Nudge


Sometimes we need a nudge to set us off on a certain path.

A nudge can come from anywhere.

We can nudge ourselves.

In November 2015 I signed up for a tech meet-up in Toronto that was scheduled in December 2015. As the time got closer, I started to become apprehensive. I started to think that I wouldn’t know anyone…who am I going to talk to…what will we talk about? But I thought of the reason I wanted to go, which was to meet folks who work in technology. It would be good to soak up the tech culture. I gave myself a big nudge. I told myself to just go and do it. It wasn’t as bad as I imagined it to be. Although there were over 400 people in attendance and I didn’t know anyone, I managed to talk to a few people. I survived!

We can get a nudge from our friends. I received a backgammon set on my 18th birthday. I didn’t know how to play. I thought it was too complicated and I just couldn’t bring myself to learn how to play. I stored it away for a very long time.   Recently I became friends with a colleague at work. I learned early on that he was an expert backgammon player. I love to play cribbage. I thought to myself that if I were to teach my friend how to play cribbage, he could teach me to play backgammon. We learned each other’s game. If I didn’t receive a nudge and have someone teach me to play backgammon, that backgammon set would still be lying in storage.  

We can get a nudge from something we’ve read. I read an article the other day by Cory Galbraith called “Create Your Own Job in 2017.” It’s a very interesting article about the gig economy where companies have project work available to be done by independent contractors (or entrepreneurs).  Mr. Galbraith writes a blog which you can subscribe to here.     

To be honest, I don’t see myself as an entrepreneur, but it’s definitely an idea to be filed away in my mind, to be possibly re-visited in the future. 

If you are thinking about setting up your own business, then Mr. Galbraith's article may nudge you into taking the path of becoming an entrepreneur. 

Napoleon Hill wrote:

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve” – Napoleon Hill

But sometimes we may need a little nudge. 


Originally Published on LinkedIn:  December 21, 2016
Image Credit:  Pixabay



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