Times are a-changin’
/It’s the end of the year. If you’re not already reflecting, let me put a bug in your ear.
The times are, of course, always a changin’. So much so that we rarely take the chance to sit back and reflect on what we’ve learned—and what we haven’t.
It’s all too easy to stick with the sources we’ve trusted for years. The “papers” we read, the circles we hang out in, the sources we trust. It’s comfortable. But it can get stale—if you don’t mix up your sources once in a while, how you gonna find the real breakthroughs?
I recently did a cleansing. Unsubscribed from a bunch of email lists. Stuff that had once been useful, or intrigued me, but that I no longer opened. Left them all. Figured if I missed any I could always go back. But I haven’t.
I’m now adding new lists very carefully—I keep Inbox zero and I don’t want any clutter—and I’m discovering whole new topics, domains and perspectives. It’s already give me a ton of exciting ideas.
I recommend you try the same. (Fingers crossed my newsletter survives!)
Last thing I want to do is ask you to think over the Holidays. Then again, you’ll do that anyways. If you have 5-minutes to spare, try this …
Consider the source
Retain, cleanse and renew:
Chill. Sit down. Wind down.
Write out the 5 things you read or heard about this year that peaked your interest.
Now consider how you received this info—what you read, which conversations they came up in.
What sources will you retain because they are repeatedly useful? What gaps does that leave—in areas of interest, topics that are making news outside your world.
How will you fill those gaps next year?
Let me offer one source you might consider …
Trusting Technology is a book about forming ideas, exploring opportunities with customers and colleagues, and building your future together. Order your copy here.
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