manner. That’s why habits are so easy; they need no energy because we do not have to think about them.
The challenge is performing a new behavior. Performing new ways of accomplishing old tasks produces surprising results; sometimes, we may not want the results, but the new sequences help. When our brain is given further information and forced to develop ways to achieve the stated outcome, you will be amazed at the results in other areas of your life.
Career-wise, how can you use this information to
enhance your career?
Investing in differences will make a massive difference in how you see the world. Opportunities will appear because you are now sorting for differences. Those who sort for differences are the most successful in life and business.
Adding or changing anything in the game advances you up the levels, and in life the same is true. Force yourself to do something different every day for a month, and suddenly your world changes.
For example, being kind, complimenting people, letting someone into your lane, holding a door for someone, shaving from the other side of your body, using a different cologne, not wearing underwear for a day (funny story, ask me about it), or anything else that makes you aware and requires a different response to the world.
The world will respond to your newfound way of being in the world. Your clients, boss, friends, family, and even pseudo-enemies will know you are different and will not be able to tell why.
There is a book called Using Your Brain – For a Change by Richard Bandler. It is tough to read, I don’t recommend it as light reading, but the title is powerful.
Changing the brain helps you reach the outcomes you want, and practicing this as a lifelong pursuit keeps you on track to achieving your results. First, children experiment with their world to see how much they can get away with and not get hurt. Become childlike and have fun with the new world you have entered.
If what you want is important to you, doing routines and changing habits in different ways is the fastest and least expensive way to achieve your outcomes. Although having goals is great, getting to those goals quickly in a new and elegant way makes the journey fun, engaging, and worth your time.
For more tips and tricks on being a great leader, set up a Zoom session, email cdavis@mycoach.com or give me a call at 804- 467-1536 EST.