Newsletter June03

Exploring the unknown:

When I was a kid growing up in Connecticut, I lived in a house in a fairly wooded area. In this region, there are a lot of stones in the ground, so as people built, they put stone walls to mark property lines. Behind my house, there was one of these walls, and beyond that was about 50 acres of woods. For a kid 5 or so years old, that was the great unknown. It was scary, and wonderful, and offered the greatest mystery and possibility in my world at the time. At first I would cross the stone wall and walk a small distance, although never out of site of my house. Some places were easy to walk, but most areas were blocked by heavy growth of trees and bushes. Sometimes I would take these walks by myself. Sometimes I would go with my older brother or sister or my father.

As I got older, I became more adventurous. I would walk far out of view of my house. As I got more familiar with the area I realized that if I pushed through one of the thickest areas, I would hit a large clearing that slanted up a gradual hill. At the top of this incline I could look back and see my house in the distance and out over most of the area north of where I lived in town. It was beautiful. This was a great place to go and play, relax and even camp from time to time.

Looking back I realize that there was something out there that continuously called to me. It was both tempting and scary. In time it became more familiar, but never lost the sense of mystery. Even now I notice that new experience calls to me on a regular basis. New experience is many things at once. It’s new, scary, mysterious and perhaps inviting all at once. I realize now that experience is rarely as scary or difficult as I imagine it to be.

In the last few years I’ve ventured out many times to explore new experience. Sometimes these are big activities or explorations, while other times these can be something quite small. A few of these include going horseback riding in Brooklyn, going rock climbing near Lincoln center, opening my own company, going to a wine tasting, and playing music in the subway. There’s nothing like a new experience to get your heart pumping and create new worlds to play in.

What To Do:

1. This week choose some activity that you’ve always wanted to do and take the first few steps in doing it.
2. Choose 3 new activities, foods or experiences that you’re curious about and explore them this week.
3. Engage in a conversation with at least one stranger you meet this week.
4. Change the order in which you perform your morning ritual of preparing for work

When you do these steps, you will loosen up your exploration muscles while building your confidence around moving into the unknown.

As always enjoy!

Rob

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Upcoming Event:

Charlie Baxter and I are offering our next installment of ‘Dealing With Difficult People, Even If It’s You!’

Date: Monday, June 30th, 6:30-8:30 PM
Location: TRS, 44 East 32nd Street, 11th Fl., NYC
Cost: $25 per person
To register: Call Charlie Baxter, 212-965-5055
"The communication skills I learned with Charlie and Rob were awesome. Useful personally, and also as part of my coaching toolkit."     -Janine Schindler, Business Coach