Explore New Horizons
There was a time when people thought that the world was flat. It was believed that anyone who sailed too far out into the ocean, would fall off the edge and be lost forever. Yet, there were a few brave adventurers like Vasco da Gama, Columbus and Magellan who ventured out into the open sea, looking for paradise on some unknown shore. They were not even sure whether they would return. They did not have proper navigation aids… and moreover, they did not even have charts (maps) for the routes they were endeavouring to use. So they were virtually going out guided only by a belief in their abilities as sailors and the desire to discover something. All they had … was a hope, a prayer and courage. Yet, they ventured on… and they reached destinations that they could never have imagined. Each of them got rewarded for their efforts, and each of them sealed a place for themselves in history. These pioneers had one thing in common… they were Exploring New Horizons.
How can we Explore New Horizons?
We can do so by discovering and doing things that will give us more options. Lets explore some possibilities that will enable us to explore new horizons:
- Education is one of the easiest ways to expand our horizon. Whether we venture into a technical area, or a management function, by learning a new subject, we expand our knowledge of the subject, and hence we create a new option or even a new path.
- Reading books, magazines, or online content. The amount of information available today is phenomenal. We have unlimited avenues to grow our knowledge bank.
- Training Programmes are a practical way to enhance learning in a short span of time, and it give us deeper insights than what we can expect from a book. A good training programme can be life changing. An average programme should give us insights that will surely be a value add to some part of our lives.
- The best area to develop skills is where we already have reasonable strength. The speed at which the world is progressing, forces us to continually upgrade our skills and keep abreast of the latest techniques/technologies available.
- Another way to develop skills is to learn a complementary skill. For example – A teacher can learn how to use the internet to add a new dimension to teaching online. A surgeon can add the use of laser surgery and even go into micro surgery.
- Identify your hidden abilities… and develop and exploit these. A good friend or a coach could see things that we may sometimes miss. Soon the hidden abilities could become skills that we can use to great advantage. Speaking well in public is a skill that can be developed quickly, and this skill will make us stand apart from the others around us.
- Seeing new places gives us a first hand experience of how other cities/countries manage and shape themselves. Further, when we travel to countries renowned for our area of expertise, we also gain some professional touch points for learning.
- When we understand the different cultures across the globe it helps us in expanding our cultural wisdom and also helps us when we may need to deal with people from other cultures.
- Friends – By far the best way to Explore new horizons is to look at collaborating with known people. In our circle of friends or business connections there are people whom we may have forgotten. Just going through our card selectors from time to time will help us remember where people are positioned and how they can be of some use to you.
- Groups – Social, or social service oriented groups like Rotary and Round Table are great places to network. Business networking groups such as BNI or YPO are also focused on credible networking. Learning Groups such as Jaycees or Toastmasters or the Game Changers Forum (Bangalore based peer-to-peer learning forum) not only help to add to our skills but also help to know people better, and this in turn expands our horizon.
- Get fit – we can join a gym, aerobics/martial arts/ yoga/dance or any other similar activity, and fitness will enable us to build confidence and self image. This in turn will open up new horizons.
- Start a success group. All we need is 8 to 10 likeminded people who want to work together and we can enable and motivate each other to pursue personal goals.
- New programmes We should attend programmes that we do not normally attend – plays, dramas, rock concerts. Generally we should do things that are not our first choice. Unless we explore our drives and passions, we will not really be able to figure out all our available choices.
- Take a one month challenge – explore what things control us. We need to give these up for a month. For example
- Giving up a food item that we normally eat everyday (a cereal, or staple food, or tea/coffee).
- Give up a behaviour that has not been good for your image (anger, envy, gossiping etc)
- A smoker or a drinker, can give up these habits for a month and gain back our self control. This will enable us to know that we can do more and be more.
- Increase Awareness. We can be more observant and aware. The more we can observe successful people and how they go about their lives, the more ideas we get on what else we can do for ourselves. Each person we meet is either a blessing or a lesson. Lets not miss either of these. Lets increase our awareness and our openness to learn from everyone. Life is short, but it gives us myriad possibilities if only we care to look, hear and feel more.
When we decide to take a risk and explore new horizons, we discover new potential and new options.
All we need to do is to push ourselves out of our comfort zones and do wide range of unfamiliar activities. Each of us has immense potential, and all we need to do is to find it.
From today lets discover exciting new horizons!
All the best on the new journey.