Posts tagged creativity
We think we understand the rules when we become adults but what we really experience is a narrowing of the imagination.
Blessed are the weird people - poets, misfits, writers, mystics, painters, troubadours - for they teach us to see the world through different eyes.
Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people of the world, I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside, inside them they’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds. Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe.
How to Become a Better Problem Solver
1. Set aside time to think. Google gives its engineer a thinking day each week. This has been shown to increases their creativity – and also their productivity.
2. Play games. Research indicates that playing competitive games encourages us to come up with more creative strategies and solutions. This can be applied to all areas of life.
3. Learn from your mistakes. Sometimes inspiration and genius comes from connecting the dots between your mistakes.
4. Ditch the rules. Often thinking outside the box – and abandoning the normal practices and rules – can free your mind to think of a completely new solution.
5. Give yourself permission to fail. If you’re too scared of failing then you’ll never take a risk. And don’t be afraid of sometimes going down blind alleys.
6. Break with the routine. Change the order that you do things, your environment, or room. That breaks old thinking patterns, and creates new ideas.
7. Talk to others. We can learn a lot from others as we’re all individuals – with different thoughts, perspectives, dreams and life experiences.
Don’t feel stupid if you don’t like what everyone else pretends to love.
I like people who have a sense of individuality. I love expression and anything awkward and imperfect, because that’s natural and that’s real.
To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.
Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You cannot get there by bus, only by hard work, risking and by not quite knowing what you are doing. What you will discover will be wonderful; yourself.
How to Improve your Creative Thinking Skills
1. Have a nap. If you want to solve a problem, or come up with new ideas, then instead of always thinking - relax and have a nap. We’re usually more creative when we’re feeling wide awake.
2. Get into the habit of making small talk. A casual remark can change the way you look at things - so talk and listen to everyone you meet.
3. Sign up for classes and seminars. Listening to the ideas and opinions of others increases the connections you make in your brain. Also, it is usually inspiring and highly motivating.
4. Make sure you spend time with creative people. Often these are people who think outside the box, and are highly individual, and independent thinkers. It will encourage you to follow their example of free thinking, and give you permission to follow wild ideas.
5. Make sure you have time to just “hang” and relax. Things that can seem pointless or a waste of time to others – such as watching movies, reading books and magazines, taking time out to travel, or spending time with friends - are all ways of helping your brain to percolate. And it’s often when we least expect to have a great idea that something quite amazing just pops into our mind!
6. Get some exercise. Allow your mind to wander and to do its own thing while you’re jogging, swimming or going for a run. This is often a time for generating new ideas.
7. Experiment with working in different places. Try taking your laptop to lots of different places as that stops your thinking from getting in a rut. Just a change of environment can make a difference and help to generate some fresh ideas.
8. Make brainstorming a normal part of life. Whatever you are doing, even if it’s “normal stuff”, allow your mind to wander and think outside the box. Continually flirting with possibilities will become a habit, and make you more creative.
I’ve not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.
Anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve. I was determined to try because, frankly, my life was such a mess at that point. What was the worst that could happen? Everyone turn me down? Big deal.
