As children we laughed with abundance and there was no such thing as a bad idea.  Instead, we giggled with glee at a funny idea and used it as inspiration to generate a new idea. Nothing was impossible and it was this sense of freedom that allowed us to explore and grow.

Then as we grew into adults, these ideas, the freedom, and the thought that anything was possible just went away.  Indeed, some ideas just died, or became boring, or the frenetic pace of our life demanded that we forget about it and just do what we always do.

As a child you were encouraged to think creatively, to let it come out and play, and just as quickly this creativity was more than likely squashed as you progressed through your life. (After all, how many times have you heard someone say “Oh, that’s a silly idea!” or “Don’t be so silly!”)  Another factor of your creativity being squashed could have stemmed from fear – fear of criticism, fear of failure, even fear of success.  Or it could be habit in not taking the time to think and reflect. Or, sadly, our own judgements that are getting in our way.

All of these factors can lead to a stagnancy that can hold you back in exploring new ideas to resolve problems. It’s time to give yourself permission to be creative! This in turn can spawn new dreams, new goals, new innovations, and the energy and excitement to turn it into a reality.

So how do you resolve problems quickly and get better results?

Your creativity and problem solving aptitude can be developed through fun exercises, such as visualisations, playing the “what if” game, journaling, some “kid play”, drawing your ideal world / career / business, brainteasers, curious excursions, and so on.

The key is to have fun!

Having fun helps you disarm the inner censor that all too quickly condemns your ideas as ludicrous. (Goleman & Kaufmann, 1992).

If you really want to accelerate new possibilities and insights, start asking yourself questions that have no solution. Sounds a bit weird, right? But this kicks your brain into a creative state so you can problem solve quicker, AND get better results!

So for instance, let’s say you’re in the start-up phase of your business. A question to spark your creativity and begin problem solving – in a hurry! – may be something like: “You have 6 months to get your business to a 6-figure income level. How do you do it?”

This question is curious and open, allowing you to think of hundreds of possibilities; thus, the question is not limiting your thought patterns. Wouldn’t you agree that with numerous possibilities you are bound to get better results? You have more choices and the ability to make better judgement on which solution is best for you.

Taking the example above and flipping the coin, a limiting question may have been “You have 6 months to get your business to a 6-figure income level. What 3 things can you do to get there?”

Try it yourself.  If you ask “How do you do it?” your mind goes into free fall and all these thoughts are jumping around in your head and you can’t wait to get them down on paper.  Whereas, if you ask yourself “What 3 things can you do to get there?” your mind goes stagnant trying to think of the best 3 things. You are too busy trying to think what is good or not; so in effect, you are judging your own thoughts.  This stifles creativity and stops you from moving forward. So just like a stagnant pool of water, you become inactive, sluggish and dull.

Here are some more questions that can spark your creativity – relate the question to your problem and / or slightly alter the words. I’ve also included some space for you to add more of your own questions as it relates to the problems you wish to resolve (just print this page).

1. You have 48 hours in which to lose 50kg. How do you do it?
2. Going to work is a real pain in the butt. Eliminate it.
3. You have 6 months to get every person on the planet to buy your product / service, and ensure they continue to buy from you again and again. What’s your plan?
4. You’ve been on safari in the desert and you fell off your camel. How do you get back home?
5. _____________________________________________________________
6. _____________________________________________________________
7. _____________________________________________________________
8. _____________________________________________________________
9. _____________________________________________________________
10. _____________________________________________________________
11. _____________________________________________________________
12. _____________________________________________________________
13. _____________________________________________________________
14. _____________________________________________________________

YOU are a beautiful, creative individual and your creativity is just waiting to come out to play!

Remember: More Creativity + Brainstorming = Quicker Resolution of Problems and Better Results.

Have fun!

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1. STOP Sabotaging Yourself!
2. What would you do if you knew it was impossible to fail?
3. Are Your Monsters Gobbling You Up?

What if you could reach into the depths of your mind and extract ideas and thoughts… then, with the creative juices flowing, delight in the way your fingers race across the keyboard as the words tumble out?

Well, it is possible.

Banish the thought of writers block or any other type of block when you need to get your ideas out there and heard… or indeed, when you have an idea on the cusp of your mind that needs developing, or you wish to tune into your inner soul.

So what is the secret?

A synchronised brain and a super-learning state, which anyone can attain within a few seconds.

Normally, we go about our lives in a Beta brain wave state. This is when you are alert and cognitive. Then, dependable on what we are doing at the time, we move into other brain wave states, such as: Alpha, achieved when you are relaxed, in light meditation and starting to access your unconscious mind… the Alpha state is where super-learning begins because the brain is synchronised, can communicate better and has increased focus. Then you move on to Theta and Delta brain wave states.

Okay, Alpha… that sounds like a male thing, right? For all you fellas reading this, just because you’re Alpha doesn’t mean you’re in a super-learning state all the time   Sorry to disappoint

How can you get into an Alpha super-learning state?

The secret to getting into an Alpha super-learning state is to listen to Baroque or instrumental music; which is usually at 60 beats a minute and arranged by the composer in a special key cycle. When you tap into this music you are harnessing all synergies in your brain that allows you to focus, increase your memory, have cohesive thought, and creative expression.

According to The Center for New Discoveries in Learning, learning potential can be increased a minimum of five times by using this 60 beats per minute music. A renowned Bulgarian psychologist, Dr. George Lozanov, designed a way to teach foreign languages in a fraction of the normal learning time. Using his system, students could learn up to one half of the vocabulary and phrases for the whole school term (which amounts to almost 1,000 words or phrases) in one day. Along with this, the average retention rate of his students was 92%. Dr. Lozanov’s system involved using certain classical music pieces from the baroque period which have around a 60 beats per minute pattern. He has proven that foreign languages can be learned with 85-100% efficiency in only thirty days by using these baroque pieces. His students had a recall accuracy rate of almost 100% even after not reviewing the material for four years. Ref: http://www.cerebromente.org.br

If you have children, you may also be interested to read about this study published in the European Journal of Scientific Research on the positive effect of classical music: http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr_36_2_08.pdf

Even if you don’t like classical music, give this a go if you want to tap into the power of your mind. If you are feeling stuck for creative thought and expression, need to research your topic, and get the thoughts tumbling out onto the page, you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain

What music should you listen to for a super-learning state? Here are my suggestions:

My personal favourite is Vivaldi’s Four Seasons… with its melodic tunes, peaks and troughs it will focus your mind, allow you to concentrate, and spark your imagination. Before you know it, your fingers will ignite and be eagerly pecking at the keyboard!

Other well-known Baroque compositions include: Mozart’s Divertimento for Strings, Handel’s Water Music and Bach’s Brandenberg Concertos.

If you need to brainstorm an idea first, try Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #5, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Chopin’s Etudes, or Mozart’s Piano Concerto’s #26 and #27.  As a former classical pianist for many years, I can highly recommend Beethoven and Mozart’s Piano Concertos!

Go forth and create!

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For some reason, my dog thinks the toaster is a monster.

He has such a fear of the toaster that as soon as I pop some bread into it, he charges out of the house to hide, tail between his legs; convinced the toaster is going to jump off the cupboard, chase after him and gobble him up!

In fact, his fear is so massive that despite him hating the rain with a vengeance, he will go and sit out in the rain just to get away from the toaster (normally he wouldn’t let a drop of rain touch his head!). Same thing goes if it is 40C (104F) outside; he would much prefer to swelter in the sun and nearly cark it than be inside with ‘The Monster’.

I have no idea why he has such a fear of toasters, and unfortunately, unlike us humans where we can get guidance on our fears, talk through all logical outcomes, and walk out the other side free of the fear, my darling little dog can’t do this and seems destined to be afraid of the monster all of his life, despite my best efforts to reassure him.

His situation and the way he carries on reminds me, on occasions, of what us humans put ourselves through, just to avert what we perceive as ‘pain’ due to an ingrained fear that we possess. We will jump through hoops, run 10 miles backward, and climb the wrong mountain; just to avoid ‘it’.

In jumping through those hoops, running those miles, and climbing a mountain, we’ve expended more energy than we should have which has taken our energy off what matters. Did you know that it takes more energy to fight your fear than it does to face it and move through it?

Fears are self-limiting beliefs that do not serve you in any way. And without evaluating your fear they sit in your subconscious, allowed to fester like a wound, and prevent you from fulfilling your dreams and desires.

What beliefs and fears are holding you back from stepping out with passion and purpose?

Please feel free to download this worksheet to work through your beliefs and fears so you can transform your thinking and eradicate the monsters!

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I was watching a video by Mary Morrissey in the new iLearningGlobal website today, and I’d like to share it with you.

It was all about directing power to create dispelling doubt.

When doubt creeps in, it can change the whole outcome of your entire life. Whether it’s doubt for something personal happening in your life… doubt for something you want to do with your business (or doubt that sees you not even getting off the starting block)… doubt for something in your relationships… and so on.

By entertaining the doubt, you are altering your decisions and outcomes; the entire vibration of your mind, which gives rise to ideas that make available the answers for you. This therefore can change the whole outcome of your entire life.

Can you recall a time when you initially listened closely and deeply to something that ‘felt right’ and, after making a decision to go forward with it, some doubt crept in that prevented you from taking action – from following through on your decision?

Maybe it was your own saboteur, maybe it was worry about “how” it would all come to fruition, maybe it was something negative you read in the newspaper, or maybe it was a lack of support or doubt by people close to you in your life.

The thing is, when you listen to that doubt and let that doubt rule your decisions (that you knew, instinctively, were right in the first place), you are altering the whole course of your life. You are holding yourself back from stepping out with passion and purpose to live your dreams!

Don’t be concerned about needing to know the answers immediately, or worrying about how it will all come together. When you are in harmony with your vibrations, the “how” will present itself to you.

“Stand guard at the portal of your own mind.” Emerson

Visit Mary Morrissey’s website for a free dream-building kit: http://marymorrissey.com

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Whilst we have good intentions at the beginning of a new year in setting goals, it’s a bit like planting something in your garden.

We love what we’ve planted and so we begin to water it and look after it. There’s a growth spurt so we water it some more. Then some distractions enter our life, and we forget to water it, suddenly the weeds encroach on what we’ve planted, and it dies. It’s a bit like goals.

Harvard Medical School conducted a study and the results were quite amazing. 70% of people who set goals don’t achieve them. However, 98% of people who call them Promises achieved their goal.

That’s a startling difference, don’t you agree? Would you prefer to be in the 98% or the 30% who achieve their goals?

America’s billionaire, Bill Bartmann (named as “One of the Top 100 Entrepreneurs of the Last 100 Years”), has a fantastic 10-step process for setting and keeping your Promises:

1. Ensure it’s YOUR goal, your vision, your quest; not someone else’s. “Our life is the most precious asset we have” Bill Bartmann. Don’t give up your dreams to make someone else happy.
2. Call your goals a ‘PROMISE’. Our brain is an amazing instrument. It is usually inherent within us to keep our promises… when we promise to do X by X date, our brain and our heart kicks in and we want to fulfil that promise. On the other hand, our brain can associate goals with failure. Think about that for a minute. How many times have you promised something either to yourself or someone else, and you fulfilled that promise? Then think about how many times you have set goals and the amount of times you achieved those goals. Promises will outweigh goals.
3. Clearly identify your Promise. Don’t be vague. Instead of saying I would like to lose weight, be specific… how much weight would you like to lose and by when?
4. Use the tools around you as motivators to keep you going. Positive motivators may be the people you love – negative motivators may be those who say you can’t do it;  prove them wrong and use it as a driving influence.
5. Create a Promise Plan. Promises aren’t promises until you’ve written them down. Define what your Promise is; when you will achieve your Promise; where you will be when it happens; why you want it; who you need help from to fulfil your Promise; and an ongoing list of how you will fulfil your Promise. It is not necessary to know ALL of the how… have faith that you will find the answers as your travel through the journey. Bill Bartmann provided a great story as it relates to the how:

   You have set off on a 200 mile trip in the dark. Your headlights are on which shines a 200ft path for you, which you follow. You don’t need the headlights to shine up the whole 200 miles… you only need to know each 200ft to get there. Your ‘how’ is like the 200ft path. You don’t need to know the whole 200 miles.

   
   

6. Review your plan and Promise on a regular basis: 20 MINUTES EVERY DAY. By doing so, the how will materialise and the pieces come together. You are melding your conscious and subconscious which will give you the answers you need. Create a Tangible Vision of your Promise and stick it in a prominent place where you can see it every day.
7. Remove any negative thoughts from your mind and tell yourself you WILL succeed. Feed your mind with positive affirmations. You could do this by sticking them near your computer, on your mirror or wherever else you see fit. Another great method is recording your affirmations and then playing them as you drift off to sleep.
8. Inform others of your Promise… don’t hide them in the cupboard! Commit to your Promise and share your vision.
9. Envision the results. Play your own mind movie and picture yourself already there. Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Allen cite a great exercise in their book ‘Cash In A Flash’. Write an article (from a journalist’s perspective) that appears about YOU and your Promise… imagine a journalist writing about your accomplishments – it’s made front page news!
10. START! Do something now, today, to begin your Promise Journey.

What tools and resources do you use to accomplish your Promises? Share with me your thoughts

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What would you do if you knew it was impossible to fail?

Please ponder that question and allow your thoughts to free-fall.  What would your life look like if you left all the doors open instead of pulling them shut, one by one?

How would you be living your life today if you walked through those doors?  If you knew that on the other side of that door, you could have whatever you dreamed or wanted, as long as you took the step and walked through it, rather than turn away and shut the door.

So let me ask the question again; what would you do if you knew it was impossible to fail? Failure is a euphemism for quitting or not trying – so it is impossible for you to fail if you walk through those doors.

Is it Fear that is stopping you from taking the leap through that door?  It might be fear of failure, fear of change, fear of success.

FEAR =

False
Expectations
Appearing
Real

American Novelist, Marilyn French, aptly said “Fear is a question. What are you afraid of and why? Our fears are a treasure house of self knowledge if we explore them.”

I urge you to hold onto your goals and dreams, have faith in your abilities, and start running through those doors that represent each area of your life.  Fling back the door, feel the adrenalin pumping through your veins, and excel in the fact that you took action to make your goals and dreams a reality.

Remember: fear is an emotional response to something that appears real, and taking action – like walking through those doors – leads to change.

How is your life starting to look?  Are your doors open or shut?

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And you know what?  This article is nowhere near as perfect as it was when I dreamily wrote it in my head (hmm, maybe because I changed the angle half way through). I spent a good 15 minutes deliberating over whether to publish the darn thing!  But I thought, what the heck, it’s getting out there anyway! Even though the brilliant headline I concocted was 100 times better

Taking action and not sweating the small stuff never felt so good  Perfect? What’s that?!!

Every now and then it happens.

I’ll be so tired that I’m virtually sleep walking. Head hits the pillow, then suddenly it’s like I’ve entered a boxing ring and I hear this “ding ding ding” go off in my head (if that’s really what happens in a boxing ring!).

Suddenly, I’m wide awake and next thing, it’s like I’m travelling through space with all these thoughts and ideas flying at me from all angles like HUGE meteors! It’s all I can do just to contain myself and lie in peace instead of jumping out of bed to frantically write everything down.

So I take big breaths. Relax. Tell myself I am really tired and it’s time to sleep.

Thing is, next thing I know, one of those ideas has latched itself onto my brain and in a trance like state I realise I’ve drafted an outline for an article and written half of it in my mind already!

Sighing, I determine sleep is not possible at this point in time; after all, my article sounds sooooo good I REALLY need to finish it off.

In a dream-like state, I piece together the rest of the article, write a FABULOUS headline and then, bit by bit, read through what I’ve written and edit it to PERFECTION!  I chop out bits and pieces, alter a word here and there, and even include an entirely new paragraph.

By the time I’m done – an hour or so later – the darn thing is pretty much PERFECT!  I’m starting to get a little sleepy again and I’m feeling so content that I’ve written this PERFECT article. I can’t wait to get it down on paper tomorrow!

But just to make sure I don’t forget this super duper article, I’m just going to read through it one more time before I drift off to sleep… and as I do, I think “wouldn’t it be great if there was a computer thing on the wall that could zap my thoughts so it would be there in the morning?”

Tomorrow’s here and I jump out of bed and seem to have something at the back of my mind… but I can’t quite recall exactly what it was.

No time to waste!!! I’ll think about it later!  Dog needs to be fed, exciting things happening with the business, clients to attend to, need to get something out of the freezer for dinner that night.

You get what I mean – the normal morning stuff!  And well, just LIFE and business!

Three hours later, it suddenly HITS me! Ohhhhh! That’s right! I wrote a PERFECT article about XYZ last night… I MUST get it down because it was the BEST!

Put everything on hold as the excitement builds. I just NEED to get it on paper.

So I eagerly make a start… tapping away at the keyboard for a few lines.  Then I stop.  Hmm. It doesn’t seem to be flowing as well as it did last night in my dream-like state. No matter.  I plug away like a demented woman on a mission!

Three hours later, it’s two thirds done and I feel like I’m losing it.

Determinedly, I keep at it. And in another five or so hours, 10 revisions and 30 headlines later, I’m done! I feel exulted that, FINALLY, my PERFECT article is out of my head.

I leave it for a bit and go and have a coffee.

I come back to the article, read through it and gasp in horror that I wasted five hours on something that a pre-schooler would have done a better job at!

What happened to my PERFECT article from last night… the one that had me smiling with contentment before I drifted off to sleep?  The one that had me dreaming of all these wonderful awards?  (Yeah right!)

I read through it again, just to make sure my exhaustion from five hours of frantic writing hasn’t got to me.  Nope.  Still reads the same. Then I get frustrated because I’m so hard on myself – particularly when it comes to my writing.

So I toss it. Five hours was enough… it’s not the PERFECT article I wrote last night so now it will have to wait until I have time to MAKE IT perfect.

Hmm.

You know, that article never ends up being perfect. So it never ends up seeing the light of day.

What’s the whole point to this post?

PERFECTION is near impossible!  And if we wait until WE believe things are perfect then it never gets done. It results in stagnancy. And when we don’t take action because of something not being “perfect”, then it results in something coming to a halt in our personal or business life and we don’t achieve what we want (or perhaps not as fast as we would hope).

The funny thing is, those dream-like states of writing perfect articles DO happen to me!  And tonight this one popped into my head (although on a slightly different theme about perfection and inaction).

I wrote my article to PERFECTION and after I finished it in my mind, I was so wired I couldn’t sleep.  So I thought, okay, I’m going to get up and get it down while it’s still there in my head!

And you know what?  This article is nowhere near as perfect as it was when I dreamily wrote it in my head (hmm, maybe because I changed the angle half way through ). I spent a good 15 minutes deliberating over whether to publish the darn thing!  But I thought, what the heck, it’s getting out there anyway! Even though the brilliant headline I concocted was 100 times better

Taking action and not sweating the small stuff never felt so good  Perfect? What’s that?!!

I can now go to bed.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Like to express some thoughts about this post?  Leave me a comment below, and if you like it, please share it

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