Are You a Non-linear in a Linear World?

what I do instead

Written By Lynn Dorman, Ph.D.  |  Musings  |  16 Comments

list of resolutions

It’s THAT time of the year — again [sigh]

My inbox and social media feeds are filled with mail/posts selling me on the advantages of:

  • planners
  • courses about planning
  • products on how to use AI to make my year “better” “great” “etc.”
  • health-related info on starting the year off the “right” way
  • making resolutions [personal and business]
  • and more…

Except for the AI which is sort of new this year — the posting and the emails are the same every December and January.

But last year some of it started back earlier in the Fall because everyone knows:

“I have to get your attention about January 2024 in the middle of the summer or early fall or else you won't buy my product.”

It’s fine if you do the above - and even better if making resolutions works for you…

I no longer make them.

I used to.

I’d read a lot of that “how to succeed” stuff, that “guru” stuff, that “my friends say this works” stuff, and would make a list of what I would accomplish in the upcoming year….

Then at some point during the year, I’d look at my resolution list and laugh [or cry] as so little of it ever got done! Or done with any degree of consistency.

So I stopped making New Year resolutions. It seemed to not be good for my mental health OR my productivity. My brain doesn't like lists!!

I've discovered that I am not alone. Many, if not most, people did not follow theirs either.

Especially these:

"I am going to exercise every day” resolution or “I am going to lose X pounds this year” or “I am going to lose 5 pounds a month.”


And work-related resolutions?

The “I will write a post a day,” or “I will write a book before Summer,” or I will do X by Y time frame.

Ditto the very popular “I will be making $XXX a month by the end of March or April” type of resolution.

These resolutions generally do not work.

Why? We tend to set impossible resolutions or standards for ourselves. They are often more wishful thinking than actual planned-out behaviors. Not sticking to these resolutions may make us feel like failures so early in the new year, and yes, the ad people play into this guilt.

Watch ads early in the year and note those aimed at making us feel guilt and shame over NOT keeping resolutions. They may not be direct, but they are aimed at guilt making!!

my insteads 

With two major professional degrees and several accolades, I know I am not a failure.

I actually CAN and DO accomplish things - but I have ceased the resolution-type thinking and adopted a more casual approach to my life. It took some hard work on my part to re-think the business/life model that keeps telling us we “need” to make a yearly, monthly, daily plan… or else!


I choose "or else"


Opting for the “or else” works for me! 

Every choice can be the “correct way!"


I let my mind wander!

I now enjoy late December/early January as we get an added minutes of daylight every afternoon. 

I use this light/dark scenario to reflect, have fun, and think about my work - but not make any of this into resolutions,
to-do lists, or anything tightly scheduled!


I do a non-journal kind of journaling

I call it my mental meandering but it’s more like a brain dump. This is one activity I do most every day but without the “I must do it” kind of thinking, so I often don't do this. And that’s okay!

Apple has made this easier for me as they released a journal app and I have started using that app - but still not every day - I figure a few days a week [maybe] works for me.

Do you, like this child, march to your own drum?

Are you often seen as a square peg in a round hole?

Are you thinking of yourself as ADD or ADHD?

STOP! Think again!

It may just be that you have a non-linear mind!!

If you find yourself asking asking ”What is a non-linear mind?” – you are probably in that super majority of people who have a linear mind.

And if you are linear – you may not really understand what it is like to not be one of the linear minded people.

But – that small percent of us who are non-linear minded do “get it.”

We non-linears even understand that you “do not get it.”

What is a non-linear mind? It’s a mind that is constantly in motion – scanning, thinking, creating, jumping from point <a> to point <h> without seeming to pass through points b to g.

[We non-linear people could, at some later time, fill you in on the b through g parts – we just don’t see a need to include it in the conversation.]

Conversations between two or more non-linear minded people may sound bizarre to the linear minded. The talking may seem confused, disconnected and on several topics at the same time and many or all may be speaking simultaneously. Yet the non-linear people having the conversation understand each other very well.

Why are some of us non-linear? It’s probably genetic but, like most development, it can be influenced by one’s environment. Because we live in a linear society we are more often exposed to that type of thought. And in our culture – we also have a notion that children who display the above listed non-linear qualities are ADD/ADHD.

And so our parents and teachers behave toward us in ways they think are best and try to get us to act like “everyone else” and to not be so “unfocused.” Or if you are a non-linear child, you may just get medicated.

Other aspects of being non-linear are that we can get lost in books and the Internet as it is ALL so interesting. We may not finish all our projects because something more interesting comes along and we may not follow a secure career path or have a major interest in retirement funds and pensions.

Some, usually the linear-minded, see the above as negative aspects of non-linearity. But the world is changing and is beginning to function in a more non-linear fashion.  We are beginning to recognize major brain/thought differences and we are no longer so quick to label one type of thinking as “good” and another as “not-so-good.”

We each encompass linear and non-linear aspects – and the non-linear creativity and entrepreneurship in all of us should be encouraged!  Especially in children!

Let your non-linear mind be free!
Go – be creative – the world is waiting for YOUR non-linearity!

Thoughts?  Comments?  Thank you.

Do you make resolutions? Do they work for you? Or if not - what do you do - if anything? Please comment below and thank you for reading.  

    • Thank you for the comment Julia. It took me more than half a lifetime to figure this out and now I feel compelled to write about it so others can learn and relate.

      Lynn

  • Hi Lynn…I know I’m late to the party here with this comment but I’ll trust you to forgive my non-linear ways!  I have come to see my non-linearity as an advantage in business (creativity) but do have to adopt some ways of doing things that do go against the grain (scheduling and the like). Thanks for helping me to remember my non-linear mind is a gift!

    • Ellen – thank you for joining in. Today is as good as posting back then. “Late” in reading and posting comments is probably another non-linear concept. I’ll have to think about that – but – oops I’m supposed to be writing :-). I do have very serious trouble with scheduling and have had to find ways to trick my brain into that concept – by being creative about the concept.
       
      Lynn

  • “Other aspects of being non-linear are that we can get lost in books and the Internet as it is ALL so interesting. We may not finish all our projects because something more interesting comes along and we may not follow a secure career path or have a major interest in retirement funds and pensions.”

    Ohhhh!! So THAT explains it! 🙂

    Glad for this post as it is calling my name.

    • LOL and thank you. There seem to be a lot of us and I have been toying with an idea of a site or something where we can talk to each other.

  • More people need to hear about this. I agree that the diagnoses of ADD & ADHD are sometimes due to beating a different drum.

    • I’ve been on a soap box about ADD since the 60’s! No one listened to the psychologists suggest that it may be normal or the result of the “stuff” they started putting in food. The quick fix drug dispensers had more clout.

  • Interesting. Over the weekend I wrote the post that just went up today. The two go hand-in-hand.
    Oh, the page is not displaying properly in SAfari browser. different browsers show differently. Good idea to check the major browsers to see what readers see.

    • Thank you. It took me years to figure out why I was so different from many others. I’m a non-linear scanner! and I am proud of it!!

  • {"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

    Enjoyed this article?

    Find more great content here:

    >