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It turns out procrastinating is a benefit. 
I dove into what makes creative people unique in their thinking. @AdamMGrant explored the topic in-depth and calls these people Originals. His Ted talk is inspiring and confirming.
Originals have three unique habits.
I dove into what makes creative people unique in their thinking. @AdamMGrant explored the topic in-depth and calls these people Originals. His Ted talk is inspiring and confirming.
Originals have three unique habits.
Originals are not that different from the rest of us. These might be things you also struggle with:
• Procrastination
• Fear and doubt
• Mediocre ideas
Originals, however, use these problems to their advantage. /2
• Procrastination
• Fear and doubt
• Mediocre ideas
Originals, however, use these problems to their advantage. /2
Originals are nonconformists, but they're people you want to bet on because they:
• Take action to champion new ideas
• Stand out and speak up
• Drive creativity and change the world
/3
• Take action to champion new ideas
• Stand out and speak up
• Drive creativity and change the world
/3
Procrastination is the first habit of Originals.
Procrastinating is a vice when it comes to productivity, but it's a virtue for creativity. It gives you time to:
• Consider divergent ideas
• Think in nonlinear ways
• Make unexpected leaps
/4
Procrastinating is a vice when it comes to productivity, but it's a virtue for creativity. It gives you time to:
• Consider divergent ideas
• Think in nonlinear ways
• Make unexpected leaps
/4
Take procrastination for example:
Chronic procrastinators wait until the end, goof off, and lack new ideas.
Precrastinators rush in and do everything early. They're rated as less creative.
Moderate procrastinators are 16% more creative than the other 2 groups. /5
Chronic procrastinators wait until the end, goof off, and lack new ideas.
Precrastinators rush in and do everything early. They're rated as less creative.
Moderate procrastinators are 16% more creative than the other 2 groups. /5
The second habit of Originals is living with fear and doubt. They're afraid of failing, but they're even more afraid of failing to try. Originals:
• Look confident on the surface
• Feel the same fear and doubt that the rest of us
• Manage fear and doubt differently.
/6
• Look confident on the surface
• Feel the same fear and doubt that the rest of us
• Manage fear and doubt differently.
/6
Originals know you can fail by starting a business that goes bankrupt or by failing to start a business at all.
In the long run, our biggest regrets are not our actions but our inactions. The things we wish we could redo, if you look at the science, are the chances not taken. /7
In the long run, our biggest regrets are not our actions but our inactions. The things we wish we could redo, if you look at the science, are the chances not taken. /7
There are two kinds of doubt that creep into your mindset when you are faced with a challenge:
• Self-doubt is paralyzing. It leads you to freeze
• Idea doubt is energizing. It motivates you to test, to experiment, to refine
Originals don't doubt themselves. /8
• Self-doubt is paralyzing. It leads you to freeze
• Idea doubt is energizing. It motivates you to test, to experiment, to refine
Originals don't doubt themselves. /8
Instead of saying, "I'm crap,"
Originals say, "The first few drafts are always crap, and I'm just not there yet."
/9
Originals say, "The first few drafts are always crap, and I'm just not there yet."
/9
The third habit of Originals is they fail the most because they're the ones who try the most.
If you want to be more original, you have to generate more ideas. /10
If you want to be more original, you have to generate more ideas. /10
You're not going to get judged on your bad ideas. A lot of people think they will.
If you ask people across industries about their most important suggestions, 85% of them stayed silent instead of speaking up.
They were afraid of embarrassing themselves, of looking stupid. /11
If you ask people across industries about their most important suggestions, 85% of them stayed silent instead of speaking up.
They were afraid of embarrassing themselves, of looking stupid. /11
But guess what? Originals have lots of bad ideas.
Take the guy who invented the talking doll. Do you care that it was so creepy that it scared not only kids but adults, too?
No. You celebrate Thomas Edison for pioneering the light bulb. /12
Take the guy who invented the talking doll. Do you care that it was so creepy that it scared not only kids but adults, too?
No. You celebrate Thomas Edison for pioneering the light bulb. /12
Leonardo da Vinci toiled on and off for 16 years on the Mona Lisa. He felt like a failure. He wrote as much in his journal.
The diversions he took in optics changed the way that he modeled light. He became a better painter—the Sfumato technique completely changed painting. /13
The diversions he took in optics changed the way that he modeled light. He became a better painter—the Sfumato technique completely changed painting. /13
In summary, Originals know how you jump into an activity:
They're quick to start but slow to finish to boost their creativity.
They motivate themselves by doubting their ideas and embracing the fear of failing to try.
They have a lot of bad ideas to get a few good ones. /14
They're quick to start but slow to finish to boost their creativity.
They motivate themselves by doubting their ideas and embracing the fear of failing to try.
They have a lot of bad ideas to get a few good ones. /14
