Published: 07/29/2015

This summer my wife and I traveled overseas to Asia. Oh Boy, was it a different experience! From the people cutting you off in line to riding in a elevator with 40 Chinese when the elevator is supposed to take only 25. What a crazy experience.

The biggest take away from the trip was the realization of the good parts of the country we live in. In Colorado, we have big blue skies, we have green, lush landscapes and tall mountains. In Shanghai, they have overcast, dreary, polluted skies and over 2600 square miles of people.

When I start to think of the lessons I learned from my trip, the first one comes to mind is to be comfortable not being comfortable. Right now most of us work in an industry filled with beer, pong and the laid back wear anything work culture. Everyone feels comfortable and safe, and if you’re not happy or listened to your resume is on Linkedin that afternoon.

Case example: I work with a guy who has been writing software for about a year before coming to work for us. He is so stuck in the idea of a specific way of doing Agile and the religiousness of Agile that he is constantly rolling his eyes and complaining that our entire project sucks and everyone is stupid. He’s so self focused and comfortable playing a game of we’re not strict Agile and he could build the app in half the time in this other fancy framework and he’s so smart.

Coming back to the states from Shanghai, our problems in the states seem so much smaller. We have clean air, no public smoking and people don’t pollute the ocean like they do in China. This trip gave me a fresh perspective on what’s good about this country and what do I love.

If you’re like the developer above, its time to have a fresh perspective. Here’s my challenge, for the next month write down 4 things you like about working at your company or your day at work. I’ve been doing this since December. I have hundreds of entries, and I have so much to be happy and grateful for. Doing this has given me a fresh perspective on my work and life.

I believe if you do this challenge you will feel so much more joy and peace in your work. You will learn to have a fresh perspective on your career and life.

Will you do this challenge with me?