Archive for May, 2008

Green Light Your Creativty

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

One’s ability to recognize and remove emotional, perceptual, and cultural blocks is a major step towards greater creativity along with breaking out-of-the-box. Once you start removing these obstacles you begin to establish a frame of mind that is more conducive to letting your creative thinking flow. This does not mean that you can simply flip a mental switch and suddenly become creative. Like so many things written in What Box? it takes practice.

The blocks that hold you back have been created over a lifetime. Like you, I continue to be challenged by my own blocks and obstacles holding me back which, in all likelihood, will be there for the rest of my life.

Unfortunately there is no silver bullet or magic formula that will help you to think and be more creative. Instead, you have to constantly practice putting yourself in environments that enable creative impulses and thinking to grow. Here are some effective tools I have found that when used and practiced on a regular basis have helped me to be more creative. I believe they will be helpful to you as well.

Keep a Positive Attitude
To reinforce a creative attitude within you, begin by stating out loud this simple statement, “I am a creative person!” It is that simple. Say it over and over again. For the rest of this week make this one of the first things you say when you wake up in the morning and one of the last things you say before you go to bed. By affirming your own creative talents you will minimize your negative self-doubts and build a more positive mind-set. Research and experiments have proven that the mere suggestion that a person is an original thinker improves his or her creative abilities. Begin to think of yourself as more creative. Begin thinking of yourself as a creative person. If you think you are creative you are.

“Make your optimism come true.” Author Unknown

Take Time to Relax
This is not always an easy one to achieve in our hectic lives. Here is the thing. When you take the time to relax you are working within your own natural flow of creativity. A relaxed mind is an essential characteristic of a creative mind. Being physically tense or mentally uptight has a crippling effect on our natural creative talents. If you are trying to hard to solve a problem, in all reality you are moving farther away from identifying a solution. Creative ideas must be allowed to emerge naturally. They cannot be forced. Removing rigidness and moving into a mind-set of greater flexibility is an important piece to being more creative. To be more creative stay loose and let go of human based time constraints.

“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” Carl Sandberg

Suspend Judgment . . . at Least for a While
Ideas and creative thinking are very delicate. Just one criticism or negative thought can inhibit creative thinking. When you hear yourself say to someone, “That’s a good idea, but . . .” you are inhibiting his or her creativity and worse yet, your own. When you say to yourself or others, “That is no good or that will never work . . .” you are guilty of judging too soon. Try this instead. Give your imagination the “Green Light” and let the ideas flow. Later there will be plenty of time to judge and evaluate the ideas that have been created.

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.” Albert Einstein

Open Your Doors of Perception
A creative attitude is a questioning and searching state of mind. Questioning is one of our great gifts and a basic foundation in the creative process. To be creative it is important to be sensitive to problems and their implications. While your judgment may be temporarily suspended, your analytical abilities are not. Creativity requires the ability to analyze problems and break them down into manageable components.

To achieve a stronger creative attitude, open up all of your senses. Strive for a state of heightened awareness which is more in tune with your natural abilities. This kind of fluid state of mind increases your perceptions making you sharper and more responsive. Plug into your senses and you will be able to maximize your creative powers.

“Originality is simply a fresh pair of eyes.” Woodrow Wilson

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Your Amazing Imagination

Sunday, May 18th, 2008

How often do you fantasize about your future? Do you daydream about something you want to create in your life? What about creating movies in your mind?

When you are using your brain to think up any of these things you are using the power of your imagination. Your imagination may be one of the most potent creativity tools you have. Whenever you imagine something you want to create in your life you are actually taking the steps to make that imagined visualization a reality.

When you use your imagination you are creating a mental picture of something that is not perceived through the traditional senses. Your imagination is so powerful that you can create the experience of a whole new world inside of your mind. Think about this for minute. Your imagination has no limits, no barriers; anything you think up is possible.

Your imagination is not limited to only viewing mental images. You can actually sense and feel sounds, smells, tastes, a physical sensation or experience emotions. When you practice using your imagination you start to unlock one of the great doors to making your dreams a reality.

It was Albert Einstein who said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

My good friend and mentor Mike Munn, former head physicist for Lockheed, would go out into his car and sit imaging solutions to his challenges whenever he was stumped. By getting away to a quite place where he could let his amazing mind wander he would solve problems related to satellites and rockets. He would always tell me, “Use your imagination to create anything you want in your life or solve any problem.” Good advice.

The real key to turning your imagination into reality is acting “as if” the imagined scene were real and already accomplished. Instead of pretending it is a scene of the future, imagine it as though you are truly experiencing it in the present. Think of it and believe that it is an event happening NOW. Over history many great minds have told us, “Whatever you believe you become.” If you believe what you imagine with all your heart and soul, what you imagine has the potential to become reality.

“Trust that little voice in your head that says, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting if…’ And then do it.” Duane Michals, More Joy of Photography

Here is the challenge that many of us have. We tend to look at our lives through a scarcity mentality. That is we look through “eyes that lack” seeing what we don’t have and attach our imaginations to that lack. Remember what you imagine is what you create. If you imagine lack you create lack. Instead open your “eyes to abundance.” That you have and attract everything you need and desire in your life. This simple shift in thinking and imagining can have the most profound change on your life.

A developed and powerful imagination does not make you a lazy daydreamer or impractical. No way, instead your imagination strengthens your creative abilities and supports you to achieve what you want to create in your life. How amazing and it does not cost you a single penny. You have it, everyone has it. How are you using it?

When you start to practice and experiment with your imagination, focusing on what can be, the positive, and abundance, you start to put the power of imagination to work for you and the benefit of others.

“The possible’s slow fuse is lit
by the imagination.” Emily Dickinson

This powerful creativity tool cannot be underestimated. You can prove it to yourself by taking one thing that is very important to you and imagining it as real in your life. Keep with it. Imagining it whenever you have a quite moment. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by applying this underutilized gift. Your creative abilities will blossom and flourish the more you imagine and believe what you are imagining. Don’t let anyone tell you it does not work. Experiment with it and never, ever give up. The world you imagine is waiting for you to create.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only box that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Fisherman Wisdom

Sunday, May 11th, 2008

It was another majestic morning on Grand Lake as I walked down stairs into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. The birds were singing at an extra high level, the squirrels and chipmunks were running around with great joy, and the mist coming off the lake was so thick you could not see the water. The rising sun shinning through the mist created unique streams of light that swirled about as the subtle wind moved the mist. It really was enough to take one’s breath away.

I headed outside, lit a fire in the fire pit on the banks of the lake, and took in the beauty and wonder of the morning. The fire was starting to roar and the cup of freshly brewed coffee tasted especially good. With the thick mist and my attention on nature I did not even notice that there were fishing boats trolling along the banks of the lake. As the mist began to lift, it unveiled almost seven bass fishing boats in the hollow and fishermen fishing their hearts out.

At first I was saddened by the shear number of fishermen in the hollow taking away from the magic moment of nature awakening. There clearly was a fishing tournament taking place and my hollow was a target to catch the big one. The fishermen on Grand Lake and I have a tenuous relationship to say the least. Between the trash that is left behind in the water and banks of the lake, many fishermen’s disrespect for nature, and the noise created by their boats, a few “rotten apples” have really tarnished my perspective.

With this in mind I decided to take some of my own medicine and move into a What Box? way of thinking and being about my uninvited guests in the hollow. I thought about what a privilege it is to be able to awaken to the morning on Grand Lake, and I sat down to observe what all the excitement of fishing on the lake was all about.

“I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.” Abraham Lincoln

Having grown up fly-fishing for trout in California and Oregon, I at least had some level of understanding about the level of excitement generated by a fish taking hook.

As I sat by the warm fire sipping my coffee I, became aware that I had never noticed the wisdom of fishermen, that of having patience. I mean a lot of patience. All the boats moved slowly along the shore as the fishermen were casting and casting and casting and casting their lines as they were looking for the big one to bite. In some cases they would sit in one spot for extended periods working a spot in hopes of landing their imagined fish.

This got me thinking about what a different world it would be if these same people applied the level of patience and persistence to their lives as they do when they are fishing. Every single one of the fishermen was in a state of ultimate patience and seemed to be very peaceful as they fished away the morning. When one boat would leave, another two or three would take their place bringing fishermen who joined those already fishing the hollow, settling into the same attitude of patience and peacefulness as the fishermen who were already there.

“This would be a fine world if all the men showed as much patience all the time as they do while they’re waiting for fish to bite.” Vaughan Monroe

What I realized is that these fishermen were focused on what they could do to improve their chances of catching the big one and not necessarily on the outcome. They were interested in improving their cast, observing the way their bait was moving in the water, and learning from what worked and what did not work in the pursuit of catching a fish. Their patience during this process of discovery was amazing to observe and something we can all learn from.

In real life we seem to forget that patience is a key to success in life. We are impatient about almost everything today. In our instant gratification lifestyle things cannot get done or be done for us fast enough. We set unrealistic self-imposed timetables on our lives that only work to increase our impatience and frustrations.

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” John Quincy Adams

Things were not always this way. In a time when we had to hunt for our food, we needed to use our instincts of observation, curiosity, attention to detail, and unrelenting patience if we were not to go hungry. These were the characteristics of humans in the early days. Today we appear to have lost the ability to be patient. If this is true, how can we reclaim this important skill?

Maybe, just maybe, the bass fishermen of Grand Lake have touched onto a way to reclaim the art of patience. The question is will they be able retain this patience as they lift their boats out of the water and carry on with their lives? What a different world this would be if we could have the patience of the fishermen that I have observed.

Fishermen wisdom, their interest and patience in learning to improve their skills to become the best fishermen they can be, has something to teach us. What kind of activity can you do that would inspire more patience in your life?

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself.

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With or Without You

Sunday, May 4th, 2008

Do you think that people you work with, your family, your friends, or the community in which you live would not be able to get along without you?

Do you have a sense that without you things would not get done, that your importance to any given situation is critical for success?

Are you a person who is unwilling to take time off, let go, or take extended vacations because without your presence, Johnny on the spot, everything would come to a horrible conclusion or worse?

Like many of us today I have a strong feeling that if I take too much time away from my activities things will some how not be as good, creative, or as meaningful as I would like them to be. If I am away I think that things might not go my way or in the direction that I believe to be best.

This is my never ending ego getting in the way of me being a “human being” instead of a “human doing” and focusing my attention on my delusional level of high importance. Yes, I may play a role, act as a tool for good, or contribute to a team, but in the end things go on with or without me.

“The man who thinks he can live without others is mistaken; the one who thinks others can’t live without him is even more deluded.” Hasidic Saying

Guess what? Life keeps on keeping on with or without you as well. Governments continue without any particular President. Kingdoms continue with different Kings and Queens. Families go on without certain family members. Advertisers keep advertising, taxes keep coming, bills keep piling up, and the earth keeps turning with or without you being around.

Here is something to think about. There will always be more in your inbox than in your outbox when you die. And after you do die, bills will keep coming in and the ongoing impact of your life will continue even without you.

What are you living for; is being important and working hard the most important thing to you?

Alexander the Great may have made one of the most vivid points about life after his death. As part of his funeral, his request to be paraded over miles of cobble stone roads carried by those who had been part of his life. People took turns carrying his coffin through the streets. His arms dangled out of holes in the right and left side of the coffin showcasing that even though he ruled most of the world during his reign he could not take any of it with him. It was a vivid reminder that life keeps on keeping on with or without even Alexander the Great!

As I sit on a sandy beach on Isla HolBox in Mexico, I wonder how so many of us get to such a place where our perceived importance overtakes our ability to play, to relax, to take time for family and friends, and to spend more time with our toes in the sand.

Nothing is so important that you are not able to take time for yourself, time spent to recharge and reinvigorate yourself. On the flip side, you are not so important to any project or endeavor that without you things will not work out just as they are supposed to.

“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important.” Bertrand Russell

Next time you think to yourself, “I could really use a vacation.” Take it! Next time you think, “I would really like to play ball with my son.” Do it! Next time you feel like taking a break, take it!

Letting go of our perceived importance is difficult work to be sure, but it is worth doing.

When you are able to take the steps of letting go and embrace your role as “a player” in a much larger world instead of seeing yourself as “the critical player,” doors will open for you and you will have the great potential to set yourself free.

Because in the end, no matter what you think or believe, life keeps on keeping on with or without you.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week remember, the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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