LOOKING WITH FRESH EYES

Generating New Ideas

Think Differently and Spark Creativity

As mentioned in my last post we are currently getting ready to move into our new house and I have been thinking about how can we use the land to create more income options.  This reminded me about being creative and thinking of things differently. 

"We need to think differently!"
"This needs some fresh ideas!"
"We have got to be more creative around here!"

Are messages like these popping up more and more in your life?

Faced with complex, open-ended, ever-changing challenges, organizations and people realise that constant, ongoing innovation is critical to stay ahead of the status quo.

This is why we need to be on the lookout for new ideas that can drive innovation, and it's why the ability to think differently, generate new ideas, and spark creativity within a team becomes an important skill. You need to work actively on building and cultivating this skill, and it can be done!

Often, though, we make the mistake of assuming that good ideas just happen. Or worse still, we get caught in the mind trap that creativity is an aptitude; some people have it, others don't. Then there is the other self-defeating belief – "I am not intelligent enough to come up with good ideas."

These assumptions are rarely true. Everyone can come up with fresh, radical ideas – you just need to learn to open your mind and think differently. This article shows you how to do so.

How to Generate New Ideas

Standard idea-generation techniques concentrate on combining or adapting existing ideas. This can certainly generate results. But here, our focus is on equipping you with tools that help you leap onto a totally different plane. These approaches push your mind to forge new connections, think differently and consider new perspectives.

A word of caution – while these techniques are extremely effective, they will only succeed if they are backed by rich knowledge of the area you're working on. This means that if you are not prepared with adequate information about the issue, you are unlikely to come up with a great idea even by using the techniques listed here.

Incidentally, these techniques can be applied to spark creativity in group settings and brainstorming sessions as well.

Breaking Thought Patterns

All of us can tend to get stuck in certain thinking patterns. Breaking these thought patterns can help you get your mind unstuck and generate new ideas. There are several techniques you can use to break established thought patterns:

• Challenge assumptions: For every situation, you have a set of key assumptions. Challenging these assumptions gives you a whole new spin on possibilities.

• You want to buy a house but can't since you assume you don't have the money to make a down payment on the loan. Challenge the assumption. Sure, you don't have cash in the bank but couldn't you sell some of your other assets to raise the money? Could you dip into your retirement fund? Could you work overtime and build up the kitty in six months? Suddenly the picture starts looking brighter.

• Reword the problem: Stating the problem differently often leads to different ideas. To reword the problem look at the issue from different angles. "Why do we need to solve the problem?", "What's the roadblock here?", "What will happen if we don't solve the problem?" These questions will give you new insights. You might come up with new ideas to solve your new problem.

• In the mid 1950s, shipping companies were losing money on freighters. They decided they needed to focus on building faster and more efficient ships. However, the problem persisted. Then one consultant defined the problem differently. He said the problem the industry should consider was "how can we reduce cost?" The new problem statement generated new ideas. All aspects of shipping, including storage of cargo and loading time, were considered. The outcome of this shift in focus resulted in the container ship and the roll-on/roll-off freighter.

• Think in reverse-If you feel you cannot think of anything new, try turning things upside-down. Instead of focusing on how you could solve a problem/improve operations/enhance a product, consider how could you create the problem/worsen operations/downgrade the product. The reverse ideas will come flowing in. Consider these ideas – once you've reversed them again – as possible solutions for the original challenge.
• Express yourself through different media: We have multiple intelligences but somehow, when faced with workplace challenges we just tend to use our verbal reasoning ability. How about expressing the challenge through different media? Clay, music, word association games, paint, there are several ways you can express the challenge. Don't bother about solving the challenge at this point. Just express it. Different expression might spark off different thought patterns. And these new thought patterns may yield new ideas.

Connect the Unconnected

Some of the best ideas seem to occur just by chance. You see something or you hear someone, often totally unconnected to the situation you are trying to resolve, and the penny drops in place. Newton and the apple, Archimedes in the bath tub; examples abound.

Why does this happen? The random element provides a new stimulus and gets our brain cells ticking. You can capitalize on this knowledge by consciously trying to connect the unconnected.

Actively seek stimuli from unexpected places and then see if you can use these stimuli to build a connection with your situation. Some techniques you could use are:

• Use random input Choose a word from the dictionary and look for novel connections between the word and your problem.

• Mind Map possible ideas: Put a key word or phrase in the middle of the page. Write whatever else comes in your mind on the same page. See if you can make any connections.

• Pick up a picture. Consider how you can relate it to your situation.
• Take an item. Ask yourself questions such as "How could this item help in addressing the challenge?", or "What attributes of this item could help us solve our challenge?"

Shift Perspective

Over the years we all build a certain type of perspective and this perspective yields a certain type of idea. If you want different ideas, you will have to shift your perspective. To do so:

• Get someone else's perspective: Ask different people what they would do if faced with your challenge. You could approach friends engaged in different kind of work, your spouse, a nine-year old child, customers, suppliers, senior citizens, someone from a different culture; in essence anyone who might see things differently.
• Play the "If I were" game: Ask yourself "If I were ..." how would I address this challenge? You could be anyone: a millionaire, Tiger Woods, anyone.

• The idea is the person you decide to be has certain identifiable traits. And you have to use these traits to address the challenge. For instance, if you decide to play the millionaire, you might want to bring traits such as flamboyance, big thinking and risk-taking when formulating an idea. If you are Tiger Woods you would focus on things such as perfection, persistence and execution detail.

Employ Enablers

Enablers are activities and actions that assist with, rather than directly provoke, idea generation. They create a positive atmosphere. Some of the enablers that can help you get your creative juices flowing are:

• Belief in yourself: Believe that you are creative, believe that ideas will come to you; positive reinforcement helps you perform better.
• Creative loafing time: Nap, go for a walk, listen to music, play with your child, take a break from formal idea-generating. Your mind needs the rest, and will often come up with connections precisely when it isn't trying to make them.
• Change of environment: Sometimes changing the setting changes your thought process. Go to a nearby coffee shop instead of the conference room in your office, or hold your discussion while walking together round a local park.
• Shutting out distractions: Keep your thinking space both literally and mentally clutter-free. Shut off the Blackberry, close the door, divert your phone calls and then think.
• Fun and humor: These are essential ingredients, especially in team settings.

Key Points:

The ability to generate new ideas is an essential skill today. You can acquire this skill by consciously practicing techniques that force your mind to forge new connections, break old thought patterns and consider new perspectives.

Along with practicing these techniques, you need to adopt enabling strategies too. These enabling strategies help in creating a positive atmosphere that boosts creativity.

Remember to share the wonderful breakthroughs you will experience. 

Getting better and better

Just been reading a great book for the second or third time.

This is an excellent book that was written early last century. Yet the concepts have timeless principles  that echo through for us today.
I heard of someone today who recently got a finance loan and they thought that they were onto a winner as they now had extra cash to spend. 
They are in fact just spiraling into a trap.  
If you want to be better off that where you are right now, then take the ideas from this book.

Seven Cures for a Lean Purse

1. Start thy purse to fattening 2. Control thy expenditure 3. Make thy gold multiply 4. Guard thy treasures from loss 5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment 6. Insure a future income 7. Increase thy ability to earn

The Seven Ways of Filling Your Bag

1. Start filling your bag From every 10 coins you earn, spend only nine of them. You will see how your bag starts filling quickly. You will see that you can arreange anyway with this income and you will be earning money quickly.

2. Control your expenses What we call obligatory expenses grow in proportion of our income, if we don´t do something to avoid this. Don´t confuse your desire with your needs.

3. Make your gold fructify Make your gold work for you, then its sons and the sons of this sons. Investing your gold: Loans, oportunities. Gold multiplies fast.

4. Protect your gold from any lost If you have got gold, you will be tempted to invest in any atracctive proyect. Asure your capital. Its not true romantics make a fast fortune. Ask the wise people about what they know.

5. Make your property a rental investment If you can eat grapes from your vineyard and have a nice house its inspires you to finish your duties.

6. Asure future incomes Foresee some incomes for your old age and your family. For this porpuse you can buy lands and houses.

7. Increase your hability to adquire goods More knowledge we have, more money we earn.

The Five Laws of Gold

1.Gold comes easy and in greater cuantites to the man who safes the tenth part of his income for his future and family.

2.Gold works with speed and diligence for the wise owner that finds for it a productive use.

3.Gold mantains itself under the protection of prudent persons who invests with the counsils of wise people.

4.Gold scapes from people who invest without a pourpose in places that are not familiar.

5.Gold runs away from people who force gold to imposible profits and follows the seductive counsils of impostors.

It is alot better to take one step towards what you want each day.

www.fraserstirling.co.nz

Igniting lives on fire

CONTROLLING THOUGHTS

I have just been away on a conference and had plenty of time to think about the power of our thoughts. Whats the difference between the person who makes something of their lives and someone who just drifts along? The drifter makes no attempt to discipline or control his thoughts, and he never learns the difference between positive thinking and negative thinking. He allows his mind to drift with any stray thought which may float into it. People who drift in connection with their thought habits are sure to drift on other subjects as well. In an allegorical account of an interview with the devil it was stated that the devil said he feared nothing except that the world might sometime produce a thinker who would use his own mind, adding significantly that he controlled all drifters who neglected to use their own minds. The devil is not the only individual who exploits the drifter. And the drifter is the victim not only of all those who wish to exploit him, but he is also the victim of all the stray, negative thoughts which park themselves in his mind. The non-drifter takes full possession of his own mind through self-discipline, and organizes definite plans and purposes. He directs his mind to whatever ends he desires, and he keeps his mind occupied with the things he wants and off the things he does not want. A positive mental attitude is the first and the most important of the twelve riches of life, and it cannot be attained by the drifter. It can be attained only by a scrupulous regard for time, through habits of self-discipline. No amount of time devoted to one's occupation can compensate for the benefits of a positive mental attitude, for this is the power which makes the use of time effective and productive. A positive mental attitude does not grow voluntarily, like the weeds of the fields. It requires cultivation, through carefully disciplined habits of thoughts. And the greatest of all training grounds for the cultivation of a positive mental attitude is provided by one's chosen occupation, where he spends the greatest part of his life. Here you may combine your efforts to make them financially productive and to develop a positive mental attitude. When you get your own thought habits under control, you will have yourself under control, but you cannot do it by drifting. Organize your thoughts. Decide what you want, to what position in life you aspire. Then plan ways and means to express your thoughts, in terms of organized action. Follow through with applied faith and unremitting persistence. This is the means by which you can become the master of your fate, the captain of your soul. Waste no time worrying about what others may think. The important thing is what you think and do. Its the key to igniting our own inner fire. Igniting lives on fire. www.fraserstirling.co.nz

WORKING TOGETHER

I work with a great bunch of people and I believe that is because we all bring a similar attitude to each other. However it isn't always like that, so what makes the difference? Napoleon Hill comments: Willing cooperation produces enduring power, while forced cooperation ends in failure. No civilization based upon the unfair treatment of its people has ever endured. Someone may force the cooperation of others for a time, but that power is never sustained. Only when people are accorded the respect they deserve do they willingly create and maintain successful organizations and societies. When you build a company or an organization based on fairness and justice for every member, you have built a power that will long endure. The best way to secure the commitment and unending cooperation of others is through the simple application of the Golden Rule. It is the most successful and long-lasting management theory ever developed. When you treat others as you would like to be treated were you in their situation, you will inspire loyalty and enthusiastic cooperation. Set high standards for yourself and others, treat them well, let them do their jobs, and they will perform miracles for you. Ignite the fire within. www.fraserstirling.co.nz

MAKING LIFE SIMPLE

Everyone at some stage wants more from life.  At some point we ask ourselves what is my purpose?We are here to do the work, make the changes and take the steps needed to live life on purpose. 

The stories about the power of positive thinking encourage people to be a little complacent and in some cases, lazy.  People think that because they are reading, studying that they are taking action.  Guess what positive thinking is without action? It’s nothing. Your thoughts can only manifest themselves into reality if you take action.

The Lottery Story

A young woman finds herself in dire trouble. Her business has gone bust and she’s in serious financial trouble. She’s so desperate that she decides to ask God for help. She begins to pray…”God, please help me. I’ve lost my business and if I don’t get some money, I’m going to lose my house as well. Please let me win the lottery.”

Lottery night comes and somebody else wins it. The woman again prays …”God, please let me win the lotto! I’ve lost my business, my house and I’m going to lose my car as well.” Lottery night comes and she still has no luck. Once again, she prays…”My God, why have you forsaken me? I’ve lost my business, my house, and my car. My children are starving. I don’t often ask you for help and I have always been a good servant to you. PLEASE just let me win the lotto this one time so I can get my life back in order.”

Suddenly there is a blinding flash of light as the heavens open and the woman is confronted by the voice of God Himself: “Please, meet Me halfway on this. Buy a ticket.”

This story has been told several different ways, but it is a perfect example of what wishing will get you. I do believe in the power of prayer and asking for help, from God, a neighbor, a blogger or whomever is the right person to call on depending on the situation, but you have to meet halfway and do your part.

What are you waiting for? Please don’t complicate things. Don’t think a good idea to death. Make a move, take a leap, run with it, or whatever else you have to do to make all of your wishful thinking and positive thoughts meaningful in your life.

Decide how you want to live your life and just get started.

Simple really.

www.fraserstirling.co.nz 

How many ways am I wealthy and abundant?

There is a saying that we get what we focus on. Recently I have allowed my mind to focus on the less desirable things. Finally I started to realise what I was doing and tuned my mind to what is already working for me.
These are some of the ways I am already wealthy and abundant...

1. A Positive Mental Attitude – purposefully think pleasant thoughts and these thoughts will exhibit “attraction power” that will draw good things into your life. For example, focus on finding that single perfect flower and when you do, buy it and display it on your table or desk for all to admire. Costs little, but pulls in positive vibrations.

2. Sound Physical Health – eat well, exercise daily, and move your body hourly for optimum results.

3. Harmony in Human Relations – talk less listen more. Condition yourself to consider another’s point of view.

4. Freedom From Fear – exchange your fears for faith and refuse to worry about something that you cannot control.

5. The Hope of Future Achievement – set simple goals and live up to your expectations. Start small and work up!

6. The Capacity for Faith – read faith based stories for inspiration, and seek out similar experiences in your own life.

7. Willingness to Share One’s Blessings – give from your current earnings, not only from your surplus.

8. A Labor of Love – do something that you enjoy for the PURE joy of doing it.

9. An Open Mind on All Subjects – challenge yourself to grow and exceed the space you now occupy in the world. Go beyond where you are and learn something new.

10. Self-Discipline – budget your time and money and create a daily plan for the maintenance of sound health. A little done each day adds up in a month’s time.

11. The Capacity to Understand People – school yourself in the nine basic motives that inspire people to do things. Next consider your primary and secondary motives – good or bad. You are where you are in life because of the actions you take.

12. Economic Security – plan for your financial security by saving a set portion of your weekly income. Never become someone’s servant or slave due to lack of personal finances.

Shortly after I was reminded what Napoleon Hill comment on regarding poverty. So I have included a summary from one of his great writings as well.

Poverty is the result of a negative condition of the mind, which practically every living person experiences at one time or another. It is the first and the most disastrous of the seven basic fears, but it is only a state of mind, and like the other six fears, it is subject to the control of the individual.

The fact that a major portion of all people are born in surroundings of poverty, accept it as inescapable, and go with it all though their lives, indicates how potent a factor it is in the lives of people. It may well be that poverty is one of the testing devices with which the Creator separates the weak from the strong, for it is a notable fact that those who master poverty, become rich not only in material things, but also rich and often wise in spiritual values as well.

I have observed that men who have mastered poverty invariably have a keen sense of Faith in their ability to master practically everything else which stands in the way of their progress; while those who have accepted poverty as inescapable show signs of weakness in many other directions. In no case have I known anyone who had accepted poverty as unavoidable, who had not failed also to exercise that great Gift of the power to take possession of his own mind-power (as the Creator intended all people should do).

All people go through testing periods throughout their lives, under many circumstances, which clearly disclose whether or not they have accepted and used the Great Gift of exclusive control over their own mind-power. And I have observed that along with this Great Gift from the Infinite go also definite penalties for neglect to embrace and use the Gift, and definite rewards for its recognition and use.

One of the more important rewards for its use consists in complete freedom from the entire seven basic fears and all the lesser fears, with full access to the magic power of FAITH to take the place of the fears.

The penalties for neglect to embrace and use this Great Gift are legion. In addition to all of the seven basic fears, there are many other liabilities not included with these fears. One of the major penalties for failure to use the Great gift is the total impossibility of attaining peace of mind.

Fraser

Commonwealth games

The Commonwealth games about to start in India has caused much debate. Who is right and who is wrong. Are the Indians wrong for taking so long to get the place sorted for the opening or is it where we are looking from that is causing all the drama?

This all depends on the point of view. In a game of Tennis if you serve the ball and it is called out. To you it is a bad shot. To the other player it is good and to the umpire it is neither good and or bed, its simply out.

What we hinge our beliefs on are caused by our reference points. To a homeless person the opportunity to stay in the athletes village would be great yet to some players they are complaining about they have. It all depends what we compare it against. Just as the two tennis players are experiencing the same thing, only one of them is seeing the good side. So too in life things are related to our reference points. Unless we try to expand our reference point/s we too will stay in the same zone.

It is our commitment to growth and to continually be expanding what we think about that increases our experiences. If we stay where we are then in 12 months time we have gone backwards as people and the universe has moved on.

So the Commonwealth games. Are they a disaster or a hugely exciting event? For me and my reference points they are an exciting event that is about to unfold. I believe the Indians have done a great job in getting the village to a place where it will be a spectacular event to watch. No ones prejudices will hinger me watching and enjoying.

So I challenge you when you are starting to complain and or moan. What is the motive, what is causing that sense of injustice inside you.

This is one day in a short life. Make the day great by experiencing exciting and new things.

Fraze!!

Food for thought

I just finished spending 2 days recovering from a belt of illness. I came accross this article by Darren Hardy the editor of the success magazine. I thought it was worth sharinf. Especially since I wasn't feeling too well.

Tips for becoming what you want:

1. Be real, be transparent, be authentic and be yourself… I mean your REAL self. Too often people spend incredible amounts of energy trying to project themselves as something they’re not. Most of their conversation is spent trying to impress and they think they have everyone snookered.

Here is the reality: no one is fooled. People are always transparent… even when they think they aren’t. I’m sure you meet people all the time who say all the right things, look the part, but you just know, in your gut, even if you can’t put your intellectual finger on it, that they are full of hooey.

We are all intuitive and sensitive beings. We can feel the truth. We can sense authenticity and we can sense when it isn’t present. Projecting pretense only pushes people away from you—quickly and regularly. Your real self—the one that isn’t king of the hill, has fears, is concerned about family and has a genuine passion for a product, service or helping other people succeed—is far more attractive to people than anything else.

I think the era of “fake it till you make it” of the ‘80s and ‘90s has passed. People are smarter today and more than ever are looking for authenticity. Now let me be clear, no matter where you are in your business, in your financial success or in life, I DO want you to start dressing the part and walking the walk. I want you to start representing your elevated self. I want those things to be demonstrations of your new commitment to be better, show up better and live better. I’m talking about not fibbing on the truth.

2. Treat people… like people. I remember a mentor of mine when I was in real estate corrected me on this. I was having a discussion and I showed him my “Hit List” of target prospects. He said, “Hit List? Who wants to be your next HIT?! These are real people, real families, who will be going through one of the most emotional transactions of their life, involving the most valuable asset they own—their home. Not until this list is considered the list of those families whom you will help, protect and fight for next, will they be interested in what you have to say.” That was great advice. It is not just semantics; it is an entirely different philosophy, mindset and emotional approach to every conversation and human interaction.

Don’t treat people like targets, capital, pawns or even prospects or just customers. Treat people like people… people with real desires, fears, hopes, wishes, worries, dreams and ambitions… just like you.

3. Take a sincere interest in other people. The best way to do this is to talk less and listen more. Make fewer statements, ask more questions. Everyone wants to work on their script: What do I say? Instead, it’s better to work on your questions. What questions will draw people out so they talk about their real values, interests, hopes and desires. Once others express what they really want, it’s much easier to match your potential solution to their real and personally expressed needs.

4. Always be positive. Be the one who brightens a room and every conversation you enter. It is easy to pile on to a complaint fest or add to the rousing gossip, but you will actually be perceived better by others if you don’t join them in that talk.

I am always supremely impressed when I witness someone turn down the opportunity to talk negatively about someone else, even if it would have been only to agree with the one speaking or join the company of misery talk.

Let your reputation and brand become those of positivity, grace and class. These rare qualities are what people look for in others. Be the standout.

5. Recognize others. Give people honest and sincere appreciation. Take a page from Catherine the Great’s book: “Praise loudly, blame softly.” Catch people doing things right and acknowledge them. Congratulate others on their accomplishments; celebrate others’ victories. Find at least a dozen ways to compliment, congratulate or appreciate someone else’s work, contribution or successes every day.

Be so busy giving other people recognition that you don’t need any yourself. Do that and people will swarm to you like bees to honey.

6. Give. Most people are only after getting… and they wonder why they don’t. Look for ways to contribute, provide, help, offer and assist. This goes back to the golden rule of relationships that Zig Ziglar taught us, “You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” Give first, give often and give last. Give, give and give.

I see my relationships as bank accounts (psychologically, not emotionally), the more I deposit the more valuable I am to that person and the more I have on account with them. There might come a time when I need to make a small withdrawal, but I always want to be on the positive side of the ledger. My objective is to create a great surplus of wealth in as many accounts (or people) as possible by depositing as much as I can as often as I can.

I hope you enjoyed some fresh food for thought from Darren.

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