Remember the TV show Seinfeld?

There’s a great episode where George has a mini crisis of confidence.

It dawns on him that every decision he’s made in his life has been wrong.  And, because of this, his life is the complete opposite of how it should be.

George tells his friend Jerry that he’s now going to do the complete opposite of what he’d usually do.  On the basis that if every decision he’s made has been wrong, the opposite decision must be right.

As the episode unfolds, good things start to happen:

George orders a lunch he’s never ordered, gets chatting to a woman who’s ordered the same lunch and asks her on a date.

When they’re at the cinema later, George yells at a bunch of people disturbing the movie.

His date is so impressed that she sets him up with a job interview.   During the interview, George criticises his interviewer – then gets offered the job.

The episode ends with George moving out of his parent’s house, where he’s been staying.

Way to go George!

Turns out this idea of “the opposite” holds a lot of power.

Especially if you’re sneaky in how you apply it.

See, there’s a way to use “the opposite” to stimulate new thinking, sharpen things up and pre-empt any mishaps before they happen – all without actually having to do the opposite at all.

All you need to do is consider what the opposite would look like.

For instance, say you have a big goal.

Peek 12 months into the future and imagine your goal has crash & burned. 

What mistakes did you make?  What actions didn’t you take?  What resources didn’t you use?

Whatever your answers, it could be worth thinking about doing the opposite.

Another example:

Would you like less stress in your life?

If so, think about how you could make yourself more stressed.  How could you create more exhaustion and overwhelm?  What other things could you say “yes” to?

Once you’ve answered these, you can ponder the opposite.

One more for the road:

Say you want to strengthen your relationship with your colleagues or motivate your teammates.

Same thing as before:

What steps could you take to lose all trust with them?  How could you be less clear when you communicate with them?  And how could you be such a terrible teammate that everyone resigns?

Whatever the answers, there might be some nuggets of wisdom available from considering the opposite.

Of course, all these are just examples.

But the concept is easily applied.

Especially if there’s something you want to do and you’re struggling to see how.

Instead of thinking “how”, think about “how not”.  

Then consider the opposite.

You might be surprised at what comes up.

That’s all for today.

- Tom