Royane Real
How to Turn Negativity into a Creative Force
By Royane Real
Author of “How You Can Be Smarter - Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative”
Do you tend to always be negative whenever somebody proposes a new idea? Are you the one who is always saying “That will never work,” or “That’s a bad idea”? Do you always look for the flaws in other people’s proposals? Do other people complain that you are too negative?
If you tend to be negative about other people’s creative ideas, you may be destroying your own ability to be creative! People who are consistently negative about new ideas will have a hard time being creative themselves. This is because their own creative self may be too scared to come out anymore, afraid of inner criticism or ridicule.
The first thing you should realize about negativity is that it's not always bad.
An ability to be critical of new ideas can be a force for evil, but it can also be a force for good.
People who are constantly negative and critical are often able to easily spot what is wrong with a new idea. Because people who are negative can easily see problems in a new proposal, these people can actually make very important contributions to a project. They can help their team mates find ways to correct potential problems in a new project before these problems happen. People who always see the negative can often stop new proposals from wasting a lot of time and money.
The big problem with negativity comes if you are always on the lookout for the flaws in every project, especially if you attack other people for their ideas. You can end up destroying creative ideas before they have a chance to be developed.
Some people use their inner negavity as a tool to put others down, no matter what ideas they have.
When negativity is consistent and automatic, it is no longer a useful tool. It stops being related to reality. There is always a real danger that negative thinking will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If you focus all the time on finding out why new ideas won’t work, you won’t be focused on thinking how these ideas can be made to work.
Here is an exercise that will help you overcome your negative bias towards creative ideas. This exercise will help you become better at finding the positive aspects of new and creative ideas.
Whenever you encounter a new idea, instead of thinking and saying, “This will never work,” think of ways to make the idea work. Don’t just try to think of one way to make the idea work. Keep on thinking until you have come up with at least five or six ways that the idea could be made to work. Find ways to improve the idea. Explore new mental pathways. Come up with even more new ideas.
When you make a habit of looking for ways to make creative ideas work you will find positive aspects. Think to yourself, “What would have to happen for this idea to be successful?”
To find positive ways for ideas to work, you don’t have to start out believing in the idea. Just find ways to make it work, whether you initially believe in it or not. You are doing this new type of thinking as a mental exercise so that you can improve a mental muscle that is underdeveloped in you. It may not feel right for you to do this, and it may not be easy when you start out.
But remember, you are already very good at finding out what’s wrong with an idea.
You need practice finding what’s right with an idea. You need practice learning to find ways to make ideas work.
If you consistently look for ways to make new ideas work, you will find that will also improve your creative abilities.
This article was written by author Royane Real. If you want to learn ways to boost your creativity and your brain power, download my popular book “How You Can Be Smarter - Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative" It's available at http://www.lulu.com/real
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