The Ancient Creativity
Unleash Your Inner Creative Monster
Awaken the Ancient Creature Inside Your Mind
Everyone is creative
Creativity is a force that lies in all of us. The only difference is that some people don’t know how to use it, while others just live a creative life.
But what’s creativity and how it works? Everyone speaks about being creative in life, and yet, no one speaks about how it’s working.
California State University defined creativity as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that might be useful to create or solve problems.
And what’s this tendency? Where does it come from?
Put it simply, creativity is nothing but how you perceive the world around you, and the reality inside your own head.
Here are some of the tricks that worked for me and still work every time I start writing an article, or even a screenplay for a movie.
1. How you see the world, is how much creativity you have
Creativity is not something you are born with, is something you are surrounded by from the moment you came to this planet.
I don’t have imagination! I can’t write like you! I can’t create! You will hear many people along your journey stating this. Finding excuses is just part of human nature.
Either you have an idea for a book, a movie, a business, or just a surprise for one of your friends... EVERYONE CAN CREATE. And it’s not some motivational speech, is a scientific fact. Creativity is not just about art, it’s about everything. You use creativity without being aware all the time.
Example:
You start writing something. You type 50 words, or maybe you write a page. Then you stop and question yourself (like every writer out there), if you are good enough.
“They won’t like it. It’s no good. Doesn’t have substance”. You start talking to yourself. Your writing is just awful. Sometimes you even see images in your mind about how people will reject your article/book/business idea.
Do you even know what you just did? You just created a hell of a story in your head. All those voices that told you to quit, are just nice pieces of dialogue. And all those pictures in your head, are scenes.
“Worry is the misuse of imagination” — Dan Zadra
See? You have imagination. The only problem is that you focus your creative energy in the wrong direction. And that wrong direction becomes anxiety. (more on that in a moment)
2. Limit your mind, but don’t limit your passion
Have you ever heard of the statement “You are not your thoughts”? I bet so. But what does that mean actually?
According to neurological experts, your thoughts are merely objects of the mind. Just like sounds, perception, feelings, and ideas, thoughts are nothing but passing clouds. Let them pass.
Your brain is always trying to find the easy way. Don’t be surprised, that every time you start creating something new, you also start questioning your skills. That’s just your brain, wanting to stay in its comfort zone.
Limiting your mind doesn’t mean that you don’t have to think anymore. This means that you limit your brain activity, and say stop to all the unnecessary and unproductive thoughts. Every time you think about something or your mind starts wondering again, try to find out why you actually have that thought. Question every thought you have.
When I started questioning my own thoughts, I realized that most of my fears of writing are linked to my perfectionism side. And my perfectionism side comes from my inner need of proving to others that I’m good enough.
“The first draft is your intuition at work. The rewriting draft is your brain at work. Creative block comes when you reverse the way you use them” — Viki King
When you first start writing on something, do not limit your passion, and trust your intuition. Your mind’s job is to question your intuition, but your job is to question your own mind.
Example:
You write a novel. Along the writing process you feel that your characters should go the other way around. But your mind is telling you that your characters cannot go that way. You already have a plan you should follow.
Here is your brain at work, not you. In that very moment, if you start questioning your thoughts, you will find out that your brain is afraid of the unknown realm, and is more comfortable with the initial plan of the book because everything is planned right?
But you should take that leap of faith and go with your intuition because that’s you at work, not your brain.
3. Where focus goes, energy flows
This statement is as old as the internet itself.
I told you what happens when your imagination is pointed in the wrong direction: anxieties appear.
But let’s talk a little bit about science and what happened inside your brain when you focus.
“Every time my awareness drifts away, I bring it back. I use my willpower… my mental muscle to bring it back. — Jim Kwik
According to neuroscientists, when you extensively focus on something, your neurons fire more frequently and create stronger connections with other neurons… which can lead to improved performance over time.
Only one word comes to my mind when I hear this: HABITS
As long as your focus goes in the wrong direction, your neurons will create more connections in that direction which will lead to creating the habit of thinking of negative things.
Our brain is constantly bombarded with useless information every day.
In order for you to unleash that creative monster, you first need to learn how to not get distracted by the world around you and within yourself.
Try to stay as focused as possible, not thinking of the day-by-day worries.
When you brush your teeth, think just about that. When you walk on the street, think just about walking on the street and be aware of how you step. When you start working, focus on the present moment, on the work. Every problem has its own time.
4. Slow Motion Multitasking
The first time I heard about this concept, I was listening to Tim Hadford's speech at Ted Talks.
“When we have several projects in progress at the same time, and we shift our focus from one to the other, it’s called slow motion multitasking.” — Tim Hadford
- J.K. Rowling was writing Harry Potter while running Lumos, her charity organization.
- Christopher Nolan, one of the most successful filmmakers of all time, writes more screenplays at the same time.
- Elon Musk runs three successful companies at the same time
But how can they do it, when I am struggling with just one project? Well… here’s the thing:
When you work on one project, normally your entire focus goes on that. But after a while, you start hitting walls. This is perfectly normal for every writer as well.
Plot holes. Character inconsistencies. Backstory. You just focus on solving problems. If you have a business, it can happen as well.
And focusing extensively on one thing keeps you inside the problem. Whereas in order for you to solve a problem, you have to be in a place where you can observe the whole picture.
Slow Motion Multitasking means that every time when you hit a wall in a creative project, you can rapidly shift the focus to another project, keeping your brain on the creative field, but in some other places. This might trigger some cool ideas for solving the problems.
DID YOU KNOW:
The idea for the movie Man of Steel (Superman), came to the screenwriter David Goyer and the director Christopher Nolan, while having a writing block when working at Batman: Dark Knight Rises.
They just step away from the project to work on different projects, and not only they solved the problem in Batman’s plot, but a new blockbuster ascended.
Conclusions & Take Aways
- Try to focus your creativity only on your stories, or what creative projects you might have. Let the entire world inspire you.
- Question every thought you have, trying to bring in front only those thoughts that inspire you, and trust your intuition more than your mind.
- Focus on what you have to do, not on the things that might never happen. What’s your next step?
- Try to start more projects at once (not too many). Every time you want to procrastinate, do it by working on other projects so your procrastination becomes more productive.
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