Recently, I have seen within many of my contemporaries creatives, of different disciplines, stifling their work by over thinking their path. We all hold limiting beliefs at some point about the future of our work. Especially in today's American culture, our focus is on monetizing our creative ideas.
Here is the massive mental difference. And this is possibly what one can think of when they are trying to "think like a child" again. One feeling I have tried to maintain is that if I have a compelling idea, I will try and create it as soon as possible. Whether it is a video production, sketch, poem, etc. I create for my own soul's desire of expression. I don't try and and force all of my work to have high concepts or perfect rendering. It is healthy to make fun or funny art. We as people heal through laughter and non pressurized fun. Dancing at a club isn't as fun as dancing alone in your bedroom. Why? The societal pressures are gone. Don't be concerned on the joy the art will bring or the art will be devoid of joy. Be joyful when you create an your work will be ingrained in a joyous spirit. Your energy is infused into your work.
These days, I will share a quirky, off the cusp idea with a friend and their initial concerns are about where we show it or sell the work. My actual response usually is along the lines of, "I don't care, I just want to have fun with this. We can delete it or burn it after if it is really that detrimental to you. Let's just create." You can see how easy it is to halt early building block ideas that guide you to your masterworks if you have done this enough over time. Let's put this into perspective, because my goal is to save you from wasting more time thinking if I have a valid point or not.
I would consider myself a prolific painter compared to my local contemporaries. I average about 10 to 20 paintings a month. Usually for different sizes and series. So lets say you aren't that into art yet and you still have a full time job. So you can only paint 2 paintings a month. That's 24 paintings a year if you are consistent. If you are focused on building a large body of work to be able to display and sell, you are going to be very afraid of experimenting and making even a third of those 24 too different from the initial paintings. Don't be afraid to change directions. Even if the world thinks you have found the perfect expression. Your intuition guided you there, allow it to guide you into the next 'right' thing. Don't give up, don't over think, and don't always worry about the return on your artistic investment.