Well, “what’s wrong with moon sky thinking?” This is what a newspaper article some time ago called “thinking big”. It has been a phrase that admittedly has not caught the world by storm. The phrase referred to is “Sky Moon Thinking”.
The article questioned how Google comes up with some of the most ‘out of this world’ ideas. Take the Project Glass/Google Glasses for example. An amazing idea. Not exactly taken the world by storm as of yet but it’s definitely the way of the future where technology is concerned. They interviewed one of the staff who worked at Google [x] and he spoke about how anyone can train themselves how to think big or have moon sky thinking even if they are not particularly wired to work that way.
So what’s wrong with moon sky thinking? Does it work?
It’s no surprise that children naturally do this everyday. However here is the problem;
Society today naturally and systematically trains us out of thinking this way – Astro Teller (real name Eric), Google [x]
The impossible becomes possible. This can apply in several areas but let’s touch on just a few:
- General Challenges in work/life
- Changing careers
- Being better in your current career or venture
General Challenges in work/life
You will get this everyday. People telling you that this or that will not work. Friends and family even may tell you the same thing. “You can’t do it, it can’t be done, no one has ever done it in our family before, it won’t work, I know a friend of a friend who said something..but the point is that it won’t work – don’t do it.” Some may even have the greatest of intentions. However this mostly boils down to F.E.A.R – False Evidence Appearing Real. People are naturally scared of things they either do not know, have never tried or have heard rumours about.
After all “a rumour not a rumour that doesn’t die”.
It’s been said that “without struggle, there is no success.” That struggle will and normally does start in your mind. Overcoming the naysayers then our own doubts can take work.
But just like the muscles in your body, you will need to work past them. Working past them can build your own confidence, help to build that wall of belief in that you can succeed regardless of what is thrown at you.
In short, don’t get weighed down by what others think or what you think from a negative standpoint.
‘No, don’t, won’t or can’t’ are words you should not be thinking about. Why? It eliminates options.
Here are a few things you can do to help the process:
- Celebrate your successes – this can help you to make the right choices to experience more successes.
- Exercise – simple but important. It helps to improve many aspects of your life.
- Focus on the positives – in life and the world around you and eliminate what psychologists call “The Negativity Bias.”
- Kick the squatters out – peoples negatives thoughts could be living rent free in your mind. Get them out.
Changing careers
You also get people doubting that you could indeed switch careers, but switching careers is quite a big thing nowadays. There are a number of reasons why people feel this isn’t possible but the benefits are clear if your do decide to:
- You gain build a wider knowledge base
- Earn more money
- Build a career that actually challenges you
- Your employer might be about to fail
- You experience serious life changes
- Doing something you are more passionate about
And many more. Sometimes it can be about obtaining a better work-life balance. Whatever the case, negative thinking will not get you there. If this is something you are seriously thinking about, always keep your ‘why’ – your initial reasons for doing so – clearly in front of you from the outset. This helps especially if you feel like ‘it’s all too much to take in’ or ‘there is so much to learn.’
Someone else said it best “without change, there would be no butterflies.”
Being better in your current career or venture
Going back to that newspaper article, it talked about what they did at Google [x] to succeed in the way that they do;
- Impose a 3 month deadline
- Set audacious goals
- Be just crazy enough
- Encourage creative destruction
I believe that no matter the industry, whether you work in an office, work from home, have a home-based business or are building an additional stream of income, these principles are just as valid. Just ask Robert Kiyosaki.
Care to explain further? I’d be glad to.
How I interpreted the above four points were;
1 – Work towards a goal but set a deadline for it. Whilst you may have an ‘end goal’, you will need to break this down into projects, milestones and tasks so it is more manageable. Ask yourself, what do I need to today, this week, this month? If you are building a business your question may be how many people will I expose to my business this week? Consistent meeting of your tasks means you will meet your milestones, which will guarantee that you move closer to your ‘end goal’.
2 – Setting an audacious goal simply means whatever you put your energy into making sure that it is worthwhile. In fact, nothing worthwhile is ever easy. This should not surprise you. If it did then perhaps you should be playing the lottery (and most people are, although they do not view it in the same light)! Take investing in yourself for example; in order to be good at anything you need to educate yourself. So get the training you need to switch careers, to be better at what you do or to run an effective business. Don’t just aim to be 10 percent better. Be 10 times better. Think big.
3 – We touched on this earlier in the article – people you know (or don’t) telling you that “it just won’t work”. In other words, you are crazy to try it. The bottom line is that people thought Richard Branson was crazy selling tapes out of a phone booth, but I can assure you he has had the last laugh.
Regardless of how good someone’s salary may be in the corporate world, many people will tell you that if they are in a job that they are bored in or are not passionate about then they feel like that are simply rotting away.
59% of staff rated job satisfaction as their biggest motivational driver, in contrast to just 13% of staff which named performance-linked bonuses – study by the Institute of Leadership and Management, Beyond the bonus: Driving employee performance
The best way to get a higher rate of satisfaction on a personal level is to develop your core skills. If you are a manager, get better at understanding people, learning how to work with them, which involves developing people management skills. Master whatever your weaker qualities are. If you are not, develop the skills necessary to deliver whatever it is you do – take pride in learning cutting edge techniques and find ways to affect change in your given area. Being part of the fundamental change itself can provide great satisfaction.
If you have an opportunity to own your own business, building your business will sometimes involve not listening to the people telling you that you are crazy. Be prepared to do what the other people are not doing (this is a principle I am learning more about on a corporate level every day). Be as hungry for success as you are for air in your lungs.
4 – If your not making mistakes your not moving forward. An odd statement to the untrained person but think about it for a moment. To make progress, means you are learning. The first time you try to pass on knowledge taught to someone you helped in a business setting it may go a bit wrong, they may take it wrong or you lose patience. Remember you are learning “how to mentor, train and teach someone else”. This applies 100% when managing or working with people.
People skills come into play here and this is where you will grow and get better. If using the right techniques, then nothing seems crazy, in fact, it is strategically planned. Whilst the techniques you use may seem to be perfect you are not, so don’t be afraid to make those mistakes. Sometimes they need to be made so you can learn, move on and get better.
So what is wrong with Moon Sky Thinking?
Nothing from what I can tell.
You can also connect with Desi via @i3lance.