Mondays in June – Part Three

Well, hello again! Welcome to the third installment of Mondays in June. More specifically, the next part of Creativity, Ideas and Inspiration:  Getting Where You Want to Go.

Last time I offered a few ways to explore getting new ideas or more ideas or even better ideas. And once, you have those ideas, what do you do with them? Do you run with them or do you find yourself mired in excuses?

What IS holding you back?! How can you overcome inertia?

Roger von Oech said “The two greatest enemies of action are fear and lack of confidence.”

All of us can come up with a list of what seems like very valid reasons for stalling or quitting. Do you recognize any of these excuses?

I have to cook dinner or walk the dog or change the sheets. Also known as: I don’t have the time.
This is a good idea but someone else can do it better. Also known as: I don’t believe I have enough talent.
This would be a good idea but it is doomed to failure. Also known as I shouldn’t waste my time on foolish endeavors.
This looks awfully risky to me. Also known as I don’t have a guarantee of success.
If I have to experiment, I might find out it takes me out of my comfort zone. Also known as I don’t like to try new things.
I don’t know where to start. Also known as I don’t know where to start.

Those are some pretty good excuses and you can pick any one of them to avoid trying something new and the possibility of failure. In fact, if you want, you can choose more than one. We can talk ourselves out of taking a risk very easily. But what happens if you

What if when that little voice tells you that “you don’t have the time to try this new idea”, you reply by saying “Maybe not, but I’m going to give it a go anyway”?

How do we overcome inertia - or whatever it is that is keeping us from moving forward?

What is the hurdle we need to jump to get past just having ideas?

The first thing has to be

Without it, would ideas make the leap into reality? Andy Stanley said that “The ability to believe is the most powerful force at mankind’s disposal. Everything that has been done, for good or bad, was done because someone believed it could be or should be done. Every problem that has been solved was solved because someone believed it could be or should be solved.”

When we believe in something, we look for ways to make it happen or to make it possible. I listened as a friend of mine read a list of what believing allows us to do. It empowers us to try, “to try again, to anticipate, to hope, to imagine, to create and always improve.”

When we believe we look for evidence and ways to support our belief. If you have an idea that you believe in, you will find ways to

in the famous words of Captain Picard. You stop looking at your ideas from the point of view of “Can it be done?” to “How will I accomplish this?”

How else can you get moving on your ideas?

It isn’t necessary to overcome failure, because failure is an inherent part of success. We have to overcome the fear of failure.

We need to learn to accept it as part of the process to bringing a new idea to fruition. If we are afraid to fail, we will not take a chance. If we don’t take chances we won’t fail but neither will we succeed. Often failure is so scary, so embarrassing, so discouraging that we become focused on it. The fear of failure can, and often does, immobilize us. If you accept that failure exists as part of the evolution of the idea, then you will become open to possibilities you may not have considered previously. Rollo May said,

Let’s take a look at Thomas Edison.

He held over 1000 patents and he knew 1800 ways not to build a light bulb. We don’t think of Edison as a spectacular failure. We think of him as a creative genius.

What we sometimes overlook is how many times he made attempts before he found the best and most efficient answer to the problem he was facing.

Having confidence is also important.

If we don’t have confidence in our ideas, who will? A lack of confidence can paralyze us. How can we increase our confidence? One thing we can do is to stop comparing ourselves with others. You are you!

What happens when you constantly compare your ideas to someone else’s? You may become insecure or lose courage. If comparing yourself to others begins to consume your thoughts, your efforts become stifled and stunted. You might think “Why try?” That quality of uniqueness is what makes your work different from everyone else’s. It is yours and yours alone. No one thinks like you do.

When you try something new, you may fail, and you may fail lots of times, but if you keep going, you might find that when you look back, each failure took you in a direction that ultimately resulted in success.

You can give yourself a pat on the back for sticking with it and for seeing it through.

So let’s review: How can you overcome your fears and inertia?

First by believing in yourself and your ideas.
Next, by accepting that failure is an innate part of success.
And finally, by having confidence.

There you have Part 3. I hope I have provided you with a few nuggets of useful information that you can utilize to get where you want to go with your ideas and dreams.

Until next time,