We can all agree that we life would be pretty luxurious is it were easy. No one really desires for difficulty, resistance, or challenges to happen in life. No way! Every parent would prefer their children to behave like angels every minute of each day. Every boss would prefer their employees working seamlessly and customers to be completely satisfied. Puppy owners would prefer their fur babies to be potty trained over night and never chewing on the furniture. Every athlete would prefer to win. Ever musician prefers to improve and perform flawlessly. You can see where this is going.
Some of you might disagree, “Nope, I love challenges in my life.” And that’s great! You’re the example we all should follow because that means you see the bright side to challenges; which would also tell us that you’ve overcome them successfully. Challenges should be welcomed into our lives and embraced. Not only does it help us to improve and strengthen, but it actually makes us more creative. We’re not only talking about artistic creativity, but creative problem solving as well.
When we’re frustrated, it pushes us out of our comfort zone. Out of the familiar. Out of the box! And this is when we come up with out-of-the-box solutions, creative approaches, and new ideas. When things get messy, we’re able to rethink the way something is working.
There’s a study that worked with high school students. Over a semester, teachers were asked to give their handouts in different styled fonts. Some students were give fonts that were simple and easy to read, while others were given fonts that were harder to read. At the end of the semester, student took a test. The outcome resulted in those who read with font styles that were difficult to read actually scored higher on the exam. This is because the font forced them to slow down, examine the words, and really make sense of things. Long term results also showed that these students would be successful in the future because they were able to think out of the box more easily. This is because their box was full of holes.
When we’re problem solving, disruptions often feel like they’re getting in the way. They frustrate us and make us feel very uncomfortable. So we resist them. But really, they force us to see things from a different perspective, which is how we come up with new ideas, by seeing things differently. And how would you see something differently than you always have? – By throwing in some form of random disruption, an obstacle, a challenge.
If challenges are really weighing you down or you’re not able to come out of them successfully and healthily, please contact Crownview Medical Group and get in touch with a medical professional who can help guide you with another perspective. Challenges should be coped with and approached in a healthy way to result in healthy outcomes. It’s not always easy for people to be open to obstacles and if you’re one of these people, let us help you harness your creative problem solving and help you improve!
Source:
https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_harford_how_messy_problems_can_inspire_creativity#t-269142
