WEBVTT - How to put more serendipity in your life

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is about how to put more serendipity into

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<v Speaker 1>your life. This will help you find new ideas and

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<v Speaker 1>new opportunities. Serendipity will also help you stretch the experience

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<v Speaker 1>of time by making it more memorable. First, I want

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<v Speaker 1>to say that routines are great. It's also fun to

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<v Speaker 1>become a regular at place as you enjoy, which we'll

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<v Speaker 1>talk about in an upcoming episode. But when life becomes

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<v Speaker 1>too routine, that means you're doing the same things over

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<v Speaker 1>and over again. You can start to feel in a rut.

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<v Speaker 1>You need to introduce new material in order to get

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<v Speaker 1>things going. Fortunately, there are lots of ways to introduce

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<v Speaker 1>serendipity into life. The easiest way is to tweak your

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<v Speaker 1>routines just a bit. Here are five ideas. One, if

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<v Speaker 1>it's possible in your job work from somewhere different one

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<v Speaker 1>day a week. I thought it was so strange when

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<v Speaker 1>a few years ago some organizations made headlines by canceling

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<v Speaker 1>work from home arrangements. The idea is that there would

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<v Speaker 1>be more serendipity when people were in the office bumping

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<v Speaker 1>into co workers. I mean maybe, but if you're in

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<v Speaker 1>your cubicle five days a week, that's a lot of routine.

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<v Speaker 1>The best option might be three days in the office

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<v Speaker 1>and two in a coworking space, coffee shop, library, or

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<v Speaker 1>at home looking at something scenic from your back porch.

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<v Speaker 1>Two meet someone intriguing for a quick breakfast, lunch, or

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<v Speaker 1>coffee every other week and producer Brian Grazer's new book,

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<v Speaker 1>Face to Face, he calls these meetings curiosity conversations. Ones

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<v Speaker 1>you schedule just because you find the other person fascinating.

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<v Speaker 1>Research the person you're meeting with beforehand, and be sure

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<v Speaker 1>to share useful information and ask thoughtful questions. But you

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<v Speaker 1>don't need to go in with any particular agenda. These

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<v Speaker 1>conversations can lead to unexpected places, or maybe they won't.

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<v Speaker 1>But the good news with coffee is that you've wasted

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<v Speaker 1>less than an hour. When you get in the habit

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<v Speaker 1>of meeting new people, you start looking for people to meet,

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<v Speaker 1>and that could open up lots of possibilities. Three take

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<v Speaker 1>the scenic route. No, you're not going to come up

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<v Speaker 1>with a new commute daily, but the goal is to

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<v Speaker 1>make time spent in transit not completely brainless. Mix it

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<v Speaker 1>up between driving, using public transit, biking, and car pooling.

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<v Speaker 1>If driving is the only option, try taking slightly different

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<v Speaker 1>routes from time to time to make this seem more efficient.

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<v Speaker 1>Add in a stop once a week or so, a

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<v Speaker 1>new store, a park, a restaurant, a friend, place to

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<v Speaker 1>say hello. Four Say yes. Sometimes there's much to be

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<v Speaker 1>said for saying no to things we don't want to do.

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<v Speaker 1>But the reason to say no is that this opens

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<v Speaker 1>up space to say yes on occasion when things pique

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<v Speaker 1>our interest. If co workers invite you to a new

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<v Speaker 1>place for lunch, tag along. If you see an intriguing

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<v Speaker 1>workshopper webinar offered, do it occasionally. Be the sort of

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<v Speaker 1>person who decides to go to a jazz club on

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<v Speaker 1>a Monday night. It will definitely be memorable. Five. Expand

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<v Speaker 1>your inputs. I love to read things online, but one

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<v Speaker 1>of the problems with this is that search engines and

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<v Speaker 1>publications become very good at figuring out what you usually

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<v Speaker 1>click on. Then you see more of that. You have

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<v Speaker 1>to consciously fight this tendency to keep your reading material

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<v Speaker 1>more serendipitous. I subscribe to a number of print publications

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<v Speaker 1>because my actions don't influence that algorithm. While flipping through

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<v Speaker 1>the pages, I inevitably come across something like an article

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<v Speaker 1>on canned wine in the weekend Wall Street Journal that

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<v Speaker 1>would not have shown up on my social media feed.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not that anyone meeting article or trip to a

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<v Speaker 1>bar will result in something special, though. You never know.

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<v Speaker 1>I met my husband sixteen years ago because I stopped

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<v Speaker 1>by a second bar one night when a friend happened

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<v Speaker 1>to text to see if I was in the neighborhood.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just that new ideas often stem from crossing new

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<v Speaker 1>inputs with your existing knowledge and good habits. You don't

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<v Speaker 1>get the new inputs if you always do the same thing.

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<v Speaker 1>Introduce something random, though, and you never know what will happen.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe nothing much, but maybe something great. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. M M Hey everybody, I'd

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<v Speaker 1>love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

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<v Speaker 1>your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,

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<v Speaker 1>number four then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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<v Speaker 1>with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward

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<v Speaker 1>to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

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