Creative thinkers, we have all been there – our creative mind takes us to a prosperous stage when we are embedded in a task that we view as dull.
What happens next is a very interesting phenomenon, and that is our minds shift to a fantasy that has us achieving our lifelong goals. It is a great feeling when you can envision yourself capturing the dream that you have always been chasing. However, the rush of dopamine that we feel from these thoughts can become addicting.
At some point, we lose track of this addiction and we will constantly repeat the process whenever we are under a stressful situation. We lose focus of our daily tasks at home, work, school and ultimately, end up failing to achieve the success we dream of in the first place.
So that begs the question:
How can you be so creative yet not achieve the success that you yearn for?
From my own experiences and seeing colleagues who face similar issues, here are some of the most common reasons:
1. Focusing on always making the “right” choices
The more we think about our task and the implications of finishing it correctly, the more we hesitate to act. We become perfectionists and will not begin until we have a foolproof solution.
2. Lacking self-esteem to begin
We are afraid to fail as failing enough times will make our employers, professors, and possibly our own family members question our capabilities.
3. Taking on too much work at once
We have the best intention and want to show that we can be relied on, but we paint a false image by not executing correctly.
4. Anyone of the above issues causes us stress and our minds want to find the path of least resistance
Once we have gone through one or all the above issues for a long enough period, our minds want to seek comfort and will switch to thoughts that makes us hopeful; which is especially true for heavily creative thinkers.
So here are some tips to help avoid mental paralysis from hyper creative thinking and using it for your benefit:
1. Share your thoughts with colleagues or your boss as soon as possible!
If you find yourself trapped in the fear of making the right choices, then seek help from your resources ASAP! For creative thinkers, this will be very beneficial as you will have more time to take the advice and work it in your plan to make a better solution which is what creativity is all about. Who knows, you might even validate that what you originally thought, was the right choice all along and spreading it with your peers will give a great impression.
2. Build your self-confidence by making swift decisions!
Do not let yourself fall into the trap of analysis paralysis. Start small by practicing making micro decisions in your everyday activities. Test yourself by listing pros and cons for your decisions until you develop your intuition. Do not over complicate the situation, which from experience, a creative mind will do, and accept that your perception is not going to be the same as others. If you must, confide in others and see what they see so you can get the greater picture. Overtime, your experience with how your choices affect a business and other people will be ingrained in your muscle memory.
3. Develop an action plan to take on the hardest projects!
There is a reason that teachers in school have told us to always attempt the easiest questions first. It is to help us act and feel good about having our knowledge validated. When you are looking to challenge yourself with a big project at work or school, it is inevitable that there will be difficult portions. What we need to do is break a big project into chunks and focus on the easiest portions first. Once we do this, we have the material and momentum on our side to take on the harder parts. We have the effort and work to feel confident to approach our boss and colleagues to ask for help if we still feel stumped. You must get over yourself if you still feel nervous about seeking help because in hindsight, you will regret failing after putting in all the work you have done.
4. Give yourself an ultimatum, deadline, consequence and shake things up!
You hate to disappoint, so what you need to do is give a deadline to your peers and follow though. You are going to want to avoid the discomfort of telling everyone that you did not finish, so this will force you to apply your time effectively. However, if you find yourself drifting off into your thoughts try to shake things up by moving to an environment that makes you happy. This will substitute the good feelings you get from daydreaming about your dreams. You can then focus on your task at hand and finish strong.
The main objective behind these solutions is to condition yourself to feel good about being proactive and confident – no matter the obstacle you are facing. When we see a challenge that we have not prepared for, or if a task is too difficult, our minds will seek the path of least resistance and for creative thinkers, we will turn to our creative dreams for solitude and happiness. If we can convince our minds that we can see positive results through actively approaching our daily tasks, then we will not question ourselves and wonder why our creativity never sees the light of day. Our proactive approach will allow our creative thoughts to show through our efforts. Once you master these steps, you will see how your creativity, proactive approach, and the confidence from effective execution gives you the success you have always dreamed of.