9 Reliable Ways To Cultivate Creative Thinking
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Some people are naturally creative. Everyone else can cultivate creativity.
By John Rampton, entrepreneurmag
The benefits of creative thinking are enumerable. Having this
skillset will enable you to tackle problems with unique perspectives,
come up with special ideas and, overall, be a more effective performer.
One challenge to becoming more creative is the difficulty of
quantifying creativity. It is much easier to learn and subsequently
demonstrate skills in software engineering, for example. That being
said, companies and people
are drawn toward creative thinkers. The more
that those around you listen to your opinion and the more frequently you
propose unique ideas, the higher an indication of these skills.
Therefore, over time, you can gauge progress based on how others respond
to you and your work.
The other challenge, though, is that sometimes others will not
recognise your creativity. They might shoot down an awesome idea because
it sounds crazy unconventional. Understanding this and learning to
navigate it will keep your confidence levels high so that you can
continue to grow.
With these perspectives in mind around quantifying creativity, here
are nine guaranteed ways that you can become a more creative thinker to
better tackle your life and problems:
1. Read
People have chronicled years of their work or life experiences into
books. Knowing more and having different perspectives will help you
become more creative. You will be able to take others’ ideas, pieces of
knowledge and individual experiences and apply them to your present
situations. Reading is one of the best ways to pick up this knowledge
and empathy.
It is easy to make excuses for not having enough time to read but if
you make reading a priority, you will be able to find the time and
undoubtedly become more creative.
2. Pick up an art
Having
some sort of artistic outlet in your life will dramatically help with
creativity levels. Albert Einstein came up with many of his famous
revelations while playing the violin.
In the book Originals, Adam Grant – a researcher and professor
at Wharton – found that “Nobel Prize-winners are twice as likely to
play a musical instrument, they’re seven times as likely to draw or
paint, 12 times as likely to write fiction or poetry, and… 22 times as
likely as their peers to perform as actors, dancers, or, yes,
magicians.”
Whether it be an instrument, drawing, acting or anything else, finding an artistic outlet will fire different parts of your brain. Those spark serenity and a stillness that will make you a more creative person.
3. Surround yourself with a wider range of personalities
Empathy is a huge key to creativity. Most people surround themselves
with others who are similar to them. While doing so is comfortable, it
is not beneficial when working toward creativity.
There are others within your vicinity who have lived dramatically
different lives. Meeting them, understanding their backgrounds and
learning how they think will widen your perspective about the world.
That will, in turn, increase the creative vigor you can take through
life.
4. Spend more time in nature
Being
outdoors also sparks creativity. Escaping from the stresses and routine
of life, even for brief periods, can get your head out of a rut.
Finding short times to be outside throughout your week will give you a
chance to get away from all of the technology and noise in our daily lives. Plus, it is an excuse to go have fun and explore.
5. Meditate
Mental stillness allows you to eliminate many of the thoughts that
constantly ruminate in your head. When you are always thinking about a
past or future event, for instance, it takes your mind away from
tackling the current situation. Meditation is a great way to develop
this stillness.
With a meditation practice you can learn to let your mind be entirely
in the present situation. Doing so will allow you to exert more
concentrated effort on the tasks at hand. You can pull in more knowledge
from different parts of your brain. Consequently, you will be more
creative in each moment.
6. Get enough sleep
Lack of sleep can kill creativity. Although we feel the urge to
always be on the move, when we are tired, we are not able to use as much
of our brain. Plus, exhaustion makes it harder to retain information
upon learning it. Therefore, with less sleep, we learn less that we can
apply to situations and we cannot perform as effectively on any given
task. Making sleep a priority will help your creativity, without a
doubt.
7. Exercise
Feeling
healthy is a great way to have more confidence throughout our days.
This confidence often leads to less worrying and more mental energy being exerted at
the task at hand. Plus, while actually working out, people tend to be
hyper-present. This might trigger an idea or a thought you had not
considered before.
8. Do more of what you love
There is a correlation between happiness and creativity. The better
that our spirits are, the higher functioning we act on a daily basis.
Subsequently, a great way to increase happiness levels is to do what you
love. This could be hobbies, spending time with loved ones or anything
else.
Additionally, when doing what we love, we tend to be in a very
present state. Some have called this state ‘flow.’ As mentioned above,
being in a present state pays large dividends toward creativity. Not to
mention that doing what you love might spark additional ideas and help
you find new interests where you can be creative.
9. Take more risks
Taking risks will boost creativity by giving you a larger set of life
events. When you have experienced more things, you will be able to
apply those memories and lessons to each new situation that you are in.
While you can do more in life without taking risks, fear is often an
inhibitor toward trying something new. Therefore, be open to taking more
chances. By going out of your comfort zone and doing what others might
be unwilling to do, you will develop a deeper breadth of memories and
past experiences that you can apply to new problems.
This article was originally posted here on Entrepreneur.com.
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