Killing Creativity

There is a phrase in the English language so deadly it contains a force powerful enough to eradicate all constructive thinking. This phrase kills new ideas before they have an opportunity to give birth.

Three life-draining words: I don’t know.

We tend to say it subconsciously, not realizing the full impact on our decision-making ability. “I don’t know” shuts down our mind’s creative and intuitive processes.

I’m not suggesting that you pretend to know something that you don’t. I’m referring to internally driven questions that do not require outside information to answer, like, What career path do I want to take? Should I write that book? Do I really want to start that business? What do I want to be when I grow up? Or even What do I want for dinner?

When you respond, I don’t know, you send a message to your brain that says, Don’t even bother spending time exerting energy trying to figure it out—it can’t be done. In a moment of helplessness, the idea generation process ends.

The fact is, you do know. The answer is within you. You possess the internal references and experiences to decide what it is you want—to decide what serves the greater good, to the best of your ability. The inner teacher is within all of us.

Why do we frequently turn off our brains? The answer is simple: Thinking is hard. Most people don’t like to think unless it’s absolutely necessary. Thomas Edison noted, “There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the real labor of thinking.”

As much as we don’t like thinking, we also often avoid listening to our intuition. The Inner Teacher, as it is often called, is a powerful untapped resource for most of us. Combined with hard thinking, the Inner Teacher provides a clear path to discovery.

Next time someone asks you an internally driven question, and you feel I don’t know creep up, say to yourself, Hmmm, what if I did know the answer? When you make this “question reversal” in a playful frame of mind, you delve into the unconscious to pull out an answer that may surprise you.

Adopt the belief that you really do know the answer. When you do, you’ll find yourself saying that devious little phrase much less frequently.

Be conscious of this concept over the next few days, using the question reversal strategy as often as you can. I’d love to hear about your experiences.

Related posts:

1. Is Your Business Killing Creativity?
2. How to Craft a Compelling Vision Statement