Think Outside the Box

Have you ever had one of those "Aha!" moments, when the solution to a seemingly impossible situation just comes to you, or suddenly you see the situation in a whole new way?

So often, we can get stuck in a rut when it comes to problems. We may fixate on one solution, trying to make it work time and again, rather than moving on to another approach. Thinking outside the box can help you break out of a pattern that isn't working.

For example, let's say eating fast food too often is a problem. After thinking it over, you realize that it's not a love of fast food that does you in. It's that as you drive home from work, you often are so hungry that when you see that fast-food restaurant's sign, you stop and buy dinner there — even though you have a healthier option waiting at home.

After brainstorming a list of possible solutions to this problem, you decide to try having a healthy snack before you leave work and then driving a new route home that doesn't pass that fast-food restaurant. Suddenly, your old strategy — to rely on willpower alone to bypass the drive-through — isn't needed anymore.

After a few weeks, you look back and see that thinking outside the box worked. Instead of stopping for fast food, you're avoiding getting too hungry, taking the new route home, and eating a healthy dinner. Well done!

This week, spend some time thinking about some of the old problems standing in your way of success. Try looking at them in a new light. Is there another way to approach them? Give it a try.