While traveling from Orlando to Las Vegas the other day for a speaking engagement, I decided to ‘observe’ my adventure with a totally new set of eyes. For those of us that are seasoned travelers sometimes we miss the brilliance of the possibilities that surround us.
Have you ever gotten in so much of a routine in your job or your life that you don’t even notice what has passed you by?
We think there is nothing new to ‘invent’, nothing new to make, been there done that is the motto that becomes routine. I would challenge each and every one of you for ONE DAY…just ONE, look at every person, place or thing that crosses your path with a new set of eyes!
What normally would have been a 7 hour travel day from door to door turned out to be a 14 hour travel day. Instead of dreading the delay, I jumped at the opportunity to LEARN.
Even at 55 I try to learn something new every day. My best friend and I love the adventure of finding a new ‘first’ to try…sometimes that is a good thing, and then others not so good.
When was the last time you tried a new ‘first’? Don’t forget to add to your bucket list this year.
How can you look at things differently?
Let me share with you what I learned with my new ‘eyesight’ for a day…
1. As I sat in the Orlando airport, my home base, I thought, wow there are only a zillion people that come here every year, I could post something that might help other travelers on my social media…..so I did.
2. As I panicked about losing power on my electronic devices, and no outlets in sight, I thought of the thousands of travelers that had also been stranded in the airports over the holidays…all experiencing the same problem. Why don’t I invent a landing pad that is solar generated???? No, I am not a genius to be able to do that, but I am a creative idea maker. So whoever reads this and makes it happen, I only want a 10% referral fee. (LOL)
3. What about child care facilities in airports? they have massage centers, hair dressers, places to sleep…what about places for children to PLAY? What about giving the parents a break with long layovers? Haven’t you ever felt like…Please God, let me just have 30 minutes to sleep? As a mother of 3 I certainly have! What would someone be willing to pays after having been on a 14 hour flight and then 3 days strnnded in an airport to have a fresh pair of loving hands to relieve them for awhile? BIG BUCKS! Okay, another 10% referral….Delta are you listening?
4. I was actually flying on Southwest. BTW, I love this airline, they do one thing (one size plane, one business plan) and they do it well. Okay, they did screw with their frequent flyer program recently but nobody’s perfect.
As the flight attendant was taking the drink orders as they have always done, and I sat with my IPAD with thousands of new app’s added everyday, I thought “Okay Southwest, surely it would be much more efficient to have one attend use an ‘app’ that goes back to the other attendant that makes up the drink. Much faster and working smarter instead of harder it seemed to me. Why write in on paper, then shuffle back, organize and figure it out, and then deliver it to the passengers….
Common sense to me is not always common sense to everyone else.
What will you ‘see’ with your new set of eyes? There’s a world of opportunity waiting for you!
