Use different perspectives to think your way into shape

In the UK it will hopefully getting warm enough to venture outside again soon and no doubt many people are already starting to think forward to the summer and getting back in shape. However, the thought of eating more vegetables, less chocolate and running every day does little for our motivation (especially if you too are in unseasonably arctic conditions).

Well, have you ever heard the expression ‘healthy body, healthy mind’? What we need is to use our heads and find a fresh perspective on getting fit! As author Marcel Proust said, ‘the real magic of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes but having new eyes.’

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Great ideas and pragmatic solutions are hard to come by. When we approach a problem from the obvious direction, we are likely only to find a few, obvious answers. In order to unlock those innovative and game-changing ideas, we need to examine the problem in a completely opposite way to the prevailing view. In other words, rather than thinking about ‘what to do,’ we should reverse the challenge by thinking ‘what not to do.’ Read more

Generate genius ideas that work this year with tips from GRASP The Solution by ThinkBuzan CEO, Chris Griffiths

1. Brainstorm the right way

Contrary to popular belief, a team brainstorming session is often the death of big ideas.

The problem is, we are all very impressionable creatures and can’t help but react to those around us. This means that a group of people sitting down to fire out ideas will essentially only be reacting to the first idea voiced out loud. The following conversation will merely be a combination of people supporting or negating that first idea, and other ideas based on associations with the first. It becomes more of an analytical session rather than one of free-flowing ideas.

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We had some fantastic news come in this week. Our CEO Chris Griffiths’ latest book GRASP The Solution: How to find the best answers to everyday challenges has been nominated for an award in the management category of the 2012 Small Business Book Awards.

Since its release in October 2011, the book’s had some amazingly positive reviews but this is definitely the icing on the cake! Chris is absolutely thrilled and considers it a great honour to be nominated.

The Small Business Book Awards were created to recognise and celebrate books that make a difference to small business owners, managers and start-up entrepreneurs. This is now the fourth year for these awards and the competition is getting fierce!

Chris would love to do well in this competition – but in order to do that he needs your votes! If you’ve read GRASP The Solution and benefited from it – or simply enjoyed it – then we’d be extremely grateful if you could put in your vote for it.

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New Year’s Resolutions

As the New Year approaches, the mental list of New Year’s resolutions starts to form; usually a lengthy list with the aim of dispelling annoying personal habits, or reaching professional goals – and always with a few of the usual suspects making a repeat performance from the year before.

Many New Year’s resolutions emanate from the downfalls, disasters and misjudgements of the previous year, as a last-ditch attempt to avoid repetition in the New Year. We think that by avoiding the same failures, we might somehow pave a path to a more positive outcome at the end of the next year.

CEO of ThinkBuzan and co-author of Mind Maps for Business, Chris Griffiths, argues that this reactive mode of thinking simply doesn’t cut it in the modern world. “What worked in the past no longer fits the bill so we’re being forced to ‘up our game’”.

Rather than simply avoiding making the same mistakes again, we need to be more creative and more innovative. We need to look forwards, for new opportunities and anticipating future bumps in the road. In other words, we need to be proactive.

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We were over the moon this week to come across a couple of top reviews of our CEO, Chris Griffiths’ recently released book GRASP The Solution.

The first came from ForeWord Reviews. Based in the United States, this organisation is one of the few remaining wholly independent review sources, which makes it even better to see GRASP The Solution receive a superb 5 star rating from their reviewer Barry Silverstein. The book is described as ‘far-reaching’ and ‘engaging’ and the Mind Mapping chapter was especially well-received!

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16^th November 2011, by Chris Griffiths

Not long ago I had the great privilege to be interviewed by Liam Hughes of Biggerplate.com. We had an enjoyable chat about my new book GRASP The Solution, the value of thinking creatively in tough times and the role that Mind Mapping can play.

Liam challenged me to share my perspectives on all sorts of sticky matters concerning creativity and innovation. Crucially, I debunk the myth that some people aren’t the ‘creative type’ or don’t have a creative brain. With the aid of a defined system and process, absolutely anyone can be creative and put new ideas into practice.

Other topics discussed include the GRASP concept and how the different modes of thinking affect creativity, the Solution Finder process for achieving ‘practical creativity’ and the usefulness of Mind Maps for capturing and cultivating ideas.

It’s well worth checking out. Read the complete interview on Biggerplate.com.

At this particular time of year your instinctive response to this question will probably be along the lines of ghosts and vampires, red rum, a sinister video tape, teenagers in hockey masks or malevolent entities named Toby…

However, I’d wager a guess that whilst the thought of these ghoulish figures does occasionally send involuntary shivers up your spine and prompt you to check in the wardrobe before going to bed, they aren’t what truly scares you.

For most of us the answers are far more rooted in everyday reality. What if I don’t pass that test? What if sales don’t pick up? What if I don’t get that promotion? Doubt that we can meet challenges head on and succeed. Well as every half-good horror film in the past 90 years has taught us, the only way to overcome a fear is to face it. Pull off the mask, confront the demon, find out everything about it until you know exactly how to destroy it.

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19^th October 2011, by Chris Griffiths

Finally the day has arrived! Today is the official launch date of my new book ‘GRASP The Solution’. It’s fantastic to see the media getting excited about the book and feedback from early readers has been exceptionally positive. Last week, the early pre-release copies from Amazon.co.uk sold out in a matter of days and ‘GRASP The Solution’ went on to become a bestseller before launch – hitting number 2 in the overall Business category!

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14th October 2011, by Chris Griffiths

It’s almost here! In less than one week (19th October) my new book GRASP The Solution will be officially launched.  The early pre-release copies from Amazon.co.uk have already sold out and the book is currently ranked in the top 100 out of the 5  million books sold on Amazon – number 3 in the Business category!

My goal in writing this book was to lend a huge helping hand to entrepreneurs and individuals who feel they sometimes struggle to make the ‘right’ decisions, are regularly disappointed by the results of their brainstorming sessions or at a complete loss on how to take their business forward.

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