There’s a people pleaser in all of us

Forget the lie.

Omit the common belief that you can’t generate ideas. And please, do me a favour – don’t tell me you’re not creative.

We all are.

Having your ideas ridiculed, rejected, laughed at, or even considered as stupid, is always a possibility.

But being bound by the social fear surrounding this possibility is unacceptable. Neither is it reason enough not to share.

It’s an evil that needs overcoming at all costs.

So give your input and share your ideas.

They’re needed.

If you liked this post, please show some love and share it with others!

Receive post updates by RSS Feed.

Where do great inventions, concepts, and works of art begin?

All the songs, movies, sermons, television commercials, and speeches that trigger emotive responses and illicit action – where do they begin?

They begin with an idea.

A concept. A thought. A moment of inspiration that acted as a catalyst for creating something tangible. A ‘gift’ – as Seth Godin would call it – with the power to change lives.

Thomas Edison once said, “I’ve not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”

I like this phrase. I think its helpful. It motivates me. It instills courage to attempt a new thing and live a little on the edge. And best of all, it can be applied to the concept of idea creation.

Why?

Because for every good idea there would most certainly have been a number of bad ones that led to its formation. Ideas so bad that even the originator of the idea would’ve cringed at the very thought of their idea being conceived.

And that’s despite the fact the idea was theirs in the first place!

Einstein, though most famous for his theory on relativity, published another 200 plus papers. Mozart produced over 500 musical works. Bach, more than 300 cantatas. And Thomas Edison, in addition to the light bulb, held over 1000 patents.

They had lots of ideas.

Great leaders, artists, thinkers, and entrepreneurs would know this. They come up with bad ideas by the truck load. Some get voiced. Some are attempted. Others remain firmly in the imagination – never even making it to the drawing board.

But what these pioneering thinkers, entrepreneurs, artists and successful leaders have in common is that their ratio of success increases the more they see the value of bad ideas.

Yes, that’s right – they actually value bad ideas.

But not only do they value them, they’ve understood that the chances of creating a great idea, is exponentially increased when they’re willing to toy with bad ones.

For it’s not so much about the ideas being good or bad – particularly in relation to the integrity of the creative process – but more to do with our willingness to create environments that value, facilitate, and stimulate them.

Idea creation is a necessary requirement for progression. For the greater the number of ideas, whether good or bad, the greater the chances of success.

There is then, a correlation between bad ideas and good ones.

Receive post updates by RSS Feed.

How often do you say what’s really on your mind in the immediacy of the moment?

Do you ever find yourself frozen – editing every word, phrase and syllable, consciously wondering what people would think if you spontaneously expressed your thoughts?

If you’re anything like me, my guess is that you’ve answered “Yes” to both questions.

And you’ve probably answered yes to both for good reason. For you’ve come to know through years of experience, that it’s sensible, appropriate, noble, respectful, and wise, to think before you speak.

And this is true.

After all, you wouldn’t want to offend anyone would you?

But that’s just it.

For though its wise to weigh how and what we communicate (and I’m not advocating for a moment the opposite!), in some instances our hesitance to share our thoughts, felt experiences, concerns, joys, desires, or anything else for that matter, is influenced by something far more sinister. Fear.

Fear of looking stupid.

Fear of imaginary expectations.

Fear of being ‘super-spiritual’.

Fear of appearing naive.

Fear of rocking the boat.

Fear of looking weak.

Fear of being too intense.

Fear of appearing arrogant.

Fear of offending.

Fear of upsetting people.

Fear of being perceived as a pessimist.

Fear of overstepping your mark.

Fear of reprisal.

Fear of _____________ (fill the blank)

The list goes on.

The trouble with this is that when we fail to communicate because we’re fearful, we slowly lose our inner sense of integrity. And in not being true to ourselves, our perceived intrinsic worth begins to plateau.

When this happens, as opposed to being those whose sense of worth is based solely on God’s character, we become those who measure our worth by how accepted we’re made to feel by others.

And this is dangerous. For us, and those around us.

For in this perspective shift, we start to become what we think others want us to be. Or worse still, will ‘like us more’ for being.

So the real challenge is not to so much in weighing what and when we speak (we can assume this a reflection of our wisdom), but rather to identify and overcome the thing that restrains us.

Come on, speak up. What’s the worst that could happen?

Receive post updates by RSS Feed.

It’s okay to dream!

In fact, if you haven’t allowed yourself to do so for a while, maybe you need to consider what the obstacles keeping you from doing so have been.

Dreaming is good. More importantly, it is good for the soul – for in dreaming we’re inspired to pursue a purpose beyond ourselves.

Holocaust survivor, Victor Frankl once said,

Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life… Therein he cannot be re­placed, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone’s task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it.

Endeavouring to implement our dreams is good, indeed, this is what we were designed for, and here are 10 reasons why:

1. Following your dreams keeps you in touch with a childlike faith that believes the unbelievable and thinks possible the impossible
2. Following your dreams helps you in learning to trust, to take risks, and be willing to step out of your comfort zone without fear of failure
3. Following your dreams prevents you from simply fitting in, going with the status quo, and becoming comfortable
4. Following your dreams helps you to acknowledge and appreciate the experience of past failures and value them as learning opportunities
5. Following your dreams helps you to identify and overcome the limiting beliefs that hinder you from reaching your God-given destiny
6. Following your dreams moves you from being a spectator to an initiator
7. Following your dreams helps you to grow in stature and character as you move beyond the known
8. Following your dreams energises you, giving you a reason to get out of bed every morning
9. Following your dreams helps you to develop new skills as you’ll be required to do things you’ve never done before
10. Following your dreams contributes something of value to others – for in stepping out you yourself become an inspiration

So if we can conclude that a committment to pursuing our dreams is healthy, not only for us, but for those around us, the question is, what are your dreams and what are you doing about them?

Receive post updates by RSS Feed.