Unlocking Your Creativity
As an avid crafter, I often give handmade presents to those among my family and friends who appreciate this type of gift. For her birthday last year, I gave my best friend an amethyst necklace, bracelet and earring set. She loved it but responded as so many people do with a self-deprecating compliment: "You're so talented. I could never be that creative." This statement just kills me.
This is the same woman who juggles a career as a kindergarten teacher with her roles as a mother of three and supportive wife of an entrepreneur. Although she is far from wealthy, just about anyone who visits her home leaves it raving about how gorgeous it is and how envious they are for her flair for interior design. And yet, she thinks that she is not creative!
I've come to think that many of us grow up with a narrow view of the meaning of creativity. We are taught that you are creative if you were good at writing stories or if you excelled at drawing or painting in art class.
True creativity, to my mind, though is better defined as a way of thinking or perceiving the world and its possibilities. Seen this way, creativity can be seen not only in the innovations made by enterprising inventors but also in the time management skills of a parent who has to get three children to three different extracurricular activities, pick up the dry cleaning, get an oil change, pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy, shop for groceries, and make dinner in the space of a few hours.
So, how do you unlock your own creativity? I'm sure that there are many approaches to this, but here is a 5-step approach that I have used successfully with my clients.
Step 1: Make the choice to be creative. First, you have to get past that mental block about what you think is creative. If you have it in your head that it is impossible for you to be creative, it will be. Be intentional in your choice and define what creativity will be for you and by what criteria you will determine your success. Expressing your creativity may involve one of the traditional channels (art, music, poetry, etc.) or it may come out as new ways of coming up with solutions in the workplace. Maybe it means expanding your culinary skills or redecorating your home or maybe it means an innovative approach to a science or other type of research project. What it looks like is all up to you.
Step 2: Expand your horizons. Creativity doesn't usually arise from the familiar. Imagination sometimes requires us to expand our horizons to get kick started if we haven't ventured out for a while. Some things that have worked for my clients include the following:
Visit a different place. It could be a new town, country or even a shop or restaurant you don't normally patronize.
Read magazines or books on topics that you wouldn't normally pick up. If you usually read "People" or "Vogue", try reading a fishing magazine or one about politics and vice-versa. Keep in mind that it is not about converting you to another point of view or hobby; it's about you trying to see the world through different eyes.
Learn something new. Take a class or teach yourself a new skill. Again, this is a way of stimulating your imagination and has the side benefit of being a great confidence builder.
Saturate your senses. Experimenting with different tastes and scents through new foods, playing with fabric of different colors and textures or listening to music you wouldn't normally listen to are all ways of exposing yourself to new sensations.
Step 3: Be brave and take a leap. Part of exploring creativity is to take a chance and brave the unknown. On the plus side, there are few rules here, so any effort is worthy.
Step 4: Expect some failures…and growth. Another reason people shun creative effort is the fear of failure. Failing once, even many times, does not equate to complete failure. If this were true, none of us would have learned to walk. Can you imagine if the first failed attempt of a baby to take a step was met by a parent who scooped up the child, deposited him or her in her playpen and said, "Too bad. Oh well. I guess you'll never walk"? Failure, while certainly not fun, can provide the opportunity to learn, grow and may even expose new opportunities or ideas. Many of this world's "failures" led to incredible inventions, after all. It took Thomas Edison more than 50,000 attempts to create the alkaline battery that we still use today. So, cut yourself a little slack!
Step 5: Recognize your achievement. Too often, when we do something creative or new, and someone acknowledges it, we brush it off with a "Oh, it's nothing. Not a big deal." Don't minimize any attempt or progress you make towards unlocking your creativity. If you took the leap, be sure to hold your head up, throw your arms out and celebrate it!
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Vivian Banta (MBA/Coach U CTP Grad) is a life and transition coach who works with people who want to fully engage in their lives or who are experiencing changes such as relocation, career shifts, and personal relationship changes. To find out more, visit her website or contact her at coach@gardenofsenses.com to schedule a free, 30-minute personal coaching session.
How To Develop Creative Thinking
In my opinion, creativity is the real genius. Intelligent children learn fast, and apply their knowledge in everyday life situations. But - inventing something new, creating something original, that is real genius. I always admire originality, whether it is original artwork, an original story, or an invention that can make life easier for many people.
How can we teach our children creative thinking? How can we teach them the habit of thinking "outside the box"?
Here are a few easy and fun suggestions for activities that will go a long way toward developing this very valuable skill of creative thinking in your child. Slight adjustments may be needed for your child's age and skill.
1. Play the following game: one person starts telling a story. He stops after a few sentences, and the next player continues his story. There is no limit to the number of players. It is a great idea to record the story, so that it can be distributed to the participants later, for the enjoyment of everyone. This is a very fun activity that trains your child (and you too, if you are participating) to think creatively.
2. Prepare a series of pictures. The pictures can be taken from a book, from several books, from newspapers - or even downloaded from the Internet and printed on a home printer. Put the pictures next to each other, and let your child tell a story, using those pictures. You can take turns, your child and you, developing the story based on the pictures. This game can have several variations: put the pictures face down on the table, then turn them over one by one, to continue the story. Gradually increase the speed of turning the pictures over, so that the story teller has to come up with the story continuation faster and faster. When you are done with a set of pictures, just change the order, and see if your child can come up with a different story, based on the new order.
3. Prepare a series of words written on cards. Play the same game - tell a story using these words. You can use the same variations as above.
4. Play a piece of classical music, and let your child tell you what kind of mood does this music create, what kind of story does this music tell?
5. Play a piece of music, and have your child paint a picture that shows the mood this music creates, or tells the story this music is telling.
6. When your child comes up with a story in one of the previous activities, ask your child to change the story in order to change the mood. For example, if the story is sad - can he change the story to be happy? Can he change it to be a mystery? Can he change it to be a comedy, or a funny story?
7. When reading a book with your child, always ask open ended and thought provoking questions like: How would you handle this situation? What could the character do differently? How do you think did the character feel?
8. Print several pictures on paper. (You can use cardboard if you'd like to make the pieces more durable). Cut each picture into 9 parts (or more, if you want to make this game more complex). Now let your child put the pictures back together. After putting all pieces back together into the original pictures, you can mix the pieces, so that your child can create new pictures, combining pieces from different pictures. Start with two pictures mixed together,and advance to more and more pictures. Start with bigger pieces, cutting the picture into 4 parts only, and advance to smaller and smaller pieces, cutting the picture into more and more pieces. Also, use more and more complicated pictures, that include more details.
9. Play "pretend" games with your child often, or use "role playing" with your child. When you read a story, ask your child to play the role of his favorite character.
10. When your child has friends visiting, have them come up with a short play and perform it for the parents. This is always a fun activity for the children, and it also keeps them very busy.
11. Encourage your child to paint a picture of an object. Then have him paint it in different colors. For example, ask your child to paint or draw a bunch of fruit. Then have him change the colors of all the fruit. Have a red banana, yellow apple and so forth.
12. Choose a day a week, and have all family members do their routine activities in a different way. For example, brush their teeth in a different way than usual. Take a different way to school. Sing instead of talking. Get up earlier, and and play a new game. Walk backwards... Be creative, and encourage your child to be creative too.
13. Don't ever discourage your child from using his imagination. If your child tells an imaginary story, always praise him and acknowledge the creativity. If your child comes up with an original answer to a question, even if the answer is incorrect, acknowledge creative thinking.
14. Keep your eyes open for any signs of creativity and originality. Always praise and encourage these traits.
Have fun, and enjoy! To your child's creativity!
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www.all-gifted-children.com. For the last 27 years Esther Andrews has specialized in gifted education and grew 2 profoundly gifted children herself. In her "The Manual Your Child Should Have Come With - How to Develop Your Child's Genius" she is teaching parents how to grow gifted children. www.all-gifted-children.com/package.htm
Creativity Management: the Role of Motivation
What do creativity managers do?
Replace the word management with the word optimisation.
That's what creativity managers do: they optimise the quality of the idea pool (creativity) and the implementation process (innovation).
There are many methods of optimisation and the creativity leader must be aware of all of them, in other words, he or she must synthesise them for optimal effect.
Areas [within creativity] that need managing include motivation, organisational culture, organisational structure, incremental versus radical effects and processes, knowledge mix, group structures, goals, process and valuation.
Areas [within innovation] that need managing include idea selection, development / prototyping and the art of commercialisation.
It is worth noting that 4000 good ideas result in 4 development programs, which in turn results in 1 winner.
The role of motivation
An individual may be 'creative' but if s/he is not motivated then s/he will not produce to optimal levels.
There are two general types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is that where a task is completed for its own sake. Extrinsic motivation is where a task is completed for an ulterior motive (e.g. payment).
Extrinsic motivators can be subdivided into those that aid the endeavour (synergistic) and those that hinder it (non-synergistic). For example, payment may - up to a point - be a synergistic extrinsic motivator in that it will increase your motivation. On the other hand, a dictate from a boss may be a non-synergistic motivator as it will just make you feel controlled and manipulated.
The ultimate question is how do we maximise motivation. There are a variety of factors that can be applied including, a) closing the gap between the real and ideal self, b) feasibility, c) peer recognition, d) competency expansion, e) fun or enjoyability and f) reward.
Learn more…
Download the MBA research, learn about this topic at http://www.creativity-management.com/
You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.
Kal Bishop, MBA
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Why Material Success Goes Beyond Money, Cars And A Big Home?
I’ve meet people over the years that have made a great deal of money, that have material wealth, that don’t feel that they are personally successful. Their lives just don’t work. So we are talking about having the material things that bring you happiness but not the fear of losing them or in some causes the guilt over having them.
What I ask my clients to be is the person they want to be? That person who has all of the freedom, flexibility and joy that is part of the equation to follow. Money might be part of the solution but we are seeking more of the state of mind you want by achieving those goals. That is something you can experience as early as today.
Thomas Edison put all this in perspective: He said, “If we did all the things we are capable of doing we could literally astound ourselves.”
I ask clients as they go through the Creative Visualization Relaxation process, to pretend, allow, and imagine what life would be like if you woke up everyday and astounded yourself.
Once you commit to go out and try new things, and notice when you a new thing works and when they don’t you will return to a state of personal power.
The secret to building success is not doing it right the first time, but knowing when you are doing it wrong so that you can do it again differently until you find a way that works for you. In the same way that you learned how to ride that bicycle, or you learned how to walk.
Very few people jumped on a bicycle and learned how to ride it perfectly the first time. I don’t know of any child that stood up the first time and walked across the room. They literally learned to fall down in all conceivable ways until they learned, almost, by accident to walk across the floor.
When you think about testing your own success strategy you are going to do that in the laboratory of your mind. And that is what we are talking about with Mind Mastery. Is developing and cultivating such a powerful mind that you have a place to imagine create and rehearse new behaviors patterns and beliefs. Try them out in your mind first, and if they work for you there, then we are going to ask you take them out in the world as behaviors.
You are going to discover the power of future pacing.
“Imagine where you’d be a week from today, a month from today, a year from today.”
One last point in closing;
There is something that we call ecology. In the same way in nature there are ecological consequences to building a factory, you have to make sure that you don’t damage the water table or perhaps cause air pollution. Even though the factory would create jobs and is good for the economy the factory might be bad for the ecology. In that cause the factory might not be built.
As you practice using Creative Visualization Relaxation techniques you are going to get a clear sense of what you want to accomplish, but most importantly you are going to know when you are off course. If you are not accomplishing the goals that you have set for yourself. Then that is the time for you to take a real hard look at what are you losing, or have to give up when you accomplish this new goal. That will be the sign that you are disrupting your minds ecosystem.
Be ready to let go of where you are so you can get to where you want to be.
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Dr. Patrick Porter is an entrepreneur, award-winning author, and motivational speaker. His electrifying keynote speeches and seminars deliver the real life, nuts ‘n bolts concepts. For more information go to: Patrick Porter, Ph.D.
Creatively Run Down Or Unwell? Call Your Creativity Doctor!
Most of use when we feel unwell or out of sorts in some way, will seek some kind of medical help, traditionally from our local doctor or General Practitioner.
But who do we turn to when our creativity feels sick or unwell? Whether we feel just a bit off our best or that the illness is terminal and the decline of our creativity inevitable, what can we do
Where can we go for help when we can’t function creatively in the way we know we can? There’s no “Creativity Doctor” for us to make an appointment with. Or is there..?
What we CAN do is take on the role of being our OWN Creativity Doctor. What’s a Creativity Doctor? Well, they’re just like a regular doctor, only they deal specifically with your creative health.
The bonus when you choose to be your own Creativity Doctor is that you’ve lived with yourself and your various stages of creativity all your life, so you know yourself better than any doctor could.
So here are some simple steps you can take to help raise your creativity from feeling fragile to fighting fit again:
Symptoms
How do you know you’re not at full health creatively? What are the tell-tale signs, what readings can you take, where’s the evidence, what’s the current reality of the situation?
Gather together as much as you can. Look at all the creative areas of your life and work out how well they are right now relative to how good they’ve been in the past and how great they can be in the future.
You may find that your creativity is already in much better shape than you realised, just you weren’t giving yourself enough acknowledgment and credit for all the ways your creativity is being used.
Diagnosis
Make an honest assessment of how your creativity is right now,
taking into account all the evidence and symptoms. Again look at the parts of your creative life you feel aren’t as well as you’d like them to be and consider the factors around them. What’s changed recently in your life that’s had a negative impact on your creativity?
What are you doing, or not doing, now that you weren’t in the past when your creativity was in what you considered to be better shape? What’s the difference that makes the difference to your creativity? What makes you most happy creatively?
Often it’s tiny actions repeated over a sustained period that bring most change in our lives and because they appear to be so small and almost insignificant, their effects can creep up almost unnoticed.
Possible Course of Treatment
Now you’ve got as accurate a picture as possible of your creativity as it is right now, and the factors that have an effect on it positively and negatively, you can start to form a solution.
Put simply, what can you do to improve your creative health? If there was absolutely nothing holding you back, what’s the first thing you would do to begin to improve your creative health?
Consider all the options available to you. Think about the things you’ve done before that have been positive and produced favourable results. Also look at new ideas and activities you can get involved with that you expect to have the desired result, an increase in your creative health.
As well as creative actions, consider also your mentality and your belief system around your creativity. Whatever we do, we are all ultimately limited by the beliefs we hold about ourselves. Steadily improving and developing these can bring amazing benefits in the long term.
Put the Treatment into Action
Enough planning, now we get to the action part. Taking into account all the information you’ve gathered, what’s your course of action going to be, to get your creativity back on track?
What’s your first step going to be? When are you going to take it? What specific actions can you put into place and repeat regularly to restore your creativity to optimum health?
Think also about support systems. Who can help you in your course of action? What books can you read, what groups could you join, what websites and forums could help you? What other resources are available to you?
We all feel a little under the weather from time to time. But by being your own Creativity Doctor, with some honest questioning, regular focused action and a bit of support and encouragement, we can all start to get back to our creative best in virtually no time at all.
© Copyright 2006 Dan Goodwin.
By: Dan Goodwin
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Want to learn more about how to increase YOUR creativity? It’s easy: just sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine - today, and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Head on over now to www.CoachCreative.com
Don't Debate, Just Create! How To Stop Hitting The Snooze Button In Your Creative Work
6.45: Alarm goes off for the first time. James groans, summons up a mighty effort to hit the snooze button, then rolls over and sleeps again.
6.50: Alarm goes off for the second time. Another moan from James as he throws a nearby arm in the direction of his alarm clock and hits snooze again. Returns to sleep.
6.55: Third time the alarm goes off. James, no more ready to get up than last time, and starting to seriously dislike his electronic companion, hits its snooze button for the third time.
7.00: Fourth Alarm. A squint at the clock shows 7.00am, James has a 3 second debate in his mind about whether to have just five minutes more in bed. His sleepy side wins out.
7.05: Alarm number five. James swears the tone of his alarm clock is sounding remarkably more like his boss’s voice each time it goes off. Another short debate. Another win for Team Sleepy.
7.10: Alarm six. Realising he’ll now be late for work anyway, James debates the consequences, and weighs up whether it’s worth having another 5 minutes. Yep I reckon it is, he concludes in 2.7 seconds.
7.15: The seventh alarm, and James finally drags himself out of bed, late for work, not having had any meaningful rest for the last half hour, and in a bad mood. He glares at the alarm clock’s red digital gaze and is sure it’s smirking back at him.
Meanwhile, across the other side of the city, Martha’s been up for half an hour already. She’s had a refreshing shower, done her morning meditation and is now writing a few notes in her journal while she enjoys a delicious breakfast.
Martha’s alarm also went off at 6.45. Soon as she heard it, she got up, without getting caught up endless debates about how much longer she could get away with staying in bed and chasing the empty satisfaction of “just five minutes more”.
Martha heads off to work, feeling alive and alert and ready for the day ahead.
15 minutes after Martha’s arrival, James staggers into the office, looking somewhat less alive, alert and ready.
“Morning James, still having trouble with that alarm clock?” enquires Martha.
“Yeh it’s totally useless”, James growls back, “It never gets me up on time...”
When it comes to creating, to setting time aside to just create the projects that matter to you, who are you more like?
James with his constant avoidance of facing the task, and the “five minutes more” procrastination technique?
Or like Martha, setting a time to begin then hitting the ground running with a positive and energised frame of mind, without spending time and effort debating whether it’s the right time to start, or how much longer you can get away with avoiding it?
If we stop to analyse and debate, weigh up the options, wonder what else we could do, whether there's something good on TV or the bathroom needs cleaning or our bookshelf needs reorganising, we will ALWAYS find a host of reasons NOT to create.
So instead, set a time each day to create, then commit to it vigorously. Sit down at that time, don't question, don’t engage your mind in debate, just begin to create.
Try it for a week and see what a difference it makes in your creative life...
© Copyright 2006 Dan Goodwin
By: Dan Goodwin
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Want to learn more about how to be more creative? It’s easy: just sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine - today, and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Head on over now to www.CoachCreative.com
How To Increase Creativity
To increase creativity, you need to do two things. First, you need to encourage it. Second, you need to train your brain. Start on both of these right now, and you can experience greater creativity today.Encourage creativity and you'll increase creativity. This is true of most things you want to see more of in your life. Encouragement can work wonders. How do you encourage creativity, though?
First, by paying attention to it. Your subconscious mind tends to give you more of what you pay attention to. If you ignore the creative aspects of your life, you are telling your subconscious that they are unimportant. If you consciously note when you are creative, and you look for opportunities to be creative, your subconscious mind will start feeding you more creative ideas. Look for it and you'll find more of it.
Another way to encourage and increase creativity, is to write your ideas down. Keep an "idea journal." If you do this regularly, you'll notice that you often start having more ideas the moment you start to write. A so-so idea may normally be forgotten, but by writing it down, you may remember it, your subconscious works on it, and it can transform into something very creative.
You can also encourage greater creativity in yourself by putting creative ideas into practice. If you paint or write, for example, try anything new. Even just driving a different route to work to see if it is quicker can help. The point is to get you mind working outside of its regular patterns.
Just changing your surroundings can encourage creativity. If you want more creativity in your love life, go hike up a mountain with your partner. If you write, try sitting on a roof to write. If you need new ideas for your business, take a notebook to the park and sit by the duck pond. A change of enviroment can get your brain out of it's ruts.
Creativity Training
If you want to dramatically increase creativity, develop creative habits of mind. Watch a good comedian and you'll see that she has trained her mind to look for the "different angle" on everyday things. You can train your mind to do the same.
Challenge assumptions, for example, until it becomes habit. Looking for ways to get customers into your store? Stop and say, "Do I really need more customers?" The question suggests other creative solutions, like finding ways to make more money off existing customers, or ways to cut expenses. These may lead to more profitable ideas. Challenge assumptions to increase the creativity of your solutions.
As you drive to work, randomly choose anything around you and ask how it may be connected to whatever problem you are working on. A helicopter overhead might make you think about a way to track where the car goes when you loan it to your kids. A palm tree may lead to a new design for patio umbrellas.
The above techniques are called "Assumption Challenging" and "Random Presentation," and are two classic creative problem solving techniques. There are dozens more. Train your brain to habitually use these, and provide it with a little encouragement, and you really can increase your creativity.
About the Author: Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years. For more creative problem solving techniques, and to subscribe to the Brain Power Newsletter, visit: http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com Source: www.easyarticles.com
The Five Elements Of Creation
If you're anything like me, the creative process can be at times the most gratifying experience imaginable. Everything comes together in a flurry of creative activity, you enter a "Flow" state where time seems to stand still and nothing else but what you're working on exists in that moment of time.
The flip-side is that sometimes the blank page, screen or canvas stares back at you and seems to laugh at your inability to produce. These moments feel agonizingly long, every little thing distracts you and nothing gets produced.
During those times it can be extremely challenging to be "okay" with the result (or lack of result) that you're getting. But when you begin to understand the five elements of creation you can analyze your situation, understand which of the five elements you are currently involved in and, possibly, revisit one of the previous elements to reinvigorate your creative energy.
So what are the five elements of creation? I'm glad you asked...
1. Information Gathering
This is the foraging element of creation when you gather as much information and inspiration as possible. This can include researching related material, interviewing experts or brainstorming ideas, possible angles of approach, etc.
Information gathering is where we must all start if we want to produce something that is both coherent and useful to whoever is going to consume, utilize or appreciate what we're creating. The process of information gathering should be done without prejudice, which simply means that you gather anything and everything that may be of relevance, without specifically analyzing it.
2. Sifting & Qualifying
This element is where you sort your information more thoroughly and qualify whether it is relevant to you at this time, or not. It is where you delve into the practicality and the relative usefulness of all the information and ideas you gathered or brainstormed in the first step.
By sifting and qualifying you become more familiar with the usefulness of the good information while excluding the non-useful or currently irrelevant items. An important note here is to hang on to the information you are discarding for your current project, as it may become useful when working on another project down the line.
3. Gestation Period
Think of this is as the time during which you are inactively processing all of the information you've gathered and sorted. It's like the caterpillar in the cocoon or the egg sitting in incubation beneath the mother hen awaiting birth.
During the gestation period you may seem or feel to be in active as it relates to your creative project, but your mind is working on the problem at a deeper level than your conscious mind. Your subconscious self can make connections in a way that your conscious mind cannot, making this an imperative element of the creative process.
J.K. Rowling, author of the acclaimed Harry Potter books, reportedly conceived of the book series while on a long train journey. She claims the idea just "fell into her head", which is gestation at work. This period can take as little as 5 minutes and as long as 5 years or more for the "a-ha!" moment to arrive.
4. Creative Production
As you can probably imagine, this is the practical element of creation after the "a-ha!" moment has arrived and you set pen to paper, keys to keyboard, brush to canvas, etc. It is the period where you are actively producing or creating whatever thing it is that you are working on.
In this phase of creation it continues to be important that you not edit or censor yourself too harshly - there will be plenty of time for that later! What's important here is the physical act of capturing your creation in whatever form calls to you. Whether you are writing, sketching, orating or designing, this is the active part of creation and is often the most fun and engaging.
5. Editing
The final phase of the process is the editing portion where you go over the work you've produced with an editor's eye (or ear) to ensure that the final product delivers on the initial intent with which you started work in the first place. During this phase you may or may not solicit feedback from others, particularly if they are either experts or your target audience.
Once completed you may have identified changes that need to be made and may choose to go back into the Creative Production phase to re-produce your product. It is a well-known fact that many books are written and re-written several times before they ever make it to the final printed version. Even then errors and inconsistencies are often found and corrected in later revisions of the work.
It is possible, even likely, that you will revisit one or more of the five elements of creation at least once, particularly the creative production and editing phases, although you may find that you are able to complete an initial portion and must then go back into gestation for some period of time to allow the next phase to reveal itself.
The power of knowing these five elements of creation truly lies in being able to plan them accordingly and to identify which phase you are in if and when you get stuck at any point along the way. Revisiting the initial information gathering phase or reviewing some of your discarded research could spark an idea or concept that allows you to go back into production mode quickly and with energy.
Your Action Step is to see if you can identify which of the five elements or phases you are currently engaged in as they relate to a creative project you are working on either at home or at work and see if you have missed any previous steps. It is an all-too-common mistake to try and jump straight into creative production, which is as sure a recipe for frustration as any I can imagine.
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Paul Keetch is a writer, marketing and business coach and founder of the free monthly membership website www.theMondayMentor.com. Claim your weekly coaching membership absolutely free right now.
Nurturing Your Creativity
50 Ways to Have Challenge Your Mind and Express Your Creativity
1. Play a board-game: Clue, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, Mind Trap, and Chess
2. Cook a new meal
3. Creatively frost a cake or bake it in a special cake form (heart, bunny, race car, sorority letters)
4. Go hiking in a new park: find your way in and out
5. Create greeting cards on you computer
6. Create a new web page
7. Get the Book of Questions by Gregory Stock and discuss with friends
8. Plan a party for children
9. Find a social problem and create a plan on how to improve the situation
10. Write a grant
11. Surf the Internet and learn as much about a single topic as you can
12. Use a class assignment to increase your knowledge or proficiency at something important to you
13. Start taking leisure classes
14. Turn one of your hobbies into a business
15.Tutor children at the Boys and Girls Club
16. Sewing: cross-stitch, needle point, quilting, sew a sweater, knitting, cruel, embroidery
17. Decorate something ordinary: bulletin board, photo album,
18. Paint your room (or use wall paper which you attach to the wall with push pins)
19. Learn reflexology or massage
20. Choreograph an aerobics, dance or exercise routine
21. Listen to a book on tape while you run
22. Learn about something which your best friend is interested in
23. Each night at dinner, discuss one current event
24. Plan the most romantic date you can think of down to the last detail (then do it)
25. Hang-out at the bookstore and read books which represent your different interests
26. Start a "coffee club" to gather and discuss books, ideas
27. Plan a scavenger hunt for you and your friends
28. Teach your dog a new trick
29. Collages
30. Pottery, creating or painting
31. Flower arranging
32. Invent something to solve your most nagging problem
33. Plan a party for your friends
34. Make soaps with your favorite scent
35. Paint/color/draw
36. Help a civic organization decorate for an event
37. Make up a bedtime story
38. Write poetry, short stories
39. Create a new recipe
40. Make a coupon book for your significant other: hugs, house cleaning, car washes, dinner, etc...
41. Find a new way to do a routine task at work
42. Join an acting/drama club
43. Join a choir
44. Take pictures of nature, weddings, parties etc.
45. Redecorate a room in your house
46. Gardening, landscaping--make your patio a sight to behold
47. Create a new game and teach your friends/kids how to play
48.Crossword puzzles
49. Be a freelance writer for the newspaper
50. Pass Stress and Anxiety Management
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes currently runs an online private practice Dr-Is-In and All CEUs, an online continuing education site, and St. Luke's an action-oriented, online church.
Creative Ideas - Six Ways To Have Them
Would you like more creative ideas? Maybe you want to exercise more creativity in solving problems at home, or in your work. Perhaps you just like the thought of having the most interesting ideas the next time you are with a group of friends. Either way, you can quickly become a font of creative ideas by using a few simple techniques. Start with the following.
1. Look at opposites.
What if instead of being bad for your teeth, candy was actually good for them? Could someone develop a candy that prevented tooth decay and perhaps even strengthened teeth? What if exercise wasn't necessary to strengthen muscles? Could the muscle-building process that takes place from exercise be duplicated without the exercise?
2. Make things bigger or smaller.
Look at things and ask how they could be bigger or smaller and what the advantages would be. As an example, how could a refrigerator be smaller, and how would that be useful? Perhaps there could be a small, high-power, countertop drink cooler. Put your can of soda in it for a minute, and it's chilled.
3. Challenge assumptions.
People assume that poverty causes higher crime rates. Of course there are places where there is more poverty and less crime. What are the possible explanations, and how could these hypothesis be tested?
4. Mentally move things around.
Looking at the exhaust fan in the bathroom and imagining it over the shower, immediately suggests that there might be less steaming up of the mirror if the fan was closer to the source of the steam.
5. Take things to extremes.
Nothing but action scenes would be too much action in a movie, right? This suggests the problem of how to have the right amount - of action and other elements. Could a study of past movies, measuring their financial success in relation to various elements in the movie be used to determine an "ideal" formula for a movie?
6. Follow silly ideas to see where they go.
I was sitting here wondering what would happen if two strong gusts of wind going in opposite directions met. Would they cancel each other out, cause massive turbulence, or what? This triggered the thought of a car with high-powered fans that send a sheet of air from the front end out to the roof above the windshield. Could this create a virtual surface that would make the car more aerodynamic?
Source: www.easyarticles.com
About the Author: Copyright Steve Gillman. See the page, Creative Ideas for more techniques, and visit the homepage to get the Brain Power Newsletter and other free gifts:
http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com
