I have never wanted to be someone who was accused of cheating or copying. Growing up I was always encouraged to have creative, original ideas because that was the sign that you were engaging your brain. I have always taken this to heart and done my best to always try and think outside the box and be a problem solver.
This concept got me through college. I was able to channel my creativity and problem solving ability into success in my classes. I especially gravitated toward moral and ethical questions and topics of study because that allowed me to write and think through topics logically and come up with creative ways to solve these problems.
When I entered the work force, all of a sudden my creative thinking process was not as reliable as it was in college. Now there were real world consequences to my thought experiments and moral dilemmas. People were less forgiving when something did not go as planned and I began to get nervous about taking risks. I have very recently become ok with imitation to help me try something new in a safer, more controllable way.
I was listening to a podcast about instructional design (yes, I am that nerdy) and someone put forward the idea that imitation can help you learn about someone else’s solutions to a problem. Through imitating their solution, you can learn something that can be applied elsewhere. Since then, I have been embracing the idea of imitating successful people I want to be like. I try my best to give them credit and learn as much as I can so that I can begin to spread my wings into new arenas.