Insight
I’m at my brother’s and my fishing camp in Mercer, Wisconsin. This is a familiar area to me as my parent’s brought us up here for all our childhood vacations. You don’t come to Mercer for wild partying. It is a place of peace. My wife and I just got back from taking our pontoon boat out and anchoring in the middle of the lake.
We read and relaxed for about three hours. It was magnificent – absolutely no sound except nature, no planes buzzing above our heads or ambient traffic noise – just the silent flapping of one magnificent bald eagle. It’s not for everyone but we needed it.
Insight will not emerge when there is too much stress in your life. It comes when you kick back, relax, and get in the zone.
Serendipitously, I was reading an article in The New Yorker – a well researched article on the nature of creative insight – that wonderful “Ah Huh” moment when all the pieces of the puzzle fit together and clarity of thinking immerges. It’s the essence of the creative process. The core message was that insight will simply not emerge when there is too much stress in your life.
You can’t achieve insight by trying and you can’t make it happen by attempting to force someone to be creative. It comes from a lightness of spirit, kicking back, relaxing, diverting your logical, restless mind and getting in the zone. It’s why Google has ping pong tables spread out over their corporate headquarters.
I was in the perfect atmosphere for insight and it reinforced my belief that we must do everything we can to protect and encourage that precious and necessary part of us because having insight is how we grow and creativity is the heart and soul of having a full, productive and loving life.
James Mapes is a keynote speaker, best-selling author, coach and hypnotist. His most recent book IMAGINE THAT! Igniting Your Brain for Creativity and Peak Performance is the first web-supported book with access to 21 video-coaching clips.
James Mapes is the founder of Quantum Leap Thinking™, creator of The Transformational Coach™, expert on the psychology of “applied imagination,” best-selling author, highly acclaimed business speaker, consultant, seminar leader and personal excellence coach.