by Chinonso Ogbogu

Execute that task differently and better. Add a new flavour to your relationship. Add and prepare a new menu. Make new friends. Upgrade your business. Whichever way, just ensure that you break that routine…       

I was used to getting invitations to speak at events, which perhaps explained my slight astonishment when I opened that particular letter. It was different! I had been invited to serve as one of the judges in a campus-community project competition being organized by a university in my neighbourhood. “Me? Serve as a judge? Hmm…you go fear na,” was my spur-of-the-moment mental comeback. Well, the truth was that my first neurophysiological half was nervous, while the other was utterly excited. However, in hindsight, they both created a reality mix that had me learning more than I bargained for. Fast forward.

Now, while busily swimming in my new ocean of judgeship, I was suddenly informed that I would also be giving a speech. “Well, no problem,” I assuredly thought…but actually there were two problems—a slight one and a considerable one. Namely, I had gotten so acclimatized to being a judge (slight) and then my heart just couldn’t decide on the appropriate topic to speak on (considerable). Many topics kept flying into my head but, unlike spaghetti, they just didn’t stick. Apparently, I needed a topic that stem from my heart and that could connect with the hearts of my audience. Eureka! Just in the nick of time, I found it…in the unusual place! It was a bold three-word statement inscribed on a lonely banner hanging on the stage that read: BREAK THAT ROUTINE. Yippee! I hungrily settled for it…

Okay, wait a second. Before you mumble, “So, Chinonso, how does that concern me?” to my self-acclaimed heroic discovery, I will like you to take another look at those three words. But this time, please let the words and their amalgamated meaning jump off this blog and settle right into your fertile heart. And as you do that, I will also like you to begin to look at your life, business, career, or relationship and find out areas where you’ve been locked up in a circle of routine thereby preventing you own growth. If there is (as I’m sure we all have one or more), then I suggest you break that routine! Friend, if you must grow and be happy, then you need to stay committed to gaining new experience and exploring new territories. Actually, new experience helps you to stay fresh, gain more self-awareness, as well as improve your capacity. To put it plainly, new experience makes you human.

Serving as a judge in that competition was a new experience for me and I actually gained a truckload of insights. As impressive as this may sound, it’s the same principle that applies to your life. Be a person that always seeks new knowledge, experiences, and philosophies. Acquire a new skill. Set a new goal. Take up a new challenge. Visit a new place. Execute that task differently and better. Add a new flavour to your relationship. Add and prepare a new menu. Make new friends. Upgrade your business. Whichever way, just ensure that you break that routine…

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Chinonso Ogbogu is a business trainer, success coach, highly sought-after conference speaker, gifted writer, adept blogger, and a radio personality. He is the radio host of popular radio programme known asSuccessMatters™, and the owner of www.chinonsowrites.com. He is the author of the powerful book known as ‘THE VOICES’. Follow in him Facebook on: www.facebook.com/chinonsowrites or twitter on:@chinonsowrites

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.