One of the questions on the test, “Are you an Entrepreneur?” asks: Do you frequently take different routes to work? “Yes” is the entrepreneur’s answer. Since I have always been one, I can tell you: We hate doing the same things over and over. Monotony kills the creative drive.
In fact, taking different routes is a technique I use in hypnosis to help people decide which way to go when they are at a crossroads in their lives. Here’s a typical example of what happens:
I have a young entrepreneurial client who has been very successful in his career. However, he feels stifled and has become irritable. After taking some time off, he realized he really wanted to do something entirely different. Something that involved taking over a family member’s business.
I had him come to a fork in the road, mentally, then he went down each road, one at a time, noticing everything about the experience. After the session concluded, I asked him to describe each road. The entrepreneurial road (actually a river) was shallow with rocks in it, but the water was fast moving, the sun was out. It was a beautiful day and he had FUN on the trip.
The stay at job fork was: Dead. He said, “That’s the only way I can describe it. The water was stagnant and murky. It wasn’t moving. The trees were so overgrown I couldn’t even see the sky. I felt sick.”
Try it sometime in your mind when you are trying to decide between two options.
I highly recommend actually taking a new path to work, too. You see things from a different perspective, a fresh one, and you never know what you will find. I have found treasures on the side of the road, new clients, new business ideas, new restaurants to try, beautiful scenery, how to avoid traffic jams, things I had no idea we have in San Antonio and even, peace of mind.