Read 2 Corinthians 5:17

Yesterday, we talked about innovative people, and I mentioned that there are a whole lot more innovative people around than any of us can imagine. Could you be one of them?

Let’s take a little test and see. I have Earl Nightingale to thank for this list of 25 traits generally found in creative, innovative people. No relax. You don’t need all 25...but if you have most of them, you may be closer than you think.

Drive—a high degree of motivation
Courage—tenacity and persistence
Goals—a sense of direction
Knowledge—and a thirst for it
Good health
Honesty—especially intellectual
Optimism
Judgment
Enthusiasm
Chance taking—willingness to risk failure
Dynamism—energy
Enterprise—willing to tackle tough jobs
Persuasion—ability to sell
Outgoingness—friendly
Patient yet impatient—patient with others, yet impatient with the status quo
Adaptability—capable of change
Perfectionism—seek to achieve excellence
Humour—ability to laugh at self and others
Versatility—broad interests and skills
Curiosity—interested in people and things
Individualism—self-esteem and self-sufficiency
Realism/idealism—occupied by reality but guided by ideals
Imagination—seeking new ideas, combinations, and relationships
Communication—articulate
Receptive—alert

OK, that’s enough. I told you creative thinking was hard work! But there is something even harder...and that’s change. It’s admitting the need, being honest and humble enough to face the facts, then secure enough to consider new ideas, methods, or devices, to pull it off. Swallowing our pride shouldn’t be that difficult, since that’s what we eat all day.

Go ahead and give it a whirl. Take one of those many things that keeps dragging you under and search for a creative way to solve the problem. And don’t quit until it’s done...and that smile of relief returns to your face.

I know you can do it! You did it before and it worked. And that problem was so huge you could hardly continue. Then came the change...the most important decision you ever made based on the most innovative combination ever devised. A man. A cross. Blood. And belief.

God defines it: “The introduction of something new...a new birth.”

Excerpted from Come Before Winter and Share My Hope, Copyright © 1985, 1994 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.