We’ve all undoubtedly heard the term “Think outside the box”. But why should we and is this a good thing to do? Thinking differently can have a powerful and positive effect on your career and personal growth. Read on for Thinking Outside the Box: 5 Great Ways to Escape the Matrix!
1. Start Thinking & Question the Status Quo Regularly
Make nonconformity the expected conversation. If we all just accept things as they are, we would never see change in the world. It still might look as if we are living in an ancient civilization if we never question and accept the need for change.
If you view the world and your career and personal life as unchangeable, it simply cannot change for the better. By questioning the status quo, you’ll always be considering how you can improve and grow within your life and from the experiences you face and challenge every day. This can lead you to think with much more creative intelligence and produce forward thinking in whatever you do.
2. Take on Wider Viewpoints & New Perspectives
Breakthrough thinking and creativity often come from making uncommon connections. Being closed-minded leads to a very small world for you to live in and suffocates your success.
Looking at the world from a wider perspective can lead to more opportunities for you; whether it be in your career or personal life, you will gain many more richer experiences compared to “living in a bubble” with a closed mind. Willingness to look at different perspectives opens up a variety of different points of views and solutions for problems you may face. Wider, new perspectives allow you to be more receptive to new ideas, and make new connections for endless possibilities in life.
3. Never be Xenophobic: Learn from other Cultures!
In this day and age of the internet and almost total connectivity, you’ll want to learn from other cultures and customs about how other people around the world think and act differently to you and where you come from.
Many times, interacting with people from different cultures helps you view life from a better, more encompassing and elevated perspective. When you learn about different cultures, you can more easily establish new and habitual ways of thinking, approaching and solving problems. Learning from other cultures will also benefit your personal life when it comes to travelling and making new connections, even if it’s via internet at the moment due to coronavirus.
When travelling to a new country, it’s always best to research the culture, atmosphere and the everyday life of the local people before you go. Doing this will make your travels go smoother, and be more relaxing and fun!
4. Invite Randomness into Your Daily Life
Embracing and incorporating organised randomness in your life can help you realize what you are missing out on in the world around you. Developing strategies that allow for ‘random sensory input’ (RSI), working amid chaotic juxtapositions of sound and form – can help stimulate you to move beyond everyday patterns of thinking into your own sublime creative space. For example, try a new way of painting; use a different type of canvas, different textures of paints, and colours. This will allow your creativity to flow and embrace mistakes as you make them. If a stroke doesn’t look right on the canvas; just add onto it, curve it another way or change your original plan you had for the work of art – it’s fun!
5. Reverse Engineering or Working Backwards
Just like turning a thing upside down can make it appear totally different, working backwards breaks the brain’s normal conception of causality. This is the key to reverse-engineering or backward planning. For example, start with the end in mind, i.e. your goal, and think back through the steps needed to reach it until you get to where you are right now. Then it will be clear what steps you need to take daily from now to move forward toward your goal. Write it down so you can keep track of your progress.
One of the most profound effects of thinking outside the box is that it will help you stay highly adaptable. Your mind won’t be closed off to new ideas or solutions or situations, and therefore you’ll be better able to navigate and succeed in the ever-changing landscape of the increasingly tumultuous times we’re living in!
