100 Ways to Change Your Life Today
Do you ever get that stuck feeling? Like you’re trying to solve a problem, but you’re not coming up with any good ideas?
It can be really frustrating when you know you need to think creatively, but your mind is blocked.
When I get stuck like this, I use a trick called “100 Ways to [blank].” The idea is to brain dump all of the ideas you can think of no matter how far-fetched or insane they might seem.
The wackier, the better!
When you force yourself to write without limits, you’ll come up with the usual solutions, of course, but then you’ll discover little gems of wisdom that your logical mind couldn’t conceive.
Download my “100 Ways to Change Your Life” worksheet and get yourself unstuck.
Enter your name and email below to download the free worksheet. Part of the Editor’s Toolkit.
Let’s say your goal is to lose weight.
Title your worksheet “100 Ways to Lose Weight.” Set a timer for 1 hour, and then start listing any ideas you have that are ways to lose weight.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve tried these ideas before or if you have no intention of ever doing these things. The point is to get your mind to stretch into new ways of thinking, be creative, and see opportunities that you may not have noticed before.
The first 25 items will be no-brainer ideas (count calories, park farther way from stores’ entrances).
Your ideas for 26-50 will push you out of your comfort zone (march in place when I’m on the phone, brush my teeth after every meal).
Ideas 51-75 will open up parts of your brain to out-of-the-box ways of thinking (get a haircut, move to the moon).
And ideas 76-100…well, that’s where the real magic happens. You’ll probably surprise yourself with the imaginative solutions you come up with.
Don’t discount them even if they seem crazy! Just let them flow.
Make sure you do this exercise with a set time limit (usually 1 hour). It’s the sense of urgency that helps you come up with these original ideas.
Now, whenever you get stuck on this problem in the future, you’ll have 100 ways to solve it. And you can keep adding to the list!
Need some inspiration? Try these problem-solvers:
- 100 Ways to Lose Weight
- 100 Ways to Show Love to My Kids
- 100 Ways to Make New Friends
- 100 Ways to Save Money
- 100 Ways to Find a Fantastic Job
- 100 Ways to De-Stress My Life
- 100 Ways to Make My Home a Haven
What problem or situation is causing you to get stuck?
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Great suggestions here, Sage. I do agree that when you brainstorm ideas without limiting yourself, so often a solution appears on the list. Love your worksheets!
This sounds like a fun challenge!! Even just coming up with 100 goals was difficult for me, which I filled out in a planner I have. I’m not even sure I’ve completed all 100 yet!
Hi, Janet! Thanks for stopping by. It was difficult for me to come up with 100 ways to lose weight, but it got me thinking creatively. And now I have no excuses! 100 goals sounds like a great challenge. I also have a bucket list where I’m slowly checking things off every year.
Love this! I will definitely be using your download. Thanks so much!!
You’re welcome, Dawn! It’s a great exercise. Some of your ideas will be really silly, but the point is that you’ll be generating lots of possible ideas rather than staying stuck.
I love brain dumping! I really like this approach to finding a solution, because often I come up with more than one! Thanks for the printable!
Thanks, Emily! I love worksheets to help me organize my thoughts.
I love the idea of the brain dump. I’m definitely a brainstormer and a list maker. I love being able to visualize everything and I can be very forgetful so I’ve made it a habit to write things down as I think of them. I think it is a great idea to set a specific amount of time to brain dump too… it allows you to focus on the task at hand! Great post!
Thanks, Sarah! My mind is a mess, so brain dumping is the only way I get things organized. 🙂