Written and verified by the psychologist GetPersonalGrowth.
Last update: 15 November 2021
If we want to recover our true potential, sometimes there is no other remedy than to set aside most of the beliefs and teachings that they have instilled in us to see the world from a different perspective. This new view must be broader, more curious and critical, only in this way can we reinvent ourselves, only in this way can we finally feel free. Creative unlearning is a sensational practice.
Talking about creativity means talking about human capital. Let's think about it for a moment: we are facing a saturated labor market, in which everyone has very similar skills and competences. The only thing large companies would need is innovation, in order to fit into an increasingly complex and demanding economic and social scenario.
"Don't stifle your inspiration and your imagination, don't become the slave of your model."
-Vincent van Gogh-
It is not difficult to understand what it means nowadays to have highly creative people and, given their rarity, it is not surprising that they are so in demand. These are profiles that give a spark to the now rusty gears of many companies, where any change, in a stalled phase, is a step forward, an important achievement, a breaking point with the inertia of a practically immobile system.
In addition to this, it is impossible to deny the personal benefits of being more creative than others, more open to complexity and more ingenious in providing answers when faced with a problem.This mental flexibility is a wonderful way to invest in one's personal growth. .
Creative Unlearning: I choose to grow
Be identical to others or be able to stand out. Living stuck between monotony and mediocrity or choosing to grow in all senses: emotionally, personally and professionally. Where to start? As Aristotle said, happiness must be the goal in which all others converge. For this reason it is essential to assimilate and refine the psychological and emotional strategies that will allow us to look a little more like the person we would like to be.
To do this, we need to develop a skill that we all have from birth: creativity. If such statements leave you doubtful and you think you are not very original and not creative at all, it is worth reading the book by Neurologist Alice W. Flaherty "The Midnight Disease".
It explains the process by which our emotions, our experiences and the educational system to which we are exposed gradually “infect” us by extinguishing our spark, our creative potential, our motivation.
To "heal", to reinvent ourselves and awaken our dormant potential, we must practice creative unlearning. First of all, however, we need to understand what it is.
See the world from different angles
Reinventing yourself is not easy, because, if you think about it, abandoning a part of yourself can be scary. It is about giving birth to a new self, putting aside some aspects of our person to make room for others. How can this be done? It is true that companies value creativity and innovation, but it is also true that in a certain way the society we live in wants us to be passive, it prefers us to be silent, docile and with similar tastes.
Let's face it, reinventing ourselves is a challenge we are not all prepared for. We must therefore be able to say enough to the vision of the world they want to impose on us: we must simply "wake up" to reconnect with our essence and bring to light all its potential, coming out into the open and taking an original but well-considered position.
Here are some tips to do this.
The 3 main points of creative unlearning are:
- It does not mean forgetting or "resetting" to eliminate everything we have been told, taught or passed on. It means knowing how to question oneself, knowing how to question and above all never accepting imposed points of view and absolute truths.
- It means making the most of our emotional intelligence. Many of our habits, emotions, beliefs and attitudes hinder our creativity.
- Another aspect that needs to be worked on is flexibility. Many of our life experiences can make us adopt, almost without realizing it, an extremely rigid line of thought limited to what is conventionally considered correct or acceptable. However, opening ourselves to new experiences, being flexible and knowing how to criticize and self-criticize ourselves will allow us to increase our human potential.
It is important to stress once again that everyone can do it, we can all become more creative, freer, more sophisticated when it comes to reacting to life's problems. Whether it's a course or a specialized book, therefore, you don't have to think twice before embarking on a path to enhance this precious ability.
