Change Your Life: Be Hopeful and Optimistic

a movie

Tal Ben-Shahar in his book Choose the Life You Want writes that until 1954, running the mile under four minutes was considered a physical impossibility. Doctors and scientists all agreed that the four-minute mark represented the physiological limit of human ability. The best runners in the world confirmed the experts’ view by closing in on the four-minute mile but never bettering it. Runners spoke of the “brick wall,” an impenetrable barrier that existed at the four-minute mark.

Despite the prevailing conventional wisdom, Roger Bannister, a medical student at Oxford University, believed that he could run a mile in under four minutes. He was dismissed by other athletes and the scientific community as detached, unrealistic. On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister broke the world record for the mile, running the distance in three minutes and fifty-nine seconds. The impossible had become reality! But there is more: only six weeks after Bannister’s achievement, John Landy, an Australian runner, ran the mile in three minutes and fifty-eight seconds. A year later, three runners broke the four-minute barrier in a single race. Since 1954, the four-minute mile has been surpassed thousands of times. The impenetrable barrier, it turned out, was a product of the mind – and it was broken by the mind.

The lesson to be learned from this story is that our beliefs – whether we are optimistic (I can!) or pessimistic (I can’t…) – play a significant role in creating our reality. This does not mean that we can throw reality out the window and that everything that we hope and wish for will come true, but it does imply that being hopeful and optimistic about life and believe in one selves can make it happen. George Bernard Shaw once says, “You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’” Where do your beliefs limit you? What barriers can you overcome on your way to fulfilling your dreams?

Don’t be a pessimist,

Be hopeful and optimistic.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Change Your Life: Bring Humour and Lightness to Life

“A person without a sense of humour is like a wagon without springs.

It’s jolted by every pebble on the road” (Henry Ward Beecher)

I read psychologists use the term cognitive reconstruction to describe our ability to look at a situation from different perspectives. In difficult times and in tough situations it can be beneficial for us to look at things from a new angle, including seeing the humorous element – the lighter and brighter side – of our troubles. Of course, there are times when solemnity and gravity are the appropriate response, but more often than not we take ourselves – and life in general – too seriously, and we miss out on the comical and the playfulness of life. I personally think that Jesus was also a humorous and fun person to be with. If He was a serious man all the time, why do you think that children were drawn to him and wanted to be around him?

“After God created the world, He made man and woman,” writes Guillermo Mordillo, “Then, to keep the whole thing from collapsing, He invented humour.” Gordon W. Allport said, “So many tangles in life are ultimately hopeless that we have no appropriate sword other than laughter.” Regaining that spark of laughter and fun that we may have lost long time ago will make life more pleasant, contribute to our psychological and physical health, and will, of course – make us more pleasant to be around. “Anyone without a sense of humour is at the mercy of everyone else” (William Rotsler).

Don’t treat life with solemnity and gravity,

Bring humour and lightness to life.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

 References:

1. Choose the Life You Want: 101 Ways to Create You Own Road to Happiness by Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD (New York: The Experiment, 2012) Buy this book!

2. Exuberance: The Passion for Life by K.R. Jamison (New York: Vintage, 2005).

Change Your Life: Accept Reality and Act on It

“Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be”
(Jack Welch)

While we can change certain things, other things are out of our control. And if something is really out of our control, we have to learn to accept it regardless of how much we wish it were different. We may not like the law of gravity and may hope it did not exist (so we can fly!), and yet most of us accept it and learn to live with it. If we refuse to accept the reality of this law, we will not survive for long, and even if we do, we will experience constant frustration. The same applies to every fact of reality, such as the fact that it is impossible to literally go back in time and undo something that was done, or the fact that all of us have some real physical limitations.

Instead of evading reality and spending our life engaged in wishful thinking, we ought to spend our time and effort on real thinking. “You cannot tailor-make the situations in life,” said Zig Ziglar, “but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations.” See things as it really are, but then don’t let those that are beyond our control paralyzed us. Facts and our limitations may seem impossible to change – accept reality - but we have the choice of how we are to react about it (attitude) and act on it (positive actions).

Don’t refuse to accept reality,

Accept reality and act on it.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

 Reference: Choose the Life You Want: 101 Ways to Create You Own Road to Happiness by Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD (New York: The Experiment, 2012) Buy this book!

Change Your Life: Say 'Yes' Only When Your Vision is Served (Don't Refrain from Saying 'No')

“A ‘no’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than

a ‘yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble”
(Mahatma Gandhi)

‘No’ is one of the shortest words in the English language, and one of the easiest to pronounce – and yet it is one of the most difficult words for so many of us to utter. We often end up saying ‘yes’ because we want to please, because we don’t want to let others down, or because we fear that their disappointment will turn to anger, which will be directed toward us. We forget, however, that sometimes saying ‘yes’ to others is tantamount to saying ‘no’ to ourselves.

To become more joyful and more productive, we have to focus our sights on the vision that God gives to us. This implies learning to say ‘no’ more often – to people as well as opportunities (even though how good they are) – which is not easy. Sometime we have to say ‘no’ to lots of good things in order to say ‘yes’ to the best ones. It means prioritizing, choosing activities that we really want to be involved in, while letting go of others.

“’No’ is a complete sentence and so often we forget that. When we don't want to do something we can simply smile and say ‘no’. We don't have to explain ourselves, we can just say ‘No’. Early on my journey I found developing the ability to say ‘no’ expanded my ability to say ‘yes’ and really mean it. My early attempts at saying ‘no’ were often far from graceful but with practice even my ‘no’ came from a place of love. Love yourself enough to be able to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’” (Susan Gregg)

“Let today mark a new beginning for you. Give yourself permission to say ‘No’ without feeling guilty, mean, or selfish. Anybody who gets upset and/or expects you to say ‘Yes’ all of the time clearly doesn’t have your best interest at heart. Always remember: You have a right to say ‘No’ without having to explain yourself. Be at peace with your decisions” (Stephanie Lahart)

“Say ‘no’ to everything, so you can say ‘yes’ to the one thing” (Richie Norton)

Don’t refrain from saying ‘no’

Say ‘yes’ only when your vision is served

P.s: Sometime ‘no’ is the kindest word.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Change Your Life: Carry Yourself with Strength and Confidence

“A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind”

(Morihei Ueshiba)

When we walk into a room with slumped shoulders, dragging our feet, or with our head down, we communicate lack of confidence and energy. When we enter with a natural posture, with a strong stride, shoulders open and relaxed, we send a very different – and positive – message to those around us. So crucially, the way we hold our body sends a message not only to others but also to ourselves. When we walk like someone who is confident, we actually become more confident; the physical act of sitting up straight actually boosts our motivation and increases our energy; when we shake hands firmly, we become assertive.

Assuming the posture of how we would be if we were more assertive and energized in fact boosts our confidence and invigorates us. Our behaviour changes our attitude. Sit up straight. Walk confidently. Carry yourself in a way that communicates to the world – and to yourself – strength and confidence.

Don’t neglect your posture,

Carry yourself with strength and confidence.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

 References:

1. Choose the Life You Want: 101 Ways to Create You Own Road to Happiness by Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD (New York: The Experiment, 2012)

2. The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem: The Definitive Work on Self-Esteem by the Leading Pioneer in the Field by N. Branden (New York: Bantam, 1994).

Creativity is an Expression of Mental Health

Vincent Ryan Ruggiero in his book The Art of Thinking writes that one common image of the creative person is reinforced by a number of low-budget horror films. That image depicts a wild-eyed mad scientist, shuffling nervously around a laboratory (pronounced lab-or-a-try in an ominous tone of voice), rubbing hands together evilly and drooling. Many people really believe the image: They view creative person and lunatic as near synonyms.  Vincent says that they are – wrong!

In the following passage, Harold H. Anderson summaries a leading psychological view concerning the relative sanity of creative people. (Endorsers include such respected thinkers as Erick Fromm, Rollo May, Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, P.J. Guilford, and Ernest Hilgard).

“The consensus of these authors is that creativity is an expression of a mentally or psychologically healthy person, that creativity is associated with wholeness, unity, honesty, integrity, personal involvement, enthusiasm, high motivation, and action.

There is also agreement that neurosis either accompanies or causes a degraded quality of one’s creativity. For neurotic persons and persons with other forms of mental disease [who are, at the same time, creative] such assumptions as the following are offered: that these persons are creative in spite of their disease; that they are producing below the achievements they would show without the disease; that they are on the downgrade, or that they are pseudo creative, that is, they may have brilliant original ideas which, because of the neurosis, they do not communicate.”

In summary: Creativity is the expression of mental health. Rejoices!

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

The Use of Drug Hinders Creativity

Although many people seem determined to resist this fact, it has long been acknowledged by those who have studied creativity. If liquor and other drugs have been such a boon to original thought, one researcher ask, why hasn’t the corner saloon (or the backstreet) produced more creative achievers? No one, as yet, has answered this question satisfactorily. Nor is anyone likely to. The reason drugs harm creativity, Brewster Ghiselin explains, is that “their action reduces judgment, and the activities they provoke are hallucinatory rather than illuminating.” What is needed, he argues, is not artificial stimulation of the mind, but increased control and direction.

The use of drugs and liquor as stimulants is sometimes part of a larger misconception that might be termed the bohemian mystique. This misconception is the notion that a dissipated lifestyle somehow casts off intellectual restraints and opens the mind to new ideas. Eliot Dole Hutchinson offers an assessment that most researchers would endorse:

“Narrow streets, shabby studios, undisciplined living and artistic ballyhoo about local colour may all have their place in pseudo artistry, but they have little to do with genuine creation. Nor is the necessary creative freedom clearly associated with them at all. Bohemianism squanders its freedom, returns from its hours of dissipation less effective. Creative discipline capitalizes its leisure, returns refreshed, reinvigorated, eager.”

References:

§  Vincent Ryan Ruggiero’s The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, 8^th Edition (Pearson Education, Inc., 2007) page 89

§  Eliot Dole Hutchinson’s How to Think Creatively (Nashville: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1949) page 79

Having control and direction increased creativity

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Starbucks Experience and the Idea of Small Win

For those of you not wanting to add on additional calories, ask the barista to make your drink "skinny".
They will use nonfat milk, no whip, and sugar-free

“Many great ideas start small at the beginning” (Richard Angelus)

When Howard Schultz founded what would become Starbucks, the baristas wore bow ties, nonstop opera music played, and the store had no chairs. “We made a lot of mistakes,” Schultz regularly acknowledges. Schultz and his team learned from them as they did countless other experiments. Drawing upon his observations of Italian coffee houses, Schultz’s grand vision was to create a different kind of coffee experience that he called the “Starbucks experience”: where people experience great coffee in a communal place. As for the specifics, the Starbucks store and experience of today looks almost nothing like Schultz’s original concept.

The Starbucks we know emerged by carefully adapting to customer feedback through a series of small wins. In fact, Schultz described Starbuck’s mentality as: “the value of dogmatism and flexibility.” As long as ideas were in accordance with company principles, Schultz believed they should just say yes to customer requests.

So, for example, Schultz was initially determined to avoid using non-fat milk since he didn’t think it tasted as good as regular milk and because it was at odds with the Italian coffee experience. When customers kept requesting non-fat drinks, Schultz relented. The success of those drinks became an important small win and soon much more: non-fat milk would grow to account for almost half of Starbucks’s lattes and cappuccinos. “In hindsight, the decision looks like a no-brainer,” Schultz wrote in Pour Your Heart Into It, but that direction wasn’t obvious; it was the fast pace of sales that proved the point.

[Reference: Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries by Peter Sims (Free Press, 2011), page 146-147]

Small wins, win.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Nurture Creativity: Laugh Out Loud (L.O.L.)

If you're not laugh or at least smile by this photo, you're too serious... Repent!

“If you lose the power to laugh, you lose the power to think” (Clarence Darrow)

Jack Foster in his book How to Get Ideas writes that having fun is one of the best ways to get our minds into idea-condition. He tells that usually in creative departments of advertising agencies a writer and an art director work together as a team on a project. In some departments and occasionally in the ones that Jack is headed, three or four teams work on the same project. “When that happened in my departments,” write Jack, “I always knew which team would come up with the best ideas, the best ads, the best television commercials, the best billboards. It was the team that was having the most fun.” He observes that the ones who were having fun – smiling and laughing – generally always did find great ideas. He continues, “Were they enjoying themselves because they were coming up with ideas? Or were they coming up with ideas because they were enjoying themselves?” What do you think? “The latter. No question about it,” he answered.  

How many times have you walked secretly observing your office or classroom and noticed that people are laughing and having fun? Probably not many. My girlfriend said that her class was never boring because she always make sure that her students are having fun while studying. No wonder her students like her very much. She is creative. And creative people are not boring (most of them). My work also deal with students. I know that if I want my students to be more creative, I should give them more time to play and think.  If you are negative, you can´t be creative. Your thoughts affect your attitude, which in turn affects your behaviour. Negative behaviour almost always will block your creative juices because in turn, it will affect your attitude. And your attitude will affects other’s attitudes too.

Albert Einstein know the important of having fun when he said that “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” I once read that children laugh more than 300 times a day, whereas adults laugh less than 20 times a day. It tells me that somehow people become too serious and lose the ability to laugh while growing up. “Serious people have few ideas,” said Paul Valery, “people with ideas are never serious.” If you’re too serious, try to regain the lost joy of childhood by becoming more playful and humorous. You must be serious about not taking yourself so seriously. Laugh out loud. Smile a little bit more. Jokes around. Learn to be humorous. It will boost your immune system, reduces stress, give you a natural feel-good high, and nourish your brain and helps keep it alert and active but most important of all – you’ll become more creative.

Of course there are such people who are creative but don’t know how to have fun. These people are either rare or if they exist at all, aren’t worth to be your role model. You, have fun. You, please smile. You, laugh out loud! You, be creative. Michael Schrage says, "Serious play is not an oxymoron; it is the essence of innovation."

Yes, laugh out loud!  

God, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Nurture Creativity: Ideas Worth Sharing

Pic from: andrewkonrad.com

“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” (George Bernard Shaw)

I love watching TED Talks whenever I need inspirations to write or simply just curious to know random-but-informative stuffs. TED is a non-profit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). Very interesting! TED believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world. Their agenda is to make great ideas accessible and spark conversation. Their tagline is my favourite: “ideas worth spreading.”

We must learn to share ideas. I remember when I was in a primary school, teacher asked us to study and do our homework alone. No copying or discussing. Maybe that was why I refused or reluctant to share my ideas and have this spirit of competitiveness with my friends throughout my schooling years. Only after I went to the university, I slowly learn to share ideas. The history of great inventors and creative people proof that nobody is a self-made. No musician, artist or writer ever achieved greatness without studying the works of earlier masters and discussing thoughts with their contemporaries. Ideas are meant to be share.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak shared ideas together and foundered Apple (They also shared a love of practical jokes and technological challenges). Bill Gates and Paul Allen shared ideas and Microsoft was born. Malaysian Christian students then studied at University Malaya in Singapore saw the potential of students impacting students in campus. They shared ideas and their burden for the student ministry. Hence Fellowship of Evangelical Students (FES) Malaysia came to be. All of these happened because people share ideas.

Many people are worried about sharing ideas with others. They get very protective of those ideas. They afraid that people will steal their ideas. It's okay. I understand, it happened to me. But I know this very well also that it’s better to share ideas and work collaboratively than isolate yourself. Take risk. Of course, I’m not encourage you to share everything including all the finest details of your ideas. What I want us to do is to be more open about an idea or two and asking for feedback – especially, that constructive criticisms – has always work better than working alone. Present your ideas. Consider asking your trusted friends, peers and colleagues for their thoughts. Try your online friends as well. Now, steal those ideas. In many cases, they might be able to connect you with someone else who can help turn your idea into reality. But, you won’t know unless you talk to others openly. “For good ideas and true innovation,” write Margaret Heffernan, “you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate.”

The more you share your ideas,

The more ideas you’ll get,

The more options and adjustments you can make,

The more choices (that’s matter) you’ll have to make a good decision and action.

There is a time to keep secret, there is a time to share your idea.

That’s what creative people do.

God, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Nurture Creativity: "A" for Passion, "E" for Boring

“Passion drives creativity. Fuel it, protect it, tend it, grow it.

Manage it as the renewable resource it is”

(Marty Neumeier, The 46 Rules of Genius)

Passion is everything. Creativity that work doesn’t happen without it. Passion plays an important role in creative pursuits. At first, passion sparks our interest and a relentless desire to focus and learn. During the tough times and as idea development become harder, passion keeps us going. Yo-Yo Ma, a French and American cellist, said, “Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you're passionate about something, then you're more willing to take risks.” Many of the greatest ideas are fuelled by passion. For example, Google is fuelled by passion for information, Virgin is passionate about customer service, and Apple is for design.

When I was a kid, I have many interests and passions. I love drawing, playing video games, create my own toys, making Batman costume and gadgets (and tested it on my sidekick-childhood friend), watching Ultraman, and almost obsessive of becoming a Superman. My childhood passions then change as I walk into adulthood and I find new things to be passionate about. But as I get older, I become focused on my passions such as teaching, reading, writing, theology and creativity. All of these becomes key part of my life and actually almost defines who I am. If you want me to fall asleep while you’re talking, talk about car and clothes. But if you want to hear my sense of excitement and energy, talk about books and theology.

Now, everyone’s passion is different, I know. But let me ask: What is your passion in life? You must dig deep to identify your true passion. Remember, passion drive creativity. “Passion makes the world go around,” wrote Henri-Frédéric Amiel, “It is the juice that drives creativity. When you care enough to put your heart into your work, passion will keep you going through thick and thin.” Do what you love. The moment you find your passion can be one of the most fulfilling moment in your life. Doing what you love will lead you to success and sustain you when you fail. Ask yourself, ‘What makes your heart sing?’ Follow your heart.

When I think again about my first sentence above, I changed my mind.

Passion is not everything.

But then again, without passion life is boring.

God, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Nurture Creativity: Read Widely like Google Search, Read Purposefully like Playing Archery

“Reading remains an unsurpassed vehicle for

the transmission of interesting new ideas and perspectives”

(Steven Johnson, TED Talks)

During my school time, there were three things that I hate in the world most: English language, writing and reading. Now strangely as it sound (and thankfully), I love all of them. I figure it out that if I want to grow I must challenge myself, keep pushing and do what I initially hate doing because I know that it is worth my investment, energy and time. Each and every one of us has the potential to grow. It's just a matter of practice and doing it regularly. In this way, we train ourselves to be more useful and – creative.

So now I love reading. One of the ways you can be more creative is by reading on a very wide range of subjects. Not just any reading will do, though. Blog posts, short articles, magazines, websites, newspapers and the like are all a fun diversion and beneficial, but they simply won’t turn on your creative juices as effective as the way good selective books will. “The reading which counts,” said Leon Gutterman, “is the reading which, in making a man think, stirs and exercises and polishes the edge of his mind.”

Let me give you an advice: you can learn anything, but you can’t read everything. So pick your subjects with a sense of purpose. For example, one of my goals this year is to write a book on creativity, so I should stuff my brain more by focus reading on the subject of creativity, innovations, ideas, arts, inventions, history and biographies/autobiographies of creative minds. Of course, insights and inspirations may come from other sources too. That’s for sure. So read widely (like Google search) and read purposefully (like playing archery). Randomly and focus reading. Both. 

Here are why reading can boost your creativity: Reading will:

§  Stimulate, nourish and broaden your mind (stagnant thinking is dangerous)

§  Help you to think out of the box (look at the things from a different perspective)

§  Add knowledge that can be used to spark ideas

§  Develop your vocabulary (especially for creative writings)

§  Enhance concentration and discipline (focus, focus, focus)

§  Sharpen language and communication skills (boring people are generally non-readers)

§  Helps you to think and gain more ideas from others

§  Improve your imagination (better than watching movies!)

§  Release your stress level and help you to relax

§  Build self-esteem, positive thinking and confidence (except when you read ghost stories)

§  Put you in the range of highly effective people all over the world (most successful people are readers)

§  Ignite your passion to read more. Reading is fun once you get into the habit (Fun = creative state).

§  Reading books, especially, will change your life!

“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.” (Victor Hugo)

So, read widely like Google search and read purposefully like playing archery.

God, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Nurture Creativity: Steal Like An Artist!

“Art is theft” (Pablo Picasso)

Great Artist Steal. Pablo Picasso is also often quoted as saying: “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” T.S. Elliot, poet and writer, admits, “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different. The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different from that from which it was torn.” Nothing is Original. Jim Jarmusch explains, “Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent.”

Find Something Worth Stealing Today. “Every artist gets asked the question, ‘Where do you get your ideas?’” writes Austin Kleon, “The honest artist answers, ‘I steal them.’ How does an artist look at the world? First, you figure out what’s worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing. That’s about all there is to it. When you look at the world this way, you stop worrying about what’s ‘good’ and what’s ‘bad’ – there’s only stuff worth stealing, and stuff that’s not worth stealing. Everything is up for grabs. If you don’t find something worth stealing today, you might find it worth stealing tomorrow or a month or a year from now.” Don’t Neglect Ideas, Take It. As Mark Twain wisely suggests, “It is better to take what does not belong to you than to let it lie around neglected.”

New Idea = Combinations of One or More Previous Ideas. Carl G. Jung, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, observed: “Our souls as well as our bodies are composed of individual elements which were all already present in the ranks of our ancestors. The ‘newness’ in the individual psyche is an endlessly varied recombination of age-old components.” Austin Kleon also wrote, “Just as you have a familial genealogy, you also have a genealogy of ideas. You don’t get to pick your family, but you can pick your teachers… your friends… the music you listen to… the book you read… the movie you see.” Be Apprentice to Great Thinkers. “Chew one thinker – writer, artist, activist, role model – you really love. Study everything there is to know about that thinker.” “The great thing about dead or remote masters is that they can’t refuse you as apprentice. You can learn whatever you wants from them. They left their lesson plans in their work.”

The title of this article is 100% steal from Austin Kleon’s book Steal Like An Artist

95% quotes (a.k.a. steal) from various writers
3% edited and modified from people’s writings
only 2% my original words. Come on, steal like an artist!

“If you steal from one author, it’s plagiarism;

if you steal from many, it’s research.” (Wilson Mizner)

God, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Nurture Creativity: Be Crazy, Think Differently

After watching Computer History Museum channel interview Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs: The Authorized Biography, I instantly mesmerized by Steve Jobs’ personalities. I then watched BBC’s Steve Jobs Documentary: Billion Dollar Hippy and Discovery Channel’s iGenius: How Steve Jobs Changed the World on Youtube. After that, I went to Popular Bookstore to get any books on Steve and I found a very great book offer of Jay Elliot’s The Steve Jobs Way: iLeadership for a New Generation for RM15 only! Usually it’s RM85.90. Wow! Awesome!

When I or anyone think of intuitive leadership, innovative thinker, visionary, and world changing creative-idea guy, one cannot not think of Steve Jobs and his company Apple. Have you heard it famous “Think Different” campaign before? Not long after some conflicts and leadership problems in his own founded company, Steve Jobs returned to Apple. When he returned, the iconic “The Crazy Ones” commercial was aired as part of the larger “Think Different” campaign. What was less known at the time was that Steve Jobs write the commercial himself. He wanted to revive the company and inspired not only its customers but its employees as well. The version of “The Crazy Ones” that Steve himself narrates didn’t aired until after his dead. If you already watch the commercial, you will remember this legendary speech:

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Mind you, there’s a fine line between creativity and insanity. I don’t mean (I think Steve Jobs also don’t mean) clinical insanity – there’s nothing good about that. But when I say “Be Crazy, Think Differently” I mean a kind of functional craziness that should inhabit our creativity. That wacky and insane-sounding concepts of ideas are what I’m talking about. Be crazy. Remember, not all crazy ideas will worked out. Sometimes crazy ideas has to come at the right time. But what is sure is that the world need “The Crazy Ones” – are you the one?

Be crazy, think differently

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

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)