"14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas" ,by Mitch Ditkoff, is a very gripping article about the different ways people can quicken the appearance of ideas and innovations. He first mentions how there are other reasons besides caffeine and corporate pep to encourage new ideas. Two approaches Ditkoff talks about are Western and Eastern. Western has a strong bias towards thinking, whereas Eastern has a strong bias towards feeling. When mustering up ideas, personally, I have never thought to think of actual ways to come across them. I just do it. It was interesting to see what he had to say about ways to get ideas, and I learned quite a bit. Some ways were pretty accurate, but other suggestions I questioned...
One of the suggestions was "Follow your Fascination." This was the first suggestion he proposed, and I believe it is an effective and a good suggestion. He starts off by saying "If you find yourself fascinated by a new idea, chances are good that there’s something meaningful about it for you to consider." This first suggestion is a good one because if I were to find myself fascinated by any idea, that would be a great indication that it's probably not a bad one. There aren't too many ideas that fascinate me, but the ones that do, I make sure I become engaged. This idea of "following your fascination" could be implemented into my own creative life because it's not every day an idea is "fascinating" so with that, if I were to use this suggestion, my creative life would be that much more interesting. When I'm trying to think of ways to make my life more creative, I probably won't want to go for the ideas that are less fascinating, due to the fact I want the best.
Another suggestion I found interesting was "Take a Break." I learned not too long ago that taking breaks while doing strenuous work helps the mind to work even better. So when I read this suggestion I knew from the beginning it was a good one. When it comes to my creative life, taking breaks is a crucial part because if I do too much at once I'll crash. I will definitely generate plenty of ideas when I take breaks. When I take breaks between hours of brainstorming and doing things like my homework it definitely keeps me motivated to keep doing my work. Although, sometimes taking breaks can cause procrastination I need to have control over how long my short breaks are. Also, at times I have to execute the breaks because most times I will take too long of breaks. If I just get the work done in one sitting it may be my best bet.
The last suggestion that would be effective is number 10, which is "Hang Out with Diverse Groups of People." When trying to think of different ideas, it is always a good idea to surround yourself with different individuals. Not only can they help you but you can also assist them in generating new ideas. I love hanging out with my close friends, but sometimes getting to know other groups of people is beneficial to my Creative Life. Other groups of people that I don't know as well can facilitate new ideas for the reason that they will not tell me what I want to hear. Since they do not know me personally, I can hear opinions outside of my circle. New people are always a plus; it also creates networking which is also great.
At the end of the fifth idea, "Fantasize" Ditkoff has a prompt and asks 2 questions: Think of a current challenge of yours... What would a fantasy solution to this challenge look like? What clues does this fantasy solution give you? A current challenge I have is making the deans list this quarter. Fantasy solutions would be some other student doing my work for me and getting all A's on my work! Or My professors understanding I have a ton of work in all my other classes and assigning no work...easy A! From these fantasy solutions, I think of many clues to achieve the challenge I have. Instead of having someone doing my work for me, I can have a tutor to help me. They're not doing my work, they're assisting me. Also, instead of having a push-over professor who just gives an A to everyone, I can go to their office hours and ask them how I can succeed in the class. I will definitely use these ideas to my advantage and accomplish this challenge I currently have.
The website to this article is http://changethis.com/
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