Saturday, February 6, 2010

How is This Done & Do You Do It?

How many times have you heard the saying, 'think outside the box'?  Countless, right? Ya, me too.

But what exactly IS thinking outside the box?  How does it get done? How is it some people can do it so easily and it's so hard for others?

I'll tell you, it has taken me years to learn how to do this, and still when I see people do it easily, I'm blown away.  Som e people come about it naturally, while others have to learn it.

Our 'box' is the limits of our ideas and how we approach different situations in our lives. This is part of what allows people who have challenges in their lives to take those challenges and make something positive and productive out of them.

 Our 'box' is defined by our upbringing and programs. To think outside the box means to think outside of our every day programs, and since most people do the exact same thing day after day after day, it really does become extremely difficult to think outside that box.

When someone says, 'you'd do best by thinking outside the box', and what you know is just your box, or way of thinking, it becomes damned hard think outside of it.

So what can you do? You can shake up your programs. Shake up your thinking. Actually start moving outside your box. Start with simple ways of moving outside your box. Do thinks differently. Nothing major, you don't have to buy a truck if you currently have a car, or go out and buy a completely new wardrobe that is so not you.

Here's an extremely simple way to start moving outside of that box. At your next meal, if you are left handed, like me, use your right hand to eat. Drink with the cup in your right hand. Obviously, the opposite if you are right handed.

Try to drive (if you're one of the unfortunate ones who still commute ;) ) a different route on the way home from work.

Take a class that interests you but you never thought you'd take (underwater basket weaving, anyone?).

Attempt a different workout program that has nothing to do with your current one. If you run, like me, take a completely different route. Try Bikram Yoga, instead of just a yoga session, or if you don't do yoga at all....DO YOGA.

Get onto http://www.blip.fm/, and listen to music you never would have heard otherwise, because these dj's are from all over the world.

The smallest things can shake up your thinking. Most importantly be OPEN to doing things differently, and be open and receptive to new ideas. Sometimes new ideas come and we don't even acknowledge them. 

If you get a spark or hit of an idea, write it down. You can analyze later, just write it down now.

Here's a recent example of thinking outside of my box. There is a woman's expo in town. It's usually sold out, and is expensive to get into. Yet I wanted to have a presence there.

'Inside the Box' thinking would be that I either sucked it up, paid, and attended, or not go, right?

Here is my outside the box result. I looked at the vendors and realized many of them are MLM companies. The ones we all expect, Arbonne, Jafra, Avon, and others will be there.

So, I emailed the director of the event. I mentioned to her that since there were so many MLM  vendors, it woud behoove her to have someone speaking ON MLM, the differences between direct sales, party plans, traditional MLM, and so on. I told her it would add value to the vendors and to the attendees of the event.

I then offered my services to speak on the industry. For Free.  All I want is to have a table with my information on it, as well as my contact information on the website and brochures.

Total win-win situation. I made sure she knew this would be a win to not just her, but to her vendors and attendees.

It can be something as simple as that, which can produce huge results.

With that in mind, what are you doing to get yourself out of your regularly scheduled programs?

Namaste',

Jhanna

2 comments:

Man Named Kim said...

good thoughts here.

i don't know if i'm that adept at generating new, cutting edge ideas - however, i pay close attention to the winners and I KNOW a great idea when i see one. my key is to adopt those ideas quickly.

Jhanna Dawson said...

It's not so much about generating new and cutting edge ideas, but getting out of our every day way of thinking, which allows us to see other possibilities to the same idea, challenge, or subject. :)

~Jhanna