The better you become at finding creative
ways to solve the unavoidable problems of daily life and work, the more
successful you will be.
Have you ever felt blocked and uncreative or
feel like you can’t solve even a simple problem?
You have amazing creative talent and skills,
you just have to learn how to unlock your abilities. There are six major
obstacles to creative thinking that could be preventing you from learning how
to improve your problem solving skills for business success.
If you fail to recognize any of them, they
could be holding you back.
1. Lack Of Direction From
Yourself or Others
The first obstacle to creative thinking is
the lack of clear goals and objectives, written down, accompanied by detailed,
written plans of action.
When you become crystal clear about what you
want, and how you are going to achieve it, your creative mind springs to life.
You immediately begin to sparkle with ideas and insights that help you to move
forward and improve your creative skills.
2. Being Afraid of Failure
The second major obstacle to creative
thinking is the fear of failure or loss.
It is the fear of being wrong, of making a
mistake, or of losing money or time. As it happens, it is not the experience
of failure that holds you back. You have failed countless times in life and it
hasn’t done you any permanent damage.
It is the possibility of failure, the
anticipation of failure that paralyses action and becomes the primary reason
for failure and ineffective problem solving.
3. Being Afraid of Rejection
The third major obstacle to creative thinking
is the fear of criticism, or the fear of ridicule, scorn or rejection.
It is the fear of sounding dumb or looking
foolish. This is triggered by the desire to be liked and approved of by others,
even people you don’t know or care about. As a result, you decide that, “If you
want to get along, you have to go along.”
It is amazing how many people live lives of
underachievement and mediocrity because they are afraid to attempt to sell
themselves or their ideas for success.
They are afraid to ask someone to buy or try
their product or service. As a result of these fears of rejection and
criticism, they play it safe and settle for far less than they are truly capable
of earning.
4. Never Changing or Adapting
to the Situation
A major obstacle to creative thinking is
called “homeostasis.” This is a deep subconscious desire to remain consistent
with what you have done or said in the past.
It is the fear of doing or saying something
new or different from what you did before. This homeostatic impulse holds
people back from becoming all they are capable of becoming and from achieving
success.
In homeostasis, there seems to be an
irresistible unconscious pressure that brings you back to doing what you have
always done.
Unfortunately, this tendency leads you into
your own “comfort zone.” Your comfort zone, over time, becomes a groove,
and then a rut. You become stuck. All progress stops. In no time, you
begin to use your marvelous powers of rationalization to justify not changing.
As Jim Rohn says, “The only difference between a rut and a
grave is the depth.”
Homeostasis is a major killer of human
potential, which will hinder you from achieving success.
5. Not Thinking Proactively
The fifth obstacle to creative thinking for
success is passivity. If you do not continually stimulate your mind with new
ideas and information, it loses its vitality and energy, very much like a
muscle that is not exercised.
Instead of thinking proactively and
creatively, your thinking becomes passive and automatic.
A major cause of passive thinking is routine.
Most people get up at the same time each morning, follow the same routine at
their jobs, socialize with the same people in the evenings, and watch the same
television programs.
As a result of not continually challenging
their minds, they become dull and complacent. If someone suggests or proposes a
new idea or way of doing things, they usually react with negativity and
discouragement. They very soon begin to feel threatened by any suggestion of
change from the way things have been done in the past.
6. You Rationalize and Never
Improve
The sixth obstacle to creative thinking is
rationalizing. We know that human beings are rational
creatures, but what does that mean?
Being rational means that we continually use
our minds to explain the world to ourselves, so we can understand it better and
feel more secure. In other words, whatever you decide to do, or not do, you
very quickly come up with a good reason for your decision.
By constantly rationalizing your decisions,
you cannot learn to improve performance.
There are two main reasons why creativity is
important in achieving success. First, problem-solving and making decisions are
the key functions of the entrepreneur.
As much as 50% to 60% of your time in
business and in life is spent solving problems. The better you become at
thinking up creative ways to solve the inevitable and unavoidable problems of
daily life and work, and making effective decisions, the more successful you
will be.
Second, each of us wants to make more money.
We all want to be more successful and enjoy greater status, esteem, and
recognition. Your problem-solving ability is a key determinant of how much of
these you accomplish.
If you’re struggling with how to get your
business off the ground and thriving, download my One-Hour Business Plan, an
11-page questionnaire to help determine every element of your business, here.
Written by: Brian Tracy
Credit; Entreprenuer
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