The Art of Hearing Creatively

Average human “looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling,

eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness,

inhales without awareness of odour or fragrance, and talks without thinking”

(Leonardo da Vinci)

We love to talk and are often too busy thinking about what we’re going to say next, or too desperate to get our own voices heard. We forget to stop and listen to what the other person is saying. Basically, in general, we lost the art of listening to God, to our inner voices, to one another, to nature and everything around us. We “listens without hearing.” Therefore, to unleash our creativity, we need to learn to listen and really hearing what’s being said, taking it in, paying attention and thinking about it. Ideas is all around us.

Wily W.Walnut, creative coach, writes, “If you can learn to really listen to the sounds of people's voices, the way in which they say things, you will deduce things that others miss.” In the same way, like people’s voices, if we listen carefully to the music that we adore, nature and sounds around us, we may hear things that people might often ignored. When we listen, we open doors for many ideas to flow. The practise of listening will gives birth to some potential avenues for ideas interaction and for the development of new ideas. Listening, I think, is the cornerstone of creative activity.

Do you know how I come out with ideas and motivations to write this blog? One of it is through listening. Literally, I listen to audiobooks or audio talks every day. I listen to music, stories, sermons, talks, seminars and conferences such as Talks at Google, TED Talks, The RSA, Big Think, Ideas at The House, etc. Sometime I simply ‘steals’ people’s ideas during conversations, modified it and come out with new and better ideas.  “I like to listen,” explained Ernest Hemingway, “I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” Maybe you can try these “hearing” exercises to increase your creativity. Remember, ideas is all around you.

§  First, detox your hearing! Turn off or go off from your gadgets and just breathe. Be silent. Refresh your ears every day.

§  Pause in the midst of your daily life and just listen. Just become aware of all the different sounds that you can hear. Sort through the sound and identify as many unique sounds as you can.

§  Really sit down with headphones and listen to your favourite audio lessons or songs. For example, if you hear a song, don't sing along. Just listen. Try to hear the sounds in the track as purely as possible. Let them be. Let them emerge as they wish to and you just follow along.

§  Expand your musical tastes. Varied your music genre. Try to enjoy Beethoven and Jason Mraz.

§  Go online. Download free audiobooks, sermons, and talks and plug your earphone. Listen and learn.

§  Buy yourself a cup of coffee or peanuts and listen to people talking and chatting. You can do this in the mall, public park, sidewalk or on the street. And if you dare, you may want to spark a conversation with strangers. Listen to what they say.

§  Go out into nature. Listen. Let it teach you.

Listen and really hearing. Idea is all around you.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

The Art of Seeing Creatively

Average human “looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, 

eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness, 

inhales without awareness of odour or fragrance, and talks without thinking” 

(Leonardo da Vinci)

The world, everything around us, for creative people is a magical experience. When we observe something closely, and follow it moment by moment, we disengage from the chaotic of our own consciousness. This is a good condition to nurture our creativity. A great stillness and peace will comes over us. Our minds become quieter and relax. By focusing on something, it is as though we are being brought into focus. If before this we “looks without seeing” now we learn look and really seeing.

One day I walk at the recreation park and stopped by the lake and look at the water. First I noticed on the surface my own reflection, ripples, water beetles, and water plants and flowers. Then I look down into the water, adjusting my eyes, changed my positions and angles many time – I saw fishes, coins, larva and surprisingly a crab! I will forever thought that the lake is boring if I haven’t really take time to look and seeing it. Many time ideas come when we just observe with focus, see with curiosity and look with interest at things around us. Look at nature, animals, human beings and even a crab will spark an idea for you, yes, that crab inspired me to write this.

Albert Einstein writes (maybe out of context) that, “Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else has ever thought." Learn and practise the art of seeing creatively. When you believe that the world around us have something to say about creativity, you’ll see it. Maybe you can try these “sight” exercises to increase your creativity. Remember, ideas is all around you.

§  Look up into the sky or sea or ocean or mountain or all at least once a day and towards the far horizon.

§  Describe a room or a scene as accurately as possible.

§  Practice doodling and drawing. Sketch people's faces (I drew my girlfriend’s face on our date).

§  Look for the subtle clues to people's moods and feelings reflected in their eyes and body movements.

§  Visit museum or art gallery sometime. Become more aware of great photography, artwork and paintings. What's great and wonderful about them?

§  Try watch movies as though you were the cameraman. What do you appreciate about the different angles, lighting, and presentation in each scene?

§  Wear a blindfold for 10 minutes and then slowly remove it and notice the effects. First, close your eyes again and thanks God with appreciation and gratitude because you’re not born blind. Then, look around one more time. Do you notice what is not there before?

Take a walk, run or sit and observe.

Look and really seeing. Idea is all around you.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Be Creative: Let’s Get Started!

“Creativity with Food” by Hong Yi 

“One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius” (Simone de Beauvoir)

Creativity cannot be taught in the way that you can teach maths – nor by merely reading books or thru this blog articles – but it can be encouraged to grow and cultivate. If you decides to be creative, you’re conditioning yourself to be creative and welcoming good ideas into your mind. You don’t need to be a genius like Albert Einstein or cleaver like Edward de Bono or multi-gifted and talented like Leonardo da Vinci, all you need to do is to open yourself to the creative spirit that lies within you. Everybody have the capacity to be creative. So, be confidence and get started!

Here are some tips from Robert Allen, author of How to Be a Genius, on how-to fan your creative spark into a flame:

§  In future, all your ideas (however trivial they may seem) have to be collected and kept. You never know when an idea will come in handy, or when something that seemed unimportant when you first thought of it will suddenly become of vital importance.

§  Pick some creative projects to get yourself started. It helps to have several projects on the go at the same time, as they tend to cross-fertilize each other. It also helps if the projects are of quite different types.

§  Work on your project regularly and methodically. Don’t ever just sit around waiting for inspiration. If one project gets bogged down, turn to another and work on that. Make sure that you set yourself goals and deadlines – if you don’t do this, you may find that you run out of steam and fail to finish things you’ve started.

§  Try to keep your attitude as flexible as possible. Your subconscious mind has an agenda of its own and, in order for your efforts to succeed, you need to prepared to change your plans to accommodate whatever your subconscious prompts you to do.

§  Remember to have fun! Creativity is hard work but it is also enjoyable. Don’t get so focused on attaining your goal that you forget to enjoy the creative process.

§  Remember that having bright ideas, though very important, is only a part of the creative process. Once you have the idea you then have to work hard to bring it to fruition. This is the part of the process that defeats many would-be creative people. They enjoy the processes by which bright ideas are born but lack the energy to see their project through to the end. What a waste of good ideas! Make sure that you are a worker as well as a dreamer.

Be creative, let’s get started!

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Common Blocks to Creativity #3: Resource Myopia

“Resource myopia is common among pragmatic,

no-nonsense realists who ‘see things as they are.’

Innovation thrives on seeing things as they might be” (David P. Campbell)

Myopia means “the quality of being short-sighted” and “lack of foresight or intellectual insight.” Resource myopia, thus in this context, mean, the inability to see the resources at our disposal. It is a common block to creativity! We are often unaware of our own strengths. The resources at our disposal are usually much larger than we imagine. Consider a man like Nelson Mandela. He had no formal authority nor, to begin with, an exceptional gifts. But by his pen, by his speech, by his example, and by his ability to bring together dedicated men and women, he was able to move mountains, so to speak.

The ability to perceive one’s strengths and weaknesses accurately and the awareness of the resources in one’s environment are indispensable for overcoming resource myopia. Curiosity about the situation one find oneself in, the habit of asking around who has what resources and where, “the managerial trait of being able to draw readily on the resources of others,” are worth cultivating to get rid of this block.

Resource myopia gives rise to a number of other disabilities that also hinder creativity. They chief of these are fatalism, excessive dependence, “learned helplessness,” and inferiority complex. These are dangerous! All these disabilities arise because resource myopia makes us poor problem-solvers. Get rid of resource myopia, immediately!

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

References:

1.      Lifelong Creativity: An Unending Quest by Pradip N. Khandwalla (Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, 2004).

2.      Take the Road to Creativity and Get Off Your Dead End by David P. Champbell (Center for Creative Leadership, 1977)

Common Blocks to Creativity #2: Conformity

“Let us not follow where the path may lead.

Let us go instead where there’s no path and leave a trail” (Japanese Proverb)

My dictionary defines conformity as “compliance with standards, rules, or laws” and “behaviour in accordance with socially accepted conventions.” Negative form of Conformity creeps into us because of the fear of disregarding social norms, the fear of social disapproval. A number of factors raise the desire to conformity. Fear of failure, fear of humiliation and rejection, and allergy to ambiguity (or uncertainly) may make one escape into a safe, don’t-rock-the-boat, conformist niche. Conformity permits a relatively risk-free existence through the acceptance of the status quo. It manifests itself in excessive compliance to customs, traditions, rituals, and procedures. (Also standards, rules and man-made laws).

An excessive desire for conformity is clearly a block to creativity, since creativity implies change in the status quo. Indeed, conformists have often blocked creative individuals. Jesus, my Lord was rejected by the Pharisees for his teachings (and his claiming to be equal with God) and Galileo was made to recant his theories by the Roman Catholic Church. No doubt, some research evidence suggests that conformity to social pressures dampens creativity.

Some conformity is, of course, essential for any social existence. But without creativity, a society would soon face extinction since the world keeps on changing, thereby making the status quo obsolete. Societies that adapt quickly tend to survive and prosper. Those that stick to conventional modes are often superseded by those that do not.

“The roots of conformity may go deep, into child-rearing practices, into what is considered right and wrong behaviour, and the severity with which deviation from socially prescribed behaviour is punished,” write Pradip N. Khandwalla in his book Lifelong Creativity. He added: “Conformity cannot be got rid of easily. Active questioning of conventions and habits, exposure to dynamic cultures, and rewarding of creative forays, however, can break the shackles of conformity. A study of individuals who successfully broke conventions can also fortify one’s resistance to conformity, as also friendship with unconventional types.”

“Creativity often rewards the non-conformist, the iconoclast, the generalist who treats life not a linear fast track to success, but as a forest of rich discoveries that one can meander through, creating one’s own trail” (Ho Kwon Ping). Most of the time, be a non-conformist!

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Common Blocks to Creativity #1: Fear of Failure

“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize

how close they were to success when they gave up.” (Thomas A. Edison)

From our childhood, success is usually rewarded and failure is punished, so some of us develop an exaggerated fear of failure. Such individuals are likely to avoid competitive situations, situations in which they are likely to be compared to others. A strong fear of failure makes us avoid risks. At times, it makes us take excessive risks to have an alibi for failure.

Although some fear of failure is useful in mobilizing us for a task, excessive fear of failure prevents us from acting at our best. The fear of failure mind-set often say to themselves: “It’s never work”; “We don’t have the time”; “It’s not in the budget”; “The Boss will never go for it”; “We’re always done it this way”; “That sounds stupid”; “Let’s see what the committee thinks”; “It’s not our style”; “I’ve seen that before somewhere”; “The last person who suggested that doesn’t work here anymore”; etc. These killer-thought-phrases destroys ideas before they have the chance to prove themselves. Fear of failure avoid risks and thus expelled many new unproven ideas. What a lost!

The acceptance of failure as necessary part of life is the best way to get rid of this block. No child would learn to work if it was excessively afraid of falling. Failure is a necessary as success in learning new skills. Failure simply means that we have to try harder, or that we have to take a new approach. It does not mean we are no good but that we have found new ways not to fail again. “I have not failed,” said Thomas A. Edison, “I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” This way failure can be a tremendous source of information and a powerful spur to growth and improvement. Do not fear. If you fail, try again!

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

References:

1.      Lifelong Creativity: An Unending Quest by Pradip N. Khandwalla (Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, 2004).

2.      Breakthrough Thinking: Using Creativity to Solve Problems by Nick Souter (ILEX, 2007)

Improving the Quality of Your Creativity

“Creativity is originality plus usefulness” (Russell Eisenman)

If we wish to improve the quality of our creativity (whatever our preferred creativity may be), subjecting it to evaluation by experts and by ourselves is a powerful way to improving it. Below are some ways to improving the quality of our ideas. Try them out on your ideas. They will provide useful prompts both to increasing their originality, usefulness and also their appropriateness. Here are some suggestions:

§  Get feedback on your idea from some non-experts too (beside from the experts). The non-expert can often see problems that experts may not, and ask questions that can make you review some aspect of your idea, and make suggestions that can improve it. Get feedback from both.

§  Take some time off from your idea. Idea is “exhilarating but it is also fatiguing”. You will come back to your idea refreshed and very likely spot flaws or improvements that you overlooked earlier.

§  Try many small improvements to your idea. Each improvement makes and may provoke many small changes and adjustments. The more of these improvements and adjustments are made, the more distinctive and effective your idea may become.

§  Think of the “customers” or beneficiaries of your idea. What would they find interesting and useful about your idea and what would they consider objectionable? By taking the perspective of your idea’s “customers,” you may be able to think of ways to increasing the impact of your idea.

§  Think of effective ways of making others aware of your idea. It would be a shame of you have an idea and nobody becomes aware of it. Appropriate publicity may earn you the additional bonus of attracting to you others working on similar matters, and interacting with them may stimulate you into further idea.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

How to Maximizing a New Idea

Danny Cox write in his book Seize the Day, “Even as new ideas are being developed, their horizons should be stretched. The world is full of useful products that resulted from attempts to solve problems that had nothing to do with the idea’s ultimate application. Part of remaining open to new ideas is to remain open to new applications. In finding broader or different applications for new ideas, you can also recruit support from other sectors that wouldn’t have had any previous reason to be involved.” Then he outlines few questions that we should ask ourselves about the new idea:

Can the idea be put to uses other than the use it was originally designed for?

Can the idea be modified in any way?

Can the idea be reduced in scale or expanded?

Can the idea be upgraded?

Can the idea be substituted?

Can the idea be rearranged?

Can the idea be reversed?

Can the idea be combined with another idea?

Then before you launched your new idea, ask also the following questions.  These questions are helpful guide to making a go or not go decision on a new idea:

Does the new idea make better use of most peoples’ time, talent and energy?

Does the idea improve operations or product quality?

Does the new idea cut waste or unnecessary work?

Does the new idea improve working conditions and customer service?

A new idea doesn’t have to solve the problems of the world to be worth the shot. As long as a creative new concept meets the criteria set forth, it’s a valuable addition to your life. You will always have to use your best judgment and exercise discrimination. That’s simply part of being a responsible person. I know you can do it!

Maximize your idea.

“The answer is out there,” Thomas Edison said, “Find it!”

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

9 Types of Intelligence: All of Us are Creative (But Different)

Most people who think that they are not creative say to themselves: “I’m not creative.” It is far from the truth! The truth is: All of us are born to be creative. If we believe we are not creative, we act as if we are not creative and so we become not creative. We make excuses, we don’t give ourselves a chance, we afraid. However, if we think we are creative, we can become more creative, be more confident and have more faith in ourselves. We must first learn to think and say to ourselves: “I am creative!” This is the first step.

Again, all of us are creative. But “we differ only in the degree and scope of our creativity. There is no one person who is creative in all fields of human endeavor,” write Dr. Yew Kam Keong. I can play guitar, but you can’t. You can calculate complex account figures, but I can’t. Does it mean I’m not creative? No. We are just different. Howard Gardner, a professor at the Harvard University believes that all of us possess nine intelligence to varying extents. You may possess three or more intelligence that may differ from mine (or probably as similar to mine) but nevertheless – you and I are creative. What intelligence do you possess?

9 Types of Gardner’s Intelligence:

1)    Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”). Creativity in the human ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) as well as sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations). 

2)    Musical Intelligence (“Musical Smart”). Creativity in the capacity to discern pitch, rhythm, timbre, and tone.  This intelligence enables us to recognize, create, reproduce, and reflect on music, as demonstrated by composers, conductors, musicians, vocalist, and sensitive listeners. 

3)    Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart). Creativity in the ability to calculate, quantify, consider propositions and hypotheses, and carry out complete mathematical operations. 

4)    Existential Intelligence. Creativity with sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why do we die, and how did we get here.

5)    Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart”). Creativity in the ability to understand and interact effectively with others.

6)    Bodily-Kinaesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”). Creativity in the capacity to manipulate objects and use a variety of physical skills. 

7)    Linguistic Intelligence (“Word Smart”). Creativity in the ability to think in words and to use language to express and appreciate complex meanings.

8)    Intra-personal Intelligence (“Self Smart”). Creativity in Intra-personal in the capacity to understand oneself and one’s thoughts and feelings, and to use such knowledge in planning and directing one’s life.

9)    Spatial Intelligence (“Picture Smart”). Creativity in the ability to think in three dimensions.  Core capacities include mental imagery, spatial reasoning, image manipulation, graphic and artistic skills, and an active imagination. 

So, don’t ask are you creative, but how are you creative?

Ask yourself, which of Gardner’s Intelligence dominate in you?

How can you develop your dominants intelligence?

And how can you improve other intelligence and be more creative?

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

My Top 17 Book on Innovative and Creativity Lists

I wrote this article on my other blog Word Speaks Today. Here are my Top 17 Book on Innovative and Creativity Lists. Enjoy! Click HERE also if you want to read my TOP 20 Book on Personal Development Lists.

“Creativity is a characteristic given to all human beings at birth” (Abraham Maslow)

Christianity must be creative because first and foremost, we follow a creative God. There is nothing more needed in Christianity today than creativity. We don’t need more doctrinal precision and biblical knowledge, more conferences and programs. We don’t need more identical youth groups copied from the megachurch on TV. We don’t want to hear another worship song with the same beat, the same tempo, the same words, and the same three chords as every other worship song. We don’t need to follow Planet Shakers or Hillsongs or True Worshippers. We need to be original and contextualize! Thus, creativity is needed.

Best example of creative person and Lord is Jesus. The Scripture says, “He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make” (John 1:3) If you think that the universe is wonderful and it is an act of creative Being – think Jesus, the Author of the universe! We are also made in the image of Him, so we’re at some point – creative people.

There are people who are good at writing books on creativity. We should read it. Reading books on creativity doesn’t mean you will be creative instantaneously. You are God’s creation, you already creative. But to be more creative, you need to cultivate your creativity through reading and applications. Here are some of my books recommendation for you to consider reading with a cautious, prayer and wisdom (Why top 17 books? Because top 10 or 15 or 20 is so mainstream):

1)    You Are Creative: Let Your Creativity Bloom, 3^rd Edition by Dr. Yew Kam Keong

2)    A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative by Roger von Oech

3)    Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius by Michael Michalko

4)    How to Get Ideas, New Expended Edition by Jack Foster

5)    How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day by Michael J. Gelb

6)    How to Think Like Einstein: Simple Ways to Break the Rules and Discover Your Hidden Genius by Scott Thorpe

7)    Buzan's book of Genius: And How to Unleash Your Own by Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene

8)    Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step by Edward De Bono

9)    Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono

10) How to Have a Beautiful Mind by Edward de Bono

11) The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought by Vincent R. Ruggiero

12) Becoming a Life Change Artist: 7 Creative Skills to Reinvent Yourself at Any Stage of Life by Fred Mandell

13) On Creativity: Awakening the Creative Mind by Leo Ann Mean

14) What Would Apple Do?: How You Can Learn from Apple and Make Money by Dirk Beckmann

15) Business Creativity: A Practical Guide by Jodie Newman

16) The Power of Innovative Thinking by Jim Wheeler

17) Creative Bible Study: A Manual for Training Bible Study Leaders by Ada Lum

If you want to read any of this books, but you can’t find it in bookstores near you (Poor thing!)
Then come and borrow the book from me ya. God bless you with creativity. Amen.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Characteristics of a Creative Person #5: Stay Flexible at All Times

“The creative person is flexible – he is able to change as the situation changes,

to break habits, to face indecision and changes in conditions without undue stress.

He is not threatened by the unexpected as rigid, inflexible people are”

(Frank Goble)

New ideas sometimes need to change direction, shape, size and composition along their developmental path. None of that upsets the creative person. Although it’s more convenient for new ideas to work perfectly the moment they’re conceived, that rarely happens. A creative person will nurse a new idea along and make whatever investment in it that’s required.

Part of remaining flexible is the willingness to abandon an idea if it proves unworthy of further development. Forcing a square peg through a round hole for the sake of pride is not the kind of attitude you’ll find in a truly creative person. Creative people don’t think in terms of failure, but in terms of learning from every experience. To the creative person a failed idea represents knowledge gained.

Creative people stay flexible at all times

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

*I recommend you to read Danny Cox and John Hoover’s Seize the Day (Book-mart Press, 1994), “Step Two: Developing Strengths” page 77-118.

Characteristics of a Creative Person #4: Develop Comparisons to Illustrate Points

“I shut my eyes in order to see” (Paul Gauguin)

It is not enough to simply speak in terms of numbers when portraying the probable outcome of a new idea. There’s always more to an outcome than numbers. A creative person will adopt a metaphor or two to help others best get the complete picture.

An increase of 100 percent, for example, is like doubling a hundred ringgit. Doubling a hundred ringgit is like printing a hundred ringgit with banknote printer. Etc. In personal terms, learning a new word every day and using it in a sentence three or more times is like earning and advanced degree in English language. Studying a new language (as English is not my first language) means introducing an entirely new nation and society to your life. The creative person finds lots of comparisons and similarities to use in communicating ideas.

Creative people develop comparisons to illustrate points or ideas

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

*I recommend you to read Danny Cox and John Hoover’s Seize the Day (Book-mart Press, 1994), “Step Two: Developing Strengths” page 77-118.

Characteristics of a Creative Person #3: Eager to Test New Ideas

“To swear off making mistakes is very easy.

All you have to do is swear off having ideas”

(Leo Burnett)

Even before a new idea is completely finished, refined, formulated, etc. it can be put before others for feedback and evaluation. A creative person does this because the input of others will no doubt have a beneficial effect on the quality of the idea as it reaches maturity. Keeping a new idea under wraps until it is unveiled as new policy excludes most of what’s good about the creative process.

Not only do people resent new ideas being forced upon them without the opportunity to participate in the development of the idea, it’s possible that there was a better idea available that nobody got the opportunity to promote. Perhaps the new idea, once it’s launched, proves to be a failure. The liabilities and vulnerabilities of the new idea could have been exposed in a less embarrassing development process that encouraged input from others. Creative people put new ideas out for maximum scrutiny as soon as possible in order to tune up the program.

A creative person is eager to test new ideas

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

*I recommend you to read Danny Cox and John Hoover’s Seize the Day (Book-mart Press, 1994), “Step Two: Developing Strengths” page 77-118.

Characteristics of a Creative Person #2: Open to as Many Alternatives as Possible

“The best way to get a good idea is to get a lots of ideas”

(Linus Pauling)

People who are closed off to new ideas and suggestions don’t make many friends. They also don’t make good bosses, employees, spouses, parents, teachers, ministers, youth workers, etc. Creative people are never threatened by new ideas. On the contrary, they encourage new ideas and outlooks. A creative person appropriates time to hear and absorb new and off-beat solutions.

Listening and considering the new and the unorthodox doesn’t mean that you must act irresponsibly and do weird things just to call yourself creative and inquisitive. You might end up adopting very little of what you hear and learn. However, being open to the earth-shattering proposal when and if it comes is how you make opportunity in life. As you know, people can’t actually manufacture opportunities. Making opportunity in life refers to the manner of living that remains open and ready to great new ideas when they emerge. Being vigilant and prepared is impossible when your eyes, ears and mind are closed.

Creative people are open to as many alternatives as possible

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

*I recommend you to read Danny Cox and John Hoover’s Seize the Day (Book-mart Press, 1994), “Step Two: Developing Strengths” page 77-118.