Schwartz argues
that the main thing holding people back is the relative smallness of their thoughts. He
begins the book by relating a story of a salesman who sells significantly more
product and makes more money than his co-workers. Schwartz points out that the
man wasn't smarter, more educated, or better connected than his colleagues.
According to Schwartz, the man expected to sell more so he did. In this book he
also describes three failure diseases: excuse-itis, detail-itis, and procrastination.
Lou Holtz mentions that this book helped him to create his life-long goals
list.
Creative Thinking – How to Do It and Why
What is Creative Thinking?
It is
taking a different approach to an issue, topic, idea, etc., from everyone else.
The creative mind challenges traditional thinking and sees a situation in an
innovative way. This article will show you how to develop creative thinking and
why.
Why develop it?
In essence you are taking what
others are seeing, and thinking of it from a new point of view – one that has
not been thought of before. In becoming a ‘lateral thinker’ you start seeing
ways of resolving problems in new and exciting ways. It will bring you a new joy
in your personal, professional or business life. It will add significantly to
your emotional health and emotional wealth!
How to allow creative
thoughts to enter your conscious mind
Think of the situation from a
child’s viewpoint. Young children do not have the hang-ups that adults do. They
do not fill their heads with regrets about the past and worries about the
future. They experience true happiness and live totally in the present. So a
first step is to practice thinking only of this very minute. Ultimately you will
develop the ability to have a totally blank mind as that is when your most
creative thoughts have the space to enter your mind.
An example of
thinking creatively
Ask a group of adults to paint a country scene.
They will draw fields, farm-houses, trees, country lanes, and so on. Then ask
them to add some animals. They will draw cows, sheep, pigs, etc. Now ask them to
draw a barn with small table on which sits a mouse. This is when the adult with
the most creativity and child-like joy will draw a ‘computer mouse’ sitting next
to a computer.
Return to thinking as a child
Suppose you
were racking your brain for a solution to a problem. How do you look at it from
another point of view? The easiest way to do this is to look at it from a
child’s point of view:
Imagine there are no barriers in your
way.
Imagine you have all the money in the world.
Imagine no one will be
affected by your decision.
Imagine there is no one around to say it is a
silly idea and will not work.
What will emerge in your thoughts is a list
of all the different ways you can resolve your problem. You will be quite
surprised at your creativity! If you are disabled you will find new ways of
tackling old issues. Of course some of your ideas may not be practical as they
impact on others too much or because they are too risky say. But once you
eliminate those, you will be left with some very interesting ways of resolving
your original problem.
Challenge traditional thinking
Most
of the so-called geniuses of this world were not necessarily super-human. They
simply saw the situation from a different point of view. They challenged
traditional thinking. People firmly believed that nothing could go faster than
the speed of sound. Then they were adamant that nothing could go faster than the
speed of light. Now science has shown that even this is no longer
correct.
It is believed by many that mankind has found all the animals it
can on this Earth. Yet every year new species are found in the darkest cavern,
deepest ocean, coldest spot… Practice challenging the conventional ‘thinking’ on
certain topics or issues. WHY do people say x, y and z? Have they ever tried a,
b and c? Be your own mentor and allow yourself to think freely.
In a
nutshell
Theories and thinking on subjects are forever changing. But
WHO is doing the changing? Creative minds like yours that have simply been given
the freedom to think differently. Practice looking at the world in a new light.
If you have been told that something is not possible ask yourself why that is.
What if you did not think conventionally?
Develop the daring, the lack of
fear, the freedom, etc., to think laterally. Your self development and personal
growth has no limits. You will find that a creative mind does not belong to
geniuses only. The possibilities inside you for creativity and innovation are
truly unlimited!