Ready to use a new canvas? | Life Series

We all are creatures of habit. Once formed, we keep doing it even if it results in less and less value over time.

Read time: about a min.

Most habits are not just self-developed, but those that get influenced through others.

The irony is that what was done previously by others also shaped what we do now. I have picked a few examples from public resources to drive this point.

Why?

As the Earth seems to have been performing a reset given the recent situation, we too have now gotten accustomed to new ways of doing things. The so-called workarounds could become new ways of life.

Do you know that the width of the engines that powered rockets for space exploration – one of the most complex machines ever created was determined over two thousand years ago by Roman road engineers? The engines were 4 feet 8.5 inches wide because that was the width of the rail line that would carry them from Utah to Florida. The width of that rail line, in turn, was based on the width of tramlines in England. The width of the tramlines, in turn, was based on the width of the roads built by the Romans: 4 feet 8.5 inches. 1

Let’s try a more recent design.

The keyboard layout most of us use is based on the original design for typewriters. The QWERTY layout (named after the first six letters on the keyboard) was created specifically for marketing purposes. The letters that make up the word typewriter were placed on the top line to allow a salesperson to demonstrate how the machine operates by quickly typing the name (try it out!).

Processes are developed in response to handling our ‘current’ ways of doing things. These current ways quickly become the past and become so deeply entrenched that instead of owning the processes, the processes seems to take control over us.

If you are still not convinced, then try it for yourself. Think of the last set of actions you took before reading this post, and I am quite sure that they were done because that’s how it was done in the past.

Here’s our opportunity.

We now have begun to view our lives, both personal and work, a bit differently. Not because we chose to do it, but because nature forced our hands. Here’s the good news. We don’t have to go back to the old ways of doing things. Nothing is sacred. We can question everything, and don’t be surprised that those who may not have been open before will now be extra receptive to new ideas.

We could view the world – relationship, health, work, career, education – almost everything differently – starting all over.

I am not delusional, not everything will change at once, but we have an excellent chance to start –  fresh on a new canvas.

Thank you for sharing some of your precious time with me each week. Leave a comment if you liked it.

Stay safe, stay hopeful.

With gratitude, until next week.

Razak
CommonInterest