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Daily Leadership Thought #102 – Broaden Your Horizons and Seek Diverse Experiences

March 7, 2011

 

Free Man Standing at the Beach Stock Photo

Broaden your horizons and your life will be full of possibility!

As we age, we must be careful of becoming too narrow minded and unwilling to challenge ourselves and our thinking.  Instead of simply leaning on what you already know and operating in a comfort zone, it’s critical to broaden your horizons and seek diverse experiences.  Most of great thinkers and leaders we study or try to emulate were “Renaissance Men (or Woman).”  They were multidimensional with many interests and talents.  They were able to view situations from many different angles. 

Teddy Roosevelt spoke seven languages fluently, had a deep interest and abiding sense of history, was a voracious reader, an avid outdoorsman, committed conservationist, and successful military figure.  His professional resume before becoming president was quite fascinating.  Ben Franklin was an extraordinarily successful businessperson, author, inventor, and diplomat.

You get the sense that these men and others like them knew that our time here on earth is limited and it’s important to get as much out of it as you can.  There are unlimited opportunities for growth, development and experiencing new things.  The only real knowledge and experience boundaries we have are self-imposed.  Think about what Abraham Lincoln accomplished with only one year of formal schooling.   If you continually broaden your horizons and vary your interests, you increase your capacity to stay vital and manage the inevitable complexity that will confront you in life.  You will also enhance your ability to adjust to changing circumstances and make better decisions.

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