
Turn your Mind into a creative boss!
Being creative is a skill. I say that because I truly believe creativity can be trained and developed until you’re a creative boss. Creativity can be enriched by outside forces and what you do in your everyday life; it does not solely rely on natural ability. They are a few tricks I have learned which you can use to stretch, challenge and push your creativity out of its comfort zone.
Here are 8 ways you can improve your creativity:
Challenge yourself to new tasks. When you expand your world and start doing things you have never done before your creativity expands. Your mind starts to work in a different way in order to adapt to the new tasks. I recently challenged myself to write and blog every day for 6 months. I have never written anything worth reading before but the moment I decided to do this challenge, new ideas, new topics and a whole new creative way of thinking opened up to me. And I am certain my creative muscle will be challenged even more during this journey.
Take up a hobby that will allow you to be creative. Pick up a music instrument or pick up a pencil and start drawing. Take up a hobby that you love, it could be music, writing, comedy or poetry; the list is endless. This hobby could be something you have never done before and that’s even better. A new hobby will open up new ways of thinking and will allow you to ‘create’ new things constantly. The more frequent you create the better you become at it.
Be humorous. ‘But humor and serious situations don’t go together’ you might wonder. Think about it in this way then, ‘Serious situations require creative solutions and a good laugh will bring relaxation which is a catalyst for creativity.’
Hang out with creative people (Brainstorming sessions). When I feel stuck I like to draw inspiration from people I think are more creative than me. People who do not have the same thought pattern as I do. In my case I have a group of close friends I usually have brainstorming sessions with. I don’t know why it works like this, but when you start sharing ideas with other people, new ideas start appearing. These sessions have greatly improved my creativity because I get to tap into other people’s ideas and their way of thinking. You can start having sessions with two or three of your friends. Have them twice a month for starters; you can invite other people if you want to.
Write ten new ideas every day. Force yourself to come up with ten new ideas every day for 6 months. This is a great idea to stimulate ideas to keep popping back up in your head frequently. They don’t have to be great ideas but just new ideas. At the end of the 6 months you will be an ingenious idea machine.
Get yourself in the right mood. Only you would know how to get yourself in the right mood. I use music, nothing puts me in a creative mood than listening to sweet mellow music while sitting on the floor. Some are in the right mood when it’s completely silent. Find what works for you.
Don’t be Afraid to fail. When you’re being creative, you’re thinking of new things, new solutions, new scripts and some of them will fail. If you’re afraid to fail you will most likely stick to given solutions and this will stop you from thinking of new ones. Creativity and failure go hand in hand.
Limit your resources. When you limit your resources, your brain will find a way to make the most of the situation. If you have limited resources (time, budget, tools, workforce etc.) and you really need to achieve a certain task, you will tend to be more creative than when you have an infinite amount of resources. In order to put your brain into creative mode, place limits on yourself when you’re planning. Limits can bring out your most creative side.
How about you? What do you do to put yourself in the best mindset to generate new ideas?
