Feeling jaded? Stuck in a rut? Bemoaning a lack of interesting stimuli?  This could be just the break you’re looking for. Studies have shown that people who are easily bored are constantly looking for new ways to fight the boredom, and that makes them more likely to turn to risky behaviors in an attempt to make their environments more interesting. So is this bad? It is if you decide to go skydiving without a parachute, or watch streaming video for 92 hours straight, or take more than your prescribed dosage of Parnazadanol.*

But by taking the “right risks,” boredom can be the fuel that sparks fresh ideas. None other than Fyodor Dostoevsky, the celebrated Russian author, believed that boredom was a precursor to great creativity. Despite his Slavic propensity for gloom, in this regard Fyodor definitely exhibited SuperOptimist tendencies.

All you need is the patience to not freak out when boredom arrives. Stay with the feeling, soak in it awhile, and then watch your imagination begin to look for an escape hatch. It’s in this mental search for escape that inspired thinking can be found.

The SuperOptimist realizes that the mind will always seek a way out from the cage of boredom eventually. Even if the route is up over the craggy Himalayas, and each step is hard, hard, work, the mind will seek it nonetheless.  Just think how good it will feel to climb up out of boredom and conquer that mountain.

Take that first step now and we’ll see you at the top!

*We made this up. But it sounds like a new pharmaceutical breakthrough, doesn’t it?