How to Become More Creative

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Do you consider yourself creative? Believe it or not, not many people do. Often we see creatives as something special, as if it is a gift that one is born with; you either have it or you don’t.

And there is nothing further from the truth. Creativity is a skill — a skill that can be developed — and is nothing to be intimidated by.

I am often complimented here at WA for my humorous and witty writing style (I know in my heart that I’m funny, dammit!), but I wasn’t always this way. My style matured and got refined over the years because I worked at it… and you can, too.

What is Creativity?

While there are probably as many definitions for creativity as there are people in the world, a fairly simple one I like is simple: Creativity is simply the act of making something new.

Of course, I would add that it should also be something that creates value in the world, but that’s a whole other level.

It Ain’t About Smarts

At one time it was thought that only the extremely intelligent could be creative.

In the 1960s psychologist Frank X Barron conducted studies into creativity and discovered there was actually no correlation between IQ and creativity.

So, if it isn’t how smart we are, what is the difference?

So-called creative people exhibited the following characteristics:

  • Openness to one’s inner self
  • Preference for complexity and ambiguity
  • High tolerance for chaos and disorder
  • Willingness to take risk

In other words, creative people are far less likely to fear the unknown and far more likely to take massive action.

Sound familiar? These are the same prerequisites to starting a successful affiliate business.

Contrary to the popular myth, great writers and artists do not just sit around waiting for the Muse to visit and impart knowledge and talent. No masterpiece was ever created withing constant action and a bit of risk-taking.

How to Tap Into Your Own Creativity

You may know that neurologically our brains are separated into two hemispheres: left and right.

Your left brain is the side of logic and analysis. This is where things like math, language, and liner thinking live.

Your right brain is your creative center. Here you will find imagination, intuition, and emotion.

(By the way, if you would like to see far more information than you could ever want on how this discovery was made, you can read about Corpus Callosotomy surgery in epileptics here.)

In order to strengthen your creativity, you simple have to develop your right brain function more. And don’t worry if you aren’t a creative person yet. Sadly, our educational is focused more on left brain development, so you are one of the norm. More creativity simply requires training.

Here are three extremely easy exercises that are a great way to begin to develop your own creativity. Give them a go and you may be pleasantly surprised at how fast your creative gene kicks in.

Training Exercise #1: Mind-Mapping

Mind-mapping is a very simple but powerful way to start developing your creativity. I use computer software called Scapple because I do a lot of mind-mapping and it works for me, but an old-fashioned paper and pencil works just as well.

The idea is to start in the middle of the paper and write a single word or idea. It could be anything. Now draw a circle around it.

Next, moving out from the center, start writing words that associate with the primary one. Shoot for a minimum of four or five related words. Now circle those and draw a line that connects each one to the center word.

Then, repeat the process with each of those words. Think of four to five words that relate to each one. Circle and connect.

And again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Keep repeating this process until you fill the page with a series of “flowers” that are all interconnected.

Training Exercise #2: Vision-boarding

Vision-boarding is an image rich variation of mind-mapping.

Get yourself some form of large board. This could be a corkboard you hang on the wall, or even one of those fairly thick pieces of poster board; just make it something strong enough to hold up to lots of use and still be able to hang it on the wall where it can be seen.

Now, begin to compile various pictures of the things you want or want to achieve in life, and also things that inspire you. In other words, start putting together your “wishes”.

Pictures work best because visual stimuli is very much a right brain activity. But don’t be afraid to simply write the item’s name on a piece of paper and post that if you can’t find an image. As long as it is something your can see it will work.

What’s interesting is that these type of vision boards have been around for years. You may have even had one. And they’re fairly easy to put together. But here’s where the creativity comes in…

Once you have all of your dreams and desires pasted on the board, begin to connect them. How do they relate to one another? Does going after a specific one first help you get another one faster? What happens if that thing is no longer available?

See what we are doing? You just start asking random open-ended questions about each item and see where it leads you. And don’t try to force it in one direction or another. Just ask a question and then see how that question — and the answer — not only works for that item, but also interacts with something else on the board. You’re looking for connections. The more the better.

Training Exercise #3: Animation

No, as cute as they are ("KING BOB!"), I’m not talking about cartoons. Instead, you will be practicing movement in your mind.

Begin by choosing a person or pet you know (or choose an individual from your vision board.)

Now, close your eyes and imagine this person standing on the other side of the room. Picture as many details as you can. What color is their hair? What are they wearing? What color are their eyes? What style of shoes are they wearing? And so on.

Next, keeping it simple, just imagine this person walking across the room toward you. That’s it. Just walking a straight line to you. But really see it in your mind. How are they walking? What is their gait? Are their heels clicking on the hardwood floor, or are their slippers shuffling across the carpet? And so on.

Done? Great. Now, repeat the exercise, but this time I want you to visualize some kind of object in-between you and them. Perhaps a table, or a couch, or even a car if you are “seeing” this outside. How does their walk look now? Did they gently slide around the table like a swan on a lake, or did they bump into it like a troll and drop a few, ahem, choice metaphors?

Do this exercise as many times as you can. Change people. Change locations. Change what they do and how they react. The idea is to just get comfortable with creating mini-movies inside your head.

By the way, not only is this a great exercise, in my next post I will show you how you can use this very method to overcome fear, anxiety, and negative situations all through the power of your mind, so stay tuned. :-)

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Recent Comments

22

Hi AJ - this is great stuff. I am creative :-) - I'm a writer and a musician and a performer so I must be :-)

I have a few techniques which I find useful for the writing side but too involved to get into here.

However, as you say, making connections is one aspect of creativity. Most 'new' ideas are simply a combination of two or more existing ideas. Who thought of putting meat or cheese INSIDE bread? :-)

The Scrapple example is brilliant. Sally Holloway has a similar exercise in her book, The Serious Guide to Joke Writing, where, after creating circles once or twice removed from the central idea, you then try to link them. Not everything links but some do and you often find a joke there :-)

Also, as you say, the education system tends to knock creativity out of you. Without getting political :-) they want to produce round pegs for the round- pegged workplace.

Creative people tend to slip through the net :-) but it is a skill you can regain and hone.

Wonderful stuff.

Look forward to reading more
Ian

Thank you. And I 100% agree :-)

Thanks for sharing this wonderful exercise AJ!
I’ve always thought of myself as creative but still need a nudge now and then.
It’s not always easy to move from left brain thinking to right brain imagining.
Well done!
KyleAnn

Thank you

Wow really an amazing 3 things breakthrough that you share. It really put me into this thinking creativity rather than overthinking and overwhelming. Thanks for the sharing and info. 👏💪👍🙏💯

Thank you.

Some good techniques here, I have used mind mapping before at work. I work in a design team in the construction and engineering fields. I just use the old fashioned pencil and paper method nothing fancy like the programme you mentioned. I have found it very helpful with "What If" idea generation.

I have not tried the other methods but I will give them a go. I especially like the idea of visualisation of animation as you call it.
Definitely something to practice.
Thank you for the information and methods
Cheers

Gaz

Thanks. Yeah, I'm just a sucker for technology, but we can still do some pretty amazing things with nothing but a pencil and paper (or even a crayon.) :-)

Great post!

Thank you

Interesting AJ. Thanks for the ideas.
Ray

Thanks

What an incredible post AJ.I'm going to start training my brain now. And boy does it need it. I was always creative with writing in my younger years but more so with numbers. Jim

Thank you. And you bring up an excellent point. As I noted, numbers (mathematics) are traditionally left brain associated, but you demonstrated that it can also be a right brain activity as well if you work at it. Nicely done :-)

Thanks for this very interesting post, AJ.

Mind mapping I’ve tried. Vision board I’ve heard, haven’t given it a go yet.

Animation is something new to me. I tried it out as I read your post, it’s fun!!

Looking forward to your next post!

Thank you

You are good at writing, Aj.
Then I saw that you are a Master.
No wonder but then I believe you put in a lot of effort.
Great ideas to become more creative.
Can't wait what you are going to write on the method to overcome fear, anxiety, and negative situations all through the power of our mind. Thanks for sharing. Cheers :-)

Thank you. I am truly humbled by your comments.

And, yes, the upcoming method is a great one; I've used it for years. BUT...

You will get the most out of it if you practice these exercises first. They set the foundation of what is to come :-)

AJ, great posts. Agree with you these are skills that get better with more practice.

However, not all skills require the same effort to master.

I will attempt to classify the following:
1. People better with words will find it easier to do mind-mapping
2. People better with abstract and affinity associations will find it easier with vision boarding
3. People better at visuals and drawing will do better at animation

Ah... you peeked behind the curtain and revealed the magician's secret. lol

You are correct, sir. The reason I included three exercises is to hit different learning styles. In my experience, many people may not know which style is most effective for them. By giving each person the opportunity to go through all three it gives them a chance to discover their preferred method. It's a bit like picking a pizza... are you more of a pepperoni or a sausage guy?

Good catch, though :-)

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