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Something Worth SharingVariety Is The Vital Spice of Life I have several clients who often talk about the importance of variety - in life and business. It got me thinking about this and my own views of variety. When I sat and thought about it a little, I realised that it isn’t just nice to have, but essential. “What got you here won’t get you there” is not only true, but the title of Marshall Goldsmith’s bestselling book. If we stick to doing everything the same way, we will eventually get stuck. Variety isn’t just essential to move forwards - look at our diet, if we only eat one thing we miss the variety of necessary nutrients, if we only do one exercise in the gym, we neglect other muscle groups, if we all think the same we won’t ever generate new ideas! Variety is vital in everything - with people, experiences, places, learning, solving problems, experiencing all emotions (good and bad), communication, compassion, problem-solving, decision-making, creativity, sales, resilience - I could go on! I even discovered that workplace happiness research - conducted at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, showed that variety at work also made people happier and more productive! Timeframes were shown to make a big difference. Cassie Mogilner said: “We found that over a day or a week or a month, variety - perhaps consistent with people's perceptions - leads to greater happiness.” Obviously there is a caveat here too - variety for the sake of it is just ticking a box; variety imposed or done in excess is overwhelming and stressful. Finding a balance makes for a happier, richer and healthier life. Most importantly, variety needs to be adapted for individuals and done with meaning and purpose.
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