Re:Solutions

In the New Year after a little time away from the day to day, most people turn to trying to improve their lot in the coming year. The mental gymnastics go something like this - i just want things to be the same only better - eg not put on weight if i eat what i like, get fitter by doing the same amount of exercise - be more attractive to the other sex, whilst being exactly the same as i am now, in fact a lot of resolutions are really wishful thinking - which whilst amusing, doesn't deliver much. So if we think of the word differently and think it is about re solving or solving in a different way issues that make our lives less pleasant - then we have to do what a great thinker suggested long ago and change the thinking. However as changing thinking is the least pleasant thing in the world, as the following quote so cleverly confirms, "Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof". John Kenneth Galbraith, that's no easy task. Which is why resolutions are mostly doomed to fail.

So how about working on your thinking as a new way of experiencing the world for 2009, just picking one thought and changing it - for example it can be an easy one like 'All women drivers are dangerous' changed to 'some women drivers are dangerous' or 'women drivers can be dangerous' or 'All men prefer polygamy' to 'some men are better suited to polygamy' or a social one such as 'poor people are all scroungers' to 'some people, rich and poor, find lots of ways to get money which are irritating' or perhaps 'starbucks coffee is the best / worst' to 'starbucks coffee is not the one i like best'. It may sound as if i am just being pedantic but thinking starts everything and so if you want different outcomes, it has to start with different thinking. The brain is like a muscle and it needs training. Some of the most powerful people in the world have to work hardest at keeping their mind agile. If you have become successful in one way it is hard to be open to other ways. If you can successfully change one thought then you can change another and then if you can successfully change lots of thoughts you can change your ideas and perspectives and ultimately you can change lots of other outcomes that are blocking you - so make changing a thought your first resolution and take it from there.