The Way Out

"You cannot solve problems with the same mind that created them."

Too often we're stuck in our own ways of thinking. As we wear down the same circular tracks in the dirt, we wear ourselves down wondering how to get out. The rut gets deeper while we get smaller. Pretty soon, when we look up, we see tall walls all around. We look down, and there are only our footprints leading exactly where we don't want to go.

It's easy to tell ourselves, "There's no way out." But a more useful assessment is, "I don't see a way out right now."

The former is a commitment to despair. The latter acknowledges the situation and opens the door to a solution. If you can't see a way out, you try to see more, see better, see differently. Then a solution may appear that you never could have conceived before. That's insight. That's growth.

The mind is a thinking process. If you want to change your mind, you need to change your thinking processes. How? It comes down to willingness in thought and action.

Willingness to change thought takes humility. Given the immense knowledge of the human race, what are the chances that your set of thoughts and beliefs is the right one? You can't see from different perspectives if you aren't willing to put yours down for a while. It'll still be there when you get back.

Seek out other perspectives, especially those that you would likely disagree with. AllSides offers a great resource for this. My partner and I read it to be more aware of current events and to understand how bias affects our perceptions. There's always more than one side to a story. Here's where humility comes in again. What are the chances that you have the full picture of every story, that your views are unequivocally correct?

Willingness to change action is a no-brainer: do something differently! You can't expect to behave the same way and get different results.

If it's that simple, why is it so hard? That wonderfully familiar voice in our heads—fear. "What if it doesn't work out? What if it's not what I really want to be doing?"

Here's the secret. It doesn't matter! At first, the only thing that matters is that you do something different. It doesn't matter what, or where that takes you. You just need to convince yourself that you can actually do it. That's why I call it a no-brainer. It's easy to overthink and get stuck in fear. Turn off the brain and just do it! Brush your teeth with your other hand. Do one pushup. Arrive first at the meeting. Say hello to the stranger passing by on the sidewalk.

Once you know you actually can change course, it's much easier to point yourself in the direction you want to go.

Here's one just for fun: Try drinking from a mug with the handle facing towards you. The handle becomes a nice chin rest! Enjoy eliciting some raised eyebrows at your next coffee date.

Change in action doesn't have to be incredibly bold and life-changing. But incredibly bold and life-changing decisions can only come from building this skill.

Try purposefully disrupting the way you normally think and act. Allow your mind to expand. It's interesting what you can discover in that process—and it'll be uniquely yours.