Category: perspective

It’s harder to do things when you don’t fully commit to them.

People who hate shaving don’t want to pay for premium razors, so they hate it even more when they try to shave with a cheap blade.

DIYers give up when they run into challenges trying to do projects with only basic tools.

Artists have a hard time creating professional work with cheap brushes or only free software.

Budding cooks are frustrated by recipes that require processes that could be easily done with a specialized appliance but are hard to do by hand.

Golfers who use basic clubs will likely not improve their score until they upgrade their equipment.

When you want to do something regularly, it pays to invest in the tools to do it well. What you spend in money, you will recoup in time and quality. Stop just getting by.

The student speaker at my niece’s graduation made an insightful comment that has been noodling around in my head since I heard it. Ben Ryan of Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis said:

“I spent a lot of time asking myself who I was, eventually realizing that my best answer was ‘I don’t really know...So, instead of looking inward at something I didn’t understand, I began to pay more attention to what I was putting out. I started talking to the lunchroom staff every day when I got my lunch, really trying to connect with my teachers, having conversations with people that I would normally just walk past…What these small gestures made me realize is that we are what we put out. You are the people you surround yourself with. You are the stranger you start a conversation with in class. You are the person you smile at in the halls. You are the lunch server you tell to have a good day. What you put out is what you will become.”

I like this concept for its ease of implementation. Everyone can “put out” kindness and connection, and I think Ben is right that it benefits not only the person who receives it, but the giver as well.

Pay attention to what you “put out” today and let it reflect the person you wish to become.

Have you noticed how many movies are extensions of the original story rather than original productions? The Devil Wears Prada 2, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Mortal Kombat II, and even the 40th anniversary of Top Gun are examples of what is showing in the theaters today.

Time and money are among the most valuable commodities people have. To lower their risk of wasting either, people tend to invest in what is familiar. The summer concert series in our town features the majority of the same acts that performed last summer (and the summer before that, etc.). People tend to buy books written by the same author and music performed by the same artists instead of experimenting. We eat the same entrees at the same restaurants because they are a known commodity.

It’s time to remember that we did experiment with all those things that are now familiar favorites. We took a risk to see the first Star Wars, or to try that new bistro. We invested our time to watch a new act perform before we became their fans. We took a chance on our now-favorite author when we read her debut novel. Some risks paid off, while others did not, but all the things we cherish were once new to us.

Be brave today and try something for the first time. All great love affairs start by taking a risk.

I’m part of the school district’s community task force, charged with making recommendations for how to align resources since the bond referendum failed. As part of our work, we toured one of the high schools. Among other spaces, we saw a robotics lab, drafting and engineering computer stations, hospital beds, welding bays, an engine repair station that allows students to work on everything from snowblowers to rebuilding car engines, and a construction lab where students are building sheds. It is offered at both high schools as part of the district’s career and college readiness program.

What I saw was nothing like any high school I went to. Had I not been on this task force, I would have driven by these schools every day, assuming all that was inside were classrooms, a library, a cafeteria, and a gym, as I had.

Think about what assumptions you might be making based on old or incomplete information. Maybe church has changed since you last attended years ago. Perhaps yoga isn’t as strenuous as you imagine, even though you have never tried it. Maybe you can learn pickleball. Perhaps if you take a tour of your schools, you would think differently the next time you vote. Maybe if you visited, you’d learn that the humane society has more than cats and dogs up for adoption. Perhaps if you attended a meeting, you’d learn how government really works.

Start by recognizing that you are making assumptions about many things, and then challenge yourself to learn firsthand whether your perceptions are true. You may be surprised at how different reality is from what you have been believing.