Thinking of Many Ways to Tackle a Problem or Reaching a Goal

Kekich Credo #44 - An hour of effective, precise, hard, disciplined – and integrated thinking can be worth a month of hard work. Thinking is the very essence of, and the most difficult thing to do in business and in life. Empire builders spend hour-after-hour on mental work… while others party. If you’re not consciously aware of putting forth the effort to exert self-guided integrated thinking… if you don’t act beyond your feelings and instead take the path of least resistance, then you give in to laziness, make bad decisions and no longer control your life. The most powerful way to do this is to insulate yourself from all distractions. Then write a problem or goal on a sheet of paper and force yourself to come up with at least 20 ways to solve your problem or reach your goal. The last solutions are the toughest and are usually the most life changing. Make this exercise a life-long habit.

Here are two things I highlighted when I read this statement.

Thinking is the most difficult thing to do in life.  Write a problem or goal on a sheet of paper and force yourself to come up with at least 20 ways to solve your problem or reach your goal. 

When I started to write this post today, I pasted this credo into my document and then I went swimming.  I am up at my timeshare in the Canadian Rockies and walking down to the pool and doing at least 20 laps is part of my morning exercise routine.  Thinking is one of the things one can do while swimming laps and today I was thinking about what I could say about today’s credo statement.

The suggestion to come up with 20 ways to solve your problem seems to be an exaggerated amount of work needed to find a solution that works for you.  Often I have found a solution to the issue after writing down two or three ideas.  I think your mentor or coach is just trying to make you think for yourself when he says come up with 20 ways to solve your problem.  

On the other hand if you do take the time to write out 20 ways to reach your goal, maybe the last two ideas are the best solution you should take.  Taking the time to be creative, to do some real thinking about an issue often helps you to dive deep and find new and innovative ways to move forward.  If you just write down one or two ways to solve your problem you might make a quick decision which may not be the best decision in the long run.

If you are a coach or a consultant, writing down a list of 20 ideas about a problem helps you to come up with many ways you might be able to help your clients.  If you write down a list of 20 things about your product or service you will have 20 things you could use as posts or blogs or headlines for your ads or posts.  Thinking outside of the box and taking the time to think of more than one or two ways to solve a problem has many advantages.

Time to do some thinking.  Grab a pencil and start making your list 20 ways to solve a problem or reach your goal.  Take action now.  

# living life abundantly   # published author