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Doubts – One thousand shades of grey – By @isabellelj1

By Isabelle Johnson

 

Doubts – One thousand shades of grey

 

This is a blog about the thousand shades of grey that come with the creative territory: one thousand shades of grey. I am referring to doubts.

Since starting the course, I have experienced some doubts and having spoken to others I know I am not alone. Imposter syndrome is something that we are all going to have to deal with throughout the year.

Doubts mean you become unsure of your ideas.

Doubts all come crowding in.

You allow people to add unnecessary information.

And before you know it someone has pinched your idea or you’ve lost sight of the whole thing.

Some thing that we need to bear in mind about doubts:

It’s important to be single-minded. To paraphrase Hegarty, coming up with an idea shouldn’t be like an orgy. If too many people get involved in forming an idea it can cause creative clutter.

The seed of doubt perfectly depicts the nature of the beast. That tiny spec of doubt becomes lodged somewhere in the mind, before starts to swell, eventually engulfing and suffocating all clarity of thought.

As creatives, imposter syndrome is part of the game. We aren’t dealing with facts and figures. Certainty doesn’t exist anymore. Creativity is not black and white.

But doubt can be good. 

Black and white thinking poisons your perspective. If we think in black and white, we can’t think laterally and come up with creative solutions. It prevents invention and room for alternatives.

In the words of Galileo Galilei, ‘doubt is the father of invention’. Like creatives, strong curiosity is the main motivation of many scientists. Doubt has the ability to trigger and progress to an understanding on something new. This is echoed by Leo Burnett – ‘Curiosity about life in all aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.’ 

Doubts keep us diligent. The fear of failure keeps us on our toes and our egos in check.

They prevent us from being complacent.

Doubts keep us human. Dictators, narcissists and sociopaths never question their own judgement.

The one thing we can all agree on with Donald Trump is how he maintains unwavering positive self-belief, even in the face of total failure. This is a corrupting influence which prevents progression.

Doubts are normal. They’re a psychological mechanism to protect you from the things that scare you.

Doubts don’t go away. Even the most talented creatives experience doubts and imposter syndrome. Despite their accomplishments, very talented people experience fraud or impostor feelings.

So we will all just have to remember why we are here and think of the bigger picture on the bad days that we have. 

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