Free your creative mechanism to lead you to success

Worry only before you make a decision—not after it
Let’s say you hate speaking in public but have to give a presentation at a business meeting tomorrow morning. You can either choose to attend or avoid the meeting completely. But once you’ve decided to attend, just relax, prepare as best as you can, and get enough sleep. Spare yourself the anxiety and worry that will only inhibit your performance at the meeting.

Focus on the present moment rather than the worries of tomorrow
Your creative mechanism can only respond in the present moment. Therefore, give all your conscious attention to whatever challenges you’re facing in the present moment. Focus on those steps you can take today and let tomorrow take care of itself. Practice mindfulness by being consciously aware of the sights, sounds, scents, and textures of objects in your immediate environment.

Only do one thing at a time
Juggling multiple tasks makes you jittery and anxious and lowers your ability to think creatively. To correct this habit, visualize an hourglass with many grains of sand dropping one by one. See each grain as a problem or task that can only be dealt with one at a time. Be single-minded and focused on one goal before moving to the next one.

Sleep on your niggling problems instead of rushing to find a solution
If you’ve spent the whole day wrestling with a problem without any success, sleep on it. You may wake up with a creative solution the next morning.

Learn to relax even as you work
During your working day, stop regularly to visualize yourself relaxing somewhere pleasant. Feel the relaxed sensations as you picture yourself sitting or lying down in an easy chair or at the beach. You can also repeat the statement, “I feel more and more relaxed.” Practice this several times daily to lessen the tension and fatigue that interfere with your creative mechanism.