Human beings are receivers of ideas. We don’t think them up.

I have often been amused by the term “Think Tanks.” If that’s what people really did at those events, they would have to rename them “Stink Tanks.”

Thinking is the act of having the same thought go round and round in your head wearing different disguises so as to appear different. Thinking is being stuck. Stuck ideas begin to ferment and smell.

When you have an “Ah-Ha” moment and say, “I just thought of a great idea,” you have mislabeled the process. A more accurate statement would be, “I just received a great idea.” There isn’t as much credit given to you by saying it that way, but that is really what happened.

Anyone can run the same old ideas around in their head and then spout them out. That’s thinking.

Receiving is allowing a fresh perspective to emerge. We do that by allowing our thinking to calm down.

Brainstorming is a conscious strategy that produces receiving. Your charge when brainstorming is not to think up an answer, but to just free associate and see what happens. The mission is about creativity – not answers. The creative process can then be turned over to the logicians, after the fact, to see which new perspectives are workable. Brainstorming opens the mind up to receiving by encouraging the removal of critical consciousness.

Critical consciousness also calms down when we engage in some sort of meditative practice. This can be less formal than sitting cross-legged and chanting “Om.” You can just take a break from the day, close your eyes for a few minutes, and do an inventory of your body. That means focusing your attention on each body part for a few seconds and feel what’s going on there. When you focus on your body, you free space in your mind for something new to pop in. If you would like some coaching on this method, purchase my RELAX IN 2 MINUTES CD.

Another way of coming up with fresh “thinking” on a topic is to dedicate the time it takes to do a rote task to producing a new perspective on something you’d like an answer to. If you exercise, dedicate your workout to having your mind solve the query while you just go about exercising. You can use this same dedication strategy while washing the dishes or the car, cleaning the garage, paying bills, or any other activity where your conscious mind is occupied.

Just by taking the time to dedicate a task to your mission will engage your internal resources to go to work on your goal while you work on your assignment.

There is a certain amount of trust that’s necessary to allow yourself to receive. It’s fundamental. In football, a receiver practices basic fundamentals all the time so that when game day comes, he can just allow himself to receive the ball.

Practice the fundamentals of dedicating common tasks to solve sticky problems and you’ll receive more passes, if you catch my drift.

All the best,

John

P.S. A final reminder to join us this afternoon at 3 PM for insight into your Self Image. Here are the details:

How does your Self Image contribute to your success or lack of it? Find out this afternoon, October 2, 2008 at 3PM Eastern Time as I appear as a guest on Jonathan Manske‘s “Inevitable Success” Internet Radio Show. The topic will be how your Self Image contributes to your success, and we will offer specific strategies to improve and update your Self Image.

All you have to do to participate is go to the website, www.realcoachingradio.com, and you will be able to see, hear and participate in the discussion either by calling in or text chatting with us.  I know you will find this discussion inspiring as we share the secret to success – SELF IMAGE.

Again, the show is this afternoon, October 2^nd at 3 PM Eastern Time. Logon to www.realcoachingradio.com and join us for this stirring experience.

http://JohnMorganHypnosis.com

http://GrasshopperNotes.com/blog

http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan

http://www.cafepress.com/grasshoppernote/3580301

http://HypnosisForDogs.com