| Feature Article |
Date Added: 2007-11-07
Thinking Outside The Box
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
First let us look at people who never leave their box and what they tell us (and themselves)
1. Tell you what you CAN’T do instead of focusing on what you CAN do.
2. Are critical of people who think differently than they do.
3. Are often negative, in general. They see the “worst first,” and the “best last.”
4. Try to bring you down to their level instead of trying to live up to yours.
5. Believe that people who try to rise above the crowd are foolish or dreamers.
6. Believe that their world is the “real” world, and the only world that counts.
7. Believe that if you disagree with them, you are wrong.
8. Argue their point of view instead of listening to yours.
9. Are afraid to leave their comfort zone.
10. Will defend to the end, their right not to change.
You get the idea. People who live “in the box” are people who believe that the only thing that exists is whatever they can see in the near-sighted scope of their own limited experience. Or, if they do know there’s another world outside, they’re afraid to go there.
I’m not suggesting that people who are in the box are “bad” people; they’re not. They’re just living out the programs they got from the people who raised them, and the programs they get from the world around them. (People who are in the box always try to get other people to live in the box with them.) So in following the programs they get from others, many good people are failing to become anything like the exceptional individuals they could have been. They live up to only a small fraction of the incredible potential they were born with . . . and then one day it’s over . . . and they move from one box to another box.
One of the most important things you can ever learn is to avoid doing that. Here are some of the guidelines that
have helped me and a lot of people I know get out of the box and stay out of the box:
12 RULES FOR LIVING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX
1. Always be willing to think for yourself.
2. Never live your life based on the uninformed or negative opinions of others.
3. Always be open to new ideas.
4. Associate with other people who think for themselves and are successful in life.
5. If you find yourself “going along with the crowd,” always ask yourself where the crowd is going.
6. Make the decision to believe in yourself, no matter what.
7. Frequently ask yourself the question, “Am I thinking inside the box, or outside the box?
8. Be willing to take responsibility for your own choices and your own actions.
9. Set goals and stick to them. Don’t let other people deter you or hold you back.
10. Don’t be afraid to be different. Most of life’s greatest accomplishments are achieved by people who break the mold.
11. Never be negative yourself. There is a lot of good in yourself and in the world around you. Practice seeing the good.
12. Enjoy your choices and enjoy what you do. Never let a day go by without being thankful for the fact that you get to be here in the first place.
By Shad Helmstetter
