Stuck?

We all tend to get stuck in certain thinking patterns.  Our beliefs can become concrete truths in our minds – yet may not be based on facts or reality.  These ideas can limit so many things in our lives and take away “possibility”!  Our self talk centers around “I can’t possibly do that…” “I could never….” “That’s impossible….”  “It will never work….” Following are some tips about getting unstuck.

Tip 1:  Challenge assumptions.  Consider putting your assumptions aside.  Or better yet, assume you can do whatever you’d like to do.  Once you put aside the “why you can’t” and replace the phrase with “of course I can”, you can move to more creative thinking.  You’ll begin to ask yourself how you can move forward, solve the problem, find the solution and accomplish what you want.  Asking yourself how will allow you to take action and unstick old thought patterns.

Tip 2:  Express yourself in different ways.  Most of the time when faced with workplace challenges we tend to use verbal reasoning.  Next time try expressing the challenge through different media.  Draw images that represent the challenge and color images with colored markers, use music to depict the challenge, word association games can express the challenge.  Don’t bother solving the problem at this point, just express it.  Different expressions can spark off different thought patterns that lead to new ideas.

Tip 3:  Become someone else.  Talk out loud or write out how you would advise a friend to solve the challenge.  What advice would you have about approaching the problem?  What resources would you advise gathering?  How would you have your friend approach the issue?  Many times we’re very good at helping others overcome challenges and not great in solving our own.  Adding distance can get your creative juices flowing.

Tip 4:  Reverse the situation.  Instead of coming up with a solution, smoothe operations, or enhance a product, consider and write down how you create the problem, worsen operations, downgrade the product.  Document all you can think of.  When you’ve run out of ideas, go back through your list and reverse these again as possible solutions to the original challenge.

Tip 5:  Connect the unconnected.  Random elements provide new thoughts and get your mind thinking in new ways.  Actively seek random elements from unexpected places and see if you can build a connection with your situation.  Some places to look for random elements:  choose a word from the dictionary and see if you can build a connection between the word and your problem.  Put a key word or phrase in the middle of a page and write down whatever else comes in your mind on the same page – seeing if you can make any connections.  Pick a picture in a magazine or online and relate it to your situation.  Choose an item and see how it could help you solve your problem.  Making up these connections can generate a host of ideas.

What have you used to help you get un-stuck?  What gets your creativity flowing?  Have you used any of the above?  What results have you seen?  Leave your comments below.

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