5 Great Ways To Discover New Territory

Today is Columbus Day.  Over the last week, I have read quite a few articles expressing a range of emotions from appreciation to outright hatred.  I won’t begin to debate the issues of Columbus and whether or not he deserves to have a day.  I just want to use the day as a moment to talk about discovery.

Now, my wife likes to “discover” new things when she goes shopping.  She likes to “discover” great sales or “discover” new styles or things that apparently didn’t exist before she got to that particular store.  She gets REALLY excited by these things and actually notes that this “discovery” process is very therapeutic for her.  She also notes that her “discovery” therapy is less expensive than mine.  She rationalizes that she tends to “discover” a lot of small things while I usually just discover one big thing.  Hmmm, I don’t necessarily subscribe to her thought process but I’m glad that she has thought of a way to bring her joy and has created a way to “explain” it to me in therapeutic terms.  This works for her.  It allows her see new possibilities (outfit combinations, I’m guessing) and helps her create an awesome attitude in the process (I’ll take that benefit).

Discovery does that.  All of us have experienced the joy of finding something.  Just yesterday, my 5 year old found 2 dollars on the ground as we were coming out of a store.  It was raining and the dollars were SOAKED but he took them up, put them in a secure place in the care and waited until the next day for them to dry.  He gleefully told his mom that he made a “discovery” on the street.  Now, he is trying to figure out how he will spend his “discovery.”

A lot of times, discovery is accidental.  But, I’ve found that INTENTIONAL discovery is a great way to live and learn.  Intentional discovery is a great way to expand your horizons and help you not only bring new value into your own life, but also into the lives of others.

Each day, seek to discover new territory by trying these 5 things:

1. Create a new relationship daily.
Intentionally seek to say hello or create a conversation with someone new. That can be in person or even in an online forum.

2. Spend some time disconnected.
Don’t open up your email first thing in the morning. Spend some time in simple thought. What can you learn today?

3. Take some time to see what you missed.
Look back at the most important thing you did yesterday or recently. Intentionally see what new perspective you can gain from them.

4. Read something new (not the newspaper or daily news articles. Something learning focused, something inspirational. I’m reading a book by Mary Ellen Tribby now and then moving into a book by Michael Port)

5. Create a plan for a place that you want to go and then put in place some steps to get there.
It could be the Washington Monument or it could be Alaska. Find out where exactly this place is and then price it. What would you do while you are there? What can you see? Then put a date on your Calendar.

What new territory are you discovering today? Leave your comments below.

P.S. – My business partner and I are ending a business giveaway at the end of the day tomorrow (Oct. 15th).  There are a lot of great downloads and giveaways from some pretty neat coaches and consultants.  Check it out by CLICKING HERE!  But, we enjoyed this so much that we are in the process of launching a 28 Day Business Challenge.  Are you interested in transforming your business?  Then take on this business challenge.  We LAUNCH on Nov. 1st.  But CLICK HERE to get started!!