How to TURN ON your INNER GENIUS

Yes, there is an inner genius inside us all.

I’m truly convinced that each one of us has the potential to be a creative and an innovative mind. But doesn’t that mean that we should all now be exploring the universe and beaming ourselves into space? Well, the answer gets a bit more complicated ??

In one of the past articles, “Innovation: A State of mind” [March 2019], we got a fresh perspective by addressing innovation as mental state instead of all other more orthodox and widely accepted definitions. The advantage for us is that we can humanize the topic and explore which conditions individually help us enter this super state of mind.

Small recap: an innovative state of mind is fragile, temporary and unstable.

From an energy point of view, our brains are incredibly smart at being energy efficient and this causes some direct consequences:

Fragile: Any particular action or situation that might stop us from being innovative, will do. For example, a distraction or a little moment of worry.

Temporary: Our brains consume much more energy while limitless thinking, therefore, our brains will stop this state and bring us back to the everyday “auto-pilot mode”.

Unstable: If being innovative all the time would be natural, then we would probably get total-thinking burnouts more often.

Now, you might be asking yourself “How do I reach this state?”

There are 2 ways:

By absolute necessity or by stimulus.

Absolute necessity is our natural response when we get trapped in a survival situation. In a business context, this can be an imperative deadline, disruption by competitors or rapidly decreasing sales. It is in our nature to survive and find solutions to arising problems. That said, the complication with this condition is that not only is it highly stressful for everyone involved, but there is no guarantee that a solution to the situation might come in time.

The more rational and viable option is to reach an innovative state of mind by stimulus. If done right, this will surely give you a tangible competitive advantage in the long run.

Stimulating your mind is a matter of playing with how you perceive life and everything around you. Let’s try to find out which stimulations can help you reach an innovative state:

First, chances are, the best person to tell you what works best is… YOU! (Wow! I would never have guessed!)

How to recognize your stimulus

Try to remember the last time that you had an outstandingly productive and creative day.

Maybe you felt like you could fly wherever you wanted to. Maybe all your words and thoughts made completely sense during some minutes. Maybe your mind and body experienced an indescribable harmony while you created something which others found impressive; be it a painting, ideas, music, a sketch or just an unbelievable solution to a complex problem.

Now that you have a few memories of a time where you reached an innovative super-state, try to recognize the pattern:

What did you do on those days that made them such special? How did you start your day? What did you eat? What did you hear? What did you feel?... Just keep asking all sorts of perspective questions, ask yourself what sort of stimulations you were exposed to.

Write down which things you did and try to replicate them. Notice if anything changes with your day and keep trying different patterns until you ace it!

What works for me you ask? (me as the author, of course!)

In particular, the stimulus recipe which works best for me usually involves intense physical activities followed by relaxation, instrumental music from old movies and games; and most importantly, a strong desire to change something I’m unhappy with.

Keep in mind, the stimulus which work for you are subject to change depending on an infinite number of variables; time, being one of them. (Yes, they might change with time)

I’ll throw the question back to you ?? What is your secret stimulus recipe? ??

Innovation is a temporary, fragile and unstable state of mind. Only those who exploit this super state today, will write the history of tomorrow.

Pssst! If you read this, I just want to let you know that I had fun doing this article ?? That's it! If you enjoyed it, I'm always happy to read your comments and like your shares!

About the author:

Nelson Javier Mejia, is an entrepreneur and #innovation enthusiast in his late-20s, who is committed to making the world a better place to live and work.