Albert Einstein is credited with saying “Insanity is doing something over and over expecting different results.” I tend to do that – lapsing into familiar behavior patterns that I know through experience don’t produce desired results. 

Last Sunday morning, as I awoke from elusive dreams I can’t remember, I had these words running through my head: “Look, think and act differently.” Inspired advice? For me, it was.

I need to embrace change and look at challenges in my life differently, think about them differently, and act differently to overcome them.

For example, I know that sitting on the living room sofa alone in the evening watching some dumb cop show triggers insatiable hunger. I have experienced that over and over and over. I need to change that behavior. I am always less hungry when I am productively engaged in a meaningful project that focuses my mind away from food.

Professionally, I too often accept the status quo as the preferred approach. I must not be satisfied with the ways things have been.  I need to look for new, creative solutions, different ways of doing things that deliver better results.  I must be a catalyst for change, not someone along for the ride.

When I get back home from my current business trip, I am going to make a big sign like the little one above. Then, I am going to follow this advice. I am going to change. I want success, not insanity. Care to join me?