This year my family took a big step outside of our comfort zone by traveling to Mexico for the entire month of January.  Being that we live in Chicago it may sound like we are getting more comfortable by heading south for the coldest month of the year.  However, I’m not talking about comfort in terms of weather.  This is not a vacation trip.  We brought both of our kids (6 and 4) and did not take significant time off work.  We came here with the intention of living our lives as normal; working, training, going to school, cooking our food, etc.  But we wanted to break free from some of the typical constraints (like location) that so many of us end up being tied down by without even knowing (or caring).

Now, I completely understand that moving out to Mexico for a month with two small kids is not the type of situation that is going to work for everyone.  Sitting here halfway through the month I can’t say I’d recommend it to too many people I know, haha.  But the concept of thinking outside of the box, challenging your current perspective, and shocking the different systems that make up your everyday life is powerful.  It is one that should be considered by everyone in my opinion.  Especially because by definition, these are the types of things that tend to just run on autopilot.

I try to make this a somewhat regular practice in my life.  I’d like to share with you three different applications that have been positive for me in the past few years, aside from the current location change.

PHYSICAL TRAINING

Prior to having our first child, I had a fairly predictable daily routine.  Without needing to spend countless hours a day feeding, changing, holding, rocking, and being responsible for a tiny human being, I had plenty of time to do what I wanted.  No need to get up early, just 20-30 mins before leaving for work.  From there I could head right to the gym and spend 1-2 hours without any issue.  By the time I was home there was plenty of time to relax, make a nice dinner, and watch an entire movie or whatever relevant sports were on that night.  Thinking back on these days I’m blown away by the amount of time I didn’t even realize I had.

Then, everything changed.  We brought our daughter home from the hospital and it really started to set in that this was a 24/7/365 type job forever.  Suddenly, spending 1-2 hours at the gym every day was completely out of the question (amongst most other things).  This was the first and biggest example that I can remember of really having to think outside the box because the situation dictated it.  I had always worked out at a gym.  Had not really ever considered anything different.  But now I was in a situation where that was not a possibility.

At first, I’m sure I did what most of us do when we’re forced outside the realm of what we know, I got frustrated.  I focused on all the negative aspects of having to make a change.  I was mad at my circumstances.  This is exactly why this is such a powerful exercise that everyone can benefit from because none of that is what’s important.  None of that actually helps you move forward.  None of that does anything productive.

Eventually, I did come to realize that this was a huge opportunity for me.  And every situation like this is a huge opportunity for those who approach it from the correct perspective.  This gave me the chance to look into other options for physical training.  I was excited to find more than one that I could make work.  I actually enjoyed doing the research.  And, when I finally settled on a program (calisthenics), it ended up being something that I stuck to for over 2 years.  I loved it.  I got into better shape than I had been and felt incredible.  I still to this day come back to it all the time and am happy to have found it.

When I came out of that situation, I realized there were likely plenty more areas of my life where I was unknowingly stuck to my routines.  Areas that could use a different perspective to see if there was anything I was missing. 

Fast forward a few years to when our youngest was coming up on her first days of school and the opportunity to think outside the box came up again.  Neither I nor my girlfriend is entirely in love with the public school system in America.  We are both products of it and turned out okay, but it certainly seems like there is room for improvement.  However, this is an area that you can easily get complacent on and just do what everyone else is doing.  In this case, though, we decided to explore other options.

We are truly living in an unprecedented time in terms of education.  For kids and adults alike, there are so many options out there and so many ways to learn anything you can think of.  It’s a great time to challenge the status quo as far as what, where, how, and from who you want to learn.  For our daughter, we were able to find a Montessori school nearby our house.  Their style of teaching is very different from the traditional model and we felt it really worked well for our daughter (and our son too, eventually).  Taking the time to explore other options and shy away from what everyone else was doing really gave our kids a unique experience that will hopefully stay with them for the rest of their lives.

So, we’ve seen this model work for me on a personal level and with my kids’ education, but those are not the only areas where it has made an impact.  It’s a great exercise for your professional life as well.

PROFESSIONAL

Here at Arrows Capital Group, we are huge fans of thinking outside of the box.  It’s paramount in any business to be able to adapt and that does not happen if you are locked into one way of thinking.

We just recently went through this exercise with our Acquisitions Team.  Our process for sourcing and analyzing deals was very typical of what most operators in the space are doing.  It’s not surprising as that’s how we had all learned as well.  However, it was about that time to take a step back, look at it from a different perspective, and determine if there was a better way.  Our Vision Leader does a great job of not only identifying when this type of exercise could be helpful but also in setting the stage to get the most out of the team when we actually sit down to do it.

This was not an easy process.  It took days of being together and countless conversations back and forth via email, text, Slack, phone, you name it.  What came out of that was the process we use today.  It focuses much more on the types of value-add scenarios we can apply to each situation rather than simply asking the question, “how much can we raise the rents and therefore how much can we pay for this thing?”.  I believe this not only gives us a leg up on our competition because of the ability to find the value that no one else is looking for but also in terms of our relationships with brokers.  I definitely think that we stand out more as our conversations are not just the same ones they are having with everyone else.

IN CONCLUSION

We’ve run through 4 quick examples of how challenging assumptions have made a huge impact in my personal life, but this is not an exhaustive list.  This same concept can be applied to everything you do in your life and can generate huge benefits if done consistently.  Sure, sometimes you’ll try things that don’t end up working out too well. (I could just as easily write a post of those.)  The cool thing about that is you’re still learning.  You’re exposing yourself to new perspectives.  You’re expanding your mind and once you do that, it can’t go back to its original size.  If you make it a practice to do this at a regular cadence with different parts of your life, you’re going to be very happy with the benefits you start to see.  

Give it a try!  If you are looking for more information, please feel free to reach out to an Arrows Capital Group Team Member anytime.