All too often I've let other people and their ideas gain way too much influence in my head. It's easy to do and it's what were programmed to do from an early age.

Look at this example:

A classroom full of 10-year-old students is asked to solve a problem with children crossing the street on the way to school. The children come up with ideas that have been used successfully in other places: traffic calming devices, overpasses, fluorescent jackets and speed limits. All these ideas are conventional, exactly what the teacher wants to hear.

Except for one. A student recommends that the school board sell the property and move the classroom online.  -- guest post by Tom O'Leary

Guess what? The teacher thought this was not an acceptable answer.

I had a similar experience in elementary school. My class was asked to read a short story and then answer questions.  The story was about an astronaut flying to the moon and the question was, "What would the astronaut see?"  I said that he would see the earth getting smaller and smaller even though this was not in the text.  I called it reading between the lines, my teacher called it wrong.

There was another time when we were asked to bring one of our favorite historical quotes to class.

Here's what I read:

"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their Constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it."

"Where did you get that from?" my teacher shouted, obviously very upset.

"It's from Abraham Lincoln's first inaugral address," I replied. 

This quote made a lot of sense to me because this was the '60s and the whole country was in turmoil -- our political heroes had been murdered, our cities were in flames and the death counts of our young people were being announced on the evening news every night. What made alot of sense to my teacher was to take me into the hallway and have a little talk with me about disrespect.  (This was actually better than some of the other punishments that he inflicted -- the worst was when he would make me -- and many others -- extend my arms to each side while holding two dictionaries for 15 minutes or more. Wonder if there's a statue of limitations on torture?)

What do these stories tell us? That many people are threatened by what lies outside of their "normal" world. In particular, our education system will tamp down creativity and free thought -- and in some cases severely punish it -- if it threatens conformity. Of course, this is nothing new. But how do we get take back our independent thinking?  Here are some suggestions.

7 Steps to Independent Thinking

Know thyself.  I covered this in my last post but it's worth repeating. Daily reflections on one's life can help to remove the outside influences and will assist you in getting to a core understanding of your thoughts, behaviors and morals. Meditation, prayer, long walks, all provide avenues to getting in touch with your core self.

Listen to the other side. We are always under attack from others who wish to influence our thinking. Think of the run-up to the Iraq war. There was a concerted effort to build a case for the war and to convince the public of its necessity.  Of the arguments made then, what remains true today? 

Follow the money. If someone else is promoting a certain idea or plan of action ask yourself: Who will benefit from a certain course of action? Who benefits from keeping status quo? Is there a money trail?

Detach. You've heard the arguments of the other side -- and in many cases the "other" side will be your friends. Now detach. Go to a place in your head where it is only you.  You might begin by saying, "Nah, they're completely wrong. There has to be a better way."

Start with zero.  Like the child who promoted the idea of an online classroom throw out all of the existing structures, institutions and ways of doing things and think a single thought, "What if?"

What If?  Think outside of the box. (For an interesting discussion of the origins of this expression go here.)  The online classroom idea came from a what if: "What if the school was not here". Talk about getting down to basics. The student challenged the very assumption of the question.

A "what if" also give you the chance to dream and I would suggest you dream big. What if I was mayor than what would I do to change my community? What if I started my own business? What if I started my own blog? What if I made the next Facebook, how would it work? 

Sorting it all out.  This is where there's wisdom in an old expression -- you just might want to sleep on it. It's amazing what the mind can do in a resting state. Dreaming isn't always meant to be productive, sometimes it's just fun. The What Ifs will help you clarify who you are and what you believe in -- then you are ready to do something simply amazing.