Think the Opposite to Do the Opposite
At the risk of sounding like every single article you’ve read in the past month, doing the opposite is a strategy you do – thinking the opposite of others in order to achieve unique results. Sometimes you just get stuck. You try to get unstuck by doing the same thing that got you stuck. You get frustrated and stressed. Most people don’t think about thinking in another way, in a new direction.
One way to seriously limit your opportunities is to limit your efforts to doing what everyone else is doing. ‘Do the opposite’ is a useful, creative process to get you out of a rut, challenge your own thinking, or challenge conventions or norms. Doing the opposite is an unusual, and creative, approach to personal growth.
“The greatest satisfaction comes from mastering something that is truly difficult.” ~ Betty Edwards
Dr. Douglas Osheroff, Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Stanford University, won the Nobel Prize in 1996. When his research offered only a dead-end, he stepped back to consider the problem from a completely different direction and initiated simple side experiments. He encourages his students “to spend a little time doing something completely different.”
Zig When Everyone Else Zags
“The opposite of a problem would likely be the correct solution.” ~ Joey Lawsin
As innovation and technology evolves, thinking differently means thinking and doing the opposite. This allows you to get unstuck in doing what you’ve been doing and helps you stop getting the same results as everyone else.
Your mind moves to a new level when you think in opposites. Doing the opposite is a useful creative process to get out of a rut. Challenge your thinking and work different from others. You may surprise yourself with the results you achieve.
Doing the opposite can make you unique. Going in the opposite direction, or just a different direction, than everyone else can be an adventure. Thinking in opposites is a great mental exercise that forces you to examine your own thinking by challenging each assumption you hold. You learn a lot more by discovering what you don’t know.
Do The Opposite of What Comes Naturally?
“It’s so much easier to suggest solutions when you don’t know too much about the problem.” ~ Malcolm Forbes
Experience tells you that your biggest challenges are often quite different from what you think. In searching for the real problem you want to address, it’s not always easy to know where to look. So, simply start looking in the opposite direction.
Close your eyes for a moment and ask yourself: “In my company, what is the biggest problem I’m facing right now?” Keep your eyes closed until you’ve come up with an answer. The problem with trying to solve your problem is that in order to solve it, you engage it, and by engaging it, you embrace it, which often leads to getting stuck in the process and being unable to move forward.
Create Your Own Excitement
“The world is what YOU think of it, so think of it DIFFERENTLY and your life will change.” ~ Paul Arden
What if you stopped doing the things you’ve been doing and started to do the opposite? What kind of reactions or responses would you get? Doing the opposite is an unusual approach to personal growth. Look around at what everyone else is doing and do the opposite. You need to continuously learn, unlearn, and relearn by adapting to the reality of the world as it evolves. Do the opposite of what everyone else is doing. See how much you’ll get done.
“If you ever have difficulty hearing your intuition, try doing the opposite of what you’ve always done to get the solution to your problem.” ~ Unknown Author
Re-Think Moving Forward
In order to handle a difficult problem, start by knowing you have a problem to work on. Then work on something else. While doing the latter, a solution will appear, and this is the opposite effect than getting frustrated and stressed out.
Keep your focus on what you gain, not just what you lose. If you did the opposite of what others expected, what would be the real trade off? Perhaps you can make it work, or perhaps even asking this question is enough to push you in an entirely different direction. Either way, you’ll be exploring the unknown.
Understanding the Law of Opposites
“Insanity Is Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results” ~ Albert Einstein
The Law of Opposites states that the path to success requires going against the norm. Do things on an unconventional basis. You will ultimately feel comfortable doing things that are uncomfortable for other people.
Innovation essentially means doing something different and opposite than what you usually do. When things go wrong it's tempting to shift the blame. Don't. Find out what you are capable of by doing things the opposite and you will achieve greater results than you expect.