Been reading Tom Peters. Yes. The man who writes like he speaks.
Never heard him speak before of course but the elipses, the sudden brackets, the capital letters, the inevitable choppiness of the book I am reading right now reminds me of how a person speaks.
Starts. Stops. Mulls a bit. Continues. Shouts(?). Postulates.
That’s why I find it tough reading Peters. Sure, he’s got ideas. Plenty. More than you can use in a lifetime.
He’s also mad about being passionate about work and life. He despises Dilbertism or the Dilbert in every office worker who thinks life begins when the work day ends.
What I do like about him is that he really changes you…imperceptibly, of course. Who would want to declare that they’ve been (gasp) brainwashed by a management guru?
One idea which I am going to implement in my life is this: try something different each day. Get out of your (old) skin and slither into something exciting, new, fun, crazy, funky for a change. It may just snap you out of your old boring routine. Transform boring into ‘when can i do it again?’. Turn everyday into Moments of Discovery. Then, you start to really Live. Breathe. I mean, let’s face it, who wants to be a passion-less person until 80?
My personal list of Creating Moments of Discovery (try making up your own list…it is fun!):
1. Visit 5 new blogs each week and leave an intriguing yet sincere comment at each one.
2. Read books from authors I’d never heard of, or try genres I’d previously shunned (ok. Sci-fi, here I come!). Starting this month.
3. Eat somewhere different this week. Order something other than fish. (My friends say that they can guess what I order even before I order…so predictable am I!)
4. Buy a notebook. Carry it around with me. Jot down interesting things which happen to me during the day. Helps me pay attention to the world around me. Even snippets of conversation are good.
5. Wear a colour I don’t usually go for.
6. Pick up magazines I don’t really dig. (I might learn something novel!)
7. Pay attention to Design details when I shop. Train myself to look at Design with a critical eye. Why does this look tacky or Ah-Beng? Why does this look elegant? Why?
8. Find friends of totally different industries and backgrounds and talk to them. Learn how their work works.
Keep this objective in mind: Challenge yourself to beat routine. Don’t fall into a rut if you don’t want to. It’s easy to become creatures of (bad) habits.
Want to know what Tom Peters is all about?
Here’s the link .
You know, I never really thought about things that way. Now that you mentioned it, I will try out reading and commenting on blogs. And hey…what’s wrong with sci-fi. Too much Bridget Jones and self-help is turning me into a walking National Geographic disaster ok? Not being a fashion-horse myself, it’s funny that I am always critical when it comes to design.
Pick up a magazine I don’t usually go for??? erm….lemme mull over this a while, ok? I can’t imagine picking up a adult-content book or (egad!) golf. eugh! 🙂
hi marsha
haha, the key here is to challenge oneself to go beyond one’s parameters of life. we stick to the safe and secure, but there should be lots more out there to enthrall us, if only we’d look harder. golf? i’m not a fan either. 😉