The Magic of Quantum Leap Thinking™ – Part 2
Quantum Leap defined:
A sudden, great and important change, improvement or development.
– Oxford English Dictionary
Welcome to The Magic of “Quantum Leap Thinking – Part 2. In the last article, I defined what it means to change perspective. The elegance of choosing to change perspective gives you the opportunity to see all situations from different perspectives. Most importantly, it gives you the tools to change your thinking from stressful to productive, from a negative attitude to a positive attitude, from fear to creativity.
But what do I mean by taking a quantum leap?
As a young man, I was terrible at chemistry. What I did learn was that two chemicals, Red Phosphorus and Potassium Chlorate are stable when kept in isolation. But, when they are mixed together and shaken, a sudden explosion takes place. Energy is released. A transformation takes place. I look at it as a kind of magic.
For our purposes, I want you to look at this sudden explosion as a transformation or ‘quantum leap’.
Imagine that you work at a goal for some time. You learn the skills necessary. You put in the work. Perhaps you even get frustrated because it seems to be taking so long. You persist. And then suddenly, your goal is achieved. A leap has taken place. There is a break from the past. You are suddenly transported to a new level of being. You have taken a quantum leap!
How did you get there? Perhaps you did not realize it, but there was actually an unconscious formula you followed.
In the next series of articles, we are going to look at how you can purposely achieve your goals, and how you can take a quantum leap. What I am going to present to you is a time- tested formula on how to make quantum leaps, and it is based on 40 years of time-tested results.
The 15 Points of Quantum Leap Thinking
The strategies, ideas and concepts are based on a foundation of three vastly important skills: creative thinking, managing change and continuous learning. At the tip of the triangular-like foundation are precisely balanced the 15 points of Quantum Leap Thinking. ™
Foundation Skill #1: Creative thinking
Creative thinking is often misunderstood. It is the other side of logic.
Children are naturally creative. But somewhere along the line, through education, upbringing, criticism and fear, their creative side is diminished.
The creative side of our nature includes intuition, ideas, dreams, and fantasy. Without ideas and dreams, intelligence is rather useless. The balance between the two is the mark of peak performers and quantum leap thinkers.
Fear, excessive effort, criticism, stress and lack of freedom and space can send the creative self into hiding.
Here are just a few hints to help you open up your creativity.
- Create space. Create pause time/ alone time. This space is often where ideas and insights appear.
- Do something different. Break your routine. Drive to work using a different route. Take a walk. Do something you would not normally do.
- Challenge your assumptions. This is a big one. We carry assumptions with us all the time, every day, about our job, about our freedom, about how people look at us. Think about it for a moment. Write one or two assumptions you have about your life. And then, challenge them.
- Create challenges for yourself. That may mean going on a trip that you would not normally attempt. It may mean joining a book reading/discussion group, signing up for a workshop, listening to recordings or watching Ted talks.
- Forgive failure. Failure is your playground to learn. With every failure, you can learn a valuable lesson. So, look at failures as a lesson.
Now, you have the basics of Foundation Skill #1: Creative thinking.
In the next article, I will present an insight into Foundation Skill #2: Managing change.
Imagine That!
James Mapes is the founder of Quantum Leap Thinking™, creator of The Transformational Coach™, expert on the psychology of “applied imagination,” best-selling author, highly acclaimed business speaker, consultant, seminar leader and personal excellence coach.