Do you want to be more creative and take action on your ideas? I know I do. This has been an area of failure in my life. I failed to generate creative ideas and take action. I started to accept the notion that I was not creative and I lacked the ability to take action. I was wrong. I am now working at changing this and here are 5 steps that I use to help me move towards success in a new way.
Over the last year I have made the choice to push myself further than ever before. I decided I can no longer can sit back and wait for the world to give me a golden ticket. The only way I will achieve my goals and dreams is to actually start taking action. The first step is often the most difficult in a long journey.
I want to be unique, different from others, and be true to myself. To challenge myself on a daily basis I have adopted a few principles that help stretch my thinking and my boundaries. I have found that if I keep myself in a constant state of learning and practice I eventually start to see my small wins develop momentum. I have found as long as I do not go to far over the edge I am good. In order to stretch creativity you need to practice and force yourself into moments of action. I am calling these steps creative action.
Overcome your fears
This almost sounds cliché now, but your fears hold you back from being creative. You only have 3 basic fears to overcome. The fear of loss, the fear of outcomes, and the fear of process. Stop trying to control everything. It’s okay to fail, its okay not to know the answer to the question, and its okay if in the process new habits replace old ones.
Brainstorm Ideas.
Keep a pad a paper around you at all times. If you hate paper you need to record your thoughts and listen to them. I carry a Moleskine pad with me everywhere I go. I use to hate to write and over the last year I am starting to develop a habit of writing my thoughts and idea out everyday. When I started I struggled the first few weeks I was only writing complaisantly . However, I eventually started jotting my notes done more frequently and I was shocked by how much new stuff was being generated. If you don’t write it down or record it, you will lose it. Once its gone it can never come back.
Prototype Small Risk
Start developing plans for small risk. These small risks may seem huge in your mind. That’s okay. Build out a plan for action. A small risk may be introducing you to a new person or even asking the boss for a new raise. However, this is why I call it prototyping the small risk. Develop the model you will use to take the risk. For example, what will you say to the person you want to influence? Did you develop a response for a positive and negative reaction? Did you develop the follow-up and next step plan? What’s your call to action?
Take Action.
You need to start taking action. This is and has been my biggest area of failure. I always found a better excuse to not try something rather than identifying a reason to move forward.. However, when you start taking action on a small risk the stakes are pretty low. What I am finding out is taking action on ideas is a developed skill. This means anyone one can learn to take action. This is not a trait only set aside for gifted individuals. All you need to do is practice in areas where the stakes are relatively low. Overtime your mind builds confidence in moving forward with a calculated risk. Eventually you do not fear the outcome and can evaluate what went well and what went poorly.
Celebrate the wins.
No matter how small and insignificant it may seem celebrate the small wins. Success breeds success. If you can take a moment and reflect and enjoy your victory this will make the next challenge even better. also, remember not to get to hung up on failures. Failures help us learn so celebrate the losses as well. Learning is always more valuable than just being lucky. Celebrate the wins, learn from failure, reflect, adapt, and enjoy the experience.
Over a short period of time you will start to see more abundant opportunities and detach from the outcomes which will allow you to build a clear path that will help you and others achieve a beneficial outcome which creates success.
What are you doing to take creative action?
