Plain Advice

Generally, when people try to solve a problem, they turn to solutions that are most familiar and socially acceptable. This is OK, if the solutions work. However, I have seen great things happen when a more obscure, socially questionable approach is taken.

I have a co-worker who is a single man in his 40’s. He decided a few months ago that he was not reaching his financial goals. After brainstorming through his options, he made a very drastic move. He gave his dog away, put most of his things in storage, sold his motorcycle and bought an SUV. He moved out of the house he was renting, and became homeless by choice. He is now directing all of his income toward his savings/investments. The only money he uses for everyday expenses (like food) is money that he gets by selling things on e-bay. He has a gym membership, so he goes there to shower. He sleeps in his car. He spends the rest of his time between his office and school.

Most people who I share this true story with shake their heads and say that this guy must be crazy. Maybe he is a little crazy. But I have to give him kudos for thinking outside the box, and having the guts to make such a drastic life change.

From what I have seen, my friend seems to be thriving in his new lifestyle. He was very unhappy and depressed before. Now he exudes hope and confidence. He is excited that he is actually making significant progress on his goals. He has told me that in addition to progressing toward his financial goals quickly, he is happy with many of the side effects of being homeless.

One of the unexpected perks is that he no longer vegetates in front of the TV at night, wasting hours doing nothing. If he wants to watch TV, he goes to the gym and walks on the treadmill during the show he wants to see. Recently, he was watching an NBA playoff game that was several hours long, and he walked during the entire game. He is losing weight and feeling healthy. He also recently got up the courage to contact an old schoolmate that he has always had a crush on. He has had so much positive energy since he became homeless.

This guy is not planning to maintain his homeless lifestyle forever, just until he reaches certain goals. He projects that he will reach those goals in a few months, at the rate he is going.

Now, I know this is an extreme example that most people, myself included, could not pull off. My co-worker is free of many of the obligations that require one to have a home, such as children.

The reason I share this story is to illustrate the principle of thinking creatively when it comes to finding solutions to your problems. Don’t do yourself an injustice by ignoring options just because others didn’t have the same idea, or because they won’t understand your method.

About seven years ago I was struggling, once again, with being overweight. I had tried lots of weight loss methods, and was feeling down because of my failures. At that time, I decided that I did not want to diet anymore. I was tired of the constant battle with food. I decided that to get to a healthy weight and stay there, I would have to become a really good exerciser. I took it a step further. I had seen my mom run a marathon, and had been inspired as I watched her, and the other runners cross the finish line. It was a very moving experience for me, and I had a deep desire to be one of those people.

It was March or April when I made the decision. The marathon I decided to run was in October of that year. I was 40 lbs overweight and could barely run for a couple minutes straight, let alone 26.2 miles. When I told people about my intentions, I could see the disbelief in many of their eyes.

I started training by running around a track… running one lap, walking a lap, running a lap, walking a lap. At times I felt foolish for aiming so high. I could imagine what reaction I would get if I were to tell the athletes that were running ahead of me about my aspirations. But most of the time, I was so determined that I was going to reach my goal that I just kept looking forward to the future and doing whatever it took to reach the goal.

Although I will not write about my entire marathon experience here (it is definitely enough for its own post), I will conclude by saying that I did run the marathon, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I learned things about myself and gained confidence that is very much a part of who I am today. I did have the side effect of losing weight as I trained (which was originally my primary goal), but this was only a small part of the positive rewards I had for my efforts.

Had I let social norms and the expectations of others dictate my approach to weight loss, I never would have had the marathon experience.

My point in saying all this is to encourage you to look inside yourself for answers that may be less than obvious. When you come up with an idea that seems wild or too out there, don’t discount it right away. Really think about it and consider if it is actually feasible. If it is not, think about it in variations that might work.

If you feel very passionate about an idea that seems crazy to everybody else, maybe you are actually onto something.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 at 11:28 pm and is filed under Problem Solving Strategies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.