5 Ways to Expand Your Horizons

1. Break free from routine. If you have performed a task for any length of time, it is bound to become stale. Find a different way to do it. For example, if you drive to work the same route every day, vary it and make a list of 5 new things you don’t see on your usual trek.

2. Read more good books. If you usually read mysteries, then change genres and read biographies, or if you usually read non-fiction then switch to historical fiction. Allow your imagination to be taken to new places with great books.

3. Smash the comfort zone. Putting yourself in uncomfortable situations that stretch your thinking will help you grow. If you usually go to movies for entertainment, take in an opera and if you find it uncomfortable, analyze why you feel that way and what others enjoy about it.

4. Volunteer to help someone less fortunate than you. Whether you help out at a soup kitchen, knit woollen mittens or join a service club, helping others will pay you back in countless ways.

5. Challenge stereotypes. Stereotypical prejudices form in all of us whether we like it or not. What stereotype has developed in your life that you can challenge? Is there a person you deal with on a regular basis who you have not given the benefit of your broadened perspective to? Re-evaluate all of your personal interactions to see where you can understand more of what they live with.

Cheers

Steve