We're born creative. However, this innate characteristic becomes buried as we get older. Our logical left brain usually takes the driver's seat. Here are 5 ways to help you unearth your creative self.
1. Surprise Your Mind. List laughable, ridiculous, outrageous and bizarre ideas. Don't limit yourself to ideas that other people consider "sane," "reasonable" or "logical." The best and most creative ideas stem from silly ones. When you're in a creative mode, you're suspending judgment on ideas you generate. You simply list them all down and never worry whether they make sense or not. Allow yourself the freedom to think outside the box.
2. Aim for Quantity. Generate loads of ideas for you to go through later. It's normal that your first few ideas won't really be fresh. The gems will come out later so it's important to keep going. With a large list of ideas, you'll have more to choose from, adapt or combine. Creativity is not coming up with something new from nothing; creativity is the ability to create something novel from ideas/things that already exist by combining, improving or refining them.
3. Be Playful. A relaxed and playful attitude fosters creativity. Those creative juices flow best when you're not restrained by your logical, left brain. Toy with ideas and forget about being too careful. Be a child again and play.
4. Believe that Everything has a Solution. An optimistic outlook always leads to solutions, no matter how impossible a problem or task may be. Often when a solution can't be found, all that's needed is for the problem to be redefined. Or when you think you're stumped, surprise your mind with silly solutions then work backwards, leading to the original problem. Cultivate an attitude of continuing search for solutions.
5. Let Go of Your Fear of Failure. Don't expect to do something perfectly for the first time. Thomas Edison tried about 1800 things for the perfect filament for the incandescent lamp. Fear of failure is one of the major factors that can hinder your creativity. Instead of looking at failed attempts negatively, look at your failures as learning opportunities. Failing isn't fun, but neither is doing nothing.
Copyright © 2003-2004 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
About The Author
Shery is the creator of WriteSparks! - a software that generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks! Lite for free - http://writesparks.com
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
Can anyone be an artist? People admiring my work often say, "I could never do that!" I say, "Yes, you can!" Eight years ago, during a very difficult time in my career in finance (Downsizings, layoffs ? let's not talk about it, OK?), my company sent me to a development workshop for female executives... Read More
Creativity is central to the management of our individual lives, but in modern times few people are able to access this as a resource... Read More
Do you ever encounter problems, challenges or obstacles in your business? If you answered 'no,' then you can stop reading and continue to rake in the fortune you must be making... Read More
When you hear, "tell me a story," does your mind suddenly go blank? Don't panic... Read More
As workplaces continue to rightsize and downsize, we all find ourselves doing more with less... Read More
It seems like this week a ton of people have been asking me how they can become more creative... Read More
When stressed or blocked it is wise to make a change so thatwe don't stay in that place... Read More