Genius is 99 Percent Inspiration

The celebrated inventor Thomas Edison is well known for his statement: “Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” While I believe that hard work is essential to a life of real success and fulfilment, I think that being filled with a deep sense of inspiration and commitment to making a difference in the world is an even more important attribute.

All of the great geniuses of the world were inspired and driven by their desire to enrich the lives of others. When you study their lives, you will discover that this desire became almost an obsession for most of them. It consumed them and occupied every cell of their minds. Edison was inspired to manifest the visions he saw on the picture screen of his imagination into reality. Jonas Salk, who discovered the polio vaccine, was inspired to help others from suffering from this dreaded affliction. And Marie Curie, the great Nobel Prize-winning scientist, was inspired to serve humanity through her discovery of radium. As Woodrow Wilson said, “You are not here to merely make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”

How inspired are you in your own life? Do you jump out of bed on Monday mornings or do you simply lie there with a sense of emptiness flooding through your body? If your level of inspiration is lower than you know it should be, read a good self-help book or listen to a motivating audiocassette program. Attend a public lecture by someone you admire or spend a few hours studying the biography of one of your heroes. Start spending time with people who are passionate about what they are doing in their lives and dedicated to making the best out of life. With a healthy dose of inspiration, you will quickly raise your life to a whole new plane of living.

[From Life Lessons from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma]

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Making Ideas Happen

Creative types have a problem. We have so many great ideas, but most of them, well, never see the light of day. I wonder, "Why do most ideas never happen?" The reason, as this book suggests, is that our own creative habits get in the way. For example, "our tendency to generate new ideas often gets in the way of executing the ones we have." I recommend reading this book Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky. I enjoyed and underline many good points in this book. Weekend is great! Oh, I have to go… and make my idea(s) happen.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Nurture Creativity: Never Lose a Holy Curiosity

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”

(Albert Einstein)

All of us come into the world curious. Since the day we were born we have within us an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. When we were babies, we love to explore and learn new things. We were like little (mad) scientists who innocently enjoy experiment with everything in our environment. As soon as we can start to speak, we ask question after question, “Why the sky is blue?” “Where I’m coming from?” “Why I need to eat?!” When my little cute cousin asked me a question, I answered it, she then have a dozen more questions after that. Unstoppable!

In his book Think Like Da Vinci, Michael J. Gelb said that as a child, Leonardo Da Vinci possessed an intense curiosity about the world around him. Da Vinci wrote this on his notebook: “Do you not see how many and how varied are the actions which are performed by men alone? Do you not see how many different kinds of animals there are, and also the trees and plants and flowers? What variety of hilly and level places, of springs, rivers, cities, public and private buildings; of instruments fitted for man’s use; of diverse costumes, ornaments and arts?”

Elsewhere Da Vinci adds: “I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand. Why shells existed on the tops of mountains along with the imprints of coral and plants and seaweed usually found in the sea. Why the thunder lasts a longer time than that which causes it, and why immediately on its creation the lightning becomes visible to the eye while thunder require time to travel. How the various circles of water from around the spot which has been struck by a stone, and why a bird sustains itself in the air. These questions and other strange phenomena engage my thought throughout my life.” What a curious man! No wonder he is known today as the greatest of all geniuses. He was intensely curious. Never stop.

All great thinkers and creatives, like Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison and Richard Feynman never stop asking confounding questions with the same intensity throughout their lives. Their bodies may grow old but their minds are like children with “an insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning” as Michael J. Gelb defines curiosity in his book. “I have no special talent,” said Albert Einstein, “I am only passionately curious.” If you want to nurture your creativity – be curious. Curiosity makes your mind active and you will become more observant of new ideas. It also opens up new possibilities and brings excitement into your life. For me, being curious is not only to gather more information or for the sake of being smart, but it is a way of learning something new.

To be more creative, you need to possess an intense curiosity. Donald Latumahina, Lifehack expert, suggests 6 tips to develop curiosity: 1) Keep an open mind. To be open to learn, unlearn and relearn; 2) Don’t take things as granted. Dig deeper beneath the surface of what is around you; 3) Ask questions relentlessly. What, why, when, who, where, and how are the best friends of curious people; 4) Don’t label something as boring. Curious people are unlikely to call something as boring; 5) See learning as something fun. Look at life through the glasses of fun and excitement and enjoy the learning process; and 6) Read diverse kinds of reading. It will introduce you to the possibilities and excitement of the other worlds which may spark your interest to explore them further. I loves this quote from Albert Einstein: “The important thing is not to stop questioning… Never lose a holy curiosity.”

Yes, never lost a holy curiosity.

Idea is here all along, waiting for someone to ask.

God, Gives 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)

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)

Business Creativity (Free Book Inside)

In an increasingly competitive business world, both individuals and companies need to be able to set themselves apart from the rest whilst being mindful of running an efficient business. As processes, transactions, manufacturing, and a whole other host of operational activities become increasingly automated and bring efficiencies to the bottom line, what is it that will propel a business to be better than their competitors? In a word: ideas. Ideas are the most valuable currency of our business landscape and will only become more important in the future. Why? Because creativity cannot be automated. An automated telephone service that deals with your customers is brilliant at taking payment or giving order statuses, but it is pretty rubbish at coming up with ways to wow your customers and delight them with new initiatives.

Introducing Business Creativity: A Practical Guide provides innovative techniques and proven theories to help you improve your creative thinking and get more out of yourself and your business. Whether you are trying to develop entirely new initiatives or redesign the way you operate, this book will help you break out of your old patterns of thought, think outside the box, and generate pioneering ideas that you can put into action.

Understand your brain and its capacity for creativity

Think differently with effective creative thinking tools

Put ideas at the heart of your business

Reap the rewards of a business built around ideas

[Taken from: http://www.amazon.com/Introducing-Business-Creativity-Practical-Guides/dp/1848316852]

To get this book for free, please comment below, "Richard, I would like to read this book because...... [Not less than 15 word]" and the book is yours. Inbox me your mailing address and contact no. to my Facebook account. Happy reading! 

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Creative-Idea Strategy: Think Like a Fool

Roger von Oech is the writer of my favourite book on creativity A Whack on the Side of the Head (25^th Anniversary already). One of his favourite creative thinking strategies is: THINK LIKE A FOOL. He explained:

"Carrying the strategy of "looking at things differently" to extremes brings us to the realm of the fool, the being for whom everyday ways of understanding have little meaning. It's the fool's job to extol the trivial, trifle with the exalted, and parody the common perception of a situation. In doing so, the fool makes us conscious of the habits we take for granted and rarely question. A good fool needs to be part actor and part poet, part philosopher and part psychologist. And throughout history, the fool has been consulted by Egyptian pharaohs and Babylonian kings, Chinese emperors, Greeks tyrants, and Hopi Indian chiefs.

The fool will reverse our standard assumptions. He'll say, “If a man is sitting on a horse facing the rear, why do we assume that it is the man who is backwards, and not the horse?”

The fool notices things that other people overlook. He might ask, “Why do people who pour cream into their coffee do so after the coffee is already in the cup, rather than pouring the cream in first and saving themselves the trouble of stirring?”

The fool can also be irreverent. He'll pose riddles such as, “What does a rich man put in his pocket that the poor man throws away?” When he answers, “Snot,” he forces us to re-examine the sanctity of our everyday rituals.

The fool can be cryptic. He'll say the best way to see something is with your ears. Initially, this may seem weird, but after you've thought about it, you might agree that listening to a story conjures up more images than watching television.

The fool can be absurd. Having lost his donkey, a fool got down on his knees and began thanking God. A passer-by saw him and asked, “Your donkey is missing; why are you thanking God?” The fool replied, “I'm thanking Him for seeing to it that I wasn't riding him at the time. Otherwise, I would be missing as well.”

The fool will take the contrary position in most conversations. Whereas many people would agree that, “If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing well,” The fool might say, “You don't have to do things well! Indeed, it's okay to do them poorly; otherwise you'll never let yourself be a beginner at a new activity.”

The great benefit of the fool's antics and observations is that they stimulate our thinking. They jolt us in the same way that a splash of cold water awakens us when we are drowsy. Question: Where has “thinking like a fool” helped you look at a problem in a helpful way?”

Good insights and concluding question Roger von Oech… to be more creative and generate more good ideas – think like a Fool!

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

How-To Generate Ideas #3: Read Many Books

“Libraries were full of ideas – perhaps the most dangerous

and powerful of all weapons.”(Sarah J. Maas)

In my opinion, books are one of the most wonderful medium to transfer ideas and for creating new thoughts and stimulating great ideas. Books, good books will not only inform us but also transform our thinking. “The only real use of books is to make a person think for himself,” writes Aleph Bey, “If a book will not set one to thinking, it is not worth shelf room.” When I read, it helped me learn more and expand my way of thinking. Books really got me to activate my idea generator.

I read widely and variously: from theology to philosophy, spiritual to personal growth, leadership and business, biography and autobiography, fiction and non-fiction. I sometime take a half day (or the whole day) to browse book at the bookstores such as MPH, Popular and Salvation. I even bought and downloaded free audiobooks in the internet! Why? To refill the wells of inspiration, to receive plenty of thought stimulation and to refresh the flow of ideas. Read many books... and create your own personal library.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)