Where’s Odlaw? - Grasshopper

“Where’s Odlaw?” It’s a little game I like to play with people who are serious about reaching their goals . . . but feel like they’ve been stuck spinning their wheels.

It's simple. It’s a bit unusual. And it’s all about exploring opposites.

Now, here’s what I’ve noticed about folks who’ve been struggling for a while . . . 

They don’t lack effort. Not at all. In fact, they’re usually working hard.

But they keep doing the same things – over and over again. The same approaches . . . the same habits . . . the same strategies that have never worked before.

It’s like being a passenger on a train that always goes to the same place – a place you don’t want to go – and somehow expecting this time the train will magically arrive somewhere different.

That’s where “Where’s Odlaw?” comes in.

The idea is to step off that train.
Mentally, at least.

I want you to imagine yourself on the exact opposite track from the one you’ve been riding. Not a slight adjustment. Not a tweak.
Totally opposite.

Go all in on it. Really stretch your imagination. Take your time and roll play to the hilt.

Because here’s the interesting part . . .

Between what you usually do and its direct opposite, there are countless other ways to approach the same problem. Angles you’ve never considered. All because you never got off your train of thought.

Exploring opposites isn’t about abandoning who you are. It’s about expanding what’s available to you.

And what does that give you?

Options.

And let’s be honest – who doesn’t want more options?

So don’t be too surprised if, after playing “Where’s Odlaw?” for a while, a new direction just . . . shows up.

Out of nowhere.
  
Or maybe not out of nowhere. Maybe it was there the whole time . . . just waiting on the other side of how you’ve always done things.

I once heard a story about a guy named Waldo. He had his name printed right across the front of his shirt. One day he looked in the mirror . . . and for the first time, he saw it backwards.

Odlaw.

And just like that . . .

He finally found out where to go.