Original thinkers are unlike others. Most people believe they are unique because they differ in I.Q and confidence. But according to psychologist Adam Grant, who has been studying “original thinking people” for a long time, it’s none of these things. In fact, he says that what really separates original thinkers is their habits. We all can adopt these habits to be more creative and also, self-confident.
According to him, originals are nonconformists who not only have new ideas but take action to succeed in them. They stand out, they speak up and they make a change.
Here are the top 4 habits of original thinkers,
1) They procrastinate:
“Procrastinating is a fastener when it comes to productivity, but it can be a virtue for creativity. What you see with a lot of great originals is that they are quick to start but they’re slow to finish.”
Leonardo da Vinci was a big procrastinator. It took him 16 years to complete Mona Lisa. He felt like a failure. But some of the diversions he took in optics transformed the way he modeled light and made him into a much better painter
According to Grant, “originals are quick to start but slow to finish”.
2) They doubt their ideas
The second habit is that while originals look confident on the outside. Behind the scenes, they feel the same fear and doubt that the rest of us do. They just manage it differently.
Grant says there are two different types of doubts: Self-doubt and idea-doubt.
Self-doubt can lower our confidence. but idea-doubt can be energizing. It motivates you to test, experiment and refine Self-doubt is paralyzing. It leads you to freeze. So when you are doubting something make sure you are not doubting yourself.
3) They use the beginner’s mind:
The fourth habit is something called vuja de. Vuja de is when you look at something you’ve seen many times before and all of a sudden see it with fresh eyes. You start to see things you haven’t seen before. Buddhists call this the ‘Beginner’s Mind.’
Your mind is opened up to possibilities that you might not have considered before.
4) They fail many times:
Originals feel fear, too. They’re afraid of failing but what sets them apart from the rest of us is that they try it again and again. As Adam Grant says, “they know that in the long run, our biggest regrets are not actions but our inactions”
And if you look throughout history, the great originals are the ones who fail the most. because they’re the ones who try the most. Take classical composers, the best of the best. One of the best predict is looking at the compositions that they generate. Even the three icons of classical music Bach, Beethoven, Mozart had to generate hundreds and hundreds of compositions to come up with a much smaller number of masterpieces. If we want to be more original, we have to generate more ideas
“being original is not easy, but I have no doubt about this: it’s the best way to improve the world around us”- Adam Grant
Original thinking can improve your productivity and helps to achieve financial independence and can foster your early retirement.
Do you think as an original thinker?
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Photo by Ben White on Unsplash