8 Bad Habits that Crush Your Creativity And Stifle Your Success | Dean Rieck, Copyblogger

"Why are so few people highly creative?" asks blogger Dean Rieck. His answer:

Because there are bad habits people learn as they grow up which crush the creative pathways in the brain. And like all bad habits, they can be broken if you are willing to work at it.

In this blog, Rieck, lists eight of the very worst bad habits that he says could be affecting your creativity. Here they are, summarized:

1. Creating and evaluating at the same time ...
Most people evaluate too soon and too often, and therefore create less. In order to create more and better ideas, you must separate creation from evaluation, coming up with lots of ideas first, then judging their worth later.

2. The Expert Syndrome
This a big problem in any field where there are lots of gurus who tell you their secrets of success. It’s wise to listen, but unwise to follow without question. ...

3. Fear of failure ...
It has been said that to increase your success rate, you should aim to make more mistakes. In other words, take more chances and you’ll succeed more often. ...

4. Fear of ambiguity ...
[M]ost great creative ideas emerge from a swirl of chaos. You must develop a part of yourself that is comfortable with mess and confusion. ...

5. Lack of confidence ...
[Y]ou must have confidence in your abilities in order to create and carry out effective solutions to problems.
Much of this comes from experience, but confidence also comes from familiarity with how creativity works. ...

6. Discouragement from other people
Even if you have a wide-open mind and the ability to see what’s possible, most people around you will not. They will tell you in various and often subtle ways to conform, be sensible, and not rock the boat.
Ignore them. ...

7. Being overwhelmed by information ...
It’s been said that information is to the brain what food is to the body. True enough. But just as you can overeat, you can also overthink. ...

8. Being trapped by false limits ...
Be open to anything. Step outside your comfort zone. Consider how those in unrelated areas do what they do. What seems impossible today may seem surprisingly doable tomorrow. ...

Rieck's blog fills in the details for those eight bad habits.

For more articles on creativity, check out the daily "Creativity Connections" paper at the Creativity tab above.