Options Create Choice - Grasshopper

Seems the most limiting thing I do with myself is limit my options. I suspect I’m not alone.

“I have no choice” or “these are my only options” are the assertions that leave our lips, and they lock us in to the gross distortion that there aren’t other ways.

 

The key seems to be to catch yourself when you limit yourself with your words. Start to notice that you are describing a few stars and referring to them as the entire universe.

 

The second step is to get curious about what other options there are. During this step it’s best to pretend that you’re in a brainstorming session where there are no bad ideas. Let your imagination run wild and create as many options as it can, no matter how absurd some may seem.

 

The exercise’s purpose is not to get you to “the” option; it’s to get you in the habit of exploring options. This exercise will train you to broaden your view as to the amount of options available to you.

 

Often the best ideas will come from offshoots of absurd ideas. You may never get to those ideas without exploring an expanded view of options.

 

When you add more options to your arsenal, you will have more choices available to you. And isn’t that what we all want: the ability to choose?

 

Suppose someone says to you, “What do you want, Chinese or Mexican?” If you automatically answer with one or the other, you have not activated your options apparatus. In this situation and others that have more serious consequences, get in the habit of asking yourself or others, “What are my options?”

 

Getting curious about your options opens the window to a fresh breeze instead of letting the stifling air of stagnation limit you.

 

Want more choices? Expand your options! You do so by expanding your imagination, not by out-of-hand negation.

 

All the best,

 

John