I read an intriguing article the other day that made my head spin. It was about inversion thinking, or focusing on the opposite of what you want. Rather than fixating on success, for example, you concentrate on avoiding failure.
Huh. Being an optimist, I hadn’t ever considered this idea. But it got me thinking about the different ways we could apply it to our lives, and how dynamic it could potentially make us feel on a daily basis. Here’s a quote from the article that really jumped out at me:
“Great thinkers, icons, and innovators think forward and backward. They consider the opposite side of things. Occasionally, they drive their brain in reverse. This way of thinking can reveal compelling opportunities for innovation.”
The idea of thinking in reverse made this question pop in my head: What if we started where we want to end up?
Conduct yourself as if you were already who you want to be. Want to be a writer? Get up every day and write something. Want to volunteer for a cause you feel strongly about? Stand for something. It’s reasonable to think that you can become the person you want to be through the actions you tackle every day.
Since everyone here at SRP is reaching for optimal health, let’s take a look at that. When you start out with the point of view that you are a healthy person, and you commit to this reality each day, you empower yourself to make the choices that a healthy person would make. And, as you know, we make choices all day, every day.
As a healthy person, which of these actions would you take?
Would you wake up with enough time to make an omelet for breakfast before work, or would you leave a couple minutes early to get a donut or two at the gas station on the way?
Would you schedule time each day for some movement (aka exercise), or would you tell yourself that you’re too busy to make it happen?
Would you make a point of going to bed by a specific time most nights, or would you stay up late binge-watching the latest show on Netflix?
Would you bring a water bottle to work every day (and refill it several times), or would you run to the soda machine when you get thirsty?
Would you figure out the causes of your stress and make necessary changes, or would you ignore all of it and hope it will sort itself out?
When you start where you want to end up and make choices as if you were already “that” person, it’s a gimme. Right? A healthy person does healthy things. This could be the innovative way of thinking that catapults you forward.
Where do you want to end up? Well, start there!
Image from iStock/F_Tarantino.
Paula Widish, author of Trophia: Simple Steps to Everyday Self-Health, is a freelance writer and self-healther. She loves nothing more than sharing tidbits of information she discovers with others. (Actually, she loves her family more than that—and probably bacon too.) Paula has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Public Relations and is a Certified Professional Life Coach through International Coach Academy.
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Love this, Paula!
Thank you, Samantha! :)