What Innovation Can Do to Your Life
Have you ever marveled at somebody's creative prowess? Guess what, you can create and innovate too. It just takes time. Everyone is born creative. Think about the box of crayons you were given in kindergarten. They were not limited to those the teacher thought possessed potential, they were given to everyone; because the truth is, everybody has potential.
You know how long it took to learn to ride a bike or to 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 to train your mind. This article is designed to give you a few tips on how to bring more innovation into your life.
First, don't listen to what other people say. Follow the beat of your own drum. Allowing for the input of other people will probably 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. For the most part, they won't. And the help you will probably get often comes in the form of negative feedback. If all geniuses listened to their peers, we would probably still be living in the middle ages.
You need to spend time on it. Instead of watching TV, 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. This involves some tricky time management but with a little discipline you'll be able to squeeze both work and creativity into your day.
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 you have, this shows you the untapped innovative power you have lying within. So jot down those notes. Those dreams may just create a spark in you that can lead you in a completely new direction.
Find your own style. Perhaps you can't always tell a Van Gogh from a Matisse but maybe you'll know what Hemingway wrote by the choice of words on the paper. Each of us is unique. People will appreciate your innovation because it is uniquely yours and no one else would have thought of what you were thinking. 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, nor do you 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 high-end 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. Grab yourself some coloured pencils or coloured pens and start working on your ideas. Take a look at SARK and her amazing handwritten books. She has her own unique style and you can create yours.
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 virtually 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 with some ideas on how to 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.
To your new life!! – BANABU
Fran Watson