Sometimes the most difficult thing to do is not to think too deep when you are looking for a solution to a problem. It's an art to think simple and common thoughts, and a whole lot more difficult than you are willing to admit.

It is in our human nature to think deep and complex, yet the answers to most of our problems are really easy and right in front of us. The trick is to develop a way not to think too complex.

Now if you think it is easy to think "simple", think again. Way, way back 3700 years ago the Greeks already invented toilets that could flush waste away, yet it took another 3600 years before toilet paper (as we know it) was invented in 1903 by Kimberly Clark. Toilet paper was actually invented in 1857 by Joseph Gayetty but it was not until 1903 that "splinter free" (ouch!) toilet paper was invented.

To make my point a little more clear perhaps I should illustrate with the light bulb not invented by Thomas Edison but he managed to make the first "perfect" incandescent lamps . It took old Thomas many years to perfect the light bulb and thousands of experiments with different materials. Ok, I know you all know the story of persistence... but let me explain how Thomas Edison could have completed his invention in the very first year if he did not think too deep.

When he started his experiments in inventing the light bulb two things were already common knowledge:

1. If you send an electric current through resisting material it will burn bright white and give of light. Unfortunately it burns to ashes so the light is more like a camera flash - it only lasts for a second. Same principle a fuse works on.

Now this is where Edison got stuck - he was searching for the ultimate material that would not burn out.

2. At the same time it was also common knowledge that if material is burned in the absence of oxygen, then this material would not oxidise and burn out, but it will form charcoal. And charcoal as we all know when we braai (barbeque for the Americans), will burn for a long time.

Yet, it took Thomas Edison many years to bring the second thought into place. He was thinking so deep and looking for the ultimate material that he never thought of the absence of oxygen and charcoal in his experiments. Only when he brought the two common thoughts together did he succeed. Thomas was a bright boy, but he was thinking too deep. Of course it sounds totally logical now, but it did cost Thomas Edison a good number of years of his life.

The humble Hot Dog as one legend has it, was invented in 1904. A German entrepreneur sold sausages to visitors at the world fair in St Louis. He loaned his clients white gloves to eat the sausages with (to distinguish himself from the other sausage sellers). Problem was that the clients walked off with his white gloves. So he asked his brother in law (a baker) to bake him long rolls to put the sausages into. Thus the hot-dog was created with a simple thought. The history of the hot dog is highly debatable, but I like the above version

The Ice Cream cone was only invented 300 years after the invention of ice-cream. What can you think of today (by not thinking too deep) that can change the way we do things today?

We are so pre-occupied and prejudiced in our thinking that we seldom walk around with open minds. The trick is to think like a child again, curious, and open minded, not cluttered with "superior" knowledge and pre-conceived garbage. Think silly things.... your fortune may be in these silly thoughts. Ask these questions when you ponder - how, why, what, if, could, when, and then "why?" again.

Children who ask the question why?... why?... why?... are on the right track. Don't you ever get annoyed or irritated. Listen to them when you try and answer their simple questions. Your next fortune or break in life may very well be in the answer your provide to this child. And like in the case of the light bulb, it will be a combination of common thoughts that will create the answer.

Can you come up with a combo of common knowledge to make life easier for mankind and create your fortune in the process?

As always, my sincere wishes for a great life.
Theo Pistorius
P.S. And you are welcome to flame me if you disagree with me. I am also learning when I speak, so there is great room for improvement in my life.
P.P.S. If you like what you read, (or hate it, but it entertains you) join our Bwise Mastermind for free. The articles I publish via email to members are even better. I guarantee personal and business growth if you really want it. If you are already a member, no need to join again. Please tell your friends to join if you think they will profit through these articles.

© 2004, Theo Pistorius.
You are welcome to copy and publish my articles as long as you give me full credit and refer your readers to http://www.devox.co.za

Author's Bio: 

Only four years old I was sitting in my grandmother's kitchen one morning, staring out the window onto the back stoep and minding my own business, when a thought flashed into my mind - "Why are we here?".

That dominating thought has never left me. So despite extreme alcohol and drug abuse and two car accidents (with a cracked skull) in my younger and rebellious days, I could not "calm" my over enquiring mind.

These constant hungry thoughts were burdensome for many years and I envied those who were "stupid" - or as the saying goes in Afrikaans "Salig is die wat arm is van gees". (Blessed are the poor in spirit - Matthew 5:3) John Lennon expressed his thoughts different - "Genius is Pain". (Not that I'm boasting genius.)

Without expanding further on the subject above let me simply tell you this. I've never stopped studying and reading. I also summarised the entire Bible just in case I missed something of importance. I found the answer years later in clear plain view.

We are not seperate from the Creator, we are in the Creator as the Creator is in us. We are all part of one another and of the master plan. We are co-creators, not only of our own lifes, but of the all the lifes that we encounter and touch.

I'm just an ordinary person like you and your neighbour. Often grumpy, obnoxious and rude (or so it seems when I talk over the phone). Truth is, I'm just plain ordinary human.

My philosophy now is very simple:

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."
- Thomas Jefferson -

So in a nutshell. I'm constantly striving to better myself (just like you). I'm fascinated by people, business and marketing systems. I study these subjects relentlesly, no matter what the cost in finances and resources.

I'm extremely selfish with my time and regard time as life itself. There is nothing more prescious for me, than time. I never just have a "meeting" for the sake of a business meeting, that is a total waste of my precious life. If I must meet on a business level, then those who wish to meet with me must pay me. A simple and maybe selfish philosophy but that's just the way it is.

Even though I've "philosophized" since a very young age it started happening for me in 1976 after I read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill during a army camp in South West Africa. (Despite a heavy deviant and rebelious lifestyle in my younger years - the seeds planted by this book eventually sprouted and the knowledge did help me to become a better and richer person)

And this I know: (My 12 point philosophy of Life in a nutshell)

You are a spiritual being who owns a body.
Whatever happens in "real life" must first happen in your subconscious or spiritual world.
You are in charge of your life, on a conscious or subconscious level. This is critical for you to understand.
Your entire purpose in life is to supply as much value as possible to as many people as possible. You are here to serve. In return you will be rewarded according to the service you render.
Life is a constant flow of energy. If you block the flow it dies. This applies to the universe, money, the blood in your veins, the water in your swimming pool and the entire economy system as you know it.
You cannot harvest what you did not sow. You cannot sit in front of the fire, if you did not gather the wood to make the fire with, in the first place.
You can only attract wealth. You cannot chase, hunt or run after it.
The cosmos is totally neutral - whatever you request from the cosmos will happen for you or be given to you in real life. Good or Bad.
There are ALWAYS two sides to the coin. A positive and a negative. Energy must flow - energy is impossible without a positive and a negative. The negative is thus not necessarily bad. It is a fundamental requirement. Nature works this way.
Thoughts are physical things, it is made up from the same energy particles as everything else. There is nothing more powerful for you in the universe than your concentrated thoughts.
You are controled and live your life by habits that was formed by a complex set of influences and experiences. Your habits also dictates your self-image and self-esteem. You cannot live on a higher plain than what your self-image is regulating for you. You will always be dragged back to this level. Be thankful that this can be changed. There is nothing holy about my philosophy. It is simply the law of nature, the universe and how things work. It might be construed as spiritual, but I'm beginning to believe that it is more digital and "energy like" in nature.

You are part of something much bigger than the universe. Let's call it God or the cosmos. Being part of this, requires that you live by it's laws (regardless if you want to or not). It is neutral in nature - it will give you whatever you ask and believe.

To get what you want out of life, requires a definite goal and steady persistant actions towards this goal.

Hapiness can only be experienced now (this very moment) It happens as you are living your life. You cannot be happy in the past or maybe someday in the future when a certain condition is met. If it does not happen in the now, it will never happen.

My goal is to convince you, that you can live the exact life you want to live, and to have precisely what you want to have.

And this is very important to me, as I speak, I also listen and learn.

Best wishes
Theo Pistorius