One of my hobbies is my fish tank. For all of my supplies I go to a store called Aquarium Adventure. The store is set up like a real aquarium. The tanks are all well staged, and each area of the store feels like an exhibit. I go there for supplies and also just for fun.

Yesterday I passed a sign for an aquarium supply store called the Fish Factory. Now I have no idea what the Fish Factory is like. It could be beautiful or not. But what a difference in what these two names evoke – The Fish Factory vs. Aquarium Adventure.

I think there is an obvious marketing lesson in here, but there is also a lesson for living.

Factory living is static, predictable, consistent. And at times this can be comforting.

Adventure living is daring, surprising, exciting. At times we need this experience.

There is a pendulum issue here. We can swing too far to either of these extremes. So where is your pendulum? Is work feeling like more factory or adventure these days? How about life?

If you’ve swung too far to either extreme it might be time to take a moment and turn that pendulum around.