There are two “f” ways of thinking. And you thought there was only one!
We have to improve the quality of our thinking. We can’t rely on previous paradigms. There is no guarantee that what worked in the past is going to work in the future. In fact, we not want it to. Also with the increasing lack of resources we are likely to be thrown on our wits more than ever.
There are two simple WISDOMS ways of thinking that you can immediately apply and they have nothing to do THE “f” word!
1. Flip it
We all have established patterns of thinking and set ways of seeing the world. One way to orient your thoughts in a different direction is to ask “How can I flip it?”
We presume things like the value and importance of putting others before ourselves. But what if the height of respecting others starts by utterly respecting yourself? If I honour myself I am practicing on someone. Also if I respect myself, knowing that I have interests and desires, then I accept that you have the same. How then do we bring these in harmony?
In our WISDOMS™ Chats we have discussed that we reap what we sow. We raised the point that what we plant into our minds is what we harvest in results and success. The problem being that when we plant even one weed it has the propensity to grow exponentially. Someone in the group “flipped it”. Instead of looking at weeds as unwanted and strangling the life out of the good plants, what if we saw it as “weed”. Now “weed” is a valuable plant recognised for its medicinal qualities. In other words we can take even the worst of what happens to us and turn it into something good.
Flipping it is taking an idea, any idea, and turning it upside down and inside out until you are seeing it from different angles. It is meant to challenge your preconceptions. It is a way of thinking to stimulate creativity and alternatives.
2. It’s at your finger tips
Keeping it simple is something we as a WISDOMS team have to remind ourselves often. We can over-complicate life, work and business. One of the things we tend to make more complex than we need is how to generate ideas whether for solutions or options or innovations. This is not to dismiss creative methodologies. It is however, to bring what we think is out of our grasp to something that is right in front of our noses, or at the end of our “f”ingertips.
The idea that is going to revolutionise our business or unravel that tricky problem, is right in front of us. It’s not that we are blind, it’s just that we are looking at the horizon instead of in our immediate vicinity. We tend to think the answers lie beyond us, somehow out of reach. Instead they are at our fingertips.
WISDOMS began as a business challenge. In a workshop with entrepreneurs Trevor and Ivan tasked the group to come up with a completely new business concept in the space of 21 days. Their advice to everyone was to look at what was in front of them.
They of course, had to prove that they could do the same. So they went back to Trevor’s office and looked around. What was at their fingertips were all the leadership, business, and self-development books Trevor had read over the years, as well as the newsletters he had produced over two years summarizing and reflecting on the lessons he’d learnt from these experts and gurus. Out of this WISDOMS was born — a six module university for life taking the seeker of personal and business success from Attitude to Initiative and Inspiration, from Leadership and Entrepreneurship all the way to Business Mastery. Their idea included not only the content but an associate programme.
In other words, simply by seeing potential in what was already there, something new and different was created. We just have to tweak something that is available to us. We don’t always have to imagineer a whole new enterprise or invent some magical solution.
We can get stuck in our thinking because we believe that we need is impossible to get. How about firstly, flipping it. What do you really need? Is it that impossible? How could you turn it around and see it differently in order to discover a new direction.
Secondly, maybe the answer is at your fingertips. What can you see in front of you, that could give you a clue as to your next steps?