12 Challenges for Turbo Thinkers©
Laughter Challenge: How often can you laugh today? Can you laugh with someone else? A smile is contagious and laughter even more so. Can you make someone else laugh and brighten their day? Even the corniest joke might just do the trick. Fake it till you make it. Raise your oxytocin levels. Raise someone else’s. It feels great!
Upside Down Challenge: What happens when you go upside down? The outside world has hit pause yet the world inside your brain is spinning. How can you reconcile the two? What would it look like from another perspective? Can you literally do a headstand or handstand? Can you just tilt your head and view the world sideways? Let your blood flow to your brain and flood it with oxygen. When you turn artwork upside down you see something new. What do you see now that you didn’t notice before?
Water challenge: Hydrate your body and hydrate your brain. We may not be moving as much as usual. We may be inside more than usual. The sweltering heat and humidity of summer has yet to come, but you still need to drink plenty of water to keep those ideas flowing and your focus in check. How many glasses of water can you drink today? How can you make it more appealing? Add a lemon wedge? A cucumber slice? A sprig of mint?
Dream Challenge: Dare to dream big. Yes, the current situation may make it difficult to plan anything past next week. But don’t let that stop you from exploring all of the possibilities. You never know when an opportunity will arise. How can you see it if you don’t know you want it in the first place? If your dreams don’t scare you, dream bigger! Despite the pandemic and its economic repercussions, use your turbo thinker brain to create the future of your dreams.
Idea Collection Challenge: What do you do with all of the random thoughts that pop into your head? There are some fantastic ideas in there! You might have an invention to save mankind! Or just an idea to make life more comfortable. Either way, where can you store them until you have time to develop them? How can you jot them down so that you can move on with the work that needs to be done right now? Do you have a legal pad? A white board? An app? An open document?
Time Estimation Challenge: How long will it take you to do that? Turbo thinkers tend to overestimate or underestimate how long it will take to complete a task, yet this skill can be developed! Write down the exact task to be done. How do you specifically define “complete”? How long do you think it will take? Write that down and then time yourself? How did you do? What got in the way? Try this for a week and watch your estimations become more accurate.
Device Distraction Challenge: How do your devices distract you rather than support you? Are you using the need to have your device as an excuse? Can you put your phone in another room? Can you use the timer on your microwave instead? Can you listen to music another way? Can you set app or site blockers on your computer? Can you, gasp, work offline and listen to a radio? Kickin’ it old school might be the new rule.
Accountability Challenge: How can you ask for an accountability partner for your difficult work? For exercise? For diet? For a reasonable bedtime? Turbo Thinkers are more likely to get started on a task if they know that someone else is there to support them in a non judgmental way, while still believing in them and counting on them to get the job done. Who’s got your back today? Who’s your cheerleader? Who is in this with you?
Balance Challenge: How do you divide your day? This might be the ideal time to plan your perfect balance. How can you get 8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of work and 8 hours of play into your day? What defines good sleep for you? What is your definition of work? What is your definition of play? Bonus points if your can make work feel like play! How can you find joy in all three categories?
Flow Challenge: When Turbo thinkers get into hyper focus they have found their state of flow. This is when the brain has found that sweet spot of challenge and curiosity that leads to creation. Take note of the times you have been immersed in an activity that led to a feeling of both happiness and self expression. Perhaps you worked on solving a problem or creating art or physical exertion. What activities get you into a state of flow? Happy brain = happy life.
Belief Challenge: What negative beliefs are getting in the way of your progress? Do you doubt your ability to give the correct answer? Do you worry about how others will perceive you? Do you think that you are not good enough? Do you think that you don’t deserve the abundance that awaits you? Who could you be without that belief? Who is your favorite superhero? Or your favorite character in a book or a movie? Channel their indomitable spirit. Remove the wishy washy language from your vocabulary and step into greatness.
Ta-da list Challenge: What DID you do today? Instead of harping on everything that you did not do, could not do, avoided and neglected, focus on what got done and celebrate that. Maybe you only accomplish one task on your list. How did you make that happen? Maybe you spent time bathing your dog instead of working. Maybe you decided to bake a new kind of cookie or write a storyboard for a movie or create a skin for an avatar. Find your strength in that. Ta-da!