For a long time I have been concerned about how many of us solve our problems – the problems that face us personally as well as those problems that affect our well-being, health, safety, peace and harmony on this planet. For too long we have given power to people, many of whom may perhaps be well -intentioned, who have flawed methods of solving problems. One only needs to look no further than issues in the Middle East, people trapped in the poverty cycle, the destruction of our environment and the ever-increasing epidemic of mental illness. Maybe it’s time to look at a new paradigm.
The old paradigm sees problems as issues to be avoided, feared, fought, or put on hold until the next financial year or elections. The old paradigm is not producing positive, growthful or health-giving outcomes. Some polls suggest that over a quarter of secondary school students leaving school, do so with little to no problem-solving skills for their own lives let alone those whose lives come under their responsibility.
What if there were a new paradigm? What if we could approach our problems with a new mindset that produced innovative, life-giving outcomes for ourselves and our planet? Is there a method of thinking that could enhance our wellbeing? These were some of the questions I set out to answer at the end of 2015. As a result of these questions I designed and tested a program I called Cloud Thinking, based on a set of principles taken from Eastern philosophy and modern psychology which I called Cloud Thinking. Clouds emerge from water vapour;they form then disperse often as rain that waters the earth. Problems also emerge and can also bring growth except we need to know how to work with emergence not against it.
So often we look at what’s not working. We become fixed on the problem, rather than the aspirations behind the problem. We so often look at our weaknesses rather than our strengths. Cloud Thinking teaches us to align our energies so that weaknesses become irrelevant and strengths become aligned.
Our destiny is not formed as part of good our bad luck. Destiny is a result of a mindset, actions, habits and character. We can control and design each one of those components. Cloud Thinking uses principles and processes that help us form the outcomes we want.
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