I have a fascination with people who think differently – people who swim against the current and see blue when everybody else sees yellow. Recently, I had the privilege of reading up on business mogul Richard Branson and I was inspired in a huge way by how he thinks, particularly as a leader. The title of his 2006 book “Screw It, Let’s Do It” is, for me, probably the best of any book ever. As I reflected on some of his principles and the way he treats his people and motivates them, I came to realize that one of the things that has always amazed me about Branson is his tendency to think differently. He has a fertile mind that is always racing with ideas on how to make life better and he has an ability to find the extraordinary even within the most ordinary of things. The video below is a classic example of the type of thinking that reveals why Branson is where he is in life and business:
It led me to ask myself how much more interesting my life would be if I made a decision that in any situation that comes my way, I will react and negotiate my way around that situation differently from what would be expected or considered the norm. If the economy were bad and no jobs could be found, what if I decided to hope rather than despair? If things weren’t going well for me, what if I chose to look at the experience not as a disaster but as an opportunity to learn and grow? Faced with a situation in which it seems the only logical thing to do is complain and grumble, what if I choose to see some good and propose real, workable solutions?
Make a choice today to challenge yourself to live with a good attitude. In the midst of any trial you face, perhaps that is where your greatest victory lies but you will never know unless you look at your difficulties with a different set of eyes. It all begins with changing the way you think. When I look back in history or even at the present day and peer into the life of any person I’ve ever admired in any way, I come to realize that at one point or another, they made a choice to look at things differently and think a certain way. Out of that choice came valuable lessons that empowered them to be the great person they are or were. Greatness can’t possibly come out of doing things the way everybody else does them and reacting to life like everybody else. At some point, choices have to be made to swim against the current.
As the continent of Africa, the time is overdue now for us to stop perpetuating the culture of pessimism about ourselves. Perhaps if we stop seeing ourselves as ‘the dark continent’ and stop hoping that someone else somewhere will come and rescue us from our wars and distresses, we will come out of the mess we’re in. It’s obviously easier said than done but I really believe that if we can think differently, something will give and true and total transformation will happen.
I am challenged deeply by Albert Einstein’s words which propose that problems cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that created them. New ways and levels of thinking are required and I, for one, aspire to those. But am I prepared to do the work to get there?
If this post resonates with you in some way and you feel challenged to do something about it, consider the words of an old text that says this: as a man thinks, so is he. That text is the Bible and its story is about a God who has immense love for you. If you’d like to know more about God and connect with Him as a father who can help you in changing how you think, please click on the banner below.