Is Boredom Bad?

It seems like everything in society is working to fill every little slice of time in our day.  

Taking a walk?  Don't just walk, listen to music. Listen to a podcast. 

On the train?  Don't just stare out the window, read a condensed book.  Play an electronic game on your phone.

Having coffee in the morning?  Don't just sit there, read the latest news on your phone.  Text someone.  Check your email.

It's NUTS how much of our time is filled with b*llsh!t.  

Now answer this question.

Where are you most likely to have had an "ah-ha!" moment?

1. Reading the news on your phone?
2. Listening to a podcast on the train/bus/auto?
3. While taking a shower?

If you are like I am, and most people, your innovative mind doesn't work very well when your senses are being bombarded by non-stop information.  

Most of us come up with our best ideas when we ... are simply day-dreaming.  When our mind allows itself to wander and bounce all over the place.  When our mind is allowed to be bored. 

When your mind is allowed to think about what it wants to think about, not what it's being told through your eyes and ears.  

Be Bored

Are you setting yourself up to be bored on a regular basis?  If not, perhaps you are missing harnessing the power of your subconscious mind to help you innovate.  To create. To advance. To solve.

Being bored isn't about thinking about nothing, it's ...

There are two types of messages in the world.  

Those that are offering you something to choose.

Those that are trying to prevent you from choosing something.

Success isn't based on negativity, it's based on positivity.

Imagine these marketing statements:

We don't want you to buy that phone. 

We don't want you to buy that diet system.

Don't read that magazine.

Don't go to that movie.

Don't buy that product.

Do these messages inspire you to do something?  Or not do something?   In fact, I bet they have very little impact on your decision. It's not in human nature to respond positively to a negative message.  You often just shut out negativity.

Moving "Away" Has No Focus

People may wish to move away from a product, service, person, etc., but without having an alternative target or focus to move toward, there isn't any progress.  Each person may move in a different direction.  Certainly, they won't move en-mass toward your product or service.  By being negative, you have not forwarded your cause, product or service. At best you may have just managed to have people scatter, directionless, from the alternative.

What is the message you are projecting to other people?

Are you just "against" something? Or are you offering an alternative to choose?

Is a negative message how you want your company to be known and remembered?

Recently I saw an article on "agile thinking".  It was written by someone who really though that they had stumbled upon something profound.  Agile Thinking.

What's Old Is New

In the article, the author described in detail how their ability to use agile thinking allowed them to navigate the complexity of their job as well as the (LOL) the planning of their child's birthday party.  

There was a description of how they created a list. Then prioritized the items on the list. Then executed them.  

Thinking

Wow!  What a novel concept.  

Creating a list. Putting it in order of importance and then doing the things on the list.

I never thought that my wife and I were practicing the futuristic concept of agile thinking. when we did these things for the past 40 years while raising our family.  Or for any number of the tasks we did at home or at work.   I didn't realize that the process of our simple thinking was so ahead of it's time.  

Why didn't I think of that?

Perhaps I could have come up with "agile thinking" and written about it if I had been practicing agile thinking.....

Maybe it's time to give credit where credit is due and not try to make something "new" out of something "old".  Putting a new name on something that already exists doesn't make it new. 

Oh, by the way, perhaps this terminology should be added to my bisno-babble lexicon.

Recently Seth Godin in "Seth's Blog" posted on "Time shifting".  He described how people make decisions based on the "now".  There is a difference between the individual who may look slightly into the future regarding the decisions they are making now, versus the "mob" which makes decisions only on the "now".  

Mob Vs. Me Thinking

So it made me think about the difference between the "me" decision and the "mob" decision.  

"Me" has a single integrated brain. It has reflexes that can produce immediate responses, but it also has memory.  It's the memory of what has happened in the past that can modify the "me" current decision.  Moreover, that memory can influence the projection of what may occur in the future based on a decision "now".  You make decisions based on the past, present, and future. Hopefully, these are decisions that are optimal for your future. 

"Mob" has no such memory.  For that reason, it can only react at the moment.  The individuals of the mob interact like a network of brain cells that produce a reflex action in response to a stimulus.  That multi-person network has no ability to look back in the past, nor project into the future.  Mob only reacts in the present.  It has no past. It has no future.  For that reason, it's only concerned with the "now".  The mob's lifetime is only when there is a collection of people acting together.  Nothing before it forms,...

Just what the heck is a "decision" anyway?

It seems like every time we have to make a "decision", it's because we are faced with a problem.

Do you make a "decision" if you need another piece of cake?  

Do you make a "decision" if you need a new automobile?

Do you make a "decision" to do the right thing?

Do you make a "decision" if you are going to make a career move?

 It seems like a "decision" is an either/or process. One option can be good, one could be bad.  And it's up to us to "decide" which we will take a chance on.  

We do this ... or we do that.  We decide on one thing versus another.

But what about a "choice"?

It's nice when we can make a "choice".

A "choice" if we want that additional piece of cake.

A "choice" if we want to replace our existing automobile.

A "choice" to do the right thing.

A "choice" if we want to change careers.

A "Choice" seems to imply that we have two or more good options that we can choose from.  It's a good place to be.

A "Decision" seems to imply that we are faced with options, some of which could be bad.  It's not a great place to be.

How nice it would be if all of our "Decisions" could actually be "Choices".

It's your choice on which to use in the future.

Managing Your Emotions

Have you ever exploded emotionally ... over something that really didn't matter?

If you said no, you are either very well adjusted, have control over your emotions, or are telling yourself untruths (the new buzzword for lying.)

So what can you do to help prevent inappropriate reactions to the curveballs that life throws at you?

Perhaps adjusting your perspective can help.  

But how?  How can one easily adjust perspective in such cases?  What can you do?

Generating An Appropriate Reaction

It may not be true for everything, but here is how I do it.

Before I ramp up my emotions for those curveballs...I tell myself something:

If this is the worst thing that happens to me today ... Life is Good.

Got a fender bender?  Life is good.

Got a "C" on an exam? Life is good.

Spill your drink in your lap at lunch? Life is good.

 It's all about generating an honest and optimistic perspective. That helps us keep the perspective of events appropriate.  Most of what life throws at us is temporary, non-life threatening and manageable.  If that's the case, then why go crazy?  After all...

If this is the worst thing that happens to me today ... Life is Good.