I have received a gazillion emails touting local health spas and online health programs. Get you body in shape for the new year. Yeah right. Not that getting in shape isn’t a good idea, but aren’t we forgetting one part of our psyche? Our mind.
What can we do to jump start our minds. How can we develop the curiosity that all great thinkers know is so important? Bear with me. I have some ideas.
Children have inborn curiosity. They need it for their survival. But as we age we lose that desire to learn and seek out new experiences. We are caught in a social whirl that has preordained our futures. We finish our education, go to work, get married, have kids, save for retirement, retire, and die. Its what you are supposed to do. OK there may be some hiccups along the way. A divorce here or there. A kid that doesn’t reach our expectations. Retirement might not be all its cracked up to be. But we accept it. Everyone else is doing it. Why shouldn’t we.
I’m told that due to my advanced years, I should put myself out to pasture. Enjoy my sunset years. As Jerry Seinfeld said – you turn 65, you move to Florida. IT’S THE LAW.
There is no reason why I can’t renew that curiosity of youth. Find someone younger, a lot younger, and socialize. That doesn’t mean that I have to accept all the damn fool ideas they have, but I can at least consider some of them. And perhaps offer some alternatives. Or set myself thinking about new ideas. New Friends.
I read a lot, but most of what I read is not challenging at all. Its more difficult than watching TV, but not much. I have a list of books now that actually have some ideas in them. After all, Jack Reacher can slug it out with only so many bad guys. It doesn’t mean that I have to agree with the folks who lived a century ago and had different ways of thinking, but at least my synapses are challenged and forced to work a little harder. New Books.
I have always thought that point of view is important. When I get bored or stagnant, I move my desk. That way when I sit at it I have a different perspective. Rather than seeing the planes take off over my right shoulder, I seen them over my left. Strangely it makes a difference. New Perspective.
It is easy to not do any of these things. Just sit here and watch the world go by. Its not easy to get on that airplane, see a different world. After all, been there, done that. Strangely, one little change has made a world of difference. I got a dog. We had been dogless for a couple of years but I will tell you, when a dog wants to go out, there is no stopping her. When she is hungry, you damn well get up and feed her. She makes you move. Plus she is fun. New Dog.
Like changing your desk, setting a new goal in a different area can be very refreshing. Preferable in an area that you don’t know much about. It forces curiosity. Try it, you might like it. New Challenge.
I know the next couple of paragraphs are self serving but bear with me. Most of the “new” above require you to work outside your comfort zone. Go somewhere, do something. The perfect place for you parking nuts is PIE in Schaumburg in March. Our theme, where innovation meets experience, is more than just words. For those of you that have become a tad stale, those kids with innovation will clear out the cobwebs. It will also give you the opportunity to use some of that ‘years of experience’ to change their perspective, and yours.
We won’t have a list of books to read, but maybe, just maybe during conversations at the bar, or at Top Golf, or at Speed Networking, or at our party, party, party some titles may come up. (OK, I’ll run off copies of my list and you can, if you like, ask me for it.)
As you approach Seinfeld’s magic age, perhaps a few that have past it will give you ideas as to how to break his “LAW.” Aren’t you a tad bit curious as to how all the effort you have spend in this industry is helping to shape not only what we do, but how we do it.
There is no place to go to school and get a degree in parking, but there is a place to go to get those juices flowing. And who knows, maybe you will meet a nice dog or at least see the old dog as a new one. Because I for one am choosing to stay curious!
JVH
One Response
The great scientist Stephen Hawking agreed with you, John. He wrote “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” Words from the wise.