There is a better side, a superior side, a beautiful side to everyone and everything. By learning to look for the better and higher qualities in persons and things we ally ourselves with these and not only produce better ideas and more constructive ones, but improve ourselves at the same time by more de­sirable and up building attitudes.

A major requirement in getting an idea is to believe that it is possible. In other words, we said something above about faith. Before you can do anything, you have to believe it can be done. This more than anything, sets the mind in motion to find the way. Your mind always takes its cue from your beliefs. If you believe it cannot be done, your mind will produce the reasons why it cannot. If you believe it can, your mind will be equally proficient in showing how it can. That is a necessary step in releasing creative power.

Of course to get an idea you must be receptive. A dog on Fifth Avenue, New York, may be surrounded by all the idea material which the creative thinker sees. Receptiveness is what you as a human being can make of it. Before you can do anything, you have to believe it can be done. This more than anything, sets the mind in motion to find the way.

You cannot harbor in your mind such negative attitudes as fear, worry, resentment, jealousy, anger, anxiety and the like, and at the same time expect to receive any inspiration from the finer portions of your being. The creativeness of a person is of the same substance as universal creativeness. You must ask this creativeness within for what you want, visualizing it as clearly as possible in picture form. Then you must still your mind in an attitude of faith, expectation and confidence that you will get your reply. You can’t pour grain into a sack unless the sack is open to receive, and your subconscious cannot pour ideas into your mind unless your mind is receptive.

I much like the word “amateur” as we might apply it to the subject of getting ideas. From the French verb, “to love,” its literal English meaning is to have such a fondness for a particular endeavor that one cultivates it eagerly without pursuing it professionally. Many notable discoveries in science have been made by amateurs. Newton’s occupation was that of a government employee. His scientific exploits were the hobbies of an “amateur”. To Einstein, mathematics was a hobby, his work being in the Swiss patent office.

To do anything with the spirit of love is to add profoundly to its potentiality for success. Everyone knows that love is magnetic. In the field of thought it attracts other thoughts that are needed, in a mysterious way. It removes much of the stress and strain of compulsion and adds the glow of happiness and inspiration.

When your dominant mental attitude is aspiring, harmonious and positive your mental powers will be directed into constructive channels. If the state of mind is discordant, apathetic, negative, then the forces will be misdirected and wasted. Attitudes of harmony and goodwill promote improved conditions of satisfaction and progress. Only trouble and discontent, confusion and discord can result from destructive attitudes. Creative skills enable us to deal ably with every problem of living. They aid us in developing our individual character to an increasingly higher creative level. Since it is creative skill which enables us to advance to economic stability and to enjoy life at the highest level, the development of creative skill is a most important practice for each of us to undertake.

Creativeness in the production of ideas when successful is far more than a financial asset, for it serves in a big way as an emotional outlet as well. Such ills as nervousness, discouragement, the inferiority sense, and general restlessness are due to the feeling that one is not contributing to life to the hilt of their capacities.

A single new idea may reshape your whole future. It is worth trying for. The results of ideas extend far beyond money. They bring one into new business and social contacts. They furnish the priceless opportunity to be of service, and thereby achieve appreciation, so yearningly desired by every human being. They justify one’s existence, for one has no right to consume all the pleasures and benefits and comforts of life without producing some in return. The idea producer also gains in the pleasures and rewards of alertness, interest in surroundings, the conquest of boredom, and the possession of a hobby with many challenging qualities. The successful idea producer also develops their own personality by adding interest, enthusiasm, purpose to their life. They increase their mental stature by becoming more observant, more analytical, and more concentrated. Most people however, do not lack the capacity to be more creative. The difficulty up to now has been that the methods of accomplishing such a purpose have nowhere been imparted to them. As a result, they view the subject with awe and mystery and ineptly allow themselves to be stumped by imaginary obstacles.

One has only to look around at the world to see in the most casual glance that there is untold opportunity for improvement and change. Granting the tremendous need for creative thinking and for new ideas, it is high time to place their production on a more systematic and reliable basis than has hertofore been done.