There is so much to know about conversation that anyone, even I, could ever realize. You can watch talk shows, listen to radio programs, join clubs dedicated to public speaking, engage in ordinary conversations; but, certain rules still apply when it comes to interaction through words. It may sound tedious, I know, but even though it’s your mouth that’s doing the work, your brain works twice as hard to churn out a lot of things you know. So what better way to start learning to be an effective communicator, then to learn from the very person closest to you: yourself.

1. What you know.
Education is all about learning the basics, but to be an effective speaker is to practice what you’ve learned. We all have our limitations, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn to keep up and share what we know.

2. Listening.
It’s just as important as asking questions. Sometimes listening to the sound of our own voice can teach us to be a little bit confident with ourselves and to say the things we believe in with conviction.

3. Humility
We all make mistakes, and sometimes we tend to slur our words, stutter, and probably mispronounce certain words even though we know what it means, but rarely use it only to impress listeners. So in a group, don’t be afraid to ask if you’re saying the right word properly and if they’re unsure about it then make a joke out of it. I promise you it’ll make everyone laugh and you can get away with it as well.

4. Eye Contact
There’s a lot to say when it comes to directing your attention to your audience with an eye-catching gaze. It’s important that you keep your focus when talking to a large group in a meeting or a gathering, even though he or she may be gorgeous.

5. Kidding around
A little bit of humor can do wonders to lift the tension or boredom when making your speech. That way, you’ll get the attention of the majority of the crowd and they’ll feel that you’re just as approachable as those who listen.

6. Be like the rest of them
Interaction is all about mingling with other people. You’ll get a lot of ideas, as well as knowing what people make them as they are.

7. Me, Myself, and I
Admit it, there are times you sing to yourself in the shower. I know I do! Listening to the sound of your own voice while you practice your speech in front of a mirror can help correct the stress areas of your pitch. And while you’re at it you can spruce up as well.

8. With a smile
A smile says it all much like eye contact. There’s no point on grimacing or frowning in a meeting or a gathering, unless it’s a wake. You can better express what you’re saying when you smile.

9. A Role Model
There must be at least one or two people in your life you have listened to when they’re at a public gathering or maybe at church. Sure they read their lines, but taking a mental note of how they emphasize what they say can help you once you take center stage.

10. Preparation
Make the best out of preparation, rather than just scribbling notes and often in a hurried panic. Some people like to write things down on index cards, while other resort to being a little more silly as they look at their notes written on the palm of their hand (not for clammy hands, please). Just be comfortable with what you know since you enjoy your work.

And that about wraps it up. These suggestions are rather amateurish in edgewise, but I’ve learned to empower myself when it comes to public or private speaking and it never hurts to be with people to listen how they make conversations and meetings far more enjoyable as well as educational.

Self improvement and success go hand in hand. Making it a daily and lifelong practice is one of the best habits you can develop.

How do you know if a person is willing to attain self improvement? This is a question with no definite answer. It will all depend on the individual.

Many people have goals, dreams or ambitions, but do not know how to go about achieving them. They may have thought about what would make up self improvement and their ideal life, but have no idea how to even begin to make the plans and take the actions required to make them a reality.

Some people have a vague idea on how to go about self improvement. These are the ones that believe that if only they had a better job, or had been given better opportunities, or met the love of their life, or whatever else, everything would be fine and they would be happy.

They feel that their happiness or lack of happiness is decided by external factors and their thoughts and actions are of little consequence.

Some believe that if only they had more money they could have whatever they want and be on their way to self improvement.

They may have spent little time thinking about what they actually want from life, and do not really believe there is anything they can do to create their fuzzy version of utopia anyway, apart from buying more lottery tickets.

Other people do not even know what they actually want from their lives and may even have little idea what would really makes them happy. They seem to just drift from day to day, week to week, month to month, and year to year, and do little more than just about get by.

They may have seemingly secure jobs and be earning enough to live relatively comfortable lives. They seem happy enough and have no great ambition to achieve anything more from their lives than they currently have.

Is self improvement important?

The reality is that throughout our lives we are all constantly growing and developing. Circumstances make us grow and develop, even if we do not make the conscious decision to do so.

Up to a certain age, we learn through formal education and we continue to learn through our experiences for the rest of our lives. We have to learn and grow to deal with everything that life throws at us. We all have to go through self improvement.

Modern life moves at a dramatically faster pace than at anytime in history. For anyone living in modern society there are more opportunities to do anything that you want to do with your life than ever before.

But there is also more competition than ever before, and ever changing technology means that there really are few, if any ‘jobs for life’ anymore. It is now normal not only to change jobs quite often throughout our working lives, but even to completely change careers and industries.

Because the workplace is so competitive, people who are ambitious and hungry for success know they need to learn new skills and knowledge to keep ahead of the pack. To attain this, self improvement is needed.

These are the people that will be most likely to keep their jobs, or progress within their chosen field, or that will be readily employable in different organizations or industries.

A commitment to self improvement and personal growth as a daily and lifelong practice, may well be the deciding factor in how anyone’s future will turn out.

It’s a talent that everyone has, yet they think they don’t. But you can - Unleash the power of innovation. If you’ve ever marvelled at somebody’s creative prowess, guess what, you can create and innovate too. It just takes time. Everyone is born creative. The box of crayons in kindergarten were not limited to those who possessed potential; because the truth is, everybody has potential.

You know how long it took to learn to ride a bike or drive or to never commit the same mistake again? It’s the same with innovation. It takes a bit of practice and a lot of time before this mind function comes easily when called. This article will teach you a few tips on how to bring innovation into your life.

Don’t listen to what other people say. Follow the beat of your own drum. Allowing for the input of other people will only bring cacophony to the music you are trying to make. If you have an original idea, don’t waste your time and effort trying to make people understand. They won’t. And the help you will probably get comes in the form of negative feedback. If all those geniuses listened to their peers, we would probably still be living in the middle ages.

Spend time on it. I cannot stress that enough, although, please do not mistake this tip to tell you to quit your day job entirely. Do not. This involves some tricky time management but with a little discipline you’ll be able to squeeze both in.

Exercise. Take a walk. Run a mile or two. Send all those endorphins coursing through your veins. Exercising certainly clears and relaxes your mind and allows for anything to pop up.

Record your dreams. Aren’t some of them just the craziest things that your conscious mind would never have thought of? If you’ve had these dreams before, and I’m sure have, this only shows you the untapped innovative power you have lying within. So jot down those notes. Those dreams may just create an innovative spark in you.

Find your own style. You can always tell a Van Gogh from a Matisse. You’ll know Hemingway wrote something by the choice of words on the paper. So it is the same with you. People will appreciate your innovation more because it is uniquely yours and that no one else would have thought of what you were thinking. That will let people see how valuable an asset you are.

Don’t hide behind nifty gadgets or tools. You don’t need the most expensive set of paints to produce a masterpiece. The same way with writing. You don’t need some expensive fountain pen and really smooth paper for a bestseller. In fact, J.K. Rowling wrote the first book of the Harry Potter Series on bits of tissue. So what if you’ve got an expensive SLR camera if you’re a crappy photographer? Who cares if you’ve got a blinging laptop if you can’t write at all? The artist actually reduces the number of tools he has as he gets better at his craft: he knows what works and what doesn’t.

Nothing will work without passion. What wakes you up in the mornings? What keeps the flame burning? What is the one thing that you’ll die if you don’t do? Sometimes people with talent are overtaken by the people who want it more. Think the hare and the tortoise. Ellen Degeneres once said that if you’re not doing something that you want to do, then you don’t really want to do it. And that’s true. Sometimes you just want something so bad you become a virtual unstoppable. And that is passion. Passion will keep you going.

Don’t worry about inspiration. You can’t force it; inspiration hits when you least expect it to, for those unpredictable yet inevitable moments you should prepare. An idea could strike you on the subway, yet alas, you poor unfortunate soul; you have no sheet of paper to scribble down a thought that could change the world. Avoid these disasters. Have a pen and paper within your arm’s reach at all times.

I hope this article has helped you bring more innovation into your life. Keep in mind that you’re doing these things for your own satisfaction and not anybody else. But soon enough they will notice, and everything should snowball from there.

If you want to incorporate only the best landscaping design, then you need to start thinking along the lines of unity. This is key to your landscaping design success and it will need to be applied to your entire yard, all around your home. Your entire properly will need to have a similar feel and look. When you do this, your yard will have a balanced look of symmetry.

You can create a wonderful sense of unity to your landscaping design in a few different ways. The most common way of bringing harmony to your landscaping design is with similar types of plants and trees. This is easy to do and it will look fantastic.

Your landscaping design should make use of much more than just plants and trees. Flowers look great, but they generally only bloom for part of the year. So you need to find some other landscaping design elements that will look perfect all year round. To do this you will want to look at landscaping stones and rocks, or even wood chips just to name a couple of things. You can even use granite and marble in your landscaping design. You can have nice little stepping stones, some statues or displays in your landscaping design or you can just have pretty rocks.

A theme can go a long way towards making your landscaping design gorgeous. If you love butterflies or hummingbirds then choose plants and flowers that will attract them to your yard and garden. This is a glorious way to showcase your design and you will always have something pretty to look at. You can talk to those at your local plant store about which type of plants and flowers will work best for this where you live.

You can do anything you want with your landscaping design, you can design it yourself or you can use a landscaping design that you have seen in a book. Maybe you drove past another yard and thought “I wish my yard looked like that.” Well, next time you drive by, take a few snapshots. While you don’t want your yard to be a mirror image of someone else’s yard, you can get great ideas with a starting point. No matter what you decide to do, as long as there is unity your landscaping design will look perfect.

“What Really Makes You Tick?” 10 questions you should ask of yourself: A Preparation To Self-Development.

1. What do I really want?

The age old question. So many things you want to do with your life and so little time to even go about getting them done.

You can’t just do something that you are good at, you must be passionate about it as well. When you are doing something you truly enjoy doing, you will naturally be better at doing whatever that is. It might help trying to realize that in small steps first, leading towards broader steps of improvement. The key here is to add a dash of diligence towards achieving your desires.

2. Should I really change or improve?

I guess the better question would be, why shouldn’t you change and improve?

If history has taught us anything, it’s that life changes with time, even during those times when it seems that nothing has changed.

What changes is how we perceive the tried and true or the improvements. Try to see if partying 70’s style wouldn’t appeal to the younger generation. And dancing, another example of change without change. The difference is in the improvement.

3. What’s the bright side in all of this?

With so much devastation happening around us, we might sometimes think there will never be that light at the end of the tunnel. But, it’s during these very times that we learn how generous we can be. We can still see it as something positive without undergoing so much scrutiny. And if it’s a train at the end of the tunnel, take it for a ride and see what makes the world go round! How you choose to see life is your choice. Look for the bright side.

Remember, you will always find what you expect. When you expect the negative, it is what you will find. The only way to find the positive, is to actively seek it out and have that expectation as the end result.

4. Am I comfortable with what I’m doing?

There’s always the option of doing things the right way, when it seems too difficult a task to conquer. While you might also find an easy way to handle the same situation, over the long run, you might find your easy cure to be your very undoing.

If you suffer guilt due to your decision, maybe you need to take a second look. When you place yourself on the receiving end first, the pictures becomes one that is much clearer. It doesn’t take a genius to realize whether they would desire someone else to treat them in the same manner, but a person willing enough to answer this question with honesty is simply genuinely genius. See yourself as the other person and if you are pleased by your actions, everybody wins.

5. Have I done enough for myself?

Is there something more you want to do? Of course there is. Discontentment in any aspect can be dangerous in large doses, but in small amounts you’ll be able to see and do stuff you could never imagine doing else-wise. So take baby steps at first, set goals along the way that lead to progress. Sometimes you will find, doing more for others actually does more good for your own spirit too.

6. Am I happy at where I am today?

It’s an unfair question so let it be an answer! You love being a good and loving person, so why not take it up a notch or two! Being happy and being happy with were you are in life aren’t always the same thing. The same can be said for anyone in life! While we should always be grateful for what we have, a desire to improve upon the happiness in our lives is always a positive thing. On the other hand, if you aren’t happy about your life or where your life is going, it’s time to step up to the plate and change your life. Life is too short to spend it unhappy.

7. Am I appealing to the opposite sex?

So maybe I don’t have an answer to that, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try it, right? Whether you shape-up, change the way you wear your clothes or hair, or even your attitude towards people, you should always remember it will always be for your own benefit. Until you are able to view yourself as appealing, the opposite sex isn’t very likely to view you as appealing.

8. How much could I have?

Maybe the best question is, how much do you really need? Having lots of money and nice possessions is great, there’s no denying that, but if your desires border on greed, you might find yourself with less of what counts most - self respect!

Those who are blessed enough to find themselves in a financially secure position in life, will always tell you - they try to give back, in good turn. Remember you must improve the society that surrounds you, if you hope to achieve better surroundings. It’s a rhetorical thing. And more important, it’s not always about financial wealth. The best wealth you can offer the world and your loved ones is your character. No amount of money can buy quality character - or the love of another human being.

9. What motivates me?

What motivates you? It’s an answer you have to find out for yourself. There are so many different things that can motivate an individual. What works for one person, might not necessarily work for another. But, if it inspires you, encourages you, or energizes you - chances are - that is your best motivation. Think of life as a super buffet, sampling a little of everything. Eventually, even the pickiest of persons will find something that suits their taste buds.

10. What Really Makes You Tick?

Once you have the answer to the first nine questions, you will have a great indication as to what really makes you tick. You can be just about anything you want to be, but to realize that attaining something difficult is to realize what really makes you tick is the beginning of a wonderful journey. Always remember, that self-development is not just about the physical or philosophical change you have to undergo, but it’s something that you really desire to accomplish.

Nobody wants to admit to having anxiety, but the only way of dealing with anxiety, is by addressing it head-on. Anxiety and worry are common sources of stress.

Financial problems, health issues, family concerns, and a multitude of other situations, can create an
unhealthy amount of stress, when not addressed in a healthy manner.

A person may choose to cope with these types of situations in a variety of healthy or unhealthy ways. From denying the problem altogether, to attempting to ”run away” or “hide” from the problem; an individual’s
unique set of coping skills can either increase or decrease the level of stress they experience.

Denial is a common form of coping that many people employ to deal with life issues. Typically, denial is a
“coping skill” used by people in situations which present an unbearable amount of stress.

This may happen in alcoholic families, domestic violence relationships, even in people facing severe illness or death. A person in denial simply says ”Everything is fine” or “Nothing is wrong” and simply ignores the reality before them, many times resulting in physical health issues.

Attempting to run away or hide from a stressful life event is evident in those who use drugs or alcohol to
“escape”, as well as those who simply “avoid” the problem. The individual who works too much, or the
teenager who stays away from home for days at a time, are people attempting to escape their problem.

Procrastination can be a sign of worry and anxiety. Fear of “what will happen” if the person does face the
problem, can lead to “putting off the inevitable.” This type of behavior also contributes to stress, as
the unseen and unknown are often larger in the mind, than they are in actuality.

Facing things head on may be difficult, but it is the healthiest way to handle situations that create worry,
fear or anxiety. Getting answers, instead of speculating; and  by addressing problems, instead of denying they exist. Hiding or running away from the difficult situations in your life, is not going to reduce the stress caused by these types of situations, but in fact, will exacerbate them.

If I had a dollar for every time a man asked me, “What do women really want from men?” I would be a rich woman. Each time, my response has remained the same. No matter the century, most women simply want to feel they are special in the eyes of their man, thus loved.

Where the issue can get a bit cloudy is what makes a woman ‘feel’ they are special [loved and appreciated] in the eyes of their man? While it is the same basic concept, the gestures expected will change as the relationship changes. It’s like any other area of life - there’s an appropriate timing of gestures and/or gifts. Gifts don’t necessarily mean tangible items either.

The greatest gift a man can give to a woman is something of himself. Whether that is the gift of listening, understanding, compassion, respect, or simply talking about the events of his day. All these actions show value, in the eyes of most women.

Not to say the physical gifts don’t matter, because you can bet your bottom dollar - not giving physical gifts will land you in the dog house, especially on those special dates. Dates are important to women - first date, first kiss, first song, birthday, first … well, you know what I mean; the first year anniversary of all these events, engagement date, wedding date, and the list can be quite long for some women.

So, what is a man to do? Many men might think these things are silly or pointless, or maybe even a waste of time to try to remember. And, men - you might have a point - but that’s not the issue at hand. With that said, here are some ways to keep your woman ‘feeling’ special and happy. Because let’s face it, if the woman in your life is happy and content, chances are your life will be a whole lot happier too!

Men, if you really want to know what women want from men, try a few of the following suggestions - it doesn’t hurt to listen [not just hear] when we try to tell you what we want.

Here are some very basic dynamics about women that men should remember:

• Women (generally speaking) are the softer side of the human race. We have softer bodies, soft demeanor (usually) and instinctively want to nurture and care for our fellow man.
• WOMEN SEE EVERYTHING!!! Never underestimate a woman’s instinct.

Women are [generally] more  intuitive than men. Simply, because we’ve been trained over thousands of years to have that watch-full eye over our children and loved ones. We must see what the children are doing and evaluate the potentials for hidden dangers constantly!

Why do you think moms always know when the hand is in the cookie jar, even when she’s not looking directly at you? Have you ever felt like a woman was looking at you and reading your very thoughts? Well essentially she is. She knows what that twitch of the eyebrows means, or the way you rub your thumb against your forefinger when you’re not being completely honest - your eyes tell the whole story.

• Women are attracted to the pretty - things like shiny [gemstone, diamond] jewelry - and anything that smells good.

But, here’s a tip for you men: Don’t wait until you are in trouble to do something nice for a woman. Believe me, it goes so much farther when you buy her flowers for no reason.  You can hardly go wrong with these gifts. This is especially true for a long-term relationship, because this tells her you are still creating something wonderful and appreciate her.

Here is something you may not have thought about when buying a woman flowers - send them to her place of business! The number of times I have heard other women oooh and ahhh over someone getting flowers at work and say: “You’re so lucky to have to have a wonderful husband/boyfriend who will send you flowers! I wish my husband/boyfriend was that romantic!”

When you make this a habit, it becomes a magical event. Not to mention, your status among the other women has just soared and you are viewed as a rare breed of men. Heavy sigh! (More sappiness)

Most women just plain and simply want to feel special. We go out of our way to do those unnoticed things most men take for granted. Flowers will never go out of style. This is a long-standing tried and true formula that still works and I think will continue to work long into the future.

• Women appreciate ‘not having to ask for’ your help - you see the dirty clothes laying on the floor, the garbage piled over the top of the trash can, the children struggling with homework. Instead of deferring, step up and get it done. You will be amazed at the positive effect this has on your sex life too.
• Sometimes it’s not what you say, but rather how you say it - “Honey, you look TIRED, let me do that for you” or “You look like you had a rough day” sounds much better when phrased in the following manner: “Honey, you have been working way too hard, let me help with that” or “Even though you still look beautiful, I know how hard your day was, sit down and let me take care of that.

NEVER SAY: I’ll do that for you, etc. This will have a negative effect, especially if she has had a particularly challenging day. It infers the job or task as being ‘hers’ rather than one that is shared.

And when you think you are at a loss when trying to figure out what the woman in your life wants, just ask yourself - What did SHE tell me she wants? Then take a look at your surroundings, notice the carefully arranged photographs, or the aroma in the air and all those other little things women do to make their men feel special and loved.

Then go do something special for her - for no good reason other than showing her how special she is! You might be surprised how good it makes YOU feel.

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I made some recent changes to the file structure on TheGoSeeGirl Answers & Information Website blog, and apparently some of the re-configuring I did is causing ‘error’ returns. I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused my readers.

If you are subscribed to the ‘Old Feed’ please resubscribe to the new feed, TheGoSeeGirlFeed. Again, I apologize for my lack of knowledge with ‘feeds’ and if there is someone out there who knows how I could redirect the old feed, from the sub-file structure (thegoseegirl.com/answers/feed) to the main files (www.thegoseegirl.com/feed) I am all ears. I ‘toy’ with some coding [use cheat sheets too] in html and php, but by no means am I a programmer.

Thank you for your patience with me. Watch for new additions to the blog - coming soon - several new pages for niche topics. Til then, have a great weekend.

O’Della

Or do you fall into the ‘irony’ category of casual thinkers when it comes to critical thinking? Giving only casual or routine thought to the term? Even some critical thinkers will find themselves falling prey to this type thought processing over time.

Critical thinking is the use of cognitive skills to interpret and evaluate any given set of facts or evidence to achieve or produce a desired outcome.

The term ‘critical thinking‘ is: a.) the thought process used to analyze with, b.) an intellectually disciplined process, and c.) through reflective judgment to disseminate the various options and potential outcomes. While this sounds confusing or complex, it is merely - giving cognizant thought to diseminate the facts and possible solutions, rather than casual or routine thought with the usual assumptions.

Critical thinking involves [at least] three skill sets:

1. Attitude of an open mind [receptive] to all possible conclusions, based on facts you possess and those yet unknown that you must disseminate. To preclude any given piece of information or fact, will never be a dynamic of critical thinking. Only through logical reasoning can one eliminate information. So the attitude of a mind ‘open’ to all possibilities, unless and until proven otherwise, is prerequisite for critical thinking.

2. Logical reasoning methods that either prove or eliminate potentials [without assumption], their implications and consequences, through gathering and assessing all relevant information to come to well-reasoned conclusions or solutions - through the process of elimination.

You can hone your logical reasoning skills by exercising your brain with logic and sudoku puzzles. Logic puzzles are wonderful exercise for the brain to become efficient in deducing facts. Sudoku puzzles will exercise your brain power in ‘elimination’ processing of facts. Over time, the brain becomes better trained to think with logical reasoning through the power of deduction and elimination, making the process less challenging. (Please see the example and solution below)

EXAMPLE LOGICAL REASONING:

Jill developed an interest in making her own jewelry and decided to test her ability with three initial products, one of which is a pair of earrings. Using a different color stone for each piece, found in a different area, while she was walking through the local park.

From the above information and the following clues, determine which stone was used in each of the three pieces of jewelry and where that stone was found:

1. Jill doesn’t plan to use the black stone to make a necklace

2. The green stone was found near the walking path

3. The stone that Jill plans to use in a bracelet was near the swings

4. The blue stone wasn’t found near the pond

SOLUTION:

We know there are three stones [one each]: black, green, and blue. We know the three pieces of jewelry are a necklace, bracelet, and a pair of earrings. The three locations where the stones were found are: the walking path, swings, and the pond.

We know the green stone was found near the walking path [clue 2] and the blue stone wasn’t found near the pond [clue 4], so the black stone was found by the pond. The blue stone [by elimination] had to be found by the swings and was used to make a bracelet [clue 3]. We know [clue 1] the necklace was not made with the black stone, so the black stone had to be used [deduced] in the earrings. Leaving [by elimination] the green stone to be used in the necklace.

Thus, we can conclude, through logical deduction the following stones, pieces, and locations Jill found them:

1. Black stone, earrings, pond

2. Blue stone, bracelet, swings

3. Green stone, necklace, walking path

3. Ability to recognize core issues and resolutions: Reading comprehension, writing, speaking, and listening skills without undue influence of prior thought concepts and conclusions are required elements of this skill. Raising vital questions clearly and concisely, testing the viability of theories with the allowance of new possibilities, will require the utilization of all your language skills.

The ability to recognize core issues of any problem, evaluate their potentials, argue their values, and assess the needs for those desired outcomes with alternate systems - will clarify the possible resolutions.

In summary, critical thinking can be mastered with the attitude of an open mind, logical reasoning, and the ability to recognize core issues with [solutions for] desired results.

You might be asking, “What is that?” Lateral thinking is simply thinking outside of box, or the process of finding solutions by a reverse process of thought.  Say what? [Make sure to take the challenge contest at the end of this post]

Lateral thinking, coined by Edward DeBono in 1967, says there are several ways to describe its meaning.  The English language  (Oxford English Dictionary and most others now) defines it as: the solving of problems by an indirect and creative approach. DeBono, on his official web site, says there are several ways to define it.

Lateral thinking is a way of attacking problems from other angles, as opposed to the more traditional linear and logical ways. Debono uses chess as an example of where logic normally suffices, if the pieces are a given. Lateral thinking, however, acknowledges that in real life we mostly just assume the pieces are given, when really we need to change those pieces or look beyond them for the most useful solutions.

EXAMPLE:

Bubba is in a small boat in the middle of the lake with several other survivors of a shipwreck. Both paddles/oars have been lost to shark attacks. The only survivors strong enough to swim to shore are Bubba and Jimbo. It’s almost certainly suicidal, due to the circling sharks, but there is little else to hope for. Jimbo takes the loose change from his pocket and puts two pennies in a hat. He tells Bubba that one is a 2009 penny, and the other is dated 1999. If Bubba picks the newer penny from the hat, he can stay on the boat and Jimbo will swim to shore for help. But, if Bubba picks the older penny he will have to swim to shore for help. Bubba’s not the brightest person in the world, but after he agrees, he noticed both pennies where actually dated 1999. Rather than calling Jimbo out as the liar he is, how can Bubba remain in the boat and win the coin draw? Considering Jimbo is twice Bubba’s size, exposing Jimbo would probably get Bubba thrown overboard anyway. So, how does Bubba win, and force Jimbo to go?

Lateral thinking, provides the alternate solution to winning a situation, that from all ‘appearances’ can not be won. Read the following lateral thinking solution:

Bubba reaches into the hat and removes one coin, ‘accidently’ dropping it overboard. Apologizing, he suggests that if the remaining penny in the hat is the one dated 1999, he must have drawn the 2009 penny. Jimbo cannot argue with the logic unless he wants to admit to lying. Since the others won’t tolerate a liar anyhow, he must make the swim.

Switching On Your Lateral Thinking

You are shown three switches outside a closed room. There are three lamps inside the room. You can flip the switches on and off as much as you want while the door remains closed, but then you must enter just once and determine quickly which switch is connected to which lamp. How can you do it? If you think you know the answer, please leave your Lateral Thinking solution in the comments section below. All participants who answer correctly will receive a free gift.

When all logic fails and solutions cannot be found through logical deduction, switch on your Lateral Thinking … and win where winning seems impossible.