Thoughts create. So if you could think one thought that would change everything, would you?
Given the opportunity, most of us would not.
Usually our thoughts, beliefs, and mental models are the result of habit, familiarity, or identity. We think old thoughts about the world and about ourselves because we’ve always thought them, because we prefer them (or fear something new), or because we think we are the kind of people (or belong to a group of people) who think these thoughts.
Despite all this inertia, thinking a new thought–one that would change everything–is actually not that difficult. We can provoke new thoughts using lateral thinking techniques. And we can find higher-buzz thoughts, ones that feel better to think them.
We need only pause and ask ourselves, “Without regard for what I have been thinking or am thinking now, what is one thought that I can think that would feel better and that I can believe as true (enough)?” It may take a couple to a couple dozen seconds. But we all have the capacity to shift our thinking this way and prosper from it.
In your corner,
Mike
PS: Yes. Of course one thought can change everything for you, your work, and your world. To paraphrase Margaret Mead, it’s the only way anything ever has changed.
PPS: We know we need to think new thoughts whenever we notice we keep getting more of something we don’t want.
Today’s photo credit: Gisela Giardino cc