Kay Holdsworth.com
The Top Ten Tips of Creativity

Let’s start by making it clear, we should try not to be influenced by conventions when it comes to being creativity.  Often the more creative we wish to be, the less rules we restrict ourselves to, the better.  People who live the most creative life’s, are most often the people who are willing to bend the rules and change them to suit their new circumstances and situtions.  Yes we all needs rules and laws in society, but as times go by these rules can become outdated and restrictive.   Creative people are not scared to challenge the rules and be a little different, even if this may seem strange, weird or unusual to others. 

Thus rule number one………

1)  Be prepared to take a risk 

Do things a little differently to the crowd.  Be your own person.  Challenge how things have always been done.  Could there be a better way of doing something?   Do you have to live your life the same as everyone else?  Could you be doing something that would make you happier?  Sometimes we have to break the rules to make advancements.  Otherwise we remain stuck and immobile. 

 Question things.  

Have the courage to try something new or do something a different way. 

Think outside the box.

As Banksy the artist, and in my opinion, a genius states “Think outside the box, collapse the box and take a fucking knive to it.”  I love that quote.

2)   Be prepared to look at a problem or an issue from a very different standpoint

By coming at a problem or question from a very different perspective we can often experience a breakthrough in our thinking.  Coming up with an innovative solution that we perhaps would have never considered or thought of.  Often it depends on the actual questions we ask as to what answers we actually come up with.  This is very much in line with thinking outside of the box. 

Roger Von Oech, in his book ”A Whack to the Side of the Head”, talks about asking “What If?” questions to stimulate our imaginations.  Another suggestion is imagining how great leaders and thinkers in history would tackle a problem.  For example, what kind of solutiions do you think Winston Churchill or Albert Eistein would come up with for your particular problem? 

Sometimes we get stuck in linear thinking because we are too quick to label and name things.  People can actually experience a shift in their thinking by using different words or names to decribe the problem.  An illustration that Roger Von Oech gives is imagine designing an opening between two rooms in a house.  If the architect thinks “door” then that is what she likely to design, where as if she thinks passage or tunnel she will probably design someting very different.  ” Different words lead your thinking in differnet directrions and bring in different assumptions.” R. Oech 2008

3)Have fun and be playful

Why should children have all the fun and we adults get lumbered with all the seriousness and concerns of life?  As we get older some of us lose our natural born ability to play and be light-hearted.  We become rigid in our thinking and start to believe that we are too grown-up and mature for frivolities, such as play.  Just look at some of the people who you might know through work.  Think how  serious they are, especially in a work environment.  Surely people can be just as able to be productive at work but not take it all so seriously and have a bit of fun?  The chances are if we allowed for more play and fun in the workplace we could actually be more productive and innovative! 

Firstly humour stretches your thinking.  If you laugh at something you are more likely to look at it in a new fresh way.  “Those who approach life like a child playing a game, moving and pushing pieces, possess the power of kings.”  Heraclitus, Philosopher 

This philosophy is about playing around with ideas and possibilities until you come up with something.  Having fun in work as well as play does work.,  People who enjoy what they do tend to think up more ideas and their creative juices are much more likely to flow.

Moral:  There’s a close relationship between the “aha” of discovery and the “ha-ha” of humour. 

4)  Look for more than one answer or idea

Don’t just settle on the first solution or idea.  It may not be the best one.  Consider Thomas Edddison who invented the light bulb.  He kept inventing, re-inventing,  and trying out new ideas until he came up with “best” idea.  Some people get fixated on an idea and because of this they will not consider any other possibilities.  Why should they when they think their idea is best?  However, if you fall in love with your own ideas you are likely to miss out on potentially some even better, more imaginative concepts. 

Often we stagnate in our own rigid thinking. 

I have always found that it’s good to get someone elses perpective on a problem.  Sometimes they will view the problem very differently to you thus helping you see a problem in a whole new illuminating light.  If people kept generating more ideas they may find that the 2nd, 3rd or even 4th idea may have been more innovative and a more workable solution.  The more ideas you are able to generate the more likely you are to find a solution that is right for you.  Dig Deeper!

5)  Look for patterns and associations

This is how the human mind works.  We are programmed to look for connections, patterns and similarities.  Much of our thinking is associative.  One idea leads to another idea, and that in turn make you think of another.  It is good to look for patterns and connections, even when there doesn’t seem to be any obvious relationship between two things.  R.Oech claims that much of what is called intelligence is our ability to recognise order in the form of patterns.  Recognising and looking for patterns can help extend your understanding of the world around you. 

If you think about it everything is connected.  Consider the relationship between the mind, body and soul.  Without one the other can’t function and what affects one will have a knock on effect with the other.  Think about how we relate to nature,the sea and the universe.  We are all interelated and our existence is far more greater than ourselves.

6)  Believe in Yourself

As I have said in previous blogs, if you think you are, or you think you aren’t - You are probably right.  Do you believe you are a creative person? If you think you are then I’m guessing that you are already leading a fairly creative, imaginative existence. 

There are so many reasons why you may lack self-belief.  The list is endless and the reasons for an individual lacking self-belief are complicated and diverse.  We all lose faith in our own abilities at times, even people who seem to have it all.  Sometimes it’s easier to just settle.  To go with the flow and stay within the realms of average and ordinary.  But keep the faith is what we must do.  Have faith in our own creative possibilies.  We are all capable of so much more than we actually think.

7)  Challenge Assumptions and beliefs

Why do things have to be the way they have always been?  Is there a better way of doing things?  We have a tendency to take things forgranted, and assume that if something has been done a certain way for a long time it must be the right way.  This is not necessarily the case.  Perhaps it was the right way at the time but things and times move on and do change.  We all get stuck in a rut and think that our way is the best way, regardless. 

What little routines or habits have you got into perhaps at work or at home? 

Everyone has there own set of beiefs.  Just like the person whom may beieve they are not creative.  We start to think that beliefs are facts.  We become so attached to our thoughts that we often start to believe that everything we think is real.  It isn’t!  Thoughts in actual fact are just simply mental pictures /events in our minds.  Think back to how when I discussed how we make associates in our minds.  We do the same with belief systems.  Something will happen and we look for further examples to confirm our thinking.   Before we know it we have created our very own belief system.

Fact - we have control over what we think.  We need to start by challenging our assumptions.

8)  Follow your hunches and intuition

Gut feelings,  dreams and our subconscious can tell us a great deal if we were prepared to listen a little more closely to the information offered to us.  The subconscious is constantly processing the endless streams of information it recieves.  From the people we meet, past memories, both good and bad and our feelings and thought are constantly filtering inot our subconscious.  As new pieces of information are recieved the subconscious makes connections.  It has a wealth of knowledge that it gives to us in the form of intuitive feelings that we all have at some time.  Some people are more in touch with their intuitive side than others, but we should learn to listen to these hunches as more often than not they are trying to tell us something important.  They are often right. The mind is a facinating, complex instrument and we should learn to trust in its ability to be intuitive and perceptive and be a guide through our journey of life!

9)  Incubation

As the Poet Doug King states, “We should learn to pause ……or nothing worthwhile will ever catch up with us.” 

To let ideas generate we need to give them time to fester, taking shape and form.  Let the cogs start turning in our brains and churn the idea over like a cow would chew cud!  Someone I read recently said that their best ideas came whilst they were doing the three Bs.  In Bed, the Bath or on the Bus. 

All good ideas needs to be given the space to be mulled over and begin to germinate.  Like a seed that is planted in spring,it needs to be given time, sun and water for it to sprout and push through the earths soil. 

Allow the Muse to whisper in your ear - Ask, trust and listen.

10)  Lose Control

Sometimes we have to have a little disorder and chaos to “Create”.  When baking a cake you near enough always have to break a few eggs!  The same can be said for creativity.  If you are too rigid and inflexible you won’t be open to possibilities.  Not everything is logical.  Don’t be afraid to get a little messy and crazy from time to time.  Fly by the seat of your pants!

If you have any further suggestions about creativity and how to be more creativity I would certainly love to hear them.  In fact I would love to hear from anyone out there.  It would be great just to know that someone or something is actually bothering to read my blog.  Get Commenting!!!

 

 

Filed under Blocks and Barriers for Women, Confidence, Creative Women, Exercises and Activities, Happiness, Inspiration, Inspirations for Women, Motivation, Personal Development, Setting and Achieving Goals, Values & Beliefs, Women Achieving Success, Women in West Yorkshire — Subscribe, Trackback,

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