We’ve all become mental athletes over the last two years, molding everything we’ve ever known and trying to shape it into something that would work in the new context we were taught. promote. If our time making adjustments has taught us anything, stagnation is the antithesis of success.
Those who did not manage to adapt to the new situation we found ourselves angry were left upstream (or worse), while those who were able to give up what they did and do Showing new ways of operating finds itself gliding along the surface with less effort, less fear, and less doubt. That doesn’t mean everyone can adapt, no matter how ready they are. Sometimes it takes more than the will pivot to evolve to meet the new demands of our environment. However, other times, we might hit ourselves and find a way to keep rowing.
Before we can move on with what the world throws at us, as many of today’s truly prosperous people do, we must first change the way we think. We have to stop some of the neural pathways we’ve spent our lives connecting to and create new ones.
In essence, creating more possibilities will get you out of a predicament, giving you more options and a new way of seeing things.
For most of my professional career to date, I have worked with a company called Studio / E whose focus is on helping leaders thrive in a rapidly changing world. They coined the term Discovery Leadership, which motivates people to “go into the unknown with clarity and confidence to explore more possibilities.”
I don’t know if anything could sound more desirable right now. We all want more possibilities, and we all want to keep pushing forward, even when we can no longer predict what the future will hold. In essence, creating more possibilities will get you out of a predicament, giving you more options and a new way of seeing things.
Distilled from my decade with Studio/E and my lifelong desire to do more, create more and to be Furthermore, here are four suggestions to help you get out of your deadlock and keep moving forward, no matter what life throws at you.
Change your status
By far the fastest way to make your mind explode in another way is to change your physical state, which can be seen as a two-pronged approach.
One way to change your state is to change your surroundings. If you are working in your office and you feel stuck about something, find yourself a new setting. Take a walk outside, visit a museum, or even step into another room. This will spark some new sensations in your body and your brain can’t help but think differently when experiencing the newness.
Another state change that is effective is to move the body in some way. This has been recommended by medical professionals more than once when discussing my tendency to feel anxious. A rhythm of physical activity, even if it’s just walking down the stairs or doing dozens of jumps, activates different parts of your brain. In fact, do exercise trigger the creation of new brain cells. Not only are you shifting your brain to focus on something new and different, which can lead to new insights and ideas, but you’re actually creating new brain problems.
Play
You don’t have to have kids in the house to have fun in a purposeful game. This can take a lot of different shapes, that’s the fun part of it.
I was in for a few games the other morning while the house was quiet and the sun wasn’t up yet. When I sit down to write, I have to put my daughter’s Drawing Lessons aside. When I moved it, the sketch we started the day before fell out. Although my daughter was asleep, and although I had much work to do, I spent the next fifteen minutes completing a sketch of a Disney character. By the time I use my computer, I feel creative. I feel new. I love it.
Maya Angelou says, “You can’t use your full creative potential. The more you use, the more you have. ” Get creative with some games and you will see how it will help you to be creative in others.
Here are a few simple ideas to play with, all of which can be done on your own:
- Art: Painting, drawing, coloring, pottery, knitting, stone decoration
- Games: Card games like Solitaire; a puzzle
- Make music (with or without real instruments)
If games don’t come naturally to you or ideas about what to do don’t flow freely, here is another list to help you get started.
Make a list to generate ideas
Another technique I learned from my time at Studio/E is to generate ideas through lists. I’m the type of person who likes beautifully written lists from which I can easily cross off items and feel productive. This type of list is different.
The way you make an idea-generating list is to set a timer and write down every idea you can think of related to the thing you’re stuck on. Qick. Make ideas go bad, make them terrible. You will learn after doing this a few times that quantity creates quality. The more bad ideas you write down, the closer you’ll get to the good ones.
The way you make an idea-generating list is to set a timer and write down every idea you can think of related to the thing you’re stuck on. . . . The more bad ideas you write down, the closer you’ll get to the good ones.
If this is worrisome, start with a two-minute timer, then move on and see what happens. More advanced students can continue for five minutes without stopping. Things are going to get weird, and that’s exactly what you want. Bad ideas lead to good ideas. Not bad ideas lead to many worse ideas, but also some good – even great – ideas. Eventually, you’ll come across what you need, something that keeps you moving forward.
Choose another genre
This is a more permanent approach to opening yourself up to new ways of thinking, but in my experience it’s just as beneficial as the suggestions above; it’s just a slow log rather than a quick fix. This seems to me like genres of reading that I don’t normally enjoy, like biographies or speculative fiction. From these different genres, I can extract new images and ideas for my own creative projects. For you, this might mean listening to a different type of music or doing a different type of exercise than your body and mind are used to.
Along those same lines, you might find someone new to chat with, someone who looks completely different from you. As Studio/E said, you can multiply your knowledge by spending time with people with different perspectives and worldviews. I don’t think there’s a downside to spending time with new people, especially if it means opening your mind to new ways of thinking.
For better or for worse, our old ways of working are out of date. The good news is that the best way to get out of a predicament and constantly adjust to the changing landscape around us is to keep finding new ways of thinking — and that can be exciting; that makes life interesting. And anyway, isn’t an interesting life something we’re all here for?
Kolina Cicero is infatuated with stories – read them, write them, get lost in them. Other things she loves include yoga, traveling, and taking cooking, Italian, and writing classes. Her first children’s book, Rosie and the hobby farmpublished in July 2020.
