"The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking." - John Kenneth Galbraith

I recently wrote on the importance of creative thinking and not accepting "the norm" as the only way to go about our lives. The quote above helps dig a little deeper into the concept of why we tend to find ourselves sticking to what we know. It turns out, it's a lot of hard work having to think about what we're doing, and sometimes just downright painful! Let's relate it to something that's a little easier to identify with - such as our physical appearance. Many of us desire to be healthy, which can be accomplished by simply eating the right kind of foods, with the right portions. Others of us are looking for more of a "beach body" - where we can sport a chiseled physique that we can show off whenever possible. While the former is much more achievable by following some simple guidelines and applying them to our every day lives, the latter is more challenging to accomplish and will take a great deal of creative thinking to make it work for each individual.

As the COO of BannerView.com, I'm involved in just about everything that goes on in the office. This can become quite the challenge to juggle when you have a combination of tasks that all need attention as soon as possible. Anything from time-sensitive blog posts, employees needing guidance or direction, customers needing support, and let's not forget prepping and planning to keep growing the business! I have an inbox that represents one list of to-dos, a chat program that represents another list of to-dos, a pad of paper where I jot down other tasks that need attention and finally a number of open programs and documents that I don't close until I've completed what I need to complete. I've literally even had a list of lists at one point! When it comes to prioritizing these tasks, I admittedly don't always do them in order of importance, but rather in order of what comes easiest. The problem becomes that more and more "easy" tasks may pop up, never allowing me to get to the more important ones that take more thought. It took some creative thinking to help me break that routine, and it certainly didn't come easy! I finally broke out of my conventional way of doing things and worked hard to find a system that works.

Now having two daughters at home under the age of two, I'm even more vulnerable to this natural behavior of just working to keep up with the conventional day to day routine that has created itself at home. By feeling like I'm keeping up, the quote above serves true that I'm protected from the painful job of thinking! Personally taking on the responsibility of providing the best lives I can provide for my two daughters and wife, I can't forget that there's still a lot of hard work that goes into thinking of ways to improve upon the kind of opportunities that come our way and setting us all up to take full advantage of them when they do. When it comes to my family, being healthy is the conventional view, whereas working toward the "beach body lifestyle," so-to-speak, is where the painful job of thinking comes in. 

Here's the Point:

It takes hard work and creative thinking to accomplish great things in life. Let's not let our conventional views protect us from the painful job of thinking.