Higher Learning
Lesson 2: Think it through
1. Things Are Different From What You Think
2. Where Do Problems Come From?
3. Think for Your Self
4. How to Solve Problems
Exercise One
5. Choosing Between Options
6. True Creativity
Exercise Two
7. Attitude
8. Think Smarter
Exercise Three
9. Creative Change
10. The Role of Intuition
11. Working With Others
1. Things Are Different From What You Think
Sure you think. Your mind runs all over the place. But, that isn't real thinking. Think about it. Are you discerning; do you think things are always the way you think; do you accept different thoughts than what you might have previously thought, or been taught or told? Think about everything you think or believe: is it all true, all right, all good? How do you tell the difference? How do you know?
Most of the things you think are merely your programming, conditioning, and indoctrination. You may be comfortable with those thoughts, but that doesn't make them right. You may be familiar with those ideas, but that doesn't make them right, either. There may be things that seem right, intellectually, which are completely wrong, and things that seem right intellectually that really are right. How do you tell the difference? Just think of how long society accepted slavery, no voting rights for women, and so on — that was just the way most people thought, and few people questioned the way things were.
Do you let others do your thinking for you? Either you control your thinking, or some other influence does. If your thinking is all about how to be approved of by others, by someone, by anyone, it is not true to who you are. It isn't really thinking for yourself, it is conforming, obeying, or submitting. If your ego controls or influences your thinking and behavior, your thinking is really being controlled by something outside of you.
How do you know when something is right, good, or true? There are things that feel good that are good for you, and things that feel good that are not good for you. So, whether you feel good is not necessarily a measure of what is good. Just think of someone with an addiction.
There are things that you believe to be true which are total lies, and things that you believe to be true that really are true. How can you tell the difference? You need to discern, because the world-at-large will sell you countless lies, illusions, untruths, and propaganda that render you unable to tell the truth from lies. And that includes friends, strangers, people you meet, peers, authority figures, government and news people.
The news is a business, designed to get your attention and advertising dollars. Its primary focus is making money; it is not a humanitarian effort or a charitable organization, or a measure of truth. A big illusion promoted by the news is that anything reported yesterday isn't worth talking about or thinking about now. Only what happened today is worth reporting. That is "news." Yesterday's news simply disappeared. It is no longer "relevant." And whatever is happening at the moment — such as a celebrity getting arrested for drunk driving, or the fact that someone hasn't been able to stop hiccuping for three weeks — is more relevant and newsworthy. News programs teach us that real news must be far less important.
What you see in the news is an artificial representation of something which may or may not have happened. Often it is mere speculation and fear mongering. Much news is generated by the federal government, which literally writes the stories you see on the news, in its press briefings. The reporters don't investigate or uncover or report the truth; they write what they are told, and call that government propaganda "news."
When the government enters into war on a false pretext, and sacrifices tens or hundreds of thousands of lives for no good reason, the press dutifully report exactly what they are told. Lies. They give their fallacious imprint of "objectivity" and "truthfulness" and justification. And it is all lies.
Things are the way they are, not the way you have been taught or told, not the way they are represented in the media, not the way people interpret them to be, and not the way you might think or believe.
You can realize that, and still find your way in life. You just have to learn how to think things through, and not take anything for granted. There is a place within you which knows — without any doubt — what is right, good, and true for you.
Problems in life arise from there being a difference between what we think and the way things actually are. If you wish to solve problems, you basically need to learn how to think differently.
2. Where Do Problems Come From?
A problem may be seen as any of the following:
- not having the results you want
- having a lack of clarity of awareness or perception, or confusing thoughts, feelings, or desires
- being stuck in a situation, or moving through a situation with insufficient speed or ineffective application of your resources
- a lack of ease, or actual discomfort, in a situation — or any troubling reaction to it
- a recurring situation which you may not be dealing with properly, or, possibly
- not having the courage to face the truth or to stand for what is right and good and true in your self.
If there is any point to problem solving, it is that you must find your own way. You develop your own style. You learn to recognize and work with your strengths, and, hopefully, realize your weaknesses and how to balance those out.
In an ideal world, there would be no problems, or we would be able to resolve them all. Having a problem really means we have a problem solving it. Realize, that has little or nothing to do with the actual situation. The same situation may present a problem to one person but not to another. So, the problem is not inherent in the situation, but in our response.
In the "real world," most problems are not solved instantly. There is a process involved. And, in the process, there are identifiable stages. Even then, we caution against taking the process or the stages too literally, too rigidly. Problem solving does not often happen in a perfectly linear, sequential, orderly, logical manner — nor is it our objective to try to make it that way. We describe the various parts of the problem solving process, without demanding that this model be followed in any way.
This is a general model for problem solving:
- Identify the apparent problem, its apparent causes and effects
- See what factors are preventing a solution; address them
- Locate the underlying problem, or the one you need to solve
- Determine your goal; specify how you want to change the situation
- Gather information to support your understanding of the situation
- Consider what is different from what you might have thought
- Generate possible solutions, alternatives, or creative options
- Get a feel for what seems right to you, intuitively
- Plan and implement a chosen solution
- Evaluate how the solution works, or not, in the "real world"
- Modify your solution, learn from the situation, adjust your approach
Problem solving begins with awareness. Awareness is simply a matter of how you come to the problem, how it presents itself to you, what it looks like to you, how you react to it, and, perhaps, what importance or meaning you take from it. It is your initial perception of the problem — and rather than fixing that in concrete, we use those initial observations, impressions, reactions, and awareness as our starting point. It is our point of departure, not necessarily representative of our final destination. At this stage, we do not assume that everything we think, know, feel, or believe about the situation is true. We simply observe. Rather than forcing our thinking upon the situation, to try to "make it" the way we think, we stand back, look, listen, and learn from it. We see what it has to say to us.
It is always helpful to work on the right problem. For example, though you may feel anger in relation to a problem or given situation, the anger is probably not the problem. Emotion is just a reaction to what is happening, or what you think is happening, or what you'd rather have happen. It is not the real problem — or solution. Similarly, any response which basically blames someone else for the problem is not addressing the real problem or the real solution.
3. Think for Your Self
The endless mental chatter, repetitious daily experiences, rumination over the past, worrying and expectations about the future — none of these is truly thinking for your self. Rather, these things occur, and fill the mind, in the absence of any true inner awareness, and in the absence of any truly original or creative ideas.
Stand back and look back at what shapes your thinking: ego, emotion, social conditioning, programming, disinformation, reactiveness to others, peer pressure, expectations, desires, and the past.
The strongest ideas a person may have, believe, express, and seek to manifest or prove to others, are often not true inner knowing. This includes "experts" and "authorities" who have merely been programmed by the thinking of others — and defend those ideas as if they were the "absolute truth." There is little if any inner awareness, or inner knowing, but merely a repetition of the thoughts of others, like a trained parrot.
It doesn't matter how popular the beliefs, or how strongly they are held — if they do not come from or resonate with true inner knowing, then they are merely programming or indoctrination. The ego does not like to hear this, because it is the defender of all the dominant, false, misleading, and spurious programming which inhabits the mind and which blocks the truth, inside.
Gain control of your own mind. Control the chatter of the past, pull your thoughts out of the undue influence of emotion, release any and all thoughts which do not truly serve you (your true self, not your ego), be aware and present, here, now. Only then will you have the space for true, creative, original thoughts, to cultivate more creative, self-expressive, and progressive ideas.
Most people, most of the time, do not have any original, creative ideas. As a result of their prior education, social conditioning, and programming, very seldom do people think for themselves, no matter how much they might deny that this is so. We get used to living within the constraints we have accepted in our lives, in our thinking, and in our behavior. It feels uncomfortable to change. Our thinking often is a product of others' thinking, our past conditioning and programming, what we have "learned," our role in life, what we are told we should do.
Consider the role of these factors in any problem you may experience:
- emotional reactions and erroneous perceptions
- preconceived ideas, or the thoughts of others
- past conditioning and programming
- ego, or lack of connection with your true inner self
- external pressures to conform, to not question things, to not disturb the status quo, and to not expose the various erroneous conditions (or problems) which exist in the absence of the truth.
Thinking for your self is the opposite of thinking and acting on what the ego wants or "believes in." There is little if any value or truth in anything the ego desires or seeks to "prove" to others. Egotistical thoughts, selfish thoughts, seek to deny reality. No matter how much outward "success" is obtained by acting egotistically, it is merely a product of external factors, or a form of denial of the truth, within.
Ego is actually a failure to be true to your self, replaced by an overwhelming desire or need for approval and outward measures of success. What gets lost in the process is the authentic self, and the simplicity of living in a way that is true to your self, replaced by illusions you have taken on about yourself.
Thinking for your self requires, first of all, the true self — not the self-denying, self-deluding, false ego. In other words, you may find that you need to give up what is false to know what is true, realize what is wrong to know what is right, and refuse the external rewards for being untrue to your self, rather than finding false comfort in them. As long as you are being rewarded — or rewarding yourself — for being untrue to your self, for blindly following the thinking or goals or desires of others, there is little possibility that you will think for your self. Instead, you need to establish or recover your inner sense of worth, your inner sense of what is right, without reliance upon any external authority or reward.
If you are willing to do this, and commit yourself to uncovering your authentic self, you will find that the inner qualities of conscience, morality, ethics, non-conflict, truthfulness, and self-satisfaction will grow. And what is not true to you will fall away from you. This is how you will know you are making progress in the right direction. You will find that the feeling of being true to yourself, and your highest good, is a far, far greater and truer reward.
Learning how to solve problems is about taking control of your thoughts, your emotions, your ego, your desires, your information, your time, your money, and your own behavior.
4. How to Solve Problems
To deal with problems properly, you have to learn to respond to what is wrong in the right way. This can be a great challenge, to learn to deal with problems without being upset and drained by them, without being overcome by them, and without giving in to them or becoming part of the problem.
What you work with in solving a problem is your self. A problem is solved by increasing the orderliness, clarity, focus, receptivity, and awareness of your mind. Your ability to find order in (and resolve) any situation is a reflection of your ability to find a corresponding orderliness in your own mind, in your perceptions, in your experience. The mind has the inherent ability to appreciate the balance, beauty, simplicity, or validity of what is right and good and true. In creative problem solving, you find what is right for you.
A given situation may or may not present a problem, according to how familiar you are with your own creative intelligence, your resources, and your real needs. The creativity and intelligence with which you apply your resources are often more important than the amount of those resources. The idea is to learn to deal most effectively with your own inner resources in responding to the needs of any external situation.
In solving a problem, you have to improve your relationship to your situation. This requires:
- a change on your side
- a change in the situation, and/or
- a change in your experience of the situation.
In fact, you must often change on your side, to change your perception and your handling of a situation. This means a real use of creative intelligence, doing what you know to be right and good and true — rather than just reacting to a situation and having your choices or actions be determined by past conditioning. Solving a problem does not mean merely trying to avoid the upset or suffering which it brings, but rather actually having the courage to do what is right, to appropriately solve the problem, regardless of temporary upset. This actually releases you from the deeper causes of problems, upset, and suffering over the long run.
Exercise One: Think about something that presents a real problem for someone else, but not for you. Explain why that is so. Then, think about something that does present a real problem for you, but not for someone else. Explain why that is so. (in 200 words or less)
Creative change begins with you. Acknowledge what is actually happening in your situation; this may seem obvious, but you need to tell yourself the truth. With greater awareness and clarity of thought and feeling, within you, you are able to produce effective changes outside you. Unless you cultivate a process of greater awareness, and practice being more clear and conscious in your choices and actions, you are by default accepting unnecessary limitations on your self, your choices, your actions, and your results in life.
The vast majority of problems which you may face do not have a single quantifiable "correct" answer. Rather, there may be many creative solutions to any open-ended problem. Creative problem solving is a process of reconciling your inner and outer experience, to find a workable balance between the two, in a way that is most true to your self.
The two parts of solving a problem are: the learning process and the practical application of a solution. When you find a solution and implement it, you get feedback — the solution changes the situation and/or your perception of it, and you gain further levels of realization and understanding. Creative problem solving is an ongoing learning experience. The point is not to spend all your time thinking, getting lost in your head, or lost in thoughts, but to implement the best solutions.
5. Choosing Between Options
The essential qualities of a real solution are that it be: (1) right, (2) good, and (3) true.
Problem solving ultimately means saying Yes to some things and No to others. You say Yes to what you want, and No to what you do not want. That may appear simplistic, but that is what problem solving comes down to. What is hard is actually making those choices — having the courage to step into the unknown, to risk choosing something whose results or effects you may not be entirely sure of in advance.
Realize, you are already making a choice. You are, in some way, already saying Yes to the problem; you are in some way accepting it the way it is. Now, you need to say No to it and Yes to something different, new, creative, progressive — and, perhaps, unfamiliar, unknown, uncertain, challenging, or less than perfectly clear. That is the choice you have to make, when you realize you truly want something different, better. You make a better choice.
Choice is so fundamental to our existence that we often overlook it. In fact, you are making choices — between options — continuously. Most of the choices you make are habitual, unconscious, and of little importance. It may "work" to act in this way for things which do not demand a lot of attention, such as where you like to sit while reading, whether to have something to drink by your side so you don't need to get up, those kinds of things. You make those kinds of choices all the time. You choose what you want to do and what you don't want to do, what you want to have in your life and what you don't want to have in your life, what you want to be and what you don't want to be. The question is: how much attention are you paying to what you choose or do? Problems demand more of your conscious attention.
What is different in problem solving is that you have decided that this choice is different — it really matters to you. If it didn't, you could just flip a coin for every problem you solved or decision you made, and make your choice that way. You'd wear these pants or those, you'd order pizza or only a salad, you'd marry this person or that one — just flip a coin. Clearly, life demands more consciousness in our choices. And, if we are to live with our choices, we need to have what we consider to be a sound basis for choosing them, and committing to them.
Problem solving very often comes down to making a choice, or a decision, between different options. We weigh their potential, their value, their benefits and costs, their likelihood or improbability, their accord with conscience, or not. Realize that you have the ability to choose what is true to you, what is honorable and ethical, what is appropriate, what allows an uplifting or progressive influence, what is moral, what serves a higher purpose, what you feel to have a positive or good effect. That is a choice you make. And, you need to make that choice rather than merely choosing between apparent options.
Sometimes, the best choice is to do nothing; but don't make this choice out of fear, the fear of acting differently, a fear of commitment, the habit of indecision, a lack of assertiveness, or a fear of responsibility. Some problems resolve themselves over a given time without any further input; others only get worse. Some "solutions" may make things worse. Rather than being fixated on the solution, remain in touch with how you feel about it, how appropriate or right it feels to you. That is the essential guideline for choosing. If you don't have what seems like a progressive option, you may choose to not do anything until you do. Doing something just for the sake of doing something, so you can feel like you've "done something," is no excuse for doing anything that lacks clear value, purpose, rightness, or basis — in what you feel to be right.
Nothing is as creative as what is right.
6. True Creativity
We have all had moments in our lives where we did something new, fun, progressive, or uplifting. Perhaps we can recall a time as a child, when everything was new, and there was a sense of wonder about things, a sense of exploration of the unknown, and kind of fearless investigation of our environment — within and outside us. We imagined. We expressed our innermost self. We were creative. And, it took no effort.
That is what true creative self-expression or creativity really is. It is effortless. It is enjoyable. And it is what we do when we don't get in the way, when we allow a space for free and natural expression of our inner self into our outer world. Creativity is more about allowing than efforting.
Now that we have some idea of what problems are — what elements go into structuring them and preventing solutions — we may have a better appreciation of what allows us to solve them: true self-expression or creativity. The way to solve problems is to cultivate this quality within us. Remember how it was as a child, or at that moment you recall when you were feeling creative and free — that is what we wish to reclaim. That is the place we need to come from, within us, in the present moment. The more freely we can do that, the more powerfully our inner creative resources, abilities, and talents flow through us into our lives — and everything we do.
True creativity is a quality of pure awareness and clear perception, free from preconceived ideas, habit, and conditioning. Very simply, true creativity has a quality of purity which transcends the distortions of external impressions, and originates from within the inner self. This purest form of creativity is more intuitive than rational or logical. It is very close to capturing the essence of an idea, and expressing it in its purest form, so that it is brought forth with all of its creative intelligence intact.
To free your consciousness and creativity, you have to get free from (not freely into) ego, emotions, and the undue conformity of past conditioning and programming. Such erroneous influences cloud, distort and color your perceptions, thoughts, and actions. Do not mistake ego and emotions for the true inner source of creativity — which is found on a deeper level of your being. These grosser influences only prevent or obscure true creativity, pure creativity, in your self.
Problems always occur within boundaries — so does creativity. It flows within certain cultural, social, and psychological constraints. No matter how "free" your thinking, it is always with a given context, and certain boundaries. That is okay. Creativity needs a direction, a theme, a medium in which to be expressed. Although the truest inspiration comes from within, it is also okay to derive a sense of inspiration from something outside you, in the outer world, to get the flow going, within you.
Exercise Two: Think about a time when you felt most like your true self, and expressed yourself as freely and creatively as you could. Close your eyes and reconnect with that experience. There was a flow of energy, a sense of rightness, a feeling of simply being your self, as best you could be. When you have a sense of what this feels like, open your eyes and describe it. (in 200 words or less)
Rather than matching your reaction to the outer world, learn to act from within, and change the world. That is the essence of true creative self-expression, and solving problems. Whatever you truly want to create and experience in your life arises in the inner mind, or inner awareness, rather than outside you. This is the way to understand your relationship with the world at large. Thinking for your self allows you to find appropriate and creative responses to life's problem situations, to satisfy your true needs. The very essence of thinking for your self — truth — destroys misconceptions, erroneous reactions, past programming and conditioning. As a result, your thoughts, words, and actions come to be aligned with your true inner self, and what is right, good and true.
7. Attitude
There is an attitude to take in problem solving, and it is this: "Give me a place to stand, and I will move the world." That should be your attitude. Fearless, courageous, confident, bold, powerful, ready, and assured.
How do you get that attitude, especially when the most common reaction to a real problem is to feel overwhelmed by it, deny it, accept the most apparent "solution," or be content to deal with the symptoms, and forget about it?
There is a way. There is a place to stand, within you, from which you can deal with everything outside you. That place is your inner being, your authentic and true self. It is the place in you which knows what is right, good, and true — if you give yourself a chance to look a little bit more deeply within yourself, and connect with it. You need to allow yourself to do that. You have to realize the value in doing so. If you don't, an inferior attitude will prove self-defeating; and there is no limit to the influences into which we are born or live which are able to contribute to our defeat.
You have to take a stand. Here. Now.
If not here, where? If not now, when?
The experience of being overwhelmed by problems — or even just one problem, such as an addiction — leads to self-defeating, reactive behavior. Instead of connecting with your inner power, peace, joy, love, and confidence to solve problems, you give in to them. In the extreme case, you may even accept the problem as your salvation, and do anything to perpetuate it — as in the case of an addiction. What we want to do here is to regain our true sense of self, empowered, able to deal with anything that life throws our way.
And, the way to do that is to practice connecting within you, on a deeper level, to your inner being, your true self. That is where you must stand; in fact, it is the only place in you where you can stand, to deal with the world-at-large. In your center, in your core being, you are calm, assured, aware, attentive, and wise. In your core, you are creative, loving, and committed to the highest good. You have to acknowledge that inmost place in you, honor it, and respect it. It is where the real you lives, where all your hopes and dreams come from. It is where you will find the knowingness and wisdom to deal with all of the problems in your life.
You need to create a "space" in which to solve the problem which is larger than the problem. You have to be able to contain the problem, to be able to hold it and turn it around and look at it from different angles. You need to create a larger space, room to move, a way to see it from all sides, to see your way past it, around it, over it, or through it. You do this by allowing yourself to create that larger space when you approach a problem, rather than diving into it or getting lost in the problem.
Perhaps you can see why many "solutions" are not real solutions to the real problems, or wind up creating even more problems. You cannot solve the real problem until and unless you are able to see the real problem. You cannot solve a problem unless you are — and know yourself to be — bigger than it. You will find that the more "space" you allow yourself to create around a problem when you approach it, the better you can see it and solve it. That is largely a matter of attitude, expanding your awareness, and centering your self. Try saying to yourself, whatever the problem, "I'm bigger than this." And believe it. It creates the space for a solution.
8. Think Smarter
However you think, you can learn to think smarter.
Solving problems is not just a matter of intelligence. An intelligent person can have the wrong focus, erroneous perceptions, false conclusions, lack of perseverance, and so on. A person with much less intelligence can be a far better problem solver. An open mind, curiosity, and perseverance go a long way in problem solving. Later, we will see how it is possible that intuitive and creative approaches can be better than entirely analytical ones — and those rely even less upon traditional intelligence.
Intelligence is not the measure of problem-solving ability, not in the "real world." A person who draws upon their inner conscience, feelings, and heartfelt wisdom, and who is able to communicate or share their ideas with others, can have a far greater impact than one who solely relies upon convincing others by logic. Other people can tell when you are connected with deeper values in your core, in your being, and they respond to that. The same place in you which resonates with what is right, good, and true, resonates in others when you come from that place, in you.
Learning how to solve problems puts you ahead of even the most educated people, in your ability to deal with problems in the "real world." You will carry that confidence with you. So, whatever your level of intelligence, whatever your educational level, that doesn't matter all that much — and this idea is proven, in the enormous success of people who have never even gotten a college degree. They did not limit themselves, or accept anyone else's judgment of them. They simply learned how to solve problems in the "real world," and kept going. They learned as they went. They persevered. You are taking a great step forward, now. Keep going.
Here's how to study a problem, learn from it, and think smarter — how to find a more effective way to deal with it, using critical thinking.
Consider the example of being greatly overweight. We are not considering being a few pounds overweight as a real problem; it may not be ideal, but few people have the motivation to change their lives because of a few pounds — there just isn't that much of a downside or negative effect in the real world, on their health, etc. So, although we'll focus on being greatly overweight, the approach is valid for those who are less overweight, or those who wish to solve a different problem, as well.
First, we look at the problem as it is, as a whole. The person with this problem carries around a lot of excess fat; it is not muscle, but fat. And, this fat is not only of no use, it is detrimental to health and well-being; it impedes movement, enjoyment of life, and so on. There is a negative impact on our health. So, we see the fat and we want to reduce it. Fine. But, there is more. We need to hold in our minds the reason why we are doing this. We have to be willing to see what we have done previously as not working — or, in fact, working against ourselves. And, we have to see something new as a way of truly honoring our selves, and doing something positive in the right direction.
Here is a basic rule in critical analysis and problem solving: if you keep thinking what you've been thinking, and doing what you've been doing, you are going to keep having the same results you have been getting. You have to change your thinking and behavior, to have different results. You have already built a support system for the problem; now you need to get beyond that, and create support for a solution. We already know about the usual approach of diet and exercise. The more you keep eating what you're eating, the way you're eating, the more you'll keep getting the results you're getting. All of this is, perhaps, obvious from observing the problem or its symptoms. We always start with the obvious in our analysis, but we don't stop there.
We continue this logical, rational, and reasonable approach. If you understand that your diet consists of or includes too many foods that are full of fat and sugar, then you remove those "foods" from your kitchen, from your house. That means, you take a big trash bag, fill it up with everything that you are using to harm yourself, and then throw it out. You don't put all that stuff on another shelf, or hide it from yourself, or keep it in the trash bag somewhere else in the house. You put it exactly where it needs to go, in the trash. And, you tell yourself that this is a good thing; this is a step in the right direction; this is something you can choose to do, which you clearly have the power to do. And do it. Then, continuing this way, you tell yourself that you will not go out and buy any replacements. You will not put any such things in your shopping cart, or bring them into your home. And, you will choose to not splurge on these self-damaging "foods" when you are outside your home, either. You have to see the sense in that, the value, the positive side, the personal benefit. You cannot focus on what you are giving up (which is bad for you) and fantasize about how good it would be. It would not be good. It might taste good, but it would not be good for you. There is a big difference.
Then, you eat as much good food as you want. You don't try to starve yourself, but you try to nourish yourself as much as possible. You choose as many colorful vegetables and fruits as possible; and you eat as much of them as you wish, cooked or raw. Instead of soft drinks (even those with artificial sweeteners), you drink water, pure water. Your body is 97% water (not Coca Cola), and it likes eight glasses of water per day. All of this nourishes your body; it is full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes — it is real food. It doesn't have ingredients which are non-food chemicals, whose names you cannot recognize or pronounce. You now have a proper diet.
Add exercise to this. It doesn't have to be hard exercise, just keep moving each day. Walk if you can. Whatever works for you. It may not be as enjoyable as sitting on the couch with an open ice-cream container and spoon, but it will make you far more happy, energized, and healthy in the long term.
Finally, consider what affects the situation on a more subtle level. You've taken care of the gross level of the problem, or its symptoms. You've examined the problem, studied it, learned from it, and found ways to approach it based upon what you see and know, outwardly. Now, look a little more deeply. What would get in the way of getting the results you want? Find out what those things are, for you, and deal with them. Remove them as causes, remove their negative influence, and do not allow them to keep feeding the problem. In terms of being overweight, these factors literally feed the problem, but this applies to nearly all problems in real life.
Something is feeding it, perpetuating it, making it the way it is, keeping it from changing. You have to identify those causes and gradually remove them. This can take a bit of time, or probing, but again, you keep your goal in mind — true well-being — and keep going. You learn as you go. This problem has a very rational and reasonable solution, which reveals why it is so hard to solve the problem in reality — we already have a conditioned reaction; we reach for a quick "solution" to the problem of not feeling good, something that provides instant gratification, which is easier to choose than a true solution which needs to be implemented over time. This is something we need to learn to deal with, if we wish to solve problems, because few true solutions solve long-term problems instantly. Still, we need to know what to do now, instead of what we are already doing.
So, let's say you hypothetically approach the problem this way, and something comes up, something that seems as if it is going to sidetrack you or defeat your efforts. What might that be? Stress, worry, doubt, fear, insecurity, feelings of unworthiness, lack of self-esteem, self-judgment, anger, guilt, and so on. This is the deeper part of the problem, the real problem. And the solution is not about food. Perhaps you can see that. But, what you have to do, is do something different. You have to learn to recognize these feelings, and learn to release them rather than react to them, negatively. You have to learn not to suppress them, not to believe them, not to cater to them or to try to console those feelings with food. You feel a lack of love, and reach for chocolate. See that for what it is. And, instead of reaching for chocolate, realize that what you really want and need is a feeling of love, within you. Learn how to connect with that love within you, which depends upon no one else but you. Continue this process of feeding yourself with all that is good, and releasing all that is not. This model is applicable to nearly all problems you might face.
Bring more of the good, the nourishing and self-acknowledging things into you, or find them in you; and let go of, release, or remove the things that are hindering or defeating you. We haven't been trying to prescribe a diet, but rather to give an example of how you approach a problem and deal with it effectively, in a way that really works for you.
This is the essence of thinking smarter. You realize what you are doing. You are open to learning more. And you are willing to do something different.
Exercise Three: Bring to mind a problem you wish to solve. Think of all of the erroneous "solutions" that you may have previously thought were workable, but which didn't work. Why didn't they work? Understanding why something doesn't work has nothing to do with guilt; it is simply being more realistic and honest with yourself, now. Think of all of the "solutions" which might provide short-term gratification but which are not real solutions to the real underlying problem. Explain what it means to you, to be realistic, committed, and empowered in coming up with and applying a real solution. (in 200 words or less)
You have it in you to solve problems. You just have to become more familiar with your own resources, your strengths, your power. When you do, you will find that you have the confidence to deal with many, many things that you might once not have. Anyone can learn to solve problems. Here is another important point which we can see by this example: in solving nearly any problem, you will find that it is of great value to learn to be centered within yourself. Centering is a process of finding a place of power and strength within you, from which you can deal with things outside you. It is a process of letting go of the things which pull our thinking and actions in the wrong direction, and honoring what is most right, good, and true for us. It is a process of freeing your thinking from emotional influences, and ego. Learning to center yourself is a process of reclaiming your true self, and letting go of what is not true to who you really are. This goes a long way in helping to solve problems. (We'll cover centering in depth, later, in Lesson 4.)
9. Creative Change
We each tend to project our own perceptions, interpretations, values, judgments, biases, feelings, and desires — onto everything we experience outside us. There is great value in learning to see things as they are, without this overlay or filtering process. There is also a big difference between learning to see things as they are, and accepting things as they are. By now, you should know that nothing here is intended to cause you to mindlessly accept anything as it is, just because it happens to be that way.
The premise of problem solving is that something is not the way it should be; something is producing a wrong or inappropriate effect. Be aware of the inclination to accept things as they are, to accept what is wrong as somehow right or good enough, or to mistake the way things are as the way they should be.
Do you assume that whatever is already known is better than or more workable than what is not? Do you assume you are right when you make assumptions? Do you assume that you know what other people are thinking, feeling, intending, or wanting? Do you assume that people will be as you expect them to be, the way you might be? Do you assume that situations you come to, now, are the same as ones you experienced in the past, or that they will turn out the same way? Do you assume your plans will work in the real world, just because they seem workable in your mind, rather than planning for how they might not work, and developing workable alternatives?
Consider what is missing: especially notice a lack of truth, love, beauty, peace, grace, goodness, or light. Similarly, notice if something doesn't need to be there, which nevertheless is: especially conflict, untruth, judgment, hurt, or wrong. And accept responsibility for creative change.
Denial is a refusal to accept responsibility for our reaction to the world-at-large. We find it too overwhelming, and so we give up our power to it; we basically give up, give in, and let the problem have its way with us. This is almost always the worst possible response to any given situation. If you have made that choice before, realize you have the power to make a better choice, here, now.
Seeing things as they are is more about who you are, and how you relate to everything and everyone outside you.
Do you know what it means to stand back, rather than being overshadowed by problems, emotion, desire, external pressures and demands?
Do you have a sense of your own beingness, or does that get lost in problems or worldly pursuits?
Do you have the courage to see things as they are, rather than merely accepting everything you have been taught or told — your programming and conditioning?
Does it matter more to you to simply see things clearly, than to have people see things your way?
Does seeing or knowing what is right matter more to you than trying to prove you are right?
Do you recognize the truth, or is your "truth" dictated to you by others?
Do you take responsibility for knowing the truth, yourself, seeking a higher good, and rejecting all that is in the way of that?
Do you find problems less troubling than the thought of actually changing?
Do you seek acceptance and approval of others, as your motivation in problem solving, rather than having an internal alignment with what is right for you?
Do you seek external rewards for what you should be doing out of conscience, by finding that place in you that seeks what is right, good, and true?
Do you look at people, things, and situations only in terms of what you can get out of them, or do you see what you can give of your self?
Do you perceive, think, value, choose, and act through your ego-emotional nature, or have you learned to step out of ego and be your authentic self?
You will find that the more you honor your true self, the less reactive you will be to everything and everyone — and the more aware you will be of what is right, good, and true for you. Your perceptions, understanding, needs, choices, and actions will change. And you will be able to deal with problems in a way that truly works for you.
10. The Role of Intuition
Intuition is the inner sense, feeling, or knowing of something. It is a realization of what is right, good, or true — without the need of any external information or verification. We simply know.
There is something to be said for "rationality," but what is not rational is of at least of much importance in our lives, and in the "real world." Unfortunately, our society is so dominated by (although it does not necessarily practice) rational or critical thinking, that it calls anything it doesn't agree with "irrational," as a putdown.
The truth is, all great thinkers, throughout time, have been deeply intuitive. That is how they have come up with their insights and understanding. They may have great analytical ability, such as Newton and Einstein, but even they acknowledged, valued, experienced, and made us of the deeper mind, intuition, and transcendent knowledge. Knowledge which seemed to "appear" to them as sudden inspiration. There is nothing "rational" about this process of experiencing inspiration; it is entirely irrational and intuitive. The explanations and meaning and theories and proofs which they or others may derive from those intuitive insights may be rational, may be "step-by-step" formulas — but the process by which they came to be, and were discovered, was not wholly rational.
Critical analysis has limitations, mainly: those who are committed to it — fanatically so — in our modern society, willfully and intentionally exclude intuition as being irrational and not any part of the process. But, intuition is real, valuable, and the essence of real problem solving. It is just hard to quantify or access or use on demand. And, the extent to which it departs from physical or sensory experience or logic or what was previously known, is a threat to proponents of "rationality at all costs." It doesn't fit within their too narrow and rigid paradigm.
So, half the battle with getting a person to appreciate their own intuition is the process of countering the oppressive and wrong influence of their society, their education, their programming and conditioning, their indoctrination, the popular ridicule or dismissal of intuition, and their own inattention to intuition. We are trained to suppress, ignore, dismiss, and reject intuition. So, it takes a bit of work to regain that ability, nurture it, encourage and develop it.
Most critical thinking proponents would tell you to look anywhere except your intuitive, unconscious, deeper mind; to study the problem, go into endless detail, consider all observable possibilities, but do not ever consider the unobservable, the unknown, the unexpected. That is a far too narrow definition of thinking and problem solving, which has serious drawbacks in the "real world." We need an open, inquiring, receptive, holistic, and deeply felt wisdom to face our problems. Rational, step-by-step critical analysis may be used as a tool, but learn to balance inner knowing with rationality, to find the best solutions to problems.
The intuitive approach puts us much more in touch with what we know and feel to be right, good, and true within us. And those, ultimately, are the only criteria for a solution. Not the method by which you arrive there, not the allegiance to one thinking style or another, not the dismissal of our innate intuitive wisdom, but the most effective way to get there and realize the truth. This is especially important given the large amount of disinformation that finds its way to us, from authorities in government, big business, and so on. Critical thinking all too often is a matter of choosing between available sources of external information, none of which should be deemed reliable.
11. Working With Others
Few of us work entirely alone, or do not need to consider the input of others. This is often a part of problem solving, especially in organizations and institutions — either a group or a committee is tasked with coming up with a solution, or a group or committee will evaluate the appropriateness of a solution.
The factors which limit the perception of truth, which restrict or shape our perceptions, understanding, and awareness, and which limit our creative self-expression, all tend to be magnified in the typical group setting in an organization or institution. Over time, an organization develops its own "culture," its own way of thinking and behaving, its own justifications for doing things the way it does them. And it is resistant to change. If you are ever tempted to think that a group is by definition more intelligent, aware, enlightened, or connected to the truth — simply because it has a lot of members or participants — think of the Nazis. Millions of people got together and all thought the wrong way. It happens in the "real world," all the time. You need to question those "better solutions" that lack conscience, truth, goodness, or wisdom.
So, the first thing is to realize how "group think" can work against you — and even against the best interests of an organization or a society. Then you can seek more creative ways to encourage, allow, and gain acceptance for creative thinking, new ideas, and progressive (not reactionary) solutions.
Even when we make decisions and solve problems "on our own," they always fit within a larger context. For example, you do not solve a relationship problem unilaterally; there is always another party with concerns, wants, needs, purposes, and goals of their own. These need to be considered and appreciated. So, there is value in learning to consider and work with the needs and interests of others, even if you think you are working on a problem by yourself. First consider what you know to be right, good, and true for you; then consider whether others will have the same sense or perception of the solution. What do they need to see or realize or come to understand — similar to what you feel you have come to see, realize, or know, within you. When you present an idea, be willing and able to lead someone else through that process so that they can understand the value or appropriateness of what you propose.
Very often, other people have different perspectives, awareness, interests, needs, desires, agendas, values, ethics, and priorities. Group problem solving is a process of — ideally — acknowledging and addressing these many areas of concern. In practice, group problem solving, or the evaluation of solutions, tends to be hierarchical — from the top down. In reality, group problem solving tends to work better from the bottom up, especially in business, and especially when it needs to be realistic and address everyone's concerns. Solutions dictated from the top tend to have less investment or empowerment for everyone below that point in the chain of command — and are ultimately less workable for the entire organization. Enlightened business practices realize that, and allow everyone who is impacted by a decision or solution to have some real say in the matter. That may be considered the ideal.
What if you are not in an ideal situation, and you need to solve a problem which involves others, where others are participating in the process? The first thing to do is to be true to your own problem solving process. If you realize that it isn't going to go over well to say, "I feel that intuitively," then prepare yourself with rational reasons that support your ideas, and present those. People need rational reasons to make decisions and changes; a feeling you have is generally not enough, and not acceptable to others who must take responsibility for the solution.
Problem solving in a group context requires you to:
- honor your own problem-solving process
- hear what others have to say; realize what they are really saying on a deeper level; be aware of what others are feeling; feel it, and see whether you can relate to it
- realize that people often have unspoken agendas (which even they may not be fully aware of), and there is a group dynamic, pattern of behavior, or expectations
- feel your way through the undercurrents as best you can, noticing the elements of egotism, emotional reactiveness, possessiveness, control, denial, and refusal to accept responsibility
- see illusions for what they are, and be practical and realistic
- ask "Why?" in a way that encourages greater understanding, participation, and interest, not in an argumentative or accusatory way
- move in the direction of progressive change rather than reactionary maintenance of the status quo
- work out compromises that recognize what will and will not work or be accepted
- justify your ideas, rationally and reasonably
- consider the role of ethics, conscience, and simply doing what is right
- claim as much ownership and responsibility for the problem (or for solving it) as is appropriate, no more, no less
- as much as it is possible, have the people who have responsibility for effecting change be responsible for their own decisions (rather than "passing the buck")
- consider the need for expanding the context of the problem, and consider whether change is needed on an altogether different level — get a bigger picture
- be sure not to exclude creativity from the process merely because it cannot be quantified
- allow as many creative options as possible to be generated before they are all evaluated, not when an individual idea is proposed
- respect all ideas, including ones that do not find implementation at that time
- don't rush to judgment; consider who or what might be negatively impacted by a "solution"; don't ignore collateral damage or unintended consequences
- only agree with and act upon what you can live with, without going against conscience, ethics, or the highest good of all, as best you can.
Effective teamwork isn't something we all learn in our education. More often, we are judged individually on what we know, and how well we can show we have been thoroughly programmed. We are seldom appreciated for how greatly we diverge from the common thinking, how much we challenge the status quo, or how often we disagree with authority. So, most of us learn to submit, by trying to figure out the "correct" or expected answer.
What you come up against, in any group setting, is the fact that everyone has their own thoughts, feelings, desires, perceptions, awareness, purposes, and agenda. Those may or may not be in agreement, or be aligned. But, you can usually agree to work together to achieve common goals and a common purpose.