Often this gets translated into a mindset that there’s only one way of doing things, of seeing (fill in the blank) – and that rarely is the case. As a young person I discovered I could see more than one answer, more than one side in the situation. This made taking multiple choice tests extremely difficult since when you consider a question from one point of view, the answer was -a- but if you looked at the situation with a different perspective then -d- could be the answer. Really hated multiple choice tests… though for the sake of the tests I often chose the expected answer. But really… wasn’t that limiting? What if….
I also discovered that if I expected a particular result, then often the self fulfilling prophecy mindset kicked in. And yes, it is extremely difficult to not enter into a problem deciding activity without some sense of the ‘potential’ answer. However, if you give yourself permission to explore and consider other responses, you may find yourself both pleasantly surprised and effectively responding with a new paradigm. And many times it is the alternative solution that ends up being the back-up response.
Perhaps it’s my ‘what if’ thinking that leads to contemplating other responses to the question or problem. I’ve always felt that options planning was critical and gave me the opportunity to determine the best resolution. ‘Only’ is rarely accurate – and most issues allow us some time to consider other responses. And yes, it is always ‘worth it’. Because it’s in the other option thinking that allows us to more fully consider the ramifications/unexpected results or by-products that provide us with a better decision.
When you lock yourself into only one ‘right’ answer or only one way of doing things then the opportunities to grow also diminish. If all we do is what have done in the past then how does progress occur? And if we only get the results that we always get then do we limit what is possible? Obviously my answer would be to not throw the ‘typical’ way of doing things but to use that as the foundation to expand into other areas. Locked implies chained and movement is severely limited in this reality.
