"When life gets scary and difficult, we tend to look for solutions in places where it is easy or at least familiar to do so, and not in the dark, uncomfortable places where real solutions might lie."
I saw this quote from Robert Maurer’s book, “One Small Step Can Change Your Life” and immediately feel in love with the idea.
Interesting point. That's certainly central to how we think about creating change. It can be difficult to get beyond what's familiar and easy when we think about our problems.
The places to look for solutions are only dark because we haven't thrown light on them yet, and they're only uncomfortable because they're unfamiliar. It can be helpful to have someone else lead us away from the lamppost when we're instinctively acting like moths instead of strategically looking at what's in the dark and uncomfortable places.
It’s interesting to think about how to balance familiarity with unfamiliarity, because the benefit of familiarity is the more familiar we become with something, the more influence we’re able to have with it, and it would be impractical to spend all of our time in the unfamiliar. But the limitation is that it becomes the only place we look, and it can become the only place we want to look.
I think the key is finding the proper balance between familiarity and daring to look in new places.
Interesting idea about balancing the comfort of familiarity and the risk of exploring the unfamiliar. I’m simply not sure how to go about it. How do you step outside yourself to observe that you are in the grips of the familiar?
"When life gets scary and difficult, we tend to look for solutions in places where it is easy or at least familiar to do so, and not in the dark, uncomfortable places where real solutions might lie."
I saw this quote from Robert Maurer’s book, “One Small Step Can Change Your Life” and immediately feel in love with the idea.
Interesting point. That's certainly central to how we think about creating change. It can be difficult to get beyond what's familiar and easy when we think about our problems.
We all fall victim to the “Looking-for-my-lost-keys-under-the-lamppost” trick.
The places to look for solutions are only dark because we haven't thrown light on them yet, and they're only uncomfortable because they're unfamiliar. It can be helpful to have someone else lead us away from the lamppost when we're instinctively acting like moths instead of strategically looking at what's in the dark and uncomfortable places.
I couldn’t have said this better myself. It’s only unfamiliarity that makes a place “dark” or “uncomfortable.”
And once a place becomes familiar. familiarity can’t be undone.
I like that “familiarity can’t be undone.”
It’s interesting to think about how to balance familiarity with unfamiliarity, because the benefit of familiarity is the more familiar we become with something, the more influence we’re able to have with it, and it would be impractical to spend all of our time in the unfamiliar. But the limitation is that it becomes the only place we look, and it can become the only place we want to look.
I think the key is finding the proper balance between familiarity and daring to look in new places.
Interesting idea about balancing the comfort of familiarity and the risk of exploring the unfamiliar. I’m simply not sure how to go about it. How do you step outside yourself to observe that you are in the grips of the familiar?