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Creativity. How are you using it? There are so many studies that show the relationship between creativity and moving forward. Creative problem solving is a great way to work your way through problems in business, life, and relationships. Don’t let anything get in the way of finding solutions to your problems. There are also a lot of studies that show the connection between creativity and business leadership skills. Creativity at Work If you want to step up your game at work, focus on the following ways you can up your game by getting those creative juices flowing!
- Prepare your mind
- Plant creative & positive thoughts around your goals
- Question your old way of thinking and doing things
- Stuff your brain
- Throw out perfection
- Child’s play
Prepare Your Mind Let’s get started! Start prepping your mind for opening up to being creative. You will need an open mind, ready to absorb everything around it like a sponge. Stay relaxed and yet focused. Give your attention to what is going on around you. Allow yourself space to get into this new mindset. You are going to want to let go of what you think things should be, how you think problems should be solved, and allow yourself to open up to a new realm of possibilities. Remember one thing as you take this first step: Don’t worry about perfection. The fear of perfection causes many to never begin. Plant Creative & Positive Thoughts Around Your Goals The Buddha said, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we create the world.” We amplify what we think about most. Put your attention on what you want to create, not on complaints. Set an intention to produce the results you desire. Your mind is an empty field. Plant seeds of desire, focus. Understand what you want to accomplish or obtain, and focus on that. Question Your Old Way of Thinking and Doing Things As humans grow, the start out by asking no questions. A child is born and doesn’t question anything. And then they get curious. They ask questions. By the age of 5 it is said that a child asks around 120 questions. An adult only asks around 4 questions a day. If you want to get creative, get open to the idea of living in the question. Be curious, think about how you can break down barriers, listen to other’s questions, and the answers they give. Take a step out of security and allow yourself to question what is. Stuff Your Brain What are you allowing into your brain? Maybe take into consideration the following quote from Ray Bradbury: “If you stuff yourself full of poems, essays, plays, stories, novels, films, comic strips, magazines, music, you automatically explode every morning like old faithful. I have never had a dry spell in my life, mainly because I feed myself well, to the point of bursting.” Also, look for connections. Try to problem solve by making connections. Connections are a great tool to kick start creativity. Metaphors, similes, trying to understand the interconnectedness of the things in the world and the universe. This is often the work of artists, designers, and scientists. Throw Out Perfection Don’t let the fear of perfection get in your way. Don’t stop exploring. Don’t be afraid to fail. If you roll up your sleeves and accept you might fail, you will make more progress than shooting for perfection every time. Child’s Play Routine and continuos effort help to open up your creativity, but one thing that can help more than anything is remembering how you played as a child. What absorbed you to the extent that you lost track of time? Your child’s play provides the clue to your creativity, your talents and your passions. What connections can you make from lessons you have learned at play, that you can apply to your work? Creativity takes on many forms in business, art, design, education, and science. When we express our creativity in these domains, we have the ability to make life and work a work of art. Remember, don’t take it too seriously, and get creative!