The Creative You
Everyone is born creative.
The boxes of crayons in kindergarten were not limited to those who possessed potential; because the truth is, everybody has potential.
People appear to have the delusion that only a few are capable of creative genius. This is one of life’s biggest myths.
The truth is, creativity is very much like a muscle; everyone has the ability, but some people don’t practice it because they don’t believe they are capable.
You know this isn’t true.
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.
I came out of a particularly thought-provoking discussion group and penned the following very prophetic free verse.
Why Study Creativity In Young Children?
Just as all children are not equally intelligent, all children are not equally creative.
But just as all children exhibit behaviors which evidence intelligence from birth, they also exhibit behaviors which evidence the potential for creativity.
Creativity is essentially a form of problem-solving. But it is a special type of problem-solving–one that involves problems for which there are no easy answers: that is, problems for which popular or conventional responses do not work.
Creativity involves adaptability and flexibility of thought. These are the same types of skills that numerous reports on education have suggested are critical for students.
Creativity is essential in remaining relevant in a business world now characterized by fast pace and rapid change.
It is needed to stay ahead of competition that has become more and more global and cutthroat.
It is needed not only to solve problems, but to see ahead clearly enough to identify opportunities that others may be missing.
Truly innovative leaders have the ability to see connections across data, ideas, concepts, and past experience. They can then see the patterns and project forward, developing even better ideas and solutions.
The following practices came out of 12 years of coaching entrepreneurs to structure their business based on what is most alive for them, using their whole-brain creativity to do it.
The practices are not necessarily in a linear order – you might go back and forth between them.
It’s not as much about a sequence as it is about engaging and responding in the moment: sometimes listening receptively; others times creating actively.
Just as a trip to a new place can set your imagination off, so can a visit to something old.
If you are looking for ways to spark your imagination, try rekindling things from your past.
Our pasts are rich with memories, some long forgotten, that can be resurrected and built upon even if only as a form of creative outlet.
When I say ‘visit your past,’ I don’t just mean your old neighborhood or long lost friends, though, those can be rich resources for creativity.
There are many ways we can kill our creativity and severely limit our ability to naturally create the projects we have the talent and desire for.
Here, in no particular order, are 7 of the most common Creativity Killers, and how we can avoid and overcome them:
Creativity Killer No 1 – Expect too much from yourself
Berate yourself for not creating a masterpiece comparable to Michaelangelo’s Cistine Chapel each time you pick up a paintbrush. Criticise your writing efforts for not being perfect on the first draft.
Deadlines are something all of us face from time to time.
We face deadlines whenever we set even a small goal and commit to accomplish it. That’s when deadlines becomes important and valuable to us.
Why is a deadline so important?
Without one many of our projects would, be put off, or eliminated completely.
The closer we get to a deadline the more our thoughts, ideas, imagination and creativity go to work to help us meet the deadline.
Of course, the opposite of creativity is stagnation in which new ideas and more efficient ways of working are not encouraged.
This is one of the factors that can turn a previously successful organization into one that falls behind and is overtaken by more forward-thinking competitor.
An Excellent Tool
However, with the rise in awareness about brain-based learning, Mind mapping training is proving to be an excellent tool for stimulating creativity and building self-confidence and self-motivation in workers.
Eric Maisel, Creativity Expert
Author of “Making Your Creative Mark”
If you want to live a creative life and make your mark in some competitive art field like writing, film-making, the visual arts, or music, and if at the same time you want to live an emotionally healthy life full of love and satisfaction, you need an intimate understanding of certain key ideas and how they relate to the creative process.
One key idea is that you must act confidently whether or not you feel confident. You need to manifest confidence in every stage of the creative process if you want to get your creative work accomplished. Here’s what confidence looks like throughout the creative process.
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