What I Learned From Anthony Bourdain

Wednesday night, my oldest son Justin and I went to hear TV celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain speak along with famous chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin and 'Top Chef' fame.

If you don't know Bourdain, he is a swashbuckling, profane, perceptive, and opinionated guy who will eat anything and who travels around the world proving it.

At one point Wednesday night he was talking about his show 'No Reservations', in which he travels around the globe in search of great global cuisine.

Normally, the shows reflect his brash and abrasive personality. But there was an episode in one season where his family was traveling with him and the show illustrated his tender side, playing with his young daughter in the fountains of Rome. This totally violated the normal formula of the show, which is Bourdain living large and talking big.

Here's how he explained it: "My deal is that if something is not broken, I am going to break it - to surprise people and myself and see if I can't make it better". He was willing to tinker with a successful formula in order to try to achieve a creative result.

I'm not arguing for change for change's sake (though I am often a fan of that, to be honest)...

But is there an area in your life that may be "okay", but is growing a bit stale?

Your exercise habits, your spiritual devotions, your diet, your work patterns, your way of relating to your spouse and kids or friends?

What could you "break" to see if you could make it better?