Creative AND-Thinking

by Gopal Ramasammy-Cook (Career-Creative Coach, ZestWare)

I believe that one of the key elements of a creative personal philosophy is AND-thinking. This is the kind of thinking that embraces both or several apparently contradictory options.

Often we are conditioned to believe that certain desires are mutually exclusive, and that if you have one you cannot have the other. This is often expressed as" "You cannot eat your cake and have it." I call this OR-thinking. Some examples are:

• Work or Fun


• Money or Happiness


• Career or Calling


• Success or Freedom

But does it really have to be one or the other? A more creative approach would be to turn all those ORs into ANDs and to then creatively generate strategies for achieving both or all the options:

• Work AND Fun


• Money AND Happiness


• Career AND Calling


• Success AND Freedom

Please post a comment and tell me about the role AND-thinking has played in your life.


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