What can we think of if only we try?
Some of my favorite pearls of wisdom I found in the pages of books written by Dr. Seuss. A particular favorite is from his book: Oh, The THINKS You Can Think!
“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”
In his typical style, Dr. Seuss pushes the reader to recognize that imagination and creativity are the key ingredients to creating an uncommon life. We cannot let ourselves be limited to just what we think is possible. We must be willing to reach beyond that to live our lives fearlessly.
Dr. Seuss asks us to think of an animal we’ve never heard of before so that the story can begin. Just like the book, whenever we want to challenge ourselves, it starts there.
Our move to a fearless life also begins with a new idea, a new thought.
It may only be a vague sense of something at the on-set, but it is there. We want (or need) to change something. We want to make something more significant, smaller, broader, more profound, more effortless, slower, faster - the list goes on and on.
How can we think left, right, low, and high to get there?
We can leverage the question as inspiration to kick our imagination and creativity into overdrive and indeed amaze ourselves.
Here are five of the best places to begin when you want to find what you can think of if only you try!
1. People - Read biographies of innovative people. Study what they have done and how they went about it. Follow the mental footsteps that you see and find out where they take you!
2. Technologies - A five-minute session on Google with creative keywords can help you find ideas galore. Just start with the challenge, not the solution. Let the solution emerge based on what you discover. And if you can ask it as a question, so much the better!
3. Failures – The hidden gem! Outcomes that at first might seem like failures (even if they weren’t yours!) can be excellent sources of future solutions. Why did a choice fail before? What did we miss or could have changed? Sometimes what failed in one place holds the potential for success in another.
4. Wins - What did you do that worked before? What did others in a similar situation do? Start with a proven framework but allow some new colors (Thank you, Dr. Seuss!) to emerge.
5. Urgency - Some of the most compelling questions we can ask will begin with “what if?” What if I only had 24 hours to do something? What if I could win $100,000 if I solve this today? Some of the scenarios that carry a sense of urgency will push our mental adrenalin into overdrive. Turn on the simulation timer and beat the buzzer!
Five places to help you find “the thinks you can think up if only you try”!
Ready, Set, FLY!
