Our lives get so entrenched in our daily routines that our minds almost go on autopilot as we do the same things over and over again, not allowing that pause our minds need to open themselves up.

During my years as CEO I was always so busy in my normal routine that all I could do was keep my head down working most days to the point my mind would kick into autopilot. But every now and again I would have some sort of conference I was scheduled to attend where different speakers would present on a myriad of subjects, sharing the things they’d each learned.

Everytime I was able to sit in on one of those conferences, getting away from my normal routine, my mind would open up and start racing with all kinds of new ideas and thoughts on how I could make my company more successful. Just sitting there listening helped expand my perspective and it got my creative juices flowing again. In fact, many times the ideas that would come to my mind in those moments had nothing to do with what the speakers were sharing, but just taking that moment of pause from my normal routine allowed my mind an open space where it could explore thoughts and ideas that had been getting crowded out by the normal routine.

I can honestly say that every time I came back from those conferences I would have a head full of amazing new ideas along with a renewed sense of excitement for my business. My energy levels would spike back up and I would come back ready to hit the ground running again and excited to implement all my new ideas. And I can honestly say that the ideas that came to me in those moments of pause from my normal routine helped leapfrog the success of my business exponentially.

We all get stuck in that rut of just doing without taking that pause that is needed to give our brains an open space where they can run and explore and create.  Take a pause.

~Amy Rees Anderson