Access Your Creativity by Not Thinking
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Why do people have trouble coming up with new creative ideas? Quite simply, because they think too much.
Think of two parts of the mind: the conscious, and the subconscious. The conscious is the part that thinks. It's the part that you are aware of. The subconscious handles everything else. Your bodily functions, sensory input, memories, feelings, associations, and more are all handled by the subconscious.
The subconscious is much more powerful than the conscious. The subconscious handles thousands of things every minute. The conscious mind can only focus on one. Even when you think you multi-task, you are actually switching your focus very quickly between different things.
The real power of creativity lies in the subconscious. Your creativity comes out of all the things you are not aware of – memories you don't remember, things you have seen but have not noticed, and feelings within you that naturally occur. All of your new great ideas are lying inside of your subconscious, right now. The trick is in figuring out how to access them.
The answer is not by thinking about it. Once you start to think about it, you are back to the conscious. When you use your conscious mind, you are only going to come up with one or two ideas. These ideas will not yield that great ‘aha!' moment that you're looking for. In addition, thinking and using the conscious mind blocks your ability to access your subconscious.
So how do you access the subconscious? There are a few way. One important technique is to keep your mind quiet and still. This is the only way to allow the subconscious to work, and it is the only way you will be able to hear what your mind is telling you.
Here's a metaphor that might make it easier to understand:
Think of a pond. Now, imagine throwing a pebble into the pond. If the pond is still and calm, the pebble creates clearly visible ripples. If the pond is turbulent when the pebble goes in, any ripples the pebble might make are hidden amongst the churning waters.
Your mind is like the pond. When you are calm and you mind is quiet, it is like the still pond. The pebble is a question or problem you have. When you pose this question to your still mind, your subconscious creates possible answers. These answers are the ripples on the water. When your mind is calm, you can actually ‘see' all the solutions your mind is giving you.
On the other hand, if your mind is going wild with thoughts and stress, it is like the turbulent pond. When you throw in the question or problem, even if your mind comes up with answers, you will never be able to see them for all the turbulence.
One way to calm your mind is meditation. Another is exercise. Or, just spend some quiet time alone at home or in nature. Some people like prayer; others enjoy yoga. Find what works for you. The only key is that you are alone and quiet (no TV, radio, or other people talking to or around you), and you let your mind be free.
Make your mind like the quiet pond, and you will find yourself really coming up with powerful solutions and ideas.
Avish Parashar is a dynamic professional speaker who shows organizations and individuals how to get what they want using the Art and Science of improv comedy. He weaves together humorous stories, witty observations, and interactive exercises from improvisational comedy to get people laughing, learning, and motivated! Avish is most commonly called upon to deliver programs on Motivation, Sales, and Communication
For more free articles, downloads, and resources, visit http://www.AvishParashar.com
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