In the past people were rewarded by how many hours they worked or the years of experience they had with a particular company. But in the 21st century knowledge economy what really makes a difference to how much you earn is your level of creativity.
In addition to the financial rewards that come from thinking creatively there are also the emotional rewards of doing work you enjoy. People who are involved in creative work feel more fulfilled and are more successful in their chosen industry.
One mistake that many people make is to believe that you are either born creative or you are not. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are all born with a sense of creativity.
Don’t believe me? Picture in your mind right now a red sports car.
See that? You were able to use your mind to “create” the image of the car. You didn’t need to see one to be able to make the image. The reason that some people believe themselves to lack creativity is because just like you need to exercise the muscles of your body, you need to work your “creativity muscles” if you want them to function at their best.
Here you will learn four top tips for being more creative to get those creativity muscles in peak working order:
#1 Exercise, Eat Healthy and Get Plenty of Sleep
The old saying “healthy body for a healthy mind” could not be more true. If you want to think creatively then you need to look after yourself. If you are burned out because of lack of sleep or stress you are going to find it hard to think creatively. Exercise is also crucial to creative thinking. When you exercise it pumps oxygenated blood around the body, including to your brain. Finally make sure to eat healthy which means plenty of vegetables and fruits. Also try adding green tea, as the caffeine and antioxidants will help to give your brain a boost.
#2 Keep a Journal
If you are like most people you are probably getting creative thoughts through out the day. Ideas don’t always come when you want them to, so it is important when inspiration does strike that you write it down. Also the process of keeping a journal and writing things out will help to spur your creative mind.
#3 Use Mind Maps
Mind maps are so named because they closely reflect the way the brain actually works. Our creative mind does not work in a linear fashion, instead it is constantly making new connections. To create a mind map simply take a blank piece of paper and in the center draw the main idea that you want to think creatively about. From that central idea draw branches off to ideas that relate to that idea. From each of these ideas you can draw off further branches of sub-ideas that relate to them. Make use of different colors for each main branch of the mind map as this will help to spur creative thinking and memory.
#4 Take Up A Creative Hobby
As I have already said, creativity is like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it will get. This means you need to look for opportunities to use your creativity. One great way to do this is to take up a creative hobby. Whether it is playing a musical instrument, taking up drawing or learning to dance, if you need to think creatively to perform it, then it will only enhance your creativity.
And finally don’t be afraid to fail. Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers” states that in order for someone to master a particular skill they must spend at least 10,000 hours practicing it. So if you want to be a creative genius, get creating!
Nice post, Cathy! Every human being’s psyche is a bottomless cornucopia of potential ideas. Once you get the hang of it it’s actually pretty impossible to keep up!
Mind mapping is a great idea. I expect it could be helpful even if you don’t have trouble coming up with ideas – just to help organize ideas and plan strategies based on them.
Another wonderful source of inspiration is conversation! Connecting with people who are experts in your area of interest is an incredible way to turbocharge your creativity. Seriously, you can often get more out of a 10 minute conversation than you can from hours of browsing the web.
And your last piece of advice is golden. Fear is the ultimate creativity killer. Nurture your creativity by focusing on the successful elements of what you do, and learning from the rest.
Thanks again!
Anne Michelsen recently posted…Printing Industry Expert Reveals Surprising Truths About Soy Ink
Conversation is definitely a source of inspiration! You never know what connection will get made in your brain when you talk with someone else.
Thank you for the comment!
Cathy Stucker recently posted…Tips for Being More Creative
Nice to have you back, also good to be able to read your creative ‘wisdom’.
My problem is in getting my creativity out to the public, so they can use and enjoy what I produce [example – my hyperlink / website.
Again, welcome back and I look forward to more of your teachings.
BE BLESSED
Vern, marketing is always a challenge. Watch for several marketing techniques and strategies coming here soon. At least some of them should be a good fit for whatever you are marketing!
Thank you for the comment.
Thanks for reminding me to use the brain map. The “Virtual Thesaurus” uses mapping that way as well as some of the sites that have hyperlinks sized according to their relative importance.
As a retired Microsoft support engineer, I frequently used a customer’s problem as a starting point for an article for the Knowledge Base. I had to retire after a side effect of a prescription drug disabled me. The massive stroke I survived from did not disable me, the danged drug did. I had to relearn everything from scratch, including how to talk again.
There seems to be a universal law that states that if a person is going to lose an ability, it will be the most important ones. I made a living by being able to communicate and when it took my voice and ALL of my technical skills, including programming and all of my higher math abilities.
One neurologist loved coming into my room to tell me “Dr. Kurtin, you will never walk, talk or work again, so get that out of your head and you’ll be less frustrated.” My family had told him that I fully expected to return to work. Six months to the DAY of my stroke, I returned to work doing everything that the idiot told me I could “never” do again.
Despite being over 50 at the time of my stroke, my BRAIN found alternatives to the way to talk, walk, and work. It involved a lot of creative thinking, failing, falling, and getting up again. I call my lack of balance FDGB Syndrome…Fall Down, Go BOOM!
Unfortunately for me, the drug I had to take to prevent grand mal seizures caused a series of problems that fall under the umbrella name Tardive Dyskinesias. Once again I had to re-invent myself because I had to retire early. After immersing myself in grammar and style books, I now ghost write and do some editing. I did not SURVIVE a stroke that kills 97% of all people who have my kind of stroke, totally disable another 2% and become the one percent that thrives to lay back and do nothing. Now at the tender age of 72 years YOUNG, I work every day. If I do not have an assignment, I blog or participate in various discussions on the ‘Net.
Thanks for your tips; I’ve created a new folder for your mailings!
Bev, how inspiring! Your story shows how much humans are capable of with purpose and commitment.
Bravo! Do not let anything stop you!
Cathy
Cathy Stucker recently posted…Are Your Goals SMART?
Thank you so much for sharing. This has gifted me with a new energy for going forth instead of procrastinating.
Norma
Am highly impressed by this post. Beverly Kurtin has also approved it. I have been reading your work for quit sometimes now especially on ezine. Keep the good WORK!