If we are given unlimited resources to solve a problem then we can always come up with something - and often it is expensive and over-engineered. When we have to use the limited set of resources contained in the problem and its immediate environment then we are forced to be more creative - and very often the result is a solution that is elegant, inexpensive and effective. Using the tunnel is a prime example.

When Hiram Maxim went pigeon shooting he noticed two problems. One was the strong recoil of the rifle into his shoulder. The second was that he had to stop to reload the gun. He wondered if it was possible to use one problem to solve the other and by doing so he invented the machine gun.

At the end of the first Gulf War fires were raging out of control in the Kuwaiti oil refineries. What could be used to put them out? One answer might have been sand. But a better solution was found. The pipelines that were normally used to pump oil from the refineries were used to pump water to the refineries. By using an existing resource and reversing the flow the problem was overcome.

Engineers are accustomed to working in very constrained conditions. In the very early Volkswagen Beetle car there was a problem of how to provide the power needed for the windscreen washer. The ingenious solution that the engineers came up with was to use the air pressure from the spare wheel (which was in the front of the car) to power the water jet.

But it is not just product engineers who can use internal resources in ingenious ways. In 2005 the IRA pulled off a major robbery at the Northern Bank in Belfast - they got away with £25m in banknotes. How could the authorities catch the criminals or stop them using the proceeds of their crime?

They came up with a clever idea using one of the resources within the problem - the stolen banknotes. They changed the currency in Northern Ireland and reprinted all bank notes. Anyone holding old bank notes had to bring them in to be changed - and that is a big problem if you are holding millions of stolen banknotes.

So how can you use this approach in your problem solving?

One of the methods taught in Systematic Inventive Thinking is to break the problem down into a chain of unwanted effects. Now consider in turn each element in the problem or its environment and say to yourself - this element can be adapted to stop one of the unwanted effects and to break the chain. Then come up with ideas.

By rigorously and imaginatively applying this technique you will often find an inventive solution.

www.Caseycombden.com

www.Caseycombden.com/blog

You must be in Joy first. And then your life will change into Joy.

Difficult times are the greatest opportunities in disguise. When we face difficult times we have to put in determined work to get ourselves into Joy. But let me tell you, when you can get yourself into Joy despite what is happening around you, your life must change - it’s the law!

In addition, as you become Joy in difficult times you are becoming the master of your emotions, the master of your life, and the master of the law of attraction. Difficult times are your greatest opportunity to practice yourself into Joy.

Of course if your life is going along swimmingly then it is very easy to be in Joy. During those times your Joy is most likely a reaction to the good times. But the magnificence and the power that you really have within you will be seen when you can be in Joy during difficult times. It is then that you will see the true power that you have within you, because as you hold to Joy, you will shift all the energies of the Universe, and your life and your world will change.

The cause of everything is within you, and the effect is what you experience in your life. You have the power within you to change everything by putting yourself in Joy. You can change everything so easily by becoming Joy first! And nothing can change until you get yourself in Joy, because that is the law of attraction. Like attracts like! The energy of Joy attracts energy of Joy!

Do whatever it takes to find your Joy, and then keep yourself in it no matter what. Keep ramping up your level of Joy every day. There is no limit to the levels of Joy you can reach. You will see change to the degree of Joy that you can attain and maintain. The higher the Joy you can create within you, the more spectacular the change, and the higher the Joy, the faster the change. Once you get yourself in Joy it is easy to maintain it, because your emanation of Joy attracts more Joy. The law of attraction will continually send you more feelings of Joy.

You cannot criticize or blame or complain when you are in Joy. You cannot be afraid when you are in Joy. You cannot speak negatively when you are in Joy. You cannot harm another when you are in Joy. Negativity cannot reach you when you are in Joy.

When you are in Joy you are compassionate. When you are in Joy you are considerate and caring. When you are in Joy you love others. When you are in Joy you appreciate everything. When you are in Joy you are in love with the world, and the Universe is in love with you.

Be in Joy. Seek it with all of your heart, and you will find it.

May the Joy be with you,  Rhonda Byrne

www.caseycombden.com

www.caseycombden.com/blog

Let’s say you want to lose weight or get in better shape, but you don’t have an hour a day to spend exercising in the gym. Therefore, you’ve pretty well resigned yourself to not losing weight or getting in shape. What if you had five minutes though…just about everyone can find five minutes to exercise, stretch, walk around the block or walk the dog. Would you be willing to be grateful for five minutes and make the best possible use of it? Therein lies the beginning of your perfect life!

Apply the same principle to anything in your life that you want to improve. Maybe your finances are a wreck and you think you need a financial makeover. Before you rush off to a financial planner, take a moment to practice being grateful for what you do have. Then ask how you can improve your finances starting now. Are you consistently “paying yourself first,” as any good financial planner will advise you to do? Even as little as $50 a month can quickly build a nest egg of thousands of dollars, through consistency and the “magic” of compound interest. It’s not the amount that matters, it’s the attitude and the action. Even something as small as cleaning out your wallet and practicing the attitude of gratitude when you sit down to pay bills can signal a shift in your financial picture.

The point is, you already have the life you have. The lessons you need to learn are right in front of you (and me!). The sooner you start accepting (rather than running from) the present, being grateful for what’s right in front of you, and taking positive action, the sooner you will radiate energy, optimism and the can-do spirit that makes you attractive to more and better opportunities.

A simple formula may help you remember how to apply this principle:

BEING PRESENT + AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE + POSITIVE ACTION

= MY PERFECT LIFE

Try it for a day.

Each time you start dreaming about how perfect your life would be if…come back to this moment, give thanks for what is, and do one thing to perfect what you have and who you are right now. There’s a saying that “when the student is ready, the teacher appears.” If you’re ready to start perfecting your life, your teachers are all around you.

Are you looking?

 www.caseycombden.com

www.caseycombden.com/blog

Even how you think about that is likely colored by past programming…which you can change.

Remember this: the Truth does not cause pain. If you have a belief or perception that causes you to feel hopeless, angry, sad, etc, those feelings are the clear indication that that belief or perception is off.

The Universe actually works…and with such an intricate, unerring order, that it’s almost unfathomable….governed by Truth (natural law). When you understand what is True, and think in ways that are true, your life will work with such an order.

“Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free.” Jesus

If someone comes to your door selling vacuums, you don’t have to buy. No matter how convincing their sales pitch. That’s your choice. When a pattern of thought comes knocking at your minds door, wanting to sell you a load of pain…no matter how buyable the pitch is, how many times you have bought in the past…you don’t have to go with it. (You may want to unsubscribe from their auto-ship program.)

You can remember that Truth empowers and misinformation (which misaligns you with the reality of Life) disempowers…and feeling the disempowerment of the thought, your clear understanding can recognize “that thought isn’t True. It only seems true because it matches my programming, but it actually isn’t. And as I don’t buy it, and instead refocus on a perspective that empowers me, I’ll have a better life and even the programming will change.”

If you claim the issues you get to keep them. Why do that? Your words have power and influence reality. Every word you speak has energy that blesses or hurts your life. So why speak words that aren’t a blessing to you. You don’t have to.

Pay attention to the patterns of predisposition that have been running you. The key is being conscious…the conscious direction of your life, your creative energy, for the life experience you actually want. Before acting, before speaking, even when thoughts come up…remember what you really want, take full responsibility for your life, and direct yourself accordingly.

You can witness your thoughts, your beliefs, your moods and emotions…which means you are not any of those things. You are the witness, which is also the chooser when you remember. Your sovereignty comes from existence itself “Made in the image and likeness of God…” Nothing has the power to take that away (though it can be forgotten).

When you are not conscious, clearly your consciousness, You, are not directing the show. So the patterns of the past play auto-pilot based on what they have learned (doing the best they can actually).

(Here is a tip: anytime you think, say, or do anything that is not in your highest good, there is some degree of unconsciousness at work.)

There are things you can control and things you can’t. Focusing on what you can’t control disempowers you. Consciously moving your attention to what you can control in every situation will empower you. Ask “what can I do about this?” and do it. Don’t blame yourself, don’t blame others, and don’t indulge negativities that won’t benefit you…just ask what you can do that is positive and do it. And go neutral to the rest (since that’s all you can do). This is a recipe for freedom.

When you become aware in a moment that you were being directed by an old pattern (worrying, judging, despairing, etc), be glad that your realized it—now you can shift. If frustration, self-judgment, impatience come up, i.e. “Why am I still doing that, I know better…am I ever going to get it?”…realize that is just another layer of patterning and don’t indulge it. It won’t help. Just recognize that patterning was established over time and it may require some time and consistency to shift…be glad that you recognized it, and simply shift. No drama needed.

Right now, reading these words, there may even be a pattern coming up saying “I can’t do that, its too hard…its not that simple…I don’t have the energy, etc”. That also, is just a pattern, programmed in the past, not even by you. It’s ok that it comes up. Just recognize it as a programmed reaction…you can even anticipate when it will likely come up…but recognize that it’s ultimately not true, and don’t buy into it. And redirect your thinking and perceiving in a manner that better produces what you want. That’s all. It’s actually simple.

Easy and hard are states of mind about energy application. All shifts require energy application. That does not have to be subjectively related to as hard. Calling what needs to be done hard, is just another unconscious pattern of thought that will not benefit you. “See the job, do the job, and stay out of the misery.” Maharishi

And enjoy your life. It’s a beautiful gift. Attune your awareness to the beauty of life.

What you put your attention on grows.

Blessings

www.caseycombden.com

www.caseycombden.com/blog

He knows that if you keep asking questions you can keep finding better answers.

When Greg Dyke became Director-General of the BBC in 2000 he went to every major location and assembled the staff. They came expecting a long presentation. He simply sat down with them and asked a question:

‘What is the one thing I should do to make things better for you?’

Then he listened. He followed this with another question:

‘What is the one thing I should do to make things better for our viewers and listeners?’

He knew that at that early stage he could learn more from his employees than they could from him. The workers at the BBC had many wonderful ideas that they were keen to share. The fact that the new boss took time to question and then listen earned him enormous respect.

From the 70’s TV show, Columbo solved his mysteries by asking many questions; as do all the great detectives - in real life as well as fiction.

 All the great inventors and scientists asked questions. Isaac Newton asked:

‘Why does an apple fall from a tree?’ and, ‘Why does the moon not fall into the Earth?’

Charles Darwin asked, ‘Why do the Galapagos islands have so many species not found elsewhere?’

Albert Einstein asked, ‘What would the Universe look like if I rode through it on a beam of light?’

By asking these kinds of fundamental questions they were able to start the process that led to their tremendous breakthroughs.

The great philosophers spend their whole lives asking deep questions about the meaning of life, morality, truth and so on. We do not have to be quite so contemplative but we should nonetheless ask the deep questions about the situations we face. It is the best way to get the information we need to make informed decisions.

If it is obvious that asking questions is such a powerful way of learning, then why do we stop asking questions?

For some people the reason is that they are lazy. They assume they know all the main things they need to know and they do not bother to ask more. They cling to their beliefs and remain certain in their assumptions - yet they often end up looking foolish.

Other people are afraid that by asking questions they will look weak, ignorant or unsure. They like to give the impression that they are decisive and in command of the relevant issues. They fear that asking questions might introduce uncertainty or show them in a poor light. In fact asking questions is a sign of strength and intelligence - not a sign of weakness or uncertainty.

Great leaders constantly ask questions and are well aware that they do not have all the answers.

Finally, some people are in such a hurry to get with things that they do not stop to ask questions because it might slow them down. They risk rushing headlong into the wrong actions.

At school, at home, in business, with our friends, family, colleagues, customers or managers, we can check assumptions and gain a better appreciation of the issues by first asking questions. Start with very basic, broad questions then move to more specific areas to clarify your understanding. Open questions are excellent - they give the other person or people chance to give broad answers and they open up matters. Examples of open questions are:

What business are we really in?

What is our added value in this business?

Why do you think this has happened?

What are all the things that might have caused this problem?

How can we reduce customer complaints?

Why do you think he feels that way?

What other possibilities should we consider?

As we listen carefully to the answers, we formulate further questions.

When someone gives an answer we can often ask, ‘Why?’ The temptation is to plunge in with our opinions, responses, conclusions or proposals. The better approach is keep asking questions to deepen our comprehension of the issues before making up our mind. Once we have mapped out the main points we can use closed questions to get specific information.

Closed questions give the respondent a limited choice of responses - often just yes or no. Examples of closed questions are:

When did this happen?

Was he angry?

Where is the shipment right now?

Did you authorise the payment?

What’s the best possible solution to this challenge?

Would you like to go to the cinema with me on Saturday evening?

By giving the other person a limited choice of responses we get specific information and deliberately move the conversation forward in a particular direction.

Asking many questions is very effective but it can make you appear to be inquisitorial and intrusive. So it is important to ask questions in a friendly and non-threatening way. Do not ask accusing questions.

‘What do you think happened?’ will probably get a better response than, ‘Are you responsible for this disaster?’

Try to pose each question in an innocent way and ensure that your body language is relaxed and amicable. Do not jab your finger or lean forward as you as put your requests.

Practise asking more questions in your everyday conversations. Instead of telling someone something, ask them a question.

Intelligent questions stimulate, provoke, inform and inspire. Questions help us to teach as well as to learn.

I have a question… What do you think?

 Casey Combden

caseycombden.com

caseycombden.com/blog