06 Feb Why you need to turn yourself inside-out
Here at Sonder we talk about businesses communicating from the inside-out by starting with their owned assets first. It’s a way for businesses to communicate with more authenticity, effectiveness and clarity. Now, if you think of inside-out communications as a fractal, whereby the same principles apply at any scale, then inside-out thinking can be applied to an individual as easily as a business.
One way you can bring inside-out thinking to your work is to relate your own personal experiences and life lessons directly to your work. Here’s an example: I’ve loved mountain biking since I was a kid growing up on New Zealand’s South Island. Being blessed with some truly inspiring landscape at my doorstep, I took full advantage.
You may be thinking what does mountain biking have to do with owned assets? Or business? Or communication? Or anything other than, well, mountains and bikes? Here are a few lessons I’ve learnt (often the hard way) from mountain biking that I relate to my business life daily.
Don’t:
- Look at what you want to avoid – if you focus on the worst (ie a large rock), the worst will likely happen.
- Think too far ahead – if you’re distracted by something further along the trail, chances are you will make a mistake before you even get there.
- Let bad weather stop you – tough conditions make the whole experience more rewarding at the end.
Do:
- Invest in good equipment – paying too much for gear is dumb, but paying too little is dumber because it’s likely to break when you need it most.
- Go fast – momentum makes things more stable (oh… and it’s more fun)
- Ride with others – it’s better sharing the triumphs with people whose company you enjoy, plus, if disaster does strike people you trust are there to help.
I’m not suggesting you adopt anything from the above, what I’m suggesting is you create your own inside-out maxims. Whatever your passion, there will be lessons that parallel with your work. As society integrates work and personal life more and more, you may want to consider how your personal experiences relate to your work life.
It’s one simple way to live from the inside-out and it can help make sense of the increasingly complex business world we operate in.