Friday Challenge: How to Unleash Your Creative Potential
If we never get bored, we never get creative.
Getting creative requires a wandering mind, or what we call an “aimful wandering.” It is in far too short of supply. We are addicted to our smartphones, endlessly distracted by our social media streams, games, and the newest viral videos. We are stimulated 24x7 and this stimulation leaves no space for our minds to get bored.
However, creativity and our best ideas occur when our minds are free to make connections, to think and reorder our experiences, our ideas, our challenges and conversations. In other words, when the mind is bored, it finds its own stimulation. This is where creativity happens.
Here are the three simple steps you can take this weekend to rekindle creative fires just waiting to be sparked.
Plan about an hour to experience the aimful wandering:
Step 1: Leave your phone at home.
We know, it is hard to do — but to reap the benefit of aimful wandering, this is a crucial step.
Step 2: Head outside and go somewhere — anywhere — at least 30 minutes away from your home.
(If you’re walking, it can be 30 minutes by foot, subway or train).
Step 3: Explore your new surrounding for an hour.
Meander without any goal other than to see where your mind and heart direct you. Chat with a barista at a coffee shop. Peruse store fronts. Sit at a bench in the park. Go for a hike.
Whatever calls you.
It may feel odd that there is no specific outcome tied to this challenge, but giving your mind the space to think, make connections, and stimulate itself will provide some surprising outcomes…
Leave us a comment below when you take this challenge and tell us how it felt to disconnect and let your mind wander this weekend!
