Month: January 2023

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Creativity: Drawing from the Creative Well

Creativity

Creativity is a skill you must possess if you want to be exceptional in life. It is the hub of success and the oil that greases the wheel of success. Creativity is an incredible means to carve your niche and accentuate your success signature in everything you do. It may interest you to know that many are longing to drink from the spring of creativity that flow from within you. And that you carry within you a creative well where you can draw creative ideas for creative exploits in life. However, creativity is a product of conquest. It requires strength, courage, ability, and tact to be creative.

And David was then in a hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem. And David longed and said; oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate. And three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate and brought and took it and brought it to David (2Samuel 23:14,15,16)

Breaking into the realm of creativity is by any standard not a mean feat. And to draw ideas from the creative wells is like breaking through a military garrison. For instance, it took the bravery of the three mighty men mentioned above to break through a stronghold with a dense or heavy military presence to draw water from the well of Bethlehem. For your information a garrison is a forte, stronghold, castle, or city with a troop of soldiers, it can be a legion, battalion, brigade, platoon, etc, who are there to defend, guard, and protect it against external military siege or incursion. 

Now you can understand the plight of David, he was in a hold, the garrison held him back and he could not enter. However, it took the bravery of just three men to break through the dense military garrison. Such bravery is a prerequisite to invading the creative realm. The creative well is well-defended and protected and only the brave can draw out of this well. And drawing creative ideas from the creative well is akin to breaking through a garrison. You are creative only when you are able to draw creative ideas from the creative well. However, this is only possible by conquest over strong challenges. You can only storm the creative realm by your conquest.

Drawing from the Creative Well

The creative idea as the source of creative experience comes via inspiration. In other words, creative ideas are transmitted or dispatched to us from the infinite realm through inspiration. Hence, inspiration becomes a channel to tap into the creative domain. Another channel through which you can tap into the creative realm is meditation. It remains a sure way to draw creative ideas from the creative well. It is also a gateway to infinite intelligence. Meditation enhances focus, mental clarity, and emotional calmness. Meditation is a deliberate process of focusing one’s mind on specific thoughts. Through it, you break into the creative realm and drink from the spring of creativity. Check my post on meditation. But understand that the magnitude of your meditation determines the extent of your connection to the infinite realm. You too can be successful; you can break into the creative realm, and draw from the creative well.

However, you must focus enough to receive signals from the creative domain. Your mind must be fine-tuned in order to receive these creative signals at a higher frequency. Creative ideas will still elude you until you fine-tune your mind.

The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old… When there were no depths; I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.  Before the mountains settled, before the hills was I brought forth.(Proverbs 8: 22, 24, 25)

Finally, to break into the creative domain you must meditate on God. God controls the entire creative domain. He is the source of creative ideas which made him successful in all his creations. Are you thinking of gaining access to the creative well?  Then focus on God.

Inspiration the Soul of Creativity

 Greatness is more than potential. It is the execution of that potential. Beyond the raw talent, you need the appropriate training. You need the discipline. You need the inspiration. You need the drive – Eric A. Burns

On this fateful day back in school we returned from lectures to the hostel to find our roommate reading. And he was doing that with the Audio CD Player playing at the peak of its volume. Immediately we asked him why he was playing the music at such a loud volume knowing he was studying and preparing for the exams. Then surprisingly the young man looked at us unabashed and told us that he likes listening to the R&B genre of music because it gives him inspiration whenever he listens to them.

Another laughable incident was about a Civil Engineering student who on a very hot afternoon while he was drafting a technical drawing almost consumed a packet of cigarettes, and when asked why he was smoking that much on a sunny afternoon he said, ‘it is for concentration’. ‘I draw well whenever I smoke’. Could this be an inspiration? It is different strokes for different folks. So what then is inspiration? Inspiration refers to an unconscious burst of creativity in literary, musical, or other artistic endeavors.

Inspiration and Creativity 


The concept derives from the Latin word ‘inspirare’ which means to ‘breathe into’. It is worth noting that two vital elements fall within the purview of inspiration. First, it is an unconscious occurrence, it is involuntary, and hence we have no control over it. It comes like packets or flashes of ideas and if it is not carefully grasped can slip out of our reach. It comes like a divine influence; it is breathed into us from a higher source. Like a phone battery plugged into a power bank, there is an inspiration bank we all must connect to draw creative ideas. However, the level of our connection determines how well-disposed we are to creativity.

Second, it is solely for creativity and the level of inspiration we get determines our creative ability. How exceptional or creative we depend on the understanding that comes from inspiration. Inspiration is a divine influence or action that can stir up motivation for excellent, or exceptional performance in any endeavor. It comes with a sudden surge of brilliant or timely ideas which boost our creative abilities and also enable us to create values with these ideas. It is the life of every enterprise. Any enterprise on the verge of collapse needs the inspiration to bounce back to life. And to do that there is a need for these brilliant and timely ideas which are a product of inspiration.

The whole essence of inspiration is creativity; hence it is the soul of creativity, whereas the breath of every creative soul is ideas. Hence, when the creative mind stops drawing creative ideas from the creative well via inspiration creativity dies. Every known and notable achievement or invention in any field of endeavor whether in science and technology, the music industry, poetry, literature, filmmaking, communication, marketing, etc is a product of creativity. Thus it becomes leverage for success. As we all know creativity is a springboard for success and inspiration is a major source. Brilliant ideas for success are conceived the very moment inspiration comes. Therefore, creativity is a prerequisite for success as you need it to understand the fundamentals of any endeavor, be it business, music, arts, literature, science, or technology.

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Goal Setting: Crucial Game Changer

Goal setting

Goal setting is a crucial game changer in the game of success. It is the ace you need to make a difference in life. And whether you will succeed in life or not depends on your ability to set, and achieve goals. Goals define what you want to achieve, your aims, and your objectives in any given circumstance. There is no disputing the fact that you will always succeed in any endeavor when you set goals and achieve them. Moreover, you will derive a sense of happiness and satisfaction when you meet your set goals.

A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul – Proverbs 13: 19.

Give your Goal a time frame

There are certain rules guiding goal setting. First, you must set goals that you can achieve within a given time frame if you must make a meaningful impact and succeed in life. Such a goal must be unambiguous, realistic, and achievable. Failure to achieve set goals is not necessarily a result of bad time management but more a result of the nature of goals and objectives you set for yourself – whether such a goal is achievable within a certain time frame or not.

For your information when a goal is unrealistic a situation arises where one feels so inadequate and unhappy about the whole thing.  A good goal encourages you to take prompt action. Ask yourself, can I achieve these goals within a given time frame? If the answer is no, you must revisit your goals as they are unrealistic. Revisit and review your goals.

Your Goal must be Flexible

Second, keep your goals as flexible as possible. It is better to achieve your goals gradually than to slip into the agony of an unhappy and unfulfilled life. There is one thing I want you to understand about goal setting. Goal setting is a process. That is to say when we achieve one goal, another challenging goal is set. Every goal in life is a true reflection of the challenge and awareness of a particular stage in life. Therefore, setting and achievement of goals become a measurement of our progress in life. It exposes the stack reality of the need for improvement in life.

As long as we have a need to succeed in life there is also a need to set goals based on the challenges before us. So there is a need for us to work on our minds to be undaunted in the face of the challenges of life. Through our makeup, we can confront and overcome any challenge no matter how intimidating it may seem. That is why goal setting is a crucial game changer as the achievement of goals to a large extent defines how successful one becomes in life.

Break down your Goal

Third, break down your goal setting into fragments. We must see it as a lifetime gradual process to be set one at a time – whether it is for the day, week, month or year. Goal setting must be done bit by bit. The more we progress the more challenging the goals become. So, it is better we break our goals into bits. Such that where one goal stops, another one will start. This will help us to set challenging but realistic goals for ourselves. It makes them achievable and culminates in profound success.

Crucial Game Changer

You must ensure you always conduct a routine check on your goal setting from time to time. Identify what you have done well and celebrate your achievement. Ask yourself what you have done right and consolidate on them. These are your strength; you must capitalize on them in the quest for success and happiness in life. In the same vein ask yourself what you have not done well and make some amendments. These are your weaknesses and if you don’t make amendments they may undermine your quest for fulfillment.

Evaluating your goal-setting ability is crucial as it helps you in capacity building. Capacity building is one of the things that will help us to succeed and find fulfillment in life. And capacity building in this regard is our ability to develop new problem-solving skills and techniques over a period of time. Capacity building is the ability to handle challenges and hiccups in order to achieve set goals and objectives. And it is all about improvisation in the way we handle tasks or responsibilities to achieve a desired result.  It is therefore imperative for Success and fulfillment in life.

Evaluation is a process that we must undertake from time to time.  It is an essential part of goal setting. Goal setting cannot be complete without you evaluating the progress you have made so far. It helps you to be in charge of the process. It is all about doing a detailed assessment or analysis of any area of life in the quest for success.

Evaluation is akin to debugging in software programming where one is able to identify errors and fix them for the code to work when it is run. Hence, if you are in the habit of evaluating your goals you will always know where you are heading with regard to goal setting and achievement is concerned. Learn the art of goal setting it is a crucial game changer in the realm of success.

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How to make a Difference in Life.

make a difference

In everything you do, you must endeavor to make a difference and be exceptional in life. Your major aim should be to stand out among your contemporaries. The idea of making a difference in life is that you are at the center of it. Hence, the decisions you make, your values in life, your thought pattern, attitudes, and behaviors are all instrumental to your success and fulfillment in life. The same elements influence your worldview and outlook. Understand that you can never make a difference in life with a negative mindset.

It is necessary we overhaul our decision-making process, thought patterns, attitudes, behaviors, and values, and galvanize them toward a positive worldview. However, to make a difference and become exceptional in life you must change your mindset. You must reinvent yourself because you are the prime factor of your success.  So, work on your mindset if you want to make a difference in life.

According to George Bernard Shaw, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything”. Changing your mind is the master key you need to unlock a world of positive difference. Hence, success is impossible without a change of mindset. The state of your mind determines your approach to life, and your approach to life determines whether you will make any difference or not. This is the reason why you need to work on your mindset. So in this post, we shall look at the process involved in making a difference. Remember, it revolves around you.

Clean up

The first step in making a difference is to clean up your mind. It is necessary that you do away with every awful habit, behavior, and attitude that is toxic to the mind. And doing this requires a certain level of self-discipline and commitment. Even though it is said that old habits die hard but with your persistence, you can get rid of them. You must get rid of some awful habits like procrastination, assumption, complacency, quitting too easily, blame games, stretching your debt limit, etc. In addition, you must deal with anger, bitterness, hatred, unforgiveness, fear, and distraction.

All these habits are toxic and make the mind unsafe. Understand that failure to clean up your mind will affect the state of the mind. Remember if your mind is intoxicated with these awful habits it will affect your attitude and approach to life. Hence, you do underground work, you must search your mind, and any habit that will negatively affect your approach to life must be expunged. This must be done if you want to make a difference.

Be Hopeful

Even in very hopeless situations where it seems that change is not possible be hopeful. You must see things differently if you want to make a difference. No situation is entirely hopeless. It is our perception of the situation that makes it look hopeless. Be hopeful. However, being hopeful entails a positive vision. What do you see about your troubled waters? Do you see yourself drowning? Or do you see yourself overcoming the tides and waves of your troubled water? 

The first picture is a true reflection of your inadequacy and hopelessness in the face of the challenges in life. And you can never find success under such a state of mind. The second picture depicts your resolve and commitment to overcoming your challenges. And making a real positive difference comes with this kind of mindset. The mindset that you can overcome challenges when you have done something well. There is a sense of fulfillment in succeeding in the face of challenges. 

Attitude

Attitudinal realignment is another step in the big change process. It entails dealing with every obnoxious attitude that stifles your happiness. You must realign your attitude to reinforce your quest for success in life. Know that there are attitudes for and against success in life. Through attitudinal realignment, you can identify and eliminate every attitude that is antithetical to positive change in your life. Your attitude is very important when it comes to making a difference in life. 

Attitude serves as a substructure upon which all other variables of success fit. Hence, we can categorically state here that what differentiates the fulfilled person from the unfulfilled one is their attitude. Attitude is the thin line that separates the both of them. It is obvious that whether you will be successful in life or not depends on your attitude.

Understand that with the right attitude, you can go the extra mile with regard to becoming exceptional in life. In addition to this, the right attitude can emancipate you from the shackles of failure and defeat in life. It affords us the opportunity to see life from a different perspective.  You can galvanize this right attitude for a unique world experience and make a difference. Basically, realigning your attitude is all about cultivating the right attitude. And it is the way forward for an exceptional life.

Get Novel Ideas

New and novel ideas are part of the process. You must be able to generate novel ideas if you want to make a difference in life.  These are not just ordinary but creative ideas. They are ideas that can produce results. They are ideas that can lead you to success and fulfillment in life. This kind of creative idea is a product of critical thinking. This kind of idea answers the question of what is to be done to make an impact in life. Ideas on how to turn things around will flood your mind each time you brainstorm over the reasons for doing what you do.

 Hence, you must have a good mental representation of your purpose in life. In addition, you must have a mental in-depth of the fundamentals of success as this will increase your chances of making a difference in life. Being successful in life is intrinsically tied to ideas. So endeavor to work on your mind to churn out ideas that will make a positive difference. Bad ideas undermine the quest for an exceptional life. So, you must train your mind to be composed, calm and calculative in the face of challenges.

Goal Setting

Goal setting is a vital aspect of the big change process. Goals define what you want to achieve, your aims, and your objectives in any given circumstance. There is no disputing the fact that you will always find fulfillment when you set goals and achieve them. Moreover, you will derive a sense of happiness and satisfaction when your set goals are achieved.

A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul – Proverbs 13: 19”.

You must set goals that you can achieve within a given time frame if you must make a difference and be happy in life. Such a goal must be unambiguous, realistic, and achievable. Failure to achieve set goals is not necessarily a result of bad time management but more a result of the nature of goals and objectives you set for yourself – whether such a goal is achievable within the time frame allotted to it or not.

Through our makeup, we can confront and overcome any challenge no matter how intimidating it may seem. That is why the state of our minds is very necessary as the achievement of goals to a large extent depends on it. Therefore we must see goal setting as a lifetime process to be taken one at a time – whether the goal for the day, week, month or year. The more we progress the more challenging the goals become. Finally, I will advise that you set challenging but realistic goals for yourself if you want to achieve them and be happy in life.

Assess Yourself

This is a critical part of the process of making a difference in life. Always conduct a routine check on your progress from time to time. Identify what area you have done well and celebrate your achievement. Ask yourself what you have done right and consolidate on them. These are your strength; you must capitalize on them in the pursuit of happiness in life. In the same vein ask yourself what you have not done well and make some amendments. These are your weaknesses and if you don’t make amendments they may undermine your quest for fulfillment. A proper evaluation of your mind is very essential and once you notice any bug in the process you must fix it.

Evaluating your life will help you in capacity building. Capacity building is one of the things that will help us to succeed and make a difference in life. Obviously, your ability to develop new problem-solving skills and techniques over a period of time is capacity building. And it is very important as it helps to handle challenges and hiccups in order to achieve set goals and objectives. It is all about improvisation in the way we handle tasks or responsibilities to achieve a desired result.  Assessing yourself is therefore imperative for making a difference in life.