Do the Opposite

I’ve been training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for almost 10 years now.

During each training session I got into the habit of giving myself one task I could focus on, and nothing more. One day I gave myself the task of doing the opposite of whatever my normal thoughts were telling me to do. I simply fought the unconscious urges to do what I had grown accustomed to doing.

By doing the opposite I was taking myself out of my comfort zone. When I felt I should move forward, I moved backwards. When I felt I should roll right, I rolled left. Strange and unfamiliar situations emerged.

While doing the opposite I started to see that there were other ways of approaching a problem. I would have never experienced these new approaches had I not performed this simple exercise.

Probably one of the most profound experiences of this exercise was this: the conscious effort to do something in an opposite way led to a different outcome, but an outcome which I knew I caused intentionally. Doing the opposite had the unexpected side effect of being in control.

Give it a try.