#09 - The Power of Thinking

As human beings, challenges are inescapable. Hence, many have sought ways of getting passed these challenges. On the contrary, some haven't. And with this in mind, it is of great significance to know that people who achieve success at various stages in life tap from the virtues of thinking outside the box.

Thinking is a mental activity that enables one to reason from distinct viewpoints—it serves as a measure for making decisions and evaluating things critically and mindfully.

However, thinking “outside the box” is somewhat different. It comprises of reasoning and finding possible solutions by thinking beyond the realm of what you can only see—it's more like striving against all odds to come up with a solution to a problem in a way that no one has ever thought of. 

For you to be an “outside the box thinker,” you must be an open-minded and understanding person.

John Maxwell, in his book on “How Succesful People Think” described thinking “outside the box” as a process of learning continually, listening intentionally and looking expansively. 

For this reason, I find it convincing as to why many renowned scientists are fully-fledged “outside the box thinkers.”

Amongst others, the famous Albert Einstein has proven to be in this category of thinkers. Vividly, his compelling determination and “outside the box thinking” led him to the discovery of the special theory of relativity.

This clearly shows that in order to be exceptional, you must do more than what normal people do—you must listen, think and act more than an average person does. And for you to rise against challenges and struggles, you must stop circumambulating around barricaded thoughts (thoughts that are fixed and not necessarily helpful in any way).

 By doing so, you are a step ahead towards ingraining the habit of foreseeing possible solutions.

To bring this point to light, John Maxwell gave a brief explanation on how to develop one's thought. He said, “the right thought plus the people in the right environment at the right time for the right reason yields the right result.” 

Thus, it is important to ask for opinions and suggestions from people you find worthy. By doing so, you are stretching and confirming the ingenuity and practicability of your thoughts.

Though this process mind not be easy, you must know that “you can't make an omelette without breaking an egg.” In other words, you can't find solutions to your problems without working hard towards finding a solution.

Having seen how advantageous “outside the box thinking” is in our lives as human beings, I think you will find it quite thrilling when you practicalize it in your life. Could it be you are struggling emotionally, financially or academic-wise? Could it be you've tried a lot of things but all haven't been successful?

Well, the solutions to your challenges are not far-fetched. With “outside the box thinking,” you can do much more. Try it and you'd live to testify how helpful it is.

Quotes of the day:

There is a giant untapped potential in disagreement, especially if the disagreement is between two or more thoughtful people. - Ray Dalio

Sharp people sharpen one another, just as iron sharpens iron. If you want to be a sharp thinker, be around sharp people. - John Maxwell