What I learned from being a paperboy
Like most boys when I was 13-14, I wanted to make money to blow on useless crap. What was the easiest way to do that? You either mow lawns, or become a paperboy. I did both. Mowing lawns was my first business that I ever started. That is a whole other story, for another post. I’m talking about what I learned from my paper route. That is where I learned my first lesson in business.
DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT
When you think paperboy, you think kid on a bike right? Sure a bike works, but remember what Paper Boy the game taught you? Delivering papers on a bike was hard. Why, because there are obstacles all over the place and a bike isn’t that nimble.
What did I do? I ditched the bike and was the paper boy on rollerblades. I remember customers on my route were all shocked when they saw me doing it that way. What they didn’t realize was that I was born on skates. Well, not born but started playing hockey when I was 3 and half. For me being a paperboy on skates was natural. I was fast, did the route faster, and I was more accurate. It was so much faster I was able to pick-up two routes in the same time the other kids could do one.
It was that age old lesson of if everyone else is doing it, it is right. Right? WRONG! Shake it up, try something new. Get the funk out of your comfort zone. Or in this case I took something like being on skates, and paired it up with a task. I’m not saying that you should throw on skates and go around the office. Although that sounds like a blast, what I am saying is that you should mix it up and try to approach your tactics in a different way.
