Things Are Different Now

A friend recently showed me how to use predictive text when sending SMS messages on my mobile phone. Actually, I had tried it before - many years ago - but gave up because it was clunky and awkward at the time.

But when Kathleen showed me how easy it was with the modern generation of mobile phones, I became a convert instantly! If not for her help, I might have never used that feature again, believing - wrongly - that it was no good.

Here's the point ...

Things are different now. Just because something didn't work once, it doesn't mean it should be discarded forever. It might not have been right at the time, but it's worth giving it another try.

I went to see Edward de Bono speak when he visited Australia some years ago. I remember him saying that one of the best places to find innovative ideas is in the archives of bankruptcy courts. Sure, you'll find some crazy business ideas there, but you might also find some great ideas that just weren't right at the time, but might well work under different circumstances.

What have YOU given up on?

Have you given up on anything in the mistaken belief that it will never work for you? It might be a marketing technique that failed, a broken relationship you thought was beyond salvage, a technology tool that drove you crazy, or ... ?

As somebody said:

"It's not the things we don't know that hurt us; it's the things we know that just ain't so." (attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, Josh Billings and Will Rogers - take your pick)

Key words: productivity

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Gihan Perera is the author of "Get Active: Web Sites for Speakers, Trainers, Coaches and Consultants" and "Fast, Flat and Free: What You Need to Know to Stay Ahead in a Connected World". Visit http://GihanPerera.com and get your complimentary copies now.

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