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Change Your View

posted on March 29, 2012

I’m on the Acela right now headed down and back to Washington, DC to meet with the Amtrak team about their sponsorship of Passion Hit TV.

This is a popular route so the train was pretty full this morning and I couldn’t get my usual seat somewhere on the left hand side of the train. I love this side because it faces the ocean and watching the sunrise over the waves is always a beautiful site.

But, as I sit here on the right side looking out the window as we fly through numerous little New England towns I’m noticing all sorts of new things. A cool set of artist studios in an abandoned mill, the funky cube house full of windows and a bit yellow tugboat chugging through the water. The simple act of sitting on the opposite side of the train is showing me almost a whole new world.

What can you do that would give you a new perspective on something familiar?

Is there something you do every day that with a slight shift might change it completely? Think about where you usually workshift, eat breakfast or cook dinner. In your business think about the time and location of your standard meetings, how you reach out to customers or look for new leads.

I’ve talked before about how routines are important, but how can you stay true to your routine but add in a little variety to see if it can give you a fresh set of eyes or open up new opportunities?

Try it today and let me know what little change gave you a new perspective.

 

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Categories: Rambles
  • http://twitter.com/KirkHazlett Kirk Hazlett, APR

    It truly is all about changing your perspective, CC. We get comfortably snuggled into a familiar routine and lose sight of things passing by. Change, as I’m constantly telling my PR students, can be a GOOD thing when implemented wisely.

    Thanks for a great reminder!

    • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

      You are welcome.

  • BEAR Biologics

    Hi CC I am an agricultural consultant in australia used to being in the courtryside, and not the big city.  I have just had my real first trip to Sydney and I am 40.  I usually do not enjoy the high pace ect of city life.  However, I woke and chose to explore the city like I would take in any rural landscape for my normal everyday out in rural australia, as what I see tells me the health of what is going on in the soils below.  I totally enjoyed my walk from Potts Point to the S Opera House, the B Gardens ect.  It was amazing and had to pull myself back to the reality of a 8 hr drive I had before me to get to inland NSW the night.  I took my amazing walks experience and all the opportunities (business) it created for me as I went with me on my drive…8 hrs almost went as fast as 1 hour.  It was an amazing day, just as I chose to look only for the positives……

  • Michellelmckay

    Nice post! I typically have my morning cuppa as I read my email. But this morning I sat on the armchair in the window, with the sun warming my face. It was a peaceful and optimistic beginning for a new day. x

    • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

      See, THIS is exactly what I was talking about and what I was hoping people would do. A little thing.

      Glad it worked for you.

  • http://www.kaneworks.com Marvin Kane

    Started my day noodling on my guitar instead of waiting till the end of the day to do it. The whole day feels different now. BTW, my son is an architect working on Amtrak’s high speed  rail initiative out of Philly. He was surprised – pleasantly- to hear of their sponsorship. Congrats to you on that.

    • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

      Learning to play the guitar is still something I NEED to do in my life so the thought of you noodling makes me jealous.

      I was surprised about the sponsorship as well, but after meeting with the team in DC yesterday about it I’m not as surprised and I’m excited to see where it goes. That has got to be a fun project for your son. I’d love to see us get higher speed rail in this country in my life time.

  • Pingback: My Tough Decision to Get a Regular Job / Justin Kownacki

  • http://twitter.com/trutter Troy Rutter

    One of the biggest pieces of advice I took away from Peter Shankman’s talk at Blog World (and subsequently followed up in email) was the need to get away and change your surroundings from time to time. Whether its writing from a different coffee shop in town, or traveling several hours away for the weekend, changing your routine can definitely give you new perspectives, especially if you go someplace and “un plug.”

    I am on the board of directors (past president) of the local community theater, and this year we’ve tried to have our committee meetings someplace other than the theater, which has resulted in an abundance of creativity and new ideas.