Think Out Of The Box

Great email from Brian Tracy on "Thinking Out of the Box."

Most of the email is about how we can improve the quality of our thinking and how our creativity has been suppressed.

Here is an excerpt:

Improve the Quality of Your Thinking
Human beings are mental organisms. Everything we are or ever will be, will be as the direct result of the way we think. If we improve the quality of our thinking, we must improve the quality of our lives. And, there is no other way to do it.

Here is a little more. Talking about how kids had lost their creativity.

The Dangers of Conformity
They had learned to color between the lines, to sit in neat little rows, to do and say what the other kids did and said, and to do as they were told. Over time, they lost the wonderful fearless spontaneity of youth and learned to suppress ideas and insights that were unusual or different.

Aggressively Seek New Ideas
Most of us have had similar experiences. The "Not invented-here" syndrome in many large companies is simply the adult version of "not rocking the boat." But fortunately, since creativity is your birthright, a fundamental part of your nature, you can tap into it at any time, no matter how long it has been since you really used it.

Here is his advice on getting out of the mental box. These are some great ideas for churches to follow to open up a fresh way of thinking.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to start thinking outside of your mental box.

First, imagine that there was a vastly better, cheaper, faster way to do your job - and somebody else had already discovered it and was going to put you out of business.

Second, imagine doing exactly the opposite of what you are doing today. Allow your mind to float freely and consider how current trends will change your business.

Often churches (and even people) in general get in the same flow of coloring between the lines so to speak.

"This is the way we have always done it." "We've been doing it this way and it has been effective for us."

I have heard these quotes by church leaders who have been doing the same thing with little or now results.

Can there be a new or fresh approach? God is always doing something new.

Another great quote you may have heard before: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting to get the different results."

How can you start thinking out of the box today? What could you do or try that is different to see what results might be gained?

One of the signs of strong leadership is taking risks. Thinking outside of the box is taking risks. Lifechurch.tv did that with their new satanhateslife.com campaign.

Although you may can question the method, you cannot question their ability to think outside the box.