Know Thyself
Generally speaking, it is widely believed that adults who follow the status quo and social norms will fail to have a great career and be successful in the long haul. It has been hardwired within us from childhood to always “follow our dreams,” and to “follow our passion,” though, towards adulthood, we abandon our dreams and passions for monetary gain. Technology now has made it easy to search for answers by providing instant access to information. A single tap on our phones and Google search engine will give us the answers we are looking for. Pursuing our dreams means we pursue what makes us happy now, as artists and innovators, full of passion and curiosity.
Knowing ourselves is not as easy as it sounds, however, psychologists think that people who know themselves grasp an ability coined as emotional intelligence. These are people that understand themselves and have a general idea of how their peers perceive them and how others might behave in given situations. Ken Robinson, the speaker of Do Schools Kill Creativity, stated that 98% of kindergarten children are at a genius level. Whether this is true or not is up for debate, but bear in mind that art, play, fun, childhood, imagination, and creativity, are all synonymous with each other. To root out your childhood passions and dreams, and embed them into your adult life, requires you to look back into your deepest memories and relive your most serene moments, and only then, you can understand what makes you happy to bring your inner child, out.
In other words, it’s best to search within yourself, to look at what made you happy, so as to know yourself and go back to your roots. As children, we were once creative, and somewhere along the lines (towards adulthood), we tend to lose our creativity in the process and stopped being curious about doing what makes us happy, but, one way to gain back this curiosity back is to live in the present moment, no matter the circumstance, and try to enjoy where we are.
Find Balance in your Pursuits
Human beings by nature fear change. In China, philosophers who practice the philosophy of Taoism initiated a concept called the Yin and Yang, I’m sure you are familiar with the term, a concept that is very much, widespread, in western ideology. The significance of the Yin (Sunny Side) and Yang (Dark Side) represent interconnectedness and balance while being at an equilibrium state. The Yin & Yang are also believed to be the starting point of change, and, in order for the world to move forward, change is essential.
Think of Yin and Yang as a metaphor for the divergent and convergent thinking concept. The concept is used as a tool to stimulate creativity in innovation. The first phase of the tool is the divergent phase. In the divergent phase, innovators try to identify the problem and then try to search for all the possible solutions. In the second phase, also known as the convergent phase, we have to pick the key aspects to focus on and choose the best-given solution to tackle the problem.
Divergent thinking enhances creativity, the thinking outside the box approach. Convergent thinking enhances problem-solving, an approach to reaching a valid solution. When thinking in a divergent manner, we should not restrict ourselves by finances, social norms, and judgment. Our thoughts and imaginations should flow freely. Divergence provides lots of different solutions from many different perspectives. When thinking in a convergent manner, it is essential to tackle the problem at hand so as to reach the “correct” answer. Though I don’t necessarily agree with the word “correct,” I believe the word that should be used is “right”, even if the lines between right and wrong are blurred. Looking at situations from different perspectives, allows us to ‘think outside the box,’ and provides us with more than 1 way to tackle any given problem.
Locate & Exploit the Hidden Gem.
When we take a step back we can view the whole picture. Sometimes, however, we need to take a closer look at the details. This relates to convergent thinking. An article published by HBR explains the advantages of Bringing Science to the Art of Strategy, by providing insight on how to choose the best solution from a wide range of possibilities by looking at the details.
This technique can be used as the key to finding the hidden gem in any situation.
The strategy is categorized by the following 7 steps:
1) Move from issue to choice.
2) Generate strategic possibilities.
3) Specify the conditions for success.
4) Identify the barriers to choice.
5) Design tests for the barrier conditions.
6) Conduct the tests.
7) Make the choice.
Conquer Your Fears.
To conquer the fear of failure, we need to realize that failure is inevitable. The book, The Happiness Track states that Albert Einstein, through his beliefs that skills can be developed, led to the discovery of the Special and General Theory of Relativity. The discovery has shaped the views of the science community in modern times and has led him to acquire the Noble Peace Prize. He is widely quoted as saying that “failure is success in progress.”
However, more so than understanding failure, we should also understand what it means to learn and then develop from failure, which may eventually reach success. In order to succeed, you must look at everything from your own unique perspective and not settle for accepting the facts. Einstein himself used a certain technique when it comes to creation, he actually stopped learning, started thinking, and started creating.
Granted though, mistakes are inevitable, and it’s crucial that we learn from our mistakes when faced with confrontation. Remember that through the process of creation, it’s essential to build a great learning culture, the blame game is no good for any organization or individual. Also, remember that not all failures are created equal and that admitting and accepting failure leads to an increase in performance. Though in order for us to learn from failure, we need to detect it early. The problem underlying detection and analysis in any dent can cause a catastrophe if it is not brought to the table early on. Once our fears are conquered, we should promote experimentation by putting our newly developed ideas into practice.
Become Limitless
Phil Hansen, Embrace the Shake! Well, who is Phil Hansen, and what’s this embrace the shake mumbo jumbo? Well, Phil’s an artist who has a passion for art and drawing, but due to a ‘shake’ in his hand, Phil struggled to draw throughout his life. As a result, Phil left art school and left art completely. After a few years, he decided to visit a neurologist and discovered he has permanent nerve damage. After viewing his squiggly line, the doctor asked him, “why don’t you embrace the shake?” And he did. Once he started to ’embrace the shake’, he realized he can still be an artist and pursue his dreams. He only needed a different approach. He soon asked himself, “could you then be creative by looking for limitations? What if I can create a dollar’s worth of supplies?” He then started to limit himself with supplies and resources and began to draw spectacular art in new ways. He added, “We must first be limited, in order for us to become limitless,” and concluded, “ultimately most of what we do is here, inside the box, with limited resources. Learning to be creative within the confines of our limitations is the best hope we have to transform ourselves, and collectively, transform our world”…
The moral of the story is to find our limitations, then embrace them in order to excel.
