Many years ago I found out about Chuck Norris humour on the web and thought… there’s a fire and forget project. Man was I wrong. I got the email today as imagine most people have at least some time in their existence. So here we go the Chuck Norris School of problem solving:

• In Pamplona, Spain, the people may be running from the bulls, but the bulls are running from Chuck Norris. (New!)
• Chuck Norris uses pepper spray to spice up his steaks. (New!)
• Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.
• Crop circles are Chuck Norris’ way of telling the world that sometimes corn needs to lie down.
• Chuck Norris is ten feet tall, weighs two-tons, breathes fire, and could eat a hammer and take a shotgun blast standing.
• The Great Wall of China was originally created to keep Chuck Norris out. It failed miserably.
• Contrary to popular belief, Chuck Norris, not the box jellyfish of northern Australia, is the most venomous creature on earth. Within 3 minutes of being bitten, a human being experiences the following symptoms: fever, blurred vision, beard rash, tightness of the jeans, and the feeling of being repeatedly kicked through a car windshield.
• Most people have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Chuck Norris has 72… and they’re all poisonous.
• If you ask Chuck Norris what time it is, he always says, “Two seconds ’til.” After you ask, “Two seconds ’til what?” he roundhouse kicks you in the face.
• Chuck Norris drives an ice cream truck covered in human skulls.
• When Chuck Norris sends in his taxes, he sends blank forms and includes only a picture of himself, crouched and ready to attack. Chuck Norris has not had to pay taxes, ever.
• The quickest way to a man’s heart is with Chuck Norris’ fist.
• Chuck Norris invented Kentucky Fried Chicken’s famous secret recipe, with eleven herbs and spices. But nobody ever mentions the twelfth ingredient: Fear.
• CNN was originally created as the “Chuck Norris Network” to update Americans with on-the-spot ass kicking in real-time.
• Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.
• There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris allows to live.
• Chuck Norris once ate three 72 oz. steaks in one hour. He spent the first 45 minutes having sex with his waitress.
• What was going through the minds of all of Chuck Norris’ victims before they died? His shoe.
• Chuck Norris is the only man to ever defeat a brick wall in a game of tennis.
• Police label anyone attacking Chuck Norris as a Code 45-11…. a suicide.
• Chuck Norris doesn’t churn butter. He roundhouse kicks the cows and the butter comes straight out.
• Chuck Norris doesn’t wash his clothes, he disembowels them.
• A Handicapped parking sign does not signify that this spot is for handicapped people. It is actually in fact a warning, that the spot belongs to Chuck Norris and that you will be handicapped if you park there.
• Chuck Norris will attain statehood in 2009. His state flower will be the Magnolia.
• Someone once videotaped Chuck Norris getting pissed off. It was called Walker: Texas Chain Saw Masacre.
• If you spell Chuck Norris in Scrabble, you win. Forever.
• Chuck Norris originally appeared in the “Street Fighter II” video game, but was removed by Beta Testers because every button caused him to do a roundhouse kick. When asked bout this “glitch,” Norris replied, “That’s no glitch.”
• Fool me once, shame on you. Fool Chuck Norris once and he will roundhouse you in the face.
• The opening scene of the movie “Saving Private Ryan” is loosely based on games of dodgeball Chuck Norris played in second grade.
• Chuck Norris once shot down a German fighter plane with his finger, by yelling, “Bang!”
• Chuck Norris once bet NASA he could survive re-entry without a spacesuit. On July 19th, 1999, a naked Chuck Norris re-entered the earth’s atmosphere, streaking over 14 states and reaching a temperature of 3000 degrees. An embarrassed NASA publically claimed it was a meteor, and still owes him a beer.
• Chuck Norris has two speeds: Walk and Kill.
• Someone once tried to tell Chuck Norris that roundhouse kicks aren’t the best way to kick someone. This has been recorded by historians as the worst mistake anyone has ever made.
• Contrary to popular belief, America is not a democracy, it is a Chucktatorship.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is based on a true story: Chuck Norris once swallowed a turtle whole, and when he crapped it out, the turtle was six feet tall and had learned karate.
• Chuck Norris is not hung like a horse… horses are hung like Chuck Norris.
• Faster than a speeding bullet … more powerful than a locomotive … able to leap tall buildings in a single bound… yes, these are some of Chuck Norris’s warm-up exercises.
• Chuck Norris is the only human being to display the Heisenberg uncertainty principle — you can never know both exactly where and how quickly he will roundhouse-kick you in the face.
• In the Bible, Jesus turned water into wine. But then Chuck Norris turned that wine into beer.
• Chuck Norris can hit you so hard that he can actually alter your DNA. Decades from now your descendants will occasionally clutch their heads and yell “What The Hell was That?”
• Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris.
• Chuck Norris discovered a new theory of relativity involving multiple universes in which Chuck Norris is even more badass than in this one. When it was discovered by Albert Einstein and made public, Chuck Norris roundhouse-kicked him in the face. We know Albert Einstein today as Stephen Hawking.
• Chuck Norris doesn’t shower, he only takes blood baths.
• The Chuck Norris military unit was not used in the game Civilization 4, because a single Chuck Norris could defeat the entire combined nations of the world in one turn.
• In an average living room there are 1,242 objects Chuck Norris could use to kill you, including the room itself.
• According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, the Native American “Trail of Tears” has been redefined as anywhere that Chuck Norris walks.
• Chuck Norris does not teabag the ladies. He potato-sacks them.
• Pluto is actually an orbiting group of British soldiers from the American Revolution who entered space after the Chuck gave them a roundhouse kick to the face.
• When Chuck Norris goes to donate blood, he declines the syringe, and instead requests a hand gun and a bucket.
• There are no steroids in baseball. Just players Chuck Norris has breathed on.
• Chuck Norris once challenged Lance Armstrong in a “Who has more testicles?” contest. Chuck Norris won by 5.
• Chuck Norris was the fourth wise man, who gave baby Jesus the gift of beard, which he carried with him until he died. The other three wise men were enraged by the preference that Jesus showed to Chuck’s gift, and arranged to have him written out of the bible. All three died soon after of mysterious roundhouse-kick related injuries.
• Chuck Norris sheds his skin twice a year.

In a previous post I spoke about the problems of life. I want to write briefly today about a way we can walk through problems using a dartboard approach. What is the dartboard approach? In short, the dartboard approach is where you take a best guess as what you should do and take it from there. Also remembering, to let go and just go for it. Here are some of the hallmarks to the dartboard approach.

1. When you can’t work out what to do… do something!

If you are stuck for an idea take whatever you can and just straight up go for it.  What’s the worse thing that could happen?  If it involves money take your time and consider your shot before throwing BUT don’t do nothing.  Make a plan that involves you taking some action first.

2. Make sure it’s an educated guess

When thinking through problems you have to look at what your options are and be thinking strategically.  A confident dart player does not simply shut their eyes and hurl the projectile without thought.  They are working off a ‘best guest’ scenario as to what their opponent is thinking.  In short they are sizing up their own plan of attack against what they think is the opponents next move.  There is no answer to what somebody will do next but those that make an educated guess and then take action are more likely to be right than wrong most of the time.

3. Have confidence in your choices 

I would hate to tell you this but most decisions are driven by emotions.  That means, you have a decision you make based on the emotions you have and as a consequence will often favour those.  If you are like me, you have a problem believing in yourself.  This means, most of the time you write something only to receive a criticism from somebody else who drags you down.  Remember, they are not responsible for your decisions… you are.  Listen to good counsel by all means (my next point), but do not allow yourself to be told by someone that you have no right to make choices.  You do have that right.  You should therefore be confident and say to yourself, ‘I made a choice and I am happy with it.’  Be confident and know that your choice is a good educated guess and it’s relevant to you and your situation.

4. Talk to others

When planning and taking action it’s a key thing to remember that you are not alone.  You have people around you that care deeply for you and if you ask them they will help you talk it through.   People are there to help.   If it’s a tough decision talk to them about it if you need a fresh set of eyes.   In a later post I will be speaking about how we can recognise the role emotions play in our lives.

5. Pray

Before I make a big decision I turn to God and ask him to help me.  After all, he is interested.  So I pray and ask for a feeling through my inner man that what I am about to do is right for me.  This works most of the time for me.  Sometimes I get a horrible feeling in my gut and this tells me not to do that thing I was planning.  Other times I feel comfortable or at peace with it… so this helps too.  There are times when my life seems to be going nowhere… if I stop and talk to God about it and write down what I believe he is telling me then I fair a lot better than I do otherwise.

In all of these things it’s important to recognise that life is not certain.  I was not born near a roadmap neither was I handed a list of what I am to do here.  Largely, I believe, it’s us to me what I do and how I travel.  I believe in destiny but at the same time I believe we have a free choice to make.  When I am struggling I resort to this list and it’s helped me greatly.  One time I didn’t know whether I should enrol in a course or not.  So I just enrolled.  I figured that, if I take the chance, I will probably be fine even if I get it wrong.  What happens if I do and I fail? Unless what you are planning to do is dangerous to others… so what?  I have failed at heaps of things and each one of those failures eventually led to an open door somewhere else that became a success.  Am I saying that you have to fail to succeed.  Yes.  So just think about it and throw that dart!

Thanks for reading.  Why not talk about this article in my forum? Alternatively you can leave a comment or talk to me personally about it.

Technorati Tags: dartboard approach, plan, educated guess, God

A life problem is a generic term that I use to describe issues that confront us on a daily basis. The problem of how to pay the bills, the problems of marriage and career and so on. Life problems are those that arise in our day to day lives that demand attention and simply will not go away until hey are solved. These are the issues of life, the pressing matters, the things we find to be a problem in our lives. Such problems are not given to easy answers and we might well think of them as a mess. Not every problem we have is a mess. Most of the time the problems we find in our day to day lives require little thought to fix but the matters of life (life problems) do require a lot more work. These kinds of things have many possible answers, no real clear solution and are often a matter of perspective more so than some uncontrollable circumstance.

Have you ever noticed how some things you do never seem to change no matter what it is you seem to do? What about the way in which you deal with people at work or how you talk to your children? These problems are the ones that matter yet when we look at them the world is full of conventional wisdom or “common sense” but most of that is of little value. People use sayings like, ‘Well that’s just the way it is.’ A risk averse person will often look at any given situation and say something like, ‘better than devil you know than you don’t.’ As conventional wisdom this is very sound but in life that’s of no use. Life involves risk. The greatest of the greatest always took risks.

Another one of my personal favourites is this one: ‘Ignore it and it will go away.’ It some cases this may be true. However, I have found in most cases if I ignore an issue it will become a bigger problem later on. There is a balance to be struck between proactively seeking an answer and laziness and that will be discussed later. One key point to note here is that problems do not exist as real things, like the sun, moon and stars. They exist in the conceptualisation of our hearts and minds. To understand this you will need to read on. For now, be content with this definition of a life problem: A situation in a person’s life that they think is troubling, worrisome and panic worthy.

Problems like this can be best thought of as a roll of movie film stock. Each picture on that strip of film is just another frame and so shows a different part of the
bigger picture for us to understand. This big picture shows us the way in which things interrelate and how the harmony or disharmony of it present itself to us. Life
problems are those that surround us and confront us with their complexity and interrelationships and quite often they befuddle us with more answers than questions.

Solving Life Problems?

Take as example the life problem of depression. Depression is caused by a variety of things, some known and some unknown that operate in the minds and hearts of human
beings. To say that all problems of depression can be reduced down to simple explanations is less than helpful. For example, not having enough money to pay the rent
makes me depressed because I feel as if I cannot provide for my family. I have been faced with this in recent times and a virtual carnival of emotions and random thoughts
go off in you that make you feel inadequate. Really though what makes me depressed is the idea that I am inadequate because I have linked the idea of my personal worth
to getting money to pay the rent. People around me reinforce it through the words of their mouth and the intentions they have toward me. I believe what they say… instead
of forming a better picture of myself which in essence stops the reason for the problem to occur.

Here is another example from my life. Recently my daughter became sick. So sick in fact that she stopped eating for three days. During this time I went through a roller coaster of emotions all the way from panic to full blown fear. I was making the situation worse because my fear and lack of restrain was obvious. After a time I settled down my emotions by thinking different thoughts about the situation. I used my faith and said to my daughter,’you are getting better all the time…’. I quoted scriptures to her and got her involved and guess that. She didn’t improve overnight but not more than a day later it was all over. The point is: my panic and fear created the problem. By changing my perspective slowly and surely I was able to see things differently.

Recognising things that won’t change

A friend of mine recently spoke to me about not being able to get a job in the academic profession he was in. Constantly he would complain, “I can never get a
permanent job – these just won’t let me in.” My response to him at first was one of sympathy – it must have been the system working against him. It was a conspiracy. Then one day a job came up that we could both apply for. We both applied. He didn’t even get an interview and I got that job. Yet he had more papers, more experience and was clearly more senior than me in that field. What was the difference? I studied an old job advertisement and I noticed it came with a warning “Must be enrolled in a PhD.” An opportunity came up for me to apply for a PhD so I took it and got in. Then I started looking for work and as this opportunity came up I applied as did my colleague. The key difference? He wasn’t enrolled in a PhD. The ad declared this clearly but he thought that they would make an exception for him (as I did for years).

Talking to those in the organization in question and speaking with other professionals I learned that they won’t employ someone who isn’t enrolled in a PhD. As a matter of fact if all the people that applied weren’t enrolled the job remains unfilled despite the fact that the need for the position continues. This changed my opinion on doing a PhD. They would rather leave a position unfilled? I had better do all I can to apply for that position so I better enrol in a PhD. He didn’t get that interview because he kept waiting for them to come to him. A job is nothing more than your employer hiring you to fix a problem they have. They need someone to do something, you get paid to do it and if you are good enough (according to their criteria) you should get promoted (if that’s what you want). What I recognised (not being able to control the academic standards) got me in a position where I could give a good interview and be hired – his understanding of the exact same thing worked in the opposite way. I have no doubt that if my friend had developed life skills (in this case learning and managing relationships) he would have pounded on that door until they let him in. As I understand it almost three years later – he is still floating from contract to contract – unable to land full time work. Now I am not a better person than he is, I have just taken my time to
develop my life skills to the extent where I can use them to help me instead of hindering me.

Now my colleague managed not to learn a simple fact. If the criteria says PhD enrolment required – then it’s likely they aren’t going to hire someone who isn’t – no matter how good you think you are. On the other hand – go and speak to people – build relationships with key individuals and learn what it takes to get that kind of job. This kind of skill is essential to managing life better, it’s not optional, and if you want to be successful you must submit yourself to a process of learning which at times is very stressful. In my situation I kept thinking do I really want to get a PhD? Do I really want to be an academic? Who cares if people call me doctor or not? On the other hand, what about the long term security of family?

Academic institutions in this age require a PhD before they are really serious about paying you so I had better get one. Did it cost me? Yes it did, my sanity mainly! My supervisor told me that doing a PhD is like banging your head up against a wall for three years until the wall disappears. A lot of this ‘head banging’ you will read on this website but more than this I hope you see yourself in it and learn from it.

Recognising things you can change

I once applied for a job and went to the interview deathly afraid that I wasn’t going to get the job. It showed when I got in there! So much so that they didn’t even
give me a call back after the job had been filled in. That was a terrible feeling! Since then, I use positive confessions and set my mind on the scriptures to help me.
Now does that always work? No. But what it does is allow me to focus my thoughts on something else so that I am not so nervous. Being positive during times like that
helps me to remained balanced and focused as I sweat it out in the job interview.

There are other things that we can change. We can question our own limiting beliefs. Think about the amount of times you have said, ‘it can’t be done’ when you knew in your eart that there was a chance it could be done. Remember all God needs is our faith and everything is possible from there. I have this saying which I think sums up what I am saying here: ‘People don’t have problems… people are the problem.’ More to come on that topic later. How can a problem exist if there are people around to make it real? We can change these things. We can change our attitude over a period of time by learning to refocus our thoughts on positive things. We can change our life by attaching positive or negative emotions to experiences we have had. With God’s help we can become whole, active and successful people as we learn to listen to his voice and follow his desires for us. These things are completely within our grasp to do. By reading the word of God we can get faith and by keeping healthy positive people around us… we can become like them.

So it’s not all one way street with life problems. There are things we can do and things that are God’s business. Some people I meet are struck with a paralysis: I can’t do anything because I might get in God’s way or even worse hey reason themselves out of tackling the problem. ‘Oh it’s too big,’ or ‘I can’t do it’ … remember whatever you believe… good or bad is what you will think is possible or isn’t possible. That which we can control we do with God’s help and that which we can’t control is 100% God’s problem. We need to carefully recognise which is which in our lives and take appropriate action!

Life problem ’solving’

We need to move away from this idea that problems are solved. Somethings they are re-solved… agreed upon and we reach the stage were we decide to live with it. Other times they are (dis)solved if we think of it in the same manner as the problem solving experts (like Russell Ackoff) do. However in life things can only really dissolve when the problem ceases to be there. How can this be? How can life problems dissolve? Well a lot of the times they dissolve as we allow our conception of them to change. Will you start doing this today? How about your wife or husband? Instead of grumbling about them under your breath why not start enjoying their qualities and ignoring their faults. Why should you overlook someone’s faults? Because you have so many of your own. We expect God to overlook our faults to love us… why not overlook someone else’s and learn to love them? I am not talking about every situation because remember there are things we cannot control. Certainly, we cannot control other people and yes they may leave you or worse. Still we can control what we do to a certain extent. With God’s help we can control how we feel and over time learn to master ourselves to react to such people in a positive way.

Recently I watched a person very close to me whose marriage fell completely apart. They are now divorced and in my opinion it was the best thing for that situation. That does not mean it’s the best for yours. Are you in an abusive relationship? Then ’solving’ your problem begins with you seeing a qualified counselor and getting out. There are no excuses for violence. None. There are so many life problems that are simply expectations that were never met. Why not change what you expected? Maybe you are unreasonable to expect anything from anyone because you are not perfect? The most simple definition of a problem I ever heard was when our expectations do not match what is really happening to us. I think there is merit in that simple definition. If you changed what you expected do you think that your circumstances would change? No. Jesus told us to expect the things we ask from God to come to pass before we see them. Why did he do that? I think it was because we expect things to happen based on deep down ideas and pictures about ourselves. All Jesus was really saying was … why not expect God to do something great for you and begin to talk about it before it even happens?

Life problems are people made and people sustained. We have a part we play. There are things we cannot control and what we need to do is focus on what our part is and leave the rest in God’s capable hands. The only real way to handle life problems is to learn how to shift perspectives but that is another article for another day. In the mean time start looking at how you make this problem real. Start asking yourself what can I control and what I can’t. Do your part and I am sure the rest will follow.

Technorati Tags: life problem, problems, problem

Recently in a dream I found myself driving a huge crane that was lifting big boulders.  To the side of the boulders were golden rocks that were just sitting there. The first thought that came to me when I woke up was… I am helping others getting work done but not doing what I need to do to make sure I continue to succeed.  The gold that I have waiting to be refined is sitting there as I do backbreaking labour for others … who probably don’t care!  I am doing the donkey work for others at the expense of my own work. 

Part of the harsh realities of life is that you must be careful in selecting what you do to help others.  I believe we should be helping others because it’s part of my values however, if we do too much for others and neglect what we need to do … our opportunities to grow may be missed.  How do you know you are lifting boulders for other people?

You have been doing something for a while and you are making no progress

If you walk up a hill one step at a time you will eventually get to the top.  However, if you begin to walk around in circles your destination will be the same as your starting point!  Have you been doing this for a while… could be you are helping others get ahead at the neglect of yourself?

There is just no time for me

Is this you as well?  The whole idea of time for yourself is important because you are accountable for you.  What I am saying is this: make time.  That’s great but with all the things I am doing there is simply not enough time right?  Wrong!  There could be some things you are doing for others that should be pushed aside.

People around me treat me like a dumping station

A hallmark of finding out that you are carrying boulders for others is the amount of things people just give you to do.  Now, there are some things that you should do and helping others is very important.   Don’t be a dumping station… only take on those things that you know you can do without hindering your own future. 

I just can’t say no

This one is a tough one.  I work with a person who just can’t say no and I am much the same myself.  However, if you want progress in things that are important, you must get tough.  I have had to say no to some opportunities recently because it would have hindered what I was trying to achieve strategically.  Learn that no is a positive way of keeping what’s important on track. 

When you incubate the dreams of your heart does it fill you with excitement… does it fill you with joy?  Then ask yourself this question: is it worth trading what the fulfillment of that for temporary acknowledgment of others?  Think for a minute… when that person gets a promotion or goes onto fulfil the goal they have how will that benefit you?   That doesn’t mean that you don’t do it because it won’t help you but if it interferes it what you should be doing…then you are creating long term damage.  Remember, you can help others carry boulders for you and you can help them but a sensible balance must be retained.    Part of coming into your own is spending quality time building your life vision day after day… minute after minute… second after second.   You can’t come into your own and do what you should if you are lifting boulders for others.

Special Thanks to Alex Blackwell who published this article earlier in the month as part of his series of ‘coming into your own’.

Technorati Tags: dream, incubate, balance

In the haziness of everyday affairs we often are blinded by perceptions, beliefs and hidden assumptions. I have been thinking lately about how much of my life is a problem and how much of it I make a problem. What do I mean? Well consider for a moment that a lot of things we think are real problems are actually not ‘real’ as such. They exist in our heads informing of us that which ‘troubles’ us. As British academic Professor Peter Checkland puts it: an area of concern is something we find to be problematic. Sounds real obvious hey? Think about it for a minute.

The problem of causality

What I have noticed is that people often fail to recognise the difference between how we can cause something to bother us and how others can interfere. Think for a moment about this scenario. You are driving home on the freeway and suddenly a man swerves in front of you nearly taking you out. You react by slamming on your brakes and quickly lose control of your vehicle smashing into a nearby concrete wall. That is a real problem. You have been effected by somebody else’s poor driving. Same scenariobut somebody looks like they are going to cut you off and you react because of what might happen but never actually does. Your thinking caused you to respond not really the other drivers actions… although they were the trigger. In this latter example you can see that often in problem solving situations the real problem is your perception of what might happen. A problem is therefore a perspective that is the difference between what we expect (our point of view) and what actually happens.

The problem of perceptions

Perceptions are as real as reality itself. One might go so far to say that perceptions are reality. Hold on, I hear you say, what I perceive is actually real? No. That’s not what I mean. I mean this: what you perceive to be real becomes real by virtue of the fact that you have perceived it. When you understand or recognise a problem to you it’s real. The effects of it will be as real as if the wind blew the roof right off your house!

So what’s the real problem?

The real problem often is in your head. That’s right. You think something might happen and on the basis of that ‘reality’ you begin making decisions. I do this myself all the time. Ever thought of avoiding a social event because you might run into so and so and it would be a disaster only to go and find out it wasn’t. This kind of thing can get so intense that you begin seeing the pictures in your mind… day in and day out. You begin to imagine what might happen and sure enough before you know it you are making new plans to navigate around something that is deeply rooted in your mind.

Problems as perspectives

Problems are essentially ways of thinking (perspectives) that reside in our sub-conscious mental structure informing us of reality. You can begin to recognise them by asking yourself questions that expose them (I will talk about how to remove them in a later post). Things like: ‘Do I want to avoid the social event because it will be a disaster or because I am expecting it to be a disaster?’. See, we often build a reality to believe in just so we can make a place for the things we think are a problem.

I am going to end this post with a personal story. Before I started my present job I was warned about a member of staff by people I was hanging around with at the time. The people I was with told me that this person (called ‘Bob’ to protect the innocent) was not to be trusted and would rip me off. So believing what I was told I avoided them like the plague. However, I was assigned to work with Bob and found Bob to be helpful, courteous and nice. When I eventually told Bob what I was warned about… Bob told me she was worried about me because of the people I was hanging around! Essentially none of this was ‘real’ but it made for a ‘reality’ that become so real that two people were made to feel very uncomfortable and acted out of these beliefs. The real problem was the perspectives we had.

In closing today I want to encourage you to begin to look into your own life for limited perspectives. Once you see them… make a note of them and slowly begin to change the way you see things. I will write more on this so why not subscribe to my feed to see what I have in store. Thanks for reading!

Technorati Tags: perceptions, beliefs, hidden assumptions, problem, problems, perceptions

A cardboard box is great for storing things isn’t it? Does it help you think? NO. It’s a square storage box for you to put stuff in. In the same manner that the box is used for storage so do we store things in mental boxes. When it comes to ideas you can create the form they take by building logical structures that you think represent reality. Take for example your concept of work? What is it?

Do you think you work to get money or you get money because you work? That is a logic box. The truth is you are being paid because you have something of value to offer someone else. If you conceptualise work in a box you will say: ‘Well I have to do it.’ No you don’t! You must begin to break out of the logic box you have built and make new ideas work for you. Starting thinking of yourself as adding value because that’s why you were hired. I think of the logic box as a set of ideas that you use to define something in a rigid, non-flexible logical way. Consider the following examples:

Well that is just the way it is…

Why do we accept things the way things are… well that’s just the way it is? No that’s a box. Things are the way they are because we made them that way and continue to agree that’s an acceptable way of doing things. Take poverty for example. A problem that is worldwide. Is there enough wealth in the world to fix this problem? I would argue there is more than enough yet the problem is still there. Why is it still there? Corruption? Bad politics? Greed? There is no one answer that makes complete sense.

It’s been this way for years… it’s better the devil you know than the devil you don’t…

This is a logic box that is really saying… I don’t have the courage to make the changes and I would prefer to live with the devil I have rather than the devil I don’t. I would prefer for the devil to be gone. Why live with the devil? It takes just the same amount of fear to fail as it does to succeed. Why not take a step out there into the big beyond and try it? Things could get better as they could get worse. If they do get better then you will have gained something and if you make a terrible mistake you will also have gained something. See my previous post on learning from your past mistakes. Don’t settle for what the population in general settle for mediocrity… do what you know to do. Break that sucker!

Things are never going to change…

Really never? They will change if you begin to make steps towards making them change. You don’t build a great building overnight. It starts with a vision and you then build it step by step until the thing is complete. We have this terrible idea that things we have are simply never going to change. If you think it will never change… it will never change. If you begin to think change is possible… then it will become possible. This not some mysterious notion. Consider this, when you are looking for a new house to live in what do you notice in the television shows you see… things you like in a house. In like manner if you set your mind on something you will begin to explore possibilities, seek new avenues of thinking and eventually make small steps towards change.

That’s just what I believe…

People somehow have gotten this idea that what we believe is static. It’s almost as though changing our perspective is so hard that we would rather live with a worse explanation of what we believe that using a better one. Why do we do this? There are many reasons why but I think a major factor is that we simply grow comfortable in the ways in which we create things in our mind. We get so comfortable that we would rather hurt ourselves by believing something that’s just there rather than changing perspectives to a better more healthier belief.

This is just the way I am…

The picture you carry around of yourself is what you will think, speak and act to whoever is listening at any given time. This inbuilt image will be with you for the rest of your life and if you don’t do something to fix it… you will find it dominating you until you die. If for example, you belief you are destined to fail, then the chances are you will make decisions that will make this a reality. If on the other hand you believe you will do well, you will make decisions in accordance with this belief. This doesn’t mean you will do well because you believe BUT that belief will reside in you and when opportunities come along you will know how to recognise them.

These are all versions of the logic box… ways of thinking that are put into little boxes for us to interpret. Another common one I have come across is found in the media. I call this a false dichotomy. Say you are debating a divisive issue like euthanasia. Immediately you think of the two moral high grounds for the issue… pro or con. In reality this is a false dichotomy because there may be other solutions rather than yes or no. By taking an extreme stance you automatically exclude the possibility of new and innovative solutions. There is nothing wrong with taking a stand for things you believe in… but there is something VERY wrong in creating ideas to believe in and then not changing them when the situation demands it. The tendency towards logical solutions in our thinking hinders our creativity because it forces us to make boxes. When we do this we naturally exclude alternatives which in any field is a dangerous practice.

There are a few ways I have found that break the logic box and I will discuss these in another post later in the week. In the meantime consider this: what things in your life have you boxed in? Family? Friends? Work? In any case you will not be able to see the problem until you begin questioning it, turning it over in your mind and looking at it from different angles. Start today!

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‘For the first six months we were apart I enjoyed all the things I’d missed. I went to see only movies I wanted to see-not one war picture. I went to the gym when it was most convenient for me. I had a manicure when I wanted a manicure I did what I wanted when I wanted to. I saw all the children constantly. Eventually, I even dated a little. I realized I could get along just fine on my own, the question was, did I want to? Other men left me cold. They all had their routines down pat-every guy had his own personal schtick. At least Jerry had his hair.’ Judge Judy Scheindlin Beauty Fades but Dumb is Forever.

The popular TV Judge provides an interesting example of what I call ‘real world’ learning. After twelve years of marriage the Judge and her husband divorced and she began to see other men. After six months she had realized that she didn’t really want that kind of life, even though we can see above she enjoyed it initially. Over time her learning pointed towards the fact that there was something intangible about her ex-husband that she was attracted to (her words) which drew her back to him. By going through the experience the Judge was able to learn what she really wanted and at the end she knew what it was. Granted there are better ways to learn such lessons but it’s still a key example of how learning in the real world sense is coupled with experience.

Learning is a key skill in solving life problems that forms the cornerstone for all the others. It’s not only the foundation but without it nothing can grow. By definition learning is the ability to acquire new knowledge, through a process or experience. The key point here is that to gain new knowledge, when we are learning, there needs to be the experience of learning. This is the key skill required to build a successful life skill set in individuals. As an education professional I have noticed this skill is something that a majority of business schools tend to shy away from. Indeed academia at large seems more concerned now with standardization that with imparting the principles of learning. Yet we are sending these students out into a workforce that calls for, above everything else, the ability to be able to learn. Why do we continue to do this? So what is learning?

What is learning?

Typically most lifelong learning books refer to learning as the gaining of new qualifications, experience and changing one’s personal education as required. While this kind of definition suits an academic approach to life, it is not entirely consistent with the capability of learning required to make hard and fast changes in the troublesome real world. We do not all have access to the higher levels of education required but all of us can learn. So how do we learn new things? What are the principles that are developed in us as children that shape the way we learn and help us to understand things? In order to understanding how to learn over the length of a life, a basic understanding in learning is required.

In the world of our actions and reactions we learn by applying our knowledge both conscious and subconscious to the situations of concern in our lives. An example of this might be the question: How do I get promoted? There are several answers to this question. First, I might be a political person and make strategic alliances with certain people and perform certain duties for them in order to gain their favour. This is a path of learning I have now set for myself to achieve; I need to know the boss to get promoted. However, what if my boss doesn’t take to me and ignores my actions? What if my politicizing results in me getting fired? I initiated a track of learning, it did not work for me, I now take what I have learned and tell everyone about it. I tell my colleagues “Don’t go being friendly to the boss that will get you nowhere.” The truth is that it didn’t in that case, but if I used the right kind of political muscle it might have worked. Here is the first barrier to learning (discussed in the next learning chapter), logic traps. Whenever I tell myself I cannot learn my mind will think exactly that. Even though my brain helps me to learn it also stops me from doing so.

Learning takes place when I gain new information, knowledge or experience about something I had previously learned about. To learn, I read, I experience and most importantly I gain insights from the world around me. As a learner I want to add to what I know so I can more effectively use it in the world I face around me. This means I have to be actively looking for ways to gain new insights into my surrounds by trying to understand it. So how do I do that? What do I go through to get to that place where I can add new things to what I know? Where does learning begin? You will have to read part 2 to find out!

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