by Brad Jorgensen
“Try things against your grain to find out just what your grain really is.”
—IRWIN GREENBERG
I’m not like a lot of self-help “gurus” who seem to have it all figured out.
I admire them, but I find them hard to relate to.
Like most people, I deal with stress, insecurity, boredom, and other mental weights. Often, I let these feelings hold me down and make me feel like I’m “stuck.”
My life is a work in progress, and progress is slow.
But I am making progress. And when I have a breakthrough, it usually begins when I decide to disrupt my patterns and try something new . . .
After being afraid of public speaking for decades, I decided to do something about it. Now I volunteer to give speeches despite the discomfort.
I struggle with social anxiety, but trying new things has led to many new and lasting friendships. I’ve also (voluntarily) lived on both U.S. coasts, visited 40+ U.S. states, spent a year in India, and traveled to over a dozen other countries.
As a kid, I was insecure in competitive sports and never thought of myself as athletic. Yet as an adult, I’ve found the will to hike to the top of Yosemite’s famous Half Dome and complete 50- and 60-mile bike events.
In short, if I can better myself by trying new things, some of the insights I’ve gained are likely to help you, too.
In my blog, I’ll provide a variety of content in different styles:
- Reflections on obstacles I’ve overcome by trying new things and the lessons I’ve learned
- 30-day trials and other experiments you may want to try with me
- Advice on creating new habits, setting goals, managing to-do lists, and other tools for change (and why some approaches worked for me where most others have failed)
- Summaries of books and other resources related to this topic
- Stories, videos, and other approaches I’m inspired to try . . .
Please join me on this journey. You can start by checking out some of my posts. From there, you can add comments to generate discussion. You might even trigger an idea for a future post!