The second major block to our creativity is the avoidance of failure. If you don’t actually do anything then you can’t possibly fail.
Job done!
Somewhat ironically, we can be really creative on how we go about this. As for the other types of fears, in nearly all cases, other behaviour masks what is actually occurring.
Typical signs that this fear is in operation include being a ’busy fool’ and finding you are always serving other first before generating our own output.
Low self-esteem and pessimistic tendencies can also come to play. You may also find you give up at the first hurdle and any sign of adversity. You become an expert at creative procrastination.
These are all the tell-tale signs you are avoiding failure.
The route out of this downwards spiral is one of the most satisfying things we can do – we must learn to enjoy being self-indulgent and to put ourselves first. When you do this, you will both earn the respect of the people who you have been serving and show them ways they can do this for themselves whilst also reducing their reliance on you.
These are seven steps to take:
1. Diarise appointments with your Creative Self for your projects
2. Guard them with a passion
3. Share these dates with those that might thwart you by crossing your boundaries
4. Before each Creative session, go for a walk or meditate
5. During the session, switch off all distractions – phones, social media …
6. When you finish each session give yourself a treat and pat on the back … I have a digestive biscuit and cup of tea and sometimes I tweet to the world to declare another milestone has been reached
7. Then, and only then, get back to working with and helping others … you will find they haven’t been waiting for you and were getting on with other ‘stuff’
When you are successful in this practice, you realise that the real failure was not to even try in the first place.
You are now ready to take on the next fear, that of the Fear of the Unknown …
Incredible advances in understanding how our brains work have been made by neuroscientists, yet the place where our consciousness is generated and our mind resides proves elusive. It’s a good guess is that it’s only proving tricky to find because people are looking in totally the wrong place.
So when it comes to finding the source of something even more ethereal such as an idea, where do you even start looking? Even an expensive MRI scanner won’t help you here as it measures the brain state after a thought has occurred. Apart from anything else, you might not have an MRI scanner handy when that idea comes along as they tend to be random in nature.
Bring in the Thought Detectives
To find the source of ideas, we have become sleuths. The first clues to pick up on can be found in our language.
It is no accident that we say things like, “Off the top of my head” and “At the back of my mind”. When something is on “the tip of my tongue”, it well be exactly where it is at that moment in time.
If you observe people when they talk, the position of their hands gives much away too. Sometimes people reach above their heads as if they are pulling an idea out of the ether. They will pat the centre of their chest if they feel passionate about something.
It turns out that thoughts exhibit properties similar, but different, to electromagnetic waves. The quantum physicists, neuroscientists and the mystics (and crackpots) are all converging on the same type of somewhat preposterous conclusion. It looks like our three space and one time dimensions sit on top of a number of other dimensions that, accordingly, sit outside space and time. Furthermore, it is in these ethereal realms that thoughts propagate from the present, past and future.
So it seems that the latest theories in cosmology are somewhat converging with those on consciousness. These theories could explain things like your dog knowing you are coming home or that you know the phone is about to ring and who is going to be on the other end of it. Da Vinci may well have had the prescience to invent the helicopter and parachute by using a similar mechanism.
Water, Water Everywhere
A similar mystery exists around where ideas and thoughts go once we had them. The search for the location of our memory in our brains has proved fruitless.
Some further illumination into this conundrum can be had from the phrase, “I can feel it in my water”. Many people I spoke to when researching my book on light bulb moments testified that they got their ideas when in the shower or when out walking near a river or waterfall.
It is also reported that people who have had transplants of organs like the heart, lung and kidney exhibit personality changes and can even pick up memories from the donor.
It appears that the water in our cells is not just to stop us drying out. The Japanese author Masaru Emoto has done many experiments with water that show its state changes with the mood and emotions of people around it.
Nothing New Under the Sun
For some readers, some of this might sound bonkers and for others, it may nothing new you may have heard bits or all of it elsewhere. Well it appears that much of what we are re-discovering was known and accepted by the ancient Greeks and civilizations that predated them by thousands of years.
There may be a benefit to those who suspend their belief and accept that some of this might be true, even if it’s not been quite ratified and embraced by the left-brained scientific community. If you accept the notion that thoughts might come from outside our brains from a collective thought pool, we must then ask the question of why we just picked up on a specific thought at a specific time.
After all, if this is all true, there’s a near infinity of thoughts bouncing around in the cracks between our neurons.
If these specific ethereal whispers are filtering through to your conscious awareness, perhaps it’s important that you pay attention to them. What’s more, as they only occur in the space between your thoughts and if you want more of them, it may pay great dividends to attend that meditation or yoga class.
So when we have Three Wise Men, why might there be Five Wise Women?
Well men aren’t all dumb. It’s mostly, but by no means all, men that have flown other men to the Moon and split the atom asunder … but I reckon it’s long overdue that we started listening to the wisdom of women so I felt it intuitively right to tip the balance a little.
I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to chat to so many wise people over the last few years. If I look back though, the number of wise women I have spoken too far outweigh the number of wise men. So I reckon it’s high time that we take notice and listen to what they have to say. Men have had a crack at running the planet and look what sort of mess it’s got us into after all.
Have a listen to the chats below and have a listen to the interviews with Three Wise Men and make your own judgement on the shape and colour of wisdom that currently abounds us. In my view, neither is wrong, right or better but in both we should celebrate such wonderful different-ness and insight-fullness …
Kuumba Nia on the Circle of One
June Maffin on the Art of Soulistry
Sharon Eden on why to take a whack around the head
and last and by no means least, Violeta and Jutka Zuggo with Entrancing Tales
It is only fitting at this time of year to revisit and revamp myths of old so I thought it would be appropriate to share some messages of wisdom from Three Wise Men.
Some thousands of years ago, the Three Wise Men brought gifts from the East. In these globally connected times, messages can come from all the Four Winds.
Listen and watch these insight-full messages from Gary Plunkett, Wisdom Keeper, from Phil Birch, Professor-in-Waiting of Ethiconomics and from Robert Forman, ‘Professer’ of Enlightenment.
There are many proud moments in an author’s career like when you finish your first draft, when the first copy of your book arrives in the post or when you get your first review.
I was on Amazon this morning and I felt a pang of pride I simply have to share with you and it’s seeing that Amazon are listing that my three non-fiction books as being “Frequently Bought Together”.
Now I’ve no idea how many people have to do this before the Amazon algorithm kicks in – it might just be one!! It is however a significant milestone in any author’s strategy.
1. If you are just starting out – think how you can write a series – publishers and readers alike will love you for it
2. If you have written one book and want to sell more copies – write at least two more
3. If your book is out in print only, make sure it’s available for the Kindle too (as it can be then read on all devices)
Note that your books don’t have to be published with the same publisher or a linked sequence of titles – it’s best if they follow a particular theme or logical progression though …
Light Bulb Moments – tune into a special class of thoughts that take you on amazing leaps of imagination and creativity
P.S. the fourth book is being crafted right now and it extends the thoughts in these three to a whole other level … watch this space and I can’t wait until Amazon list all four as being Frequently Bought Together 😉
Afterword in 2013 – here is that book Planes of Being and another I didn’t even plan to write called This We Know
P.P.S. Not even two years after I wrote this blog, I find Amazon recommending not just three but five of my books to people via email
A wonderful and eclectic chat with the inspirational Julia McCutchen from IACCW on how authors can use light bulb moments in their work …
Topics covered :
Where do light bulb moments come from?
What blocks light bulb moments?
How to use your whole brain and whole mind
The beauty and power of Mapping Your Mind
The importance of meditation and the breath in ideas generation
The latest interview in the Moments of Lights series of podcasts is with Eddie Yu, author of a new book called Speedlights and Elephants.
At a surface level you might take it as yet another book on how to make a million online perhaps making claims that worked for the author but are out of reach for normal mortals. You might cynically think it’s said author’s attempt to make that million for themselves.
Well you’d be wrong on both counts – Eddie’s approach is a breath of fresh air. He is wise well beyond his years and has tuned into two factors that make the difference between failure and success for any business or initiative.
They are our mindset and having a meta-strategy
Listen to interview to find out more and get a copy of the book today if you want to reap the success for your business you so richly deserve …
After speaking to Eddie, it made me think about my own meta-strategies and that, although I have them, I haven’t communicated or shared them with anyone but close friends.
So I’d like to try an experiment and publically state them here and also send out a call for action which is threefold:
1. Declare your meta-strategy – either in a comment in this blog or elsewhere
2. If you think I can help you with yours, let me know
3. If you think you can help me with mine, let me know
My meta-strategies
To show the world how to tap into unlimited inspiration
To help people how to embrace fears and fulfill their magnificence
To be an instrumental part of the transition from Humanity v2.0 to Humanity v3.0
I had the great pleasure last week of hearing Dr David Hamilton talking about the remarkable properties of mirror neurons in the brain. They are the mechanism behind how we empathise, emulate, copy and learn.
This resulted in many light bulb moments firing in this particular head of mine.
I’ve been doing talks and workshops on creativity and innovation for some years now and I’d noticed that when I get into the state where I can receive light bulb moments, people in the room would follow shortly after.
To find out how this all works, I recommend you buy David’s book called The Contagious Power of Thinking or, better still, attend one of his talks and then buy the book – as he explains it all much better than I ever could.
So at my talks naturally people will pick up on my body language, the words I say and the images should I use any slides or handouts. The mirror neurons are the mechanism whereby such empathy is achieved. There is something which is more subtle in operation too however.
Before I even get to the venue to do the talk, I set my intention that the attendees of the talk will get into the state of having light bulb moments. Furthermore, that this state will linger either for a few days after the talk or even permanently.
People report having not known why they came to a particular talk but that they felt strangely drawn to attend. They also can’t remember where they first heard about it.
Now I am not claiming any extrasensory powers. What everyone is experiencing is a natural state of affairs and happens all the time but, mostly, outside our conscious awareness.
What is interesting is how this concept can be applied in business – especially if the business is involved in new product development or any creative field such as publishing, marketing, design or any artistic endeavour.
Any mindset we adopt will spread unconsciously – including anger, fear and guilt – and any behaviour and culture set will also ripple throughout an organisation like gossiping and lunchtime drinking.
So if you want innovation to spread in your organisation, it needs to be seeded and then it will spread organically. For example, apocryphally a US president visiting NASA in the Apollo era asked a janitor what he did and the reply was, “I fly rockets to the Moon”. This type of team spirit amplifies, reflects and ripples from mirror neurons to mirror neurons in each team member working to a common goal.
Sowing the seeds for innovation
The first step is to initiate the culture change with a thought and attitude and it can start anywhere in the organisation but ideally with senior management. The end goal is for it to be adopted from the bottom up whilst also aiming to remove the whole idea of the top and bottom hierarchy, as one could not exist without the other and it is in essence more like a symbiosis.
Then practical steps should be taken to foster innovation throughout the business, such as:
1. A simple suggestion box [perhaps anonymous]
2. A suggestions wall or whiteboard [best seeded with an associative Mind Map]
3. A more formal and facilitated intervention like a Walt Disney Three Rooms session or de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats. Even better again would be to use Appreciative Inquiry which additionally generates a positive thinking mind set. The idea of positive thinking also spreads like wildfire and is based on taking what works and making it even better rather than focusing on woes and trials and tribulations.
The latest podcast in the Moments of Light series is with the sublimely wise and intelligent soul who is Nicola Phoenix.
Nicola is a Spiritual Psychologist and yoga teacher with such a simple approach to share by which we can all get to a place of happiness. Where many make the journey over-complex and arduous, Nicola makes it accessible and do-able. What’s more, we can all start doing it today – right now.
Have a listen to the interview to find out more … and then get yourself a copy of the book !!
Details on how to get your copy of Reclaiming Happiness and how to contact Nicola here … www.nicolaphoenix.com
A wonderful and eclectic chat with Joel Friedlander on how authors can use light bulb moments in their work …
Topics covered :
Where do light bulb moments come from?
What blocks light bulb moments?
How to use your whole brain and whole mind
The beauty and power of Mapping Your Mind
The importance of meditation and the breath in ideas generation
Find out more about Joel and subscribe to his brilliant blog which is full of help for authors and publishers – and get a copy of his book too – www.thebookdesigner.com
The second major block to our creativity is the avoidance of failure. If you don’t actually do anything then you can’t possibly fail.
Incredible advances in understanding how our brains work have been made by neuroscientists, yet the place where our consciousness is generated and our mind resides proves elusive. It’s a good guess is that it’s only proving tricky to find because people are looking in totally the wrong place.
So when we have Three Wise Men, why might there be Five Wise Women?
It is only fitting at this time of year to revisit and revamp myths of old so I thought it would be appropriate to share some messages of wisdom from Three Wise Men.
There are many proud moments in an author’s career like when you finish your first draft, when the first copy of your book arrives in the post or when you get your first review.
A wonderful and eclectic chat with Joel Friedlander on how authors can use light bulb moments in their work …