Simple Ways To Boost Your Creativity

When you want to give your creative intelligence a boost it is a mistake to just dive in and use advanced creativity techniques as your brain has not had to come up with creative ideas for a long time. It is better to do some of the simpler things first.

 

If you try to do too much when you are just starting out with developing your creativity then you are likely to find the going very tough and this can really test your staying power. Having got really excited about the prospect of being more creative, you do not want to give up in the early stages because you have approached things in the wrong way.

 

With this in mind, we will share with you some of the simplest things that you can do to get started on your journey to developing your creativity. There is nothing difficult about any of these things and you can implement them easily.

 

See your Creativity as a Muscle

 

The development of your creativity will happen a lot faster if you take consistent action on a regular basis. It is a good idea to see your creativity as a muscle that you need to exercise on a regular basis to make it fit and strong.

 

Research has shown that people who did not believe that they had any creativity were able to come up with some creative ideas when they tried to do this. The moral of this story is that the more you use your creativity the better that you will become at it.

 

You have connections in your brain between various cells and when you learn new things and generate new ideas it is likely that you will create new connections. By using your creativity, you will also strengthen the existing connections that you have.

 

Change up your Surroundings

 

If you always go to the same place for your creative sessions then this can hamper your chances of generating creative ideas. Sitting at the same office at work or in the same room at home means that you will be looking at the same things all of the time which is not good.

 

Make some small changes to your surroundings so that you see something different when you are being creative. Move your furniture around or just reorganize your office desk. Using a different room in your home is also a good idea to bring fresh inspiration.

 

Learn New Things

 

There are a lot of good reasons why you should focus on a subject and become an expert in it. We also recommend that you learn new things as well. When you have knowledge of additional subjects you are going to give your creative intelligence a boost.

 

It doesn’t matter what subjects you choose to learn about. Just believe that this will help to develop your creativity and get on with it. With the Internet, there is no excuse for not learning new things. Trust that this works because it does.

 

Give yourself New Challenges

 

If you keep doing the same things all of the time then you are not going to help your creativity. Find new challenges that you can participate in that will test your creative powers. A good example of this is a game where you need to solve puzzles to move forward. There are plenty of these available online.

Your Creative Mindset And Habits

If you want to develop your creativity then you need to start with a creative mindset. This is easier to do than you may think and, in this article, we will explain what you need to do. When you have a creative mindset, you will form new habits that will help you to boost your creative intelligence.

 

Our habits define who we are and what we do. If your current habits do not support creativity then you will find that being creative is very difficult for you. You are not going to become more creative overnight. There is no miracle solution for this.

 

Negativity is the Enemy of Creativity

 

Having a lot of negative thoughts swirling around in your head is going to totally stifle your creativity. You will not be able to focus on generating innovative ideas because your focus will be dominated by the negativity in your mind. You must learn to neutralize negative thoughts as they are the enemy of creativity.

 

Minimizing the amount of negativity in your life is your aim here. We all experience negative thoughts and whenever these occur in your head then you need to neutralize them with a positive thought. If you are finding it tough to solve a problem and a thought occurs like “you will never solve this” neutralize this with “I can solve any problem”.

 

With a bit of practice and effort you will find it increasingly easy to neutralize negative thoughts. No longer will they dominate your mind and block your creative thoughts. It will take a bit of time to get into the habit of doing this but it is essential that you do it and have a positive mindset rather than a negative one.

 

Be more Patient

 

Patience is a word that seems to be lost in today’s fast-paced world. Everybody is looking for instant answers and they are not prepared to wait for anything. You can blame a lot of this on the Internet and the ability to find most of the answers that you need in seconds.

 

The problem here is that you can never rush creativity. Even when you have developed your creative intelligence it can still take quite a while for the right creative idea to come along. You need to be patient enough to wait for this to happen.

 

If you do not have a lot of patience right now then you need to work on this. Forget about instant answers when it comes to creativity. It doesn’t matter that you can get factual answers to questions using Google in seconds. Creativity is very different.

 

Ambiguity is your Friend

 

Another mindset area that you need to develop is the embracing of ambiguity. Most people do not like ambiguity and prefer certainty. But the world is not like that. There are usually more ambiguous situations than certain ones.

 

Creative people like ambiguity because it provides them with the opportunity to come up with novel ideas. There are always going to be situations where you do not have all of the facts or are missing some important information. See this as an opportunity rather than a problem.

 

Set aside Time for Creativity

 

The more that you can practice your creativity the better you will get at it. In order to make this a reality, plan for creative time on a regular basis and make sure that you don’t miss any creative sessions. 

 

It’s Never Too Late To Be Creative

A lot of people believe that they have no creative talent whatsoever. They will tell you that you have either got it or you haven’t. In this article we will explain that this is not true at all. The truth is that it is never too late to develop your creativity.

 

You were Creative as a Child

 

Every human being is born with the skill to create. As a young child you had no inhibitions about expressing your creativity and you did this often. You made up things at will and you did those first drawings that your parents praised you for.

 

Kids tend to play a lot of games together and they find it easy to invent new games all of the time. It just comes easy to a young child to think of stories in their head and to invent whatever they want. A child will never be harshly judged for this.

 

Society Stifles Creativity

 

As a child gets older and starts to attend high school they are usually subjected to judgment from their peers and their teachers. Society expects them to think and act in a certain way and there is no place for creative ideas here.

 

It is indeed rare for a school, or even a college, to encourage a lot of creativity. If you have not chosen to study some form of art then you can leave your creative ideas behind. You can be lucky to land a job that encourages creativity but there are not too many of those to go around normally. Usually, you have had all of the creativity knocked out of you by this stage anyway.

 

You can Develop your Creative Skills

 

Always bear in mind that creativity is a skill that you have always had and always will. It doesn’t matter how much society has tried to stifle your creativity you can always return to it and develop it. You will need to change your perception on creativity and get back to basics but it is certainly possible to develop your creative skills.

 

At this point you may be struggling to come to terms with the fact that you did have creative talent and that it has been stifled over the years. Think back to when you were a child and remember some of the things that you did. What games did you play? Did you invent any stories or characters? How about those drawings you did as a kid?

 

If you are able to discuss this with your parents, brothers and sisters or childhood friends then do that. Your parents may have been partly responsible for stifling your creativity, but they will be delighted to tell you stories of the things that you did as a child. Brothers and sisters and childhood friends will also enjoy going down memory lane with you.

 

Believe in your Creative Talents

 

Do you ever find yourself looking at something creative and thinking to yourself “how did they do that?” or “I couldn’t do that”? If you are around creative people, do you wonder where they got their ideas from? 

 

The only thing stopping you doing the same thing is your belief. You are going to have a hard time developing your creativity if you do not believe that you can be creative. Creativity is in all of us so believe that you can bring it to the surface again.

 

The Benefits Of Developing Your Creativity

There are several benefits to boosting your creative intelligence and making a commitment to be more creative. In this article, we will cover some of the most important benefits to inspire you to take action. Developing your creativity will take time and effort and you need to be consistent to get the best results.

 

Set yourself Free with more Creativity

 

You are not subject to any rules when you use your creativity. One of the things that holds people back the most when they want to give their creativity a boost is that they are quick to judge themselves. This can be particularly difficult to overcome especially when you are just starting out.

 

Society wants us to think in a certain way and is usually quick to judge and challenge new creative ideas. When you were a child, you just did one creative thing after another because you were free to do that. Becoming more creative will help you to get back this freedom.

 

You will increasingly Trust your Instincts

 

Everyone has instincts that tell them that something is right or wrong from time to time. As you grow older you tend to trust your instincts less because they have been criticized in the past by others or even yourself. 

 

Being told that your instincts are wrong over and over again will wear you down and the mainstream does this a lot. Suppressing your instincts is the end result and when you are more creative you will rebuild your trust with your instincts.

 

Combat Stress with Creativity

 

The modern world brings a lot of stress with it and when you are in a creative frame of mind you can significantly reduce your stress levels. When you are being creative this is a fun time for you and you are focused on generating innovative ideas. This is like meditating and it will calm you down and reduce your stress.

 

Enhance your Skills to solve problems

 

As you develop your creativity you will find that it becomes easier for you to solve the different problems that you face. Some people find solving difficult problems overwhelming and this causes them a lot of anxiety. 

 

By increasing your creativity skills, you will have rock solid belief in your ability to tackle any problem no matter how complex it may seem. You will have the inner resources available to call upon to assist in the generation of creative solutions to problems.

 

Self-Awareness improves with Creativity

 

A lot of people suffer from low self-esteem and low levels of confidence. They struggle with their self-awareness and becoming more creative can improve this considerably. When you are being creative it will give you a much more positive sense about who you are.

 

Generating creative ideas shows that you have a lot of respect for your intuition and your inner-self as a whole. You gradually lose any inhibitions to express the ideas that you have and this raises your self-esteem and makes you more confident.

 

You will find Positives from Failure

 

For most people, failing is something that they would rather forget. As a person with high creative intelligence, you accept that we all make mistakes and that there are usually always positives to be learned from any failures.

 

Make Preparations To Be More Creative

If you want to get the best results from your creative sessions then you need to prepare for them properly. Going into a creative session unprepared is likely to lead to poor results. This is something that a lot of people overlook.

 

You have probably heard the story about the writer who stared at a blank page for hours because they were suffering from a creative block. Even those people that are highly creative can experience a block. If you prepare in the right way you can minimize the chances of a creative block happening to you.

 

You need your Conscious Mind

 

In a creative session you will use both your conscious and subconscious minds. If your conscious mind is dominated with thoughts of repetitive tasks that you need to do such as washing the dishes, driving somewhere, taking out the trash and so on you are going to find it difficult to generate creative ideas.

 

The best solution here is to trust that your subconscious mind will take care of these repetitive tasks for you automatically. You have been driving a car for a while and you will do everything on auto-pilot thanks to your subconscious. What we are saying here is don’t let the minutiae of life dominate your conscious mind as this will stifle your creativity.

 

Provide your Brain with the Energy it needs

 

Your brain needs energy for creative thinking. It will probably work harder in a creative session than it will at other times. To help your brain out here you need to ensure that your body can provide it with all of the energy that it needs for a better creative session.

 

The way that you provide your brain with the optimum amount of energy is through regular exercise and eating the right things. You may think that exercise and diet have no bearing on your creative talents but they do.

 

Make a commitment to exercise regularly. This can be a gentle form of exercise to start with. If you have not exercised in a while then you don’t want to go crazy to begin with. Doing too much will result in a total energy drain and even pains in certain places and this will not help your creativity at all.

 

Eating healthily will ensure that your body receives the nutrients that it needs. Today, a lot of people don’t make the right choices because they do not have a lot of time to prepare something healthy. You need to overcome this problem so that you can feed your creative brain.

 

Prepare the right Questions

 

Questions are very powerful and are a great way to get your creative juices flowing. You can ask yourself questions that are related to the problem that you are trying to solve in order to spark your creativity. 

 

One of the classic questions that creative people ask is “why?” Another is “what if?” Prepare a list of questions to ask yourself before you start your creative sessions that you know will make you think deeply to find an answer. 

 

As you develop your creativity you should find that these questions come a lot more easily to you. You will know from experience what type of questions tend to result in you coming up with creative ideas. Use the power of questions to your advantage.

 

The Power Of Mindfulness Meditation And A Creative Journal

As you head in to each of your creative sessions you need to have done everything that you can to put yourself in the right state of mind for what is to come. If you do not do this then you will find that your session is a real struggle and you may not come up with any creative ideas at all.

 

In order to overcome this, there are two things that you can do prior to your creative sessions to provide you with the best chance of being rally creative and to come up with the results that you desire. These things are mindfulness meditation and the maintaining of a creative journal.

 

You Need a Clear Mind

 

If you go in to your creative session with your mind full of the clutter of the day then you are not going to get the best out of it. Things happen to us during the day which are best left behind when you are trying to be creative.

 

When you mind is full of other thoughts it is going to be tough to find the necessary brain power to generate creative ideas. You need to clear this mind clutter so that you can focus on coming up with innovative solutions. A great way to clear your mind is to be in the present and forget about the past and the future.

 

Learn and Practice Mindfulness Meditation

 

A lot of people are aware that mindfulness meditation is a great way to clear your mind and ground yourself in the present moment. But they do not practice it because they believe that it is too difficult to do.

 

Mindfulness meditation is a lot easier than you probably think. People all around the world are now using this for a few minutes each day to clear their heads and prepare themselves to be in a calmer and more relaxed state.

 

There are plenty of resources online that will explain what mindfulness meditation is, what it does and how you can learn it. You will find a lot of helpful videos on YouTube that will show you how to practice mindfulness meditation. Don’t make excuses, just learn how to do it and practice regularly.

 

Practice mindfulness meditation before every creative session. You only need to spend a few minutes doing this. It really is effective in clearing your mind and grounding you in the here and now. This is exactly where you want to be for your creative session.

 

The Creative Journal

 

If you are not using a journal right now for recording your thoughts, your goals and the actions that you need to take every day to achieve your goals then you need to start one right now. You do not need a fancy leather-bound journal – just use an ordinary note pad.

 

As you develop your creativity you are going to come up with a lot of creative thoughts. It is vital that you pay attention to these thoughts so you need to keep a record of them so that you can evaluate them properly.

 

When you record all of your creative thoughts in your journal you will be able to reflect on these to see how much progress you have made in the development of your creativity. This is great way to motivate yourself and keep going.

3 Ways to Get Clear on Why You Care So Much

One way to learn to stop caring so much about irrelevant issues and thoughts of others is to dig in deep and study yourself in a new way to get to the bottom of the reasons you care so much. 

 

Three ways help you get clear on why you care so much that you can use.

 

Journaling 

 

You can use your computer, buy a specialized journal, or you can simply use a notebook you have created to journal. It's up to you what type of system you use and whether it's modern or analog. 

 

The important part is that you try to use your journal to express your thoughts, emotions, and stream of consciousness about a problem you're trying to solve or a feeling you're trying to explore without judgment or censoring. 

 

Write in your journal every day when you're trying to understand why you care so much. You may end up discovering your life purpose or a new reason for getting up each day that you had not realized before. 

 

Meditation 

 

Before you use your journal, it can help to clear your mind using meditation. Meditation practice is all about not thinking and not judging your thoughts or feelings even as they still happen during the meditation. 

 

Each time you meditate, you can have a purpose of self-discovery or have a goal to clear your mind and relax. To practice this type of meditation, you'll want to find a quiet, comfortable place to sit or lay down. Then concentrate on your goals for the meditation, close your eyes, and start focusing on your breathing. 

 

Think about the situation you're trying to understand for a moment, then clear your mind. If any intrusive thoughts come in, brush them aside by refocusing on your breathing. You mustn't allow any outside information or sensation to distract you during this time. 

 

Therapy 

 

These days you're so fortunate because you can get psychological therapy from the comfort of your home using your computer or smartphone. Numerous companies offer this service and varying price points, but you can expect to pay $60 or more per hour to get therapy. In addition, many insurance companies include several sessions as part of your benefits.

 

If you seek therapy, make sure you find someone experienced working with you on overcoming people-pleasing and putting yourself last in life. Remember, your wants and needs matter too. Most therapists can guide you through the self-discovery process to finally know what you want and feel good about it regardless of the reactions from other people. 

 

Any or all three of these methods help you become crystal clear regarding your motivations to seek approval from others and even help you stop doing it. Remember, what you want from life is important too, and following someone else's dreams will never get you what you want and need to feel successful and, more importantly, satisfied and content in your life. 

 

Decision-Making: 9 Causes of Indecisiveness

If you have trouble coming to final decisions, you may want to explore a few causes of your indecisiveness. Then, if you discover you're doing these things, you can eliminate them and start making decisions much faster. 

 

Thinking Too Much – If you allow yourself unlimited time to make a choice, you may never make one. Sometimes that can lead to choices being made for you by default. This can make you feel a little out of control. Instead, set time limits on research and decision-making. 

 

Too Many Options – For some choices, there are simply too many options for you to choose from. If you keep looking at all the possibilities without narrowing them down, you need to create better criteria for yourself to finalize your decisions. 

 

Listening to Others – While it's fine to get opinions occasionally for some things, especially if the opinion is an expert one, such as contracting CPA services, for example, for the most part, if the choice only affects you listen to yourself more. 

 

You're Allowing Guilt to Control you – When you first begin to live for yourself to reach your personal goals in life, some people will push back against you. This action can cause guilt on your part. The problem is guilt never helps you make good choices -- only facts do. 

 

Not Listening to Yourself – You know a lot more than you give yourself credit for. Therefore, you need to listen to your internal thoughts based on the knowledge you already have. 

 

Seeking Perfection – Perfection simply does not exist. Therefore, it's a fool's game to keep trying to produce it. In fact, perfection-seeking can just end up in no action being taken at all on your goals because it's impossible. 

 

Lack of Self Confidence – If you lack confidence in your choices, sometimes it's due to a lack of education on the topic. In that case, educate yourself to make sound decisions, and as you make good choices, your confidence level will grow. 

 

Fear Of Making the Wrong Choice – If you fear making the wrong choice about something, step back and ask yourself whether this will matter to anyone in 100 years. If you're not changing the fabric of society with your choice, it probably isn't going to change much. However, if it does matter that much, seeking expert advice may be necessary. 

 

You Forgot Your Overarching Goals – Each decision you make in life either keeps you the same, takes you backward or advances you toward achieving your goals. If you aren't sure about your main goals, it can be hard to match current choices with the right actions. Get clear on your goals, and your choices will become easier. 

 

To overcome any of these decision-making blockers, train your mind to think differently. Instead of thinking of any of these issues, think about what your goals are and whether this decision affects those goals at all or not. If they do, ensure they take you closer to achievement, but if they don't consider that your choice for this one thing may not even matter in the scheme of your life. 

Do You Feel Guilty for Having Interests or Hobbies of Your Own?

The hustle culture surrounding you can sometimes make you feel guilty for having interests or hobbies of your own, especially if it takes you away from your career or your family. 

 

Sadly, this is truer for women than for men, but sadly, men are also catching up to being overworked like most women are these days. 

 

If you feel guilty for having interests or hobbies of your own, it's important to realize that well-rounded people have more than one passion, don't see non-money-making tasks as unproductive, and recognize the benefits of having more than one interest. 

You're Not Obligated to One Passion 

 

Over a lifetime, one person can have hundreds of passion projects and learning experiences related to having and developing interests and hobbies outside of their immediate job, family, or social circle. 

 

While you may not want to pursue too many hobbies at once due to finances and time, you don't have to stick to just one, and you don't have to stick to one your entire lifetime. It's okay to pursue one interest for a few months or years and then drop it for a while to do something else. 

You Don't Owe Anyone "Productivity" 

 

One issue that comes up for some people who want to pursue a hobby or an interest that is new to them is that they start to feel as if they're not productive enough. But here is the thing, your entire life is not about productivity. Sometimes your life is just about being and doing something you enjoy. There is value in doing things outside of building relationships, making money, and being consistent. 

 

Redefine productivity in your mind to do anything beneficial for yourself, not just for others, and not just to pad your bank account. You don't need to monetize every interest or hobby to make them worthwhile in your eyes or someone else's. 

 

The value of the hobby or interest may be intangible or something you can name. But the main thing that a hobby or interest needs to be is something you like to do that fills you with contentment and not something that adds stress to your life. 

There Are Many Benefits to Having More Interests 

 

Every interest or hobby you have offers benefits outside of what most people see as valuable. For example, a hobby or interest costs money and does not make money, and for some people may feel as if it's wasteful. 

 

However, if you have the budget for the hobby and the time for the hobby, and that hobby makes you feel good, the benefits it offers to help you build your self-esteem, feel more confident, and learn new things are also important. 

 

Having interests and hobbies outside of what you are doing now is a great thing to do if you have the time and the budget to do it. However, if you don't want to do these things, find a way to generate the income and free up the time to make it happen. You'll soon find that the benefits far exceed the costs.

Do You Suffer from Approval Addiction?

Receiving validation from other people feels rather good, so good that some people develop an addiction to receiving that outside approval instead of being motivated intrinsically. If you can't motivate yourself without someone else's approval, out may suffer from an approval addiction. 

You're Obsessed with Getting People to Express Interest in You

 

You like being on social media, dating sites, or in any situation where you can attract people and get their attention by having them express interest in you. It might even be hard for you to settle down with a partner because you enjoy the dating world more than the partnered-up world. 

You Need Constant Reassurance 

 

When you are in a relationship, you find yourself asking whether they're "mad" or "upset" with you. This may happen with lovers and friends, and even family members daily. If you often ask for reassurance about how someone feels about you, this may be due to a validation or approval addition. 

You Like to Talk About Your Awesomeness

 

This may be weird, especially if you lack confidence, but sometimes people who aren't confident will talk about all the impressive things they've done to appear more worthy than they think they are in the hopes that the people hearing the tale will agree and validate their thoughts about their awesomeness even though they don't generally believe it themselves. 

You're Money Focused

 

If you tend to think more about money than the value you provide the world, you may have a problem with approval-seeking that is boarding on an addiction. Of course, money is important globally, but it's not the only thing important about you or anyone else. 

You Enjoy Name Dropping 

 

If you find yourself dropping names of people you've worked with or met that other people find important, this is a sign of insecurity. You never need to make yourself look better by your company because you are special just as you are without anyone else. 

You Make Friends with Folks Based on Their Wealth or Reputation 

 

When you look at your closest friend group, are they really your friends, or did you pick them based on what you think they can offer you? Friends should be chosen based on shared values more than shared finances. 

Your Beliefs Change Depending on The Company You're Keeping

 

If you're not keeping the same ideas and opinions across all friend and professional groups, you are part of, and you may be trying to please people too much. It's okay to have your own fact-based ideas, thoughts, and opinions, and it's okay for everyone else too. Hint: It's also okay not to have any views or opinions about a topic you're not educated enough about. 

You Prefer Being in Control of Each Social Situation 

 

When it comes to networking and making friends or building relationships, if you need to be the one in control of the event before you feel comfortable, you may have an issue with approval addiction. Letting other people oversee social situations and relationship building may seem scary because your self-esteem is low but letting people lead a clear sign that you are confident about your thoughts and ideas. 

You Easily Feed into Your Own Victimhood 

 

If something starts going wrong, do you have a hard time seeing answers within yourself? Do you place blame on others? Do you feel good and safe being a victim instead of admitting where you have control and where you can make the change? 

Rejection Makes You Feel Out of Control 

 

If you've ever been rejected professionally or personally, you know that it hurts. However, if you have an approval addition, it might make you totally flip out if someone rejects you because you are doing everything (in your mind) to give them what they want, but they don't want it anyway. If you take this personally, consider that you're not even really being yourself and this rejection is not personal at all. 

 

If you often find that you're doing anything that you don't want to do, only to gain acceptance of a person or group, you may be a people pleaser and even have an approval addiction. To overcome this, you need to figure out who you are, your personal values and design a path to reach your goals based on your own values.