The events over the weekend really got me thinking about patterns and how we are all living in this world which is seemingly chaotic at best, but is really run on models and patterns.
You wake up, go to work, come home, sit down, eat and go to bed. Somewhere in between you might throw in a few nights out to see friends, then you repeat the process week after week without random interjection.
Everything we do in life is a pattern, from the way you brush your teeth, to the decision strategy you employ to cross busy roads. For the most part this works really well, after all, we need structure to enable us to live our lives in the best possible efficiency, however you must also be self aware enough to shake it up and do something different from time to time.
Trying new things
This weekend I tried out power kiting for the first time. It was a 4-line kiting lesson given to me by a good friend of mine called Mark who runs this great little company called Kitevibe (www.kitevibe.com) which teaches people power kiting, landboarding, buggying and all sorts of non-sensical yet totally fun activities.
It was thoroughly enjoyable and something I hadn’t done since I was a little kid. Though back then, the kites were tiny and were not capable of lifting a person into the air!
No, these were silly kites with immense pull and will put a smile on anyone’s face. If you haven’t done it before, go try it out today.
So walking back to my car I thought up the title to this post. Do something random. Something you wouldn’t have thought to do normally, but somehow the opportunity came up and you have a chance to experience something new.
Assumptions about people’s model of reality
Don’t just assume that wouldn’t like it. In fact this lesson goes to show that you shouldn’t assume anything at all based on your model of reality. You must respect other peoples model reality and realise that it is just their model, and not your own.
You control your own model, and you must ascertain as far as you can, your world by personal experiences. Even if you make decisions based on enough research, whether you have done it online or through reading, it is oftentimes nothing like the decision you would have made, had you done the research in person by doing.
Take for instance you are looking to get yourself a life coach and didn’t know where to start. So you look online, Google, as we all do, and search for a few sites where you might be able to find someone blogging or talking about the subject. Or you might come across some interesting videos at some online video sharing site. Whatever information you come across, it is merely a representation of the information as filtered by the originator of that blog or video. This is their perception of this topic.
In order for you to find more information, go and meet some coaches, talk to people who have had coaching, or even book into a seminar about it. At least this way you learn first hand, and you can walk away taking the knowledge you find useful, and just leave behind that which you don’t find useful. At the very least, you’ll make a far better decision as to whether or not life coaching is for you.
In this day and age of internet information, too many people make decisions on the backs of other peoples realities. Go get the experience for yourself and then make a more informed choice.
So today, as you step out into the world of potentiality, do something new and random. It might be as simple as helping a pensioner across the street, it might be trying out that new gym just round the corner from your house, or it might just be committing to something new. Whatever it is, it will break up your pattern for the day and it will affect you and other people around you in positive ways. These are the magical moments in life when seemingly from nowhere, opportunities start presenting themselves in front of your very eyes.
Check out this talk about randomness by Leonard Mlodinow.
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