3 Life Transforming Vuja Daze Strategies

Vuja daze is a word I use, based on d?j? vu, to describe new, extremely valuable experences and ideas. In The Student Success Manifesto, which you can get for free as an ebook, I talk about it more in-depth.

This article will focus on three power strategies for incorporating vuja daze into your life:

1. Creative Destruction. Over the years, I've come realize an important distinction in openness, passive openness vs. active openness. Many people say they're open to new ideas, but never are exposed to them. How many people actually take accountability for exposure to new ideas by seeking them out and creatively destroying old ones? Tom Peters, a bestselling author whose every new book I read, delivers speeches quite a bit. Although he could reuse the same speeches from year-to-year, he makes it a point to creatively destroy and reinvent at least 10% of his presentation. What parts of your thinking are you creatively destroying and reinventing?

2. Full Spectrum Dialogue. It is a habit for many of us to seek out knowledge that simply reaffirms what we already know. After all, it feels good to be right. However, doing this cuts off entire bodies of knowledge from us and limits our growth. I remember sitting in on one of John Sexton's (president of NYU) classes when he made two points that have stuck with me:
   • "We live in a world where people can always find what they're looking for." - In other words, be careful what you look for, you may find it. Are you looking for truth or are you looking for something that simply fits in with your existing knowledge and beliefs?
     
   • Later in that same class, he warned of the potential dangers of the following quote from a member of the Bush campaign, "The problem with John Kerry is that he doesn't see things in black and white." In other words, be careful when you draw lines in your life when you say something is absolutely true and decide that its veracity cannot be challenged. Many topics of debate simply do not have an absolute right or wrong, true or false answer. Understanding different vantage points can help you understand where others are coming from. Realize the complexity of knowledge and the dangers of simple answers.
   
   
3. Paridigm Transformation and Extension. In my opinion, there are two different types of vuja daze that are very valuable:
   • Paradigm Transforming - Is the new experience or idea one you've never experienced or heard of with the potential to revolutionize your worldview! I always know I'm in this realm when I'm reading a book that introduces lots of new vocabulary. To me, each new word is amazing. At some point in history, an individual or group of individuals came to realize that they did not have a word to describe something meaningful they were experiencing or trying to understand. By coining the word, they improved the effectiveness of their thinking and communication. To reach the present day, culture had to find the word valuable enough to spread and ultimately accept.
     
   • Paradigm Extending - This is more of an evolution of your worldview, rather than a revolution. Take politics for example. Paradigm extension would be if a Republican decided to sincerely explore and understand Democratic Party points of view. In contrast, paradigm transformation might be a political leader exploring the world of business.
   In the end, both paradigm transformation and extension can be extremely valuable. What can you read or who could you talk to today that would transform or evolve your worldview?