Thinking Outside of the Box

The term ‘thinking outside of the box’ is actually an American colloquialism, but in recent times it has become an epitome, a poster child for a concept which clearly suggests that there are certain folks who are neither bound, nor tied down with a traditional line of thinking, idea, or concept. These people are as a matter of fact innovative, and forward-looking enough to employ new methods to accomplish old tasks. They have reached an elite status of interest, so their characters and personality are very desirable because
they are transcendents and not mere followers of the traditions of those that preceded them. At this point, I need to tell you that the truth is; it ain’t easy to think outside of the box. It was the intellectual egghead, Albert Einstein, who said thinking is hard work, which is why so few of us do it.

You must think outside of the box, and begin to look at the possibilities you can explore with your life. You might attract a great deal of criticism when you don’t fit in, when you don’t do things the way others do them, they will speak ill about you. But to be really successful, you need to go where no one has been before, and do what no one has done before, having in mind that criticism is not necessarily a crisis, but often times it is a doorway that opens up and ushers you into a new dimension of thinking.

The thinking process is the incubator from which the creative power is released. It opens you up to a new world of ideas, a world without limits or controls, without borders or boundaries; a world where everything is possible. Everything we see in our world today and we call tangible, touchable, existent and real, first existed in the thought life of somebody’s mind. The chair you are sitting on, this book you are holding in your hands right now, your handset that’s on the table right in front of you, even the table itself, were things that first existed in someone’s mind.

When you can think creatively, you will be able to solve problems, advance your own career and community. Do not let anyone despise or laugh at your thinking, because as you begin to think things that are not there, you need to understand that the thinking process is the first step in your life to a revolution that will be incredibly significant.

Free your mind, let your thought processes experiment, explore with your creativity.

 

Welcome to Creativity-Ville

Someone once said ‘creativity needs to be exercised as a muscle, otherwise if you don’t use it, you will lose it’.

So you must learn how to set your imagination free, think outside of the box, color outside of the line. Be creative, be originative, be inventive, be resourceful, be imaginative. You should never forget that creativity can be likened to; looking at the same thing everybody is looking at, but seeing what no one else sees. You will see potentials and possibilities in the same place where others see nothing but problems.

Just right now, I remembered this story I heard some years back; there were two guys whom their boss sent to a particular village to explore the market opportunities that are there for their company (they were into sales of sandals). On getting to the village, the inhabitants were very primitive; they were yet to come in contact with civilization. Every living person there; adults and infants, middle aged and over aged, had no sandals on, they were all walking with their bare feet.

The first sales guy sent a letter to his boss; ‘Sir, there is no market here, the people do not wear sandals, let us explore somewhere else’. The other sales guy sent a letter to his boss too; ‘Sir, this is a good market, we have prospects here, they do not wear sandals but now they are in love with it, I have exhausted my stocks, please send me more’.

 

Both guys were in the same situation but they saw different things. Which queue will you stand in? You can look at the water in the glass, and choose to either say; ‘the cup is half full’ or ‘the cup is half empty’. It depends on which way you choose to look at it from.

Think your way into creativity, and maximize the opportunities that abound around you. In the book, ‘One Minute Millionaire’co-written by Robert Allen and Victor Mark Hansen, the authors said; ‘there is so much abundance in the entire world that the only place where there is shortage is in your mind’. How true that is!

 

You need to understand that the thinking process is your ticket to the next level. It is the stairway you go through to arrive at the pent house of your dreams. Your thinking is also the nice, young, pretty, smiling damsel cladded in all-white, who ushers you into a world without rules or controls, without confines or limits, without borders or boundaries; a world where anything is possible.

You need to start thinking outside of the box. In fact, you need to think as if there is no box.

So where do you go from here? That’s a choice I leave to you.

 

 

Lamide is a Personal Effectiveness Coach with interest in Leadership Development, and Human Capital Development. He is an author and a speaker who believes the right mentality can power one to success. A Personal Effectiveness columnist in OVATION International Magazine.

 Lamide can be reached on +234-8032454647, lammynuga@yahoo.com.  Also, Lamide Adenuga on Facebook and LammyMotivates on TWITTER.