We can experience more energy, engagement and enthusiasm in life when we tap into the power of novelty and challenge. Here’s how to do it:
Make Novelty Meaningful
When something is new to us, it feels fresh and activates our brain to pay attention and often feel rewarded. The challenge in the modern era is that this can backfire – all the new stuff we see is not rewarding but often distraction. It feels good to browse, but too much browsing destroys our ability to focus on meaningful things and have real progress in life.
For novelty to positively activate us in our lives, we must plan for it. Make sure you’re learning new things that you want to learn and that help you grow and advance your life. Ask yourself, “What would I love to learn to get better at what I do in my life?” When you study, experience and pay attention to new things in this area, novelty becomes meaningful and helps you grow and feel fully alive.
Make Challenges Meaningful
Challenge is everything for our personal advancement and growth. It’s one of the Forward Drives and without it we feel bored or restless. Often when we’re lost or bored in life we’re simply lacking a meaningful challenge!
Ask yourself, “What new meaningful challenges am I pursuing right now?”
Meaningful challenges have two components: Creative Expression and Contribution. We get excited about new challenges that creatively express what we think, what we feel and who we are. That is why art or new business projects that require real thinking and new ideas are so invigorating to us – they make us stretch our minds. Add the ability to make a difference with the challenge, and suddenly we have the right mix for truly engaging and meaningful pursuits.
So what new things can you learn that will help you develop? What new challenges can you take on personally or as a team to stretch the boundaries of your beliefs and behaviors? You can purposefully add more novelty to your life and challenge yourself creatively in a contribution-oriented way. This is the path to living The Charged Life!
* Source: Brendon Burchard – The Power of Novelty and Challenge