Finding creative solutions

For the most inspired solutions you need to get your brain looking in new directions. One of the most efficient ways to do this is with a list of words, mainly adjectives, to generate "what if?" scenarios. The course of action starts with the query, "what if it was..." and then you put in a word from the list. 

Let me explain the procedure with some example.

Suppose you have is an unpleasant co-worker and you aren't sure how to deal with him.  So you ask about the problem, "What if it was..." and insert from the list "less significant." How could you make the problem less significant? Spend less time with that person? 

"What if it was...  cool?" makes you wonder if being annoying yourself might keep the other person away from you. "Closer" makes you wonder if this person might be nicer to you if they knew you better. You continue to pick up a word from the list and work with each word a bit to get new perspective, which you can look at more critically, systematically and logically later.

Now take another example.  Suppose your house is too crowded because you're running your business from it. You ask, "What if it was..." and insert from the word list, "smaller." Your house is already too small, but could the business be smaller? The word "separated" might give you the idea to keep the business in just one part of the house.

Since most words on the list won't help, you can go through the inappropriate ones rapidly. But don't robotically dismiss them without a few seconds contemplation. "What if it was hopeless?" may seem like a futile question, or it may make you recognize that you just can't keep the business in the house any longer. Moving into a rented office might be the most lucrative of your creative solutions.

The Creative Solutions Word List

Create your own list of words. You'll want to use adjectives, descriptive phrases, and any words that can change your point of view. 

This is a short list which you may find helpful to get you started:

What if it was... newer, boring, casual, farther away, closer, easier, more difficult, sooner, later, higher, short, black, certain, hopeless, subtracted from, fat, rich, cheaper, common, divided, more interesting, extravagant, larger, smaller, subtle, or fun?

Just as with most problem solving techniques, it's important to allow the thoughts and ideas to run without judging them in the beginning. You don't want to suffocate the creative process. Take notes, and then evaluate your ideas when you feel that you have a page full of creative solutions.

Seven ways to feel joyful

Sometimes we’re out of sorts. We just wish we were in a superior frame of mind.  Don’t you have days like that? I don't know if you tried to get yourself into improved state of mind but fight to accomplish it.

Sometimes we get wedged in our own emotional dumps and stop thinking about how easy it is to feel more contented, so here are seven simple ways to raise your frame of mind. Many people have found them helpful and practical. Some of them may blow your mind!

1. Go for a long walk.

You know very well that going for a short walk regularly is one of the best forms of work out. When you are feeling down it is even more helpful. If you can, go into a natural location with lots of foliage, birds and animals. The greenery, smell of country air, sounds of birds and sunlight coming through the trees will immediately make you happy. 

2. Listen to your favorite music.

Music can shift your mood within moments. Its effect can be nearly delightful. Dig out that CD you haven't listened to in ages or tune in your radio to something you've never listened to before.

3. Open yourself and find out something innovative.

Read something different than what you would normally read. There are a ton of different types of books and magazines can you get these days. Or you can browse some interesting blog articles. You can also visit your local library if you wish and browse through a magazine rack.  Pick up a magazine you wouldn't normally do. You may discover something magnificent and totally new.

4. Find something to laugh at.

Laughter is one of the best ways to lift your mood. Find a funny book, or watch a comedy TV show. Read a few new jokes loudly to your family members or friends. This is my favorite.   

5. Do mindfulness meditation.

Mindfulness meditation is a great exercise which you can do anywhere.  Sit comfortably with your back straight. Close your eyes and become aware of your breathing. There is nothing complicated. Do this for 10-15 minutes. Notice how you feel different afterwards. 

6. Scribbling for the fun of it.

Do you remember when you were young and used to scribble for hours? Children love drawing silly little pictures. Drawing is not just for children or artists.  So get some pens, pencils, crayons or whatever you have and just sketch for the fun of it. Notice how your state of mind shifts.

7. Think of others less fortunate.

Think, you are most likely much better off than most people on this globe. At times this may be difficult to accept as true, but if you can read and have access to the internet, just those two things alone means you are better than most people in the world.  There are many human beings trying hard for the basics of survival like food and shelter. There are people in lots of pain. Let your compassion for them grow.

These are some pretty simple practical things. There's nothing philosophical or life changing, but these may be just the thing you need. Putting simple ideas, methods, tools and techniques into action will help you to change your mood quickly and make you feel happy and joyful.

It all starts from who you are!

Have you ever read the famous story Acres of Diamonds? Do you ever feel that it related to you?

A farmer hears tales of diamonds and begins dreaming of enormous riches. He sells his farm and hikes off over the horizon, never to be heard from again. People say those years later he died bankrupt, never having found the diamonds he spent his life in the hunt for. 

Meanwhile, the man who bought that farm found a large and "interesting looking" stone in a stream that ran through the property. He put the stone on his mantle where a visitor recognized the large stone as a rough diamond. 

It turned out to be the Hope Diamond, the biggest such stone ever found. That stream bed was littered with diamonds, and the new owner became amazingly affluent. No doubt he also lived happily ever after.

But doesn't something in that story set bizarrely with you? 

What about the guy with the burning aspiration and the grand vision? He ended up disillusioned and ruined, dying far from his family and friends. Not a happy ending. 

In the meantime, the guy who just wanted to do some farming got all the riches. Make no error, the new owner already had money, or he could not have bought the land. There's nothing in this story to make us think he was dreaming about riches, vast or otherwise. No burning aspiration. But he got the goodies.

Was this just another little hoax, courtesy of a naughty Universe? 

Or is it possible to get good things coming your way with only mild desire -- maybe even a calm indifference? 

Many motivating writers, including Napoleon Hill, have assured us that a blazing desire is one of the fundamentals of acquiring wealth. I've even said it myself, although I added the qualifier that the dominant desire is not so much for the Universe. It's for you, to help you conquer and battle past your own uncertainties and resistances. 

But haven't you seen people who seem to coast into good things, like the farmer who found the Hope Diamond? Achieving your dream doesn't appear to have a lot to do with flaming desire.

Instead, it seems to be more a matter of what they can allow themselves to have. Some people call this a sense of worthiness. It's essentially the same thing. Either way, it's governed by who you think you are and what state of affairs you accept as suitable for you. 

In other words, it all starts from who you are in your own mind.