Self Improvement Through Being Innovative

It's a talent that everyone has, yet they think they don't. The power of innovation. If you've ever marvelled at somebody's creative prowess, guess what, you can create and innovate too. It just takes time. Everyone is born creative. The box of crayons in kindergarten were not limited to those who possessed potential; because the truth is, everybody has potential.

You know how long it took to learn to ride a bike or drive or to never commit the same mistake again? It's the same with innovation. It takes a bit of practice and a lot of time before this mind function comes easily when called. This article will teach you a few tips on how to bring innovation into your life.

• Don't listen to what other people say. Follow the beat of your own drum. Allowing for the input of other people will only bring cacophony to the music you are trying to make. If you have an original idea, don't waste your time and effort trying to make people understand. They won't. And the help you will probably get comes in the form of negative feedback. If all those geniuses listened to their peers, we would probably still be living in the middle ages.
• Spend time on it. I cannot stress that enough, although, please do not mistake this tip to tell you to quit your day job entirely. Do not. This involves some tricky time management but with a little discipline you'll be able to squeeze both in.
• Exercise. Take a walk. Run a mile or two. Send all those endorphins coursing through your veins. Exercising certainly clears and relaxes your mind and allows for anything to pop up.
• Record your dreams. Aren't some of them just the craziest things that your conscious mind would never have thought of? If you've had these dreams before, and I'm sure have, this only shows you the untapped innovative power you have lying within. So jot down those notes. Those dreams may just create an innovative spark in you.
• Find your own style. You can always tell a Van Gogh from a Matisse. You'll know Hemingway wrote something by the choice of words on the paper. So it is the same with you. People will appreciate your innovation more because it is uniquely yours and that no one else would have thought of what you were thinking. That will let people see how valuable an asset you are.
• Don't hide behind nifty gadgets or tools. You don't need the most expensive set of paints to produce a masterpiece. The same way with writing. You don't need some expensive fountain pen and really smooth paper for a bestseller. In fact, J.K. Rowling wrote the first book of the Harry Potter Series on bits of tissue. So what if you've got an expensive SLR camera if you're a crappy photographer? Who cares if you've got a blinging laptop if you can't write at all? The artist actually reduces the number of tools he has as he gets better at his craft: he knows what works and what doesn't.
• Nothing will work without passion. What wakes you up in the mornings? What keeps the flame burning? What is the one thing that you'll die if you don't do? Sometimes people with talent are overtaken by the people who want it more. Think the hare and the tortoise. Ellen Degeneres once said that if you're not doing something that you want to do, then you don't really want to do it. And that's true. Sometimes you just want something so bad you become a virtual unstoppable. And that is passion. Passion will keep you going.
• Don't worry about inspiration. You can't force it; inspiration hits when you least expect it to, for those unpredictable yet inevitable moments you should prepare. An idea could strike you on the subway, yet alas, you poor unfortunate soul; you have no sheet of paper to scribble down a thought that could change the world. Avoid these disasters. Have a pen and paper within your arm's reach at all times.

I hope this article has helped you bring more innovation into your life. Keep in mind that you're doing these things for your own satisfaction and not anybody else's. But soon enough they will notice, and everything should snowball from there.

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Self Improvement Through Making Better Choices

Decision making presents a challenge to most people. Yet, all the time, we are faced with choices, with decisions we have to take. I hope this article will go a long way to helping you to make better choices in your life.

Life is like a road. There are long and short roads; smooth and rocky roads; crooked and straight paths. In our life many roads would come our way as we journey through life. There are roads that lead to a life of single blessedness, marriage, and religious vocation. There are also roads that lead to fame and fortune on one hand, or isolation and poverty on the other. There are roads to happiness as there are roads to sadness, roads towards victory and jubilation, and roads leading to defeat and disappointment.

Just like any road, there are corners, detours, and crossroads in life. Perhaps the most perplexing road that you would encounter is a crossroad. With four roads to choose from and with limited knowledge on where they would go, which road will you take? What is the guarantee that we would choose the right one along the way? Would you take any road, or just stay where you are: in front of a crossroad?

There are no guarantees.

You do not really know where a road will lead you until you take it. There are no guarantees. This is one of the most important things you need to realize about life. Nobody said that choosing to do the right thing all the time would always lead you to happiness. Loving someone with all your heart does not guarantee that it would be returned. Gaining fame and fortune does not guarantee happiness.

Accepting a good word from an influential superior to cut your trip short up the career ladder is not always bad, especially if you are highly qualified and competent. There are too many possible outcomes, which your really cannot control. The only thing you have power over is the decisions that you will make, and how you would act and react to different situations.

Wrong decisions are always at hindsight.

Had you known that you were making a wrong decision, would you have gone along with it? Perhaps not, why would you choose a certain path when you know it would get you lost? Why make a certain decision if you knew from the very beginning that it is not the right one. It is only after you have made a decision and reflected on it that you realize its soundness. If the consequences or outcomes are good for you, then you have decided correctly. Otherwise, your decision was wrong.

OK, so you're getting some advice from me about decision making. But are you taking it all in? Just stop for a minute and re-read the first few paragraphs again.

Take the risk: decide.

Since life offers no guarantee and you would never know that your decision would be wrong until you have made it, then you might as well take the risk and decide. It is definitely better than keeping yourself in limbo. Although it is true that one wrong turn could get you lost, it could also be that such a turn could be an opportunity for an adventure, moreover open more roads. It is all a matter of perspective. You have the choice between being a lost traveller or an accidental tourist of life. But take caution that you do not make decisions haphazardly. Taking risks is not about being careless and stupid. Here are some pointers that could help you choose the best option in the face of life’s crossroads:

Get as much information as you can about your situation.

You cannot find the confidence to decide when you know so little about what you are faced with. Just like any news reporter, ask the 5 W’s: what, who, when, where, and why. What is the situation? Who are the people involved? When did this happen? Where is this leading? Why are you in this situation? These are just some of the possible questions to ask to know more about your situation. This is important. Oftentimes, the reason for indecision is the lack of information about a situation.

Identify and create options.

What options do the situation give you? Sometimes the options are few, but sometimes they are numerous. But what do you do when you think that the situation offers no options? This is the time that you create your own. Make your creative mind work. From the most simplistic to the most complicated, entertain all ideas. Do not shoot anything down when an idea comes to your head. Sometimes the most outrageous idea could prove to be the right one in the end. You can ask a friend to help you identify options and even make more options if you encounter some difficulty, but make sure that you make the decision yourself in the end.

Weigh the pros and cons of every option.

Assess each option by looking at the advantages and disadvantages it offers you. In this way, you get more insights about the consequences of such an option.

Trust yourself and make that decision.

Now that you have assessed your options, it is now time to trust yourself. Remember that there are no guarantees and wrong decisions are always at hindsight. So choose… decide… believe that you are choosing the best option at this point in time.

Now that you have made a decision, be ready to face its consequences: good and bad. It may take you to a place of promise or to a land of problems. But the important thing is that you have chosen to live your life instead of remaining a bystander or a passive audience to your own life. Whether it is the right decision or not, only time can tell. But do not regret it whatever the outcome. Instead, learn from it and remember that you always have the chance to make better decisions in the future.

Maybe I've presented some new concepts to you about decision making in this article. Did you find yourself disagreeing with any points? If so, put aside your previous ideas and then re-read those points again. This will help you to get the most from this article.

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Self Improvement Adventures In Creative Thinking

Believe me, writing articles involves quite a lot of creative
thinking! And excercises in creative thinking have intrigued
me for a long time..

How many times have you caught yourself saying that there
could be no other solution to a problem – and that that problem
leads to a dead end? How many times have you felt stumped knowing
that the problem laying before you is one you cannot solve.
No leads. No options. No solutions.

Did it feel like you had exhausted all possible options and
yet are still before the mountain – large, unconquerable, and
impregnable? When encountering such enormous problems, you
may feel like you're hammering against a steel mountain. The
pressure of having to solve such a problem may be overwhelming.

But rejoice! There might be some hope yet!

With some creative problem-solving techniques you may be able
to look at your problem in a different light. And that light
might just be the end of the tunnel that leads to possible
solutions.

First of all, in the light of creative problem-solving, you
must be open-minded to the fact that there may be more than
just one solution to the problem. And, you must be open to
the fact that there may be solutions to problems you thought
were unsolvable.

Now, with this optimistic mindset, we can try to be a little
bit more creative in solving our problems.

Number one; maybe the reason we cannot solve our problems
is that we have not really taken a hard look at what the problem
is. Here, trying to understanding the problem and having a
concrete understanding of its workings is integral solving
the problem. If you know how it works, what the problem is,
then you have a better foundation towards solving the problem.

Not trying to make the simple statement of what problem is.
Try to identify the participating entities and what their relationships
with one another are. Take note of the things you stand to
gain any stand to lose from the current problem. Now you have
a simple statement of what the problem is.

Number two; try to take note of all of the constraints and
assumptions you have the words of problem. Sometimes it is
these assumptions that obstruct our view of possible solutions.
You have to identify which assumptions are valid, in which
assumptions need to be addressed.

Isn’t that something? I really enjoyed learning all of this
great information and hope you are finding it helpful. Learning
can really be fun, especially about something you enjoy. I’ve
done even more research on this, so back to the subject.

Number three; try to solve the problem by parts. Solve it
going from general view towards the more detailed parts of
the problem. This is called the top-down approach. Write down
the question, and then come up with a one-sentence solution
to that from them. The solution should be a general statement
of what will solve the problem. From here you can develop the
solution further, and increase its complexity little by little.

Number four; although it helps to have critical thinking aboard
as you solve a problem, you must also keep a creative, analytical
voice at the back of your head. When someone comes up with
a prospective solution, tried to think how you could make that
solution work. Try to be creative. At the same time, look for
chinks in the armor of that solution.

Number five; it pays to remember that there may be more than
just one solution being developed at one time. Try to keep
track of all the solutions and their developments. Remember,
there may be more than just one solution to the problem.

Number six; remember that old adage," two heads are better
than one." That one is truer than it sounds. Always be open
to new ideas. You can only benefit from listening to all the
ideas each person has. This is especially true when the person
you're talking to has had experience solving problems similar
to yours.

You don't have to be a gung-ho, solo hero to solve the problem.
If you can organize collective thought on the subject, it would
be much better.

Number seven; be patient. As long as you persevere, there
is always a chance that a solution will present itself. Remember
that no one was able to create an invention the first time
around.

Creative thinking exercises can also help you in your quest
be a more creative problems solver.

Here is one example.

Take a piece of paper and write any word that comes to mind
at the center. Now look at that word then write the first two
words that come to your mind. This can go on until you can
build a tree of related words. This helps you build analogical
skills, and fortify your creative processes.

So, next time you see a problem you think you can not solve,
think again. The solution might just be staring you right in
the face. All it takes is just a little creative thinking,
some planning, and a whole lot of work.

If you've enjoyed this article, there are many more at:

www.becomeabetteryou.com

Self Improvement Resources

Hi, and welcome to my Self Improvement blog. What I'm aiming to do here is to give you a regular supply of self improvement tips and advice.

We all want to find ways to make ourselves a "better person"; it's human nature!

So, check back regularly for my self improvement tips.

If you want a great self improvement resource have a look at:

www.becomeabetteryou.com

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