15:40 Isaac Asimov's Secrets | |
Why was Asimov able to have so many good ideas when the rest of us seem to only have one or two in a lifetime? Asimov wasn’t born writing eight hours a day, seven days a week. He tore up pages, he got frustrated, and he failed over and over and over again. In his autobiography, Asimov shares the tactics and strategies he developed to never run out of ideas again. Let’s steal everything we can. 1. Never stop learningAsimov wasn’t just a science fiction writer. He had a PhD in chemistry from Columbia. He wrote on physics. He wrote on ancient history. Hell, he even wrote a book on the Bible. Unlike modern day “professionals,” Asimov’s learning didn’t end with a degree:
To have good ideas, we need to consume good ideas too. The diploma isn’t the end. If anything, it’s the beginning. Growing up, Asimov read everything. Read widely. Follow your curiosity. Never stop investing in yourself. 2. Don’t fight getting stuckIt’s refreshing to know that, like myself, Asimov often got stuck:
Getting stuck is normal. It’s what happens next, our reaction, that separates the professional from the amateur. Asimov didn’t let getting stuck stop him. Over the years, he developed a strategy:
The brain works in mysterious ways. By stepping aside, finding other projects, and actively ignoring something, our subconscious creates space for ideas to grow. 3. Beware the resistanceAll creatives know the fear of giving shape to ideas. Once we bring something into the world, it’s forever naked to rejection and criticism by millions of angry eyes. Sometimes, after publishing an article, I am so afraid that I will actively avoid all comments and email correspondence… This fear is the creative’s greatest enemy. In the The War of Art, Steven Pressfield gives the fear a name. He calls it “resistance.” Asimov knows the resistance too:
Self-doubt is the mind-killer. I am a relentless editor. I’ve probably tweaked and re-tweaked this article a dozen times. It still looks like shit. But I must stop now, or I’ll never publish at all. The fear of rejection makes us into “perfectionists.” But that perfectionism is just a shell. We draw into it when times are hard. It gives us safety… The safety of a lie. The truth is, all of us have ideas. Little seeds of creativity waft in through the windowsills of the mind. The difference between Asimov and the rest of us is that we reject our ideas before giving them a chance. After all, never having ideas means never having to fail. 4. Lower your standardsAsimov was fully against the pursuit of perfectionism. Trying to get everything right the first time, he says, is a big mistake. Instead, get the basics down first:
Don’t try to paint the Mona Lisa on round one. Lower your standards. Make a test product, a temporary sketch, or a rough draft. At the same time, Asimov stresses self-assurance:
Believe in your creations. This doesn’t mean you have to make the best in the world on every try. True confidence is about pushing boundaries, failing miserably, and having the strength to stand back up again. We fail. We struggle. And that is why we succeed. 5. Make MORE stuffInterestingly, Asimov also recommends making MORE things as a cure for perfectionism:
If you have a new product coming out every few weeks, you simply don’t have time to dwell on failure. This is why I try to write multiple articles a week instead of focusing on one “perfect” piece. It hurts less when something flops. Diversity is insurance of the mind. 6. The secret sauceA struggling writer friend of Asimov’s once asked him, “Where do you get your ideas?” Asimov replied,
Many of his nights were spent alone with his mind:
Nobody ever said having ideas was going to be easy. If it were, it wouldn’t be worth doing. This post originally appeared at Medium. | |
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