Creativity, whether in art, business, or life, is the act of making new things or finding unique solutions to difficult problems. Creativity, just like writing, public speaking, or goat herding, is a skill that can be developed and improved with effort over time.

Besides being a skill anyone can learn and improve, creativity is also variable and fluid; depending on our mental energy, motivation, and circumstances, it can come and go like the ocean tide. However, by taking a few simple steps, you can develop a little more control over those tides.

1. Change Your Perspective. Imagine you were somebody else. How would they approach your task? Would a person of a different social background, gender, race, or nationality approach what you’re doing in the same manner? When you change your perspective and question your assumptions about the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ way to do a thing, you’ll begin to see multiple solutions to the same problems.

2. Free associate. On unlined copy paper, write down everything that comes into your head. If possible, fill an entire sheet with ideas. Don’t edit yourself or censor what you think are bad ideas. You will only have good ideas after you have a lot of bad ideas. If you like, you can use mind maps.

3. Keep an Idea File. You can’t always create on demand. Sitting down and staring at a blank screen is hard, but when you have a pile of undeveloped ideas, you always have something to draw from. Keep blank paper and pens handy, and carry a notebook with you wherever you go.

4. Keep Your Life Rich. Whenever you can, attend concerts, go to art galleries and museums, meet friends, and read great books. Alter your routines and the routes you take. Try new foods. Give yourself a little unstructured free time.

5. Imagine Your Outcome. When you start thinking about the final destination, you’ll begin to see the different paths you can take to get there. What do you want as the final result of your project? Personal satisfaction? A marketable product? A world-changing work of art?

6. Put In the Hours. The more often you do something, the more likely you’ll find inspiration on a regular basis. The more time you spend actively seeking and developing new ideas, the more new ideas you’ll have. Look at the most creative people in any field, and you’ll see they have put in thousands of hours.

7. Listen to Classical Music. Studies have shown that listening to some types of classical music gave temporary increases in problem-solving abilities and cognitive functions to college students. Putting on Mozart, Bach, or Vivaldi on the stereo is like an on-demand creativity boost.

Seth M. Baker is a freelance writer, musician, and teacher. He and his wife currently live and work in South Korea. He is the founder of Happenchance, a resource for creative people who want to make amazing things.

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by By Maureen E. Killoran

Photo courtesyspettacolopuro

I have heard people say ‘I just do not have a good enough imagination’, as if it were an inborn trait. Many people get stuck thinking you are either born with it or you are not. Some times it is just a matter of learning how to develop your imagination, and allowing it to flourish and grow.

Giving the seeds of imagination, the necessary ingredients to grow will help also grow your creativity and this is sure to increase your self esteem.

Journal writing, and day dreaming, visualizing and listening to new music with no words: great ways to develop the skills you need to add depth to your unlimited potential.

It is a matter of getting out of the way, and allow your self to be in all parts of your imagination. Just like anything else that grows there will be parts that do not seem useful, yet they help to sustain some area of growth potential that will deliver fruits to the imagination process.

Think about this:

In order to grow a rose, the plant’s stem may not look like much to the observer, while it is just a stem, however, written on the creative codes of its DNA, are a process that lead to the manifestation of the beauty and essence of the final flowering blossom. The stem provides the flower a great support system to flourish in.

Sometimes parts of the process may be unclear. As you allow your mind to go with it, you find that written on your DNA, is a route to, your specific creativity that will produce some of your greatest work. Be aware that not everything that comes out, is an end in itself. Give yourself lots of trial and error practice. Know that it may take practice to build your imagination. Your brain will grow a unique way of finding a direct route to getting into the altered state it needs to be in, to access your highest thinking.

Maybe one time you may actually doodle the same little doodle that is familiar to you. Be willing to grow in patience as you do this. Growing in patience may be all your creativity is asking from you on this level. Your subconscious mind knows that this is the most direct route for you, to grow this particular quality. It also knows that you may later need a larger supply of this particular quality, to enhance your creative endeavor at some point on down the road to support the end result.

It is starting small, perhaps meeting where you are at. It does this with many of the obstacles, it already knows you will need to overcome, as you grow in your creativity. It does this with things like frustration, intolerance, boredom, restlessness, resistance and so forth. Think of it these things as plateaus. Give your self breaks and then continue where you left off climbing up the hill towards higher and higher levels of imagination as you grow.

Once you see that this is what is happening, you will overcome hopelessness and you therefor you won’t give up. You will press onwards and upwards. You will have the ability to come back around and continue to grow in small ways in order to support the flower that is growing and ready to come into manifestation later on down the line.

Keep these things in mind as you bring about what has already been written on your DNA, about what you will be later creating. The very dynamic aspect of creation, known as evolution, has written this on your DNA. It willed you be exactly where you are, for its own purpose. As you begin to let go of judging it, you are in fact growing your imagination.

Trust the process, while your self confidence grows and takes you to new levels.

Try something new that is low risk. Find something to add to your inspiration simply by trying some new activity that you have never done before. This leads to more energy and excitement, and may be just the stimulation you need to take you to the next level of your personal creative potential.

In this process of strengthening your imagination you will develop the skills to grow unlock your creativity and increase your growing sense of personal worth and self esteem.

Maureen E Killoran is a professional writer and clinical hypnotherapist and life coach. She currently owns and writes for the website, that offers a free hypnosis download, enhanced with brainwave entrainment Real-Hypnosis.com – Hypnosis That Works to help you build your self esteem easily and effectively with the simple click of a button.

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Be Creative – Five Tips to Stimulating Your Creativity

By GK Eckert

No matter what walk of life you may find yourself in, creativity is an asset. I’ve seen people be creative in career endeavors and others be creative in putting together dinner parties. It adds spice and zip to life, not only to your own life but to the lives of those around you. Here are my five tips for stimulating your creativity.

1. Turn off auto-pilot. Ever drive somewhere and suddenly realize that you didn’t recall making a turn, only to discover you’d been on “auto pilot?” When we repeatedly perform the same tasks over and over, there’s a natural tendency to find ourselves giving little awareness to what we are doing.

To stimulate your creative juices try going a different way to work, turning down a different street. When you comb your hair, put the part on the other side. Stir your coffee with the other hand. Brush your teeth with the other hand. It will feel a bit peculiar, but you’ll be very much in the moment.

2. Variations of a theme. Just as Mozart or Beethoven may have written a theme, and then variations, be creative. Practice this same approach in your day to day life.There are many things that we do without much thought or enthusiasm. Find a way to make them more fun and more interesting. Find ways to stimulate your creativity in every little task you do.

Anything that must be done more than once is an opportunity to use your creativity. It’s a way of creating a slight variation each time; not just once but every time. Dare to be creative. Make it a game to come up with a slightly new twist. Just changing the time or location can make a difference. Try eating with the fine china, or with real cloth napkins, adding candle light or simply eating in the dining room if you seldom do. You will create an experience that feels totally new. Change your writing style, vary what you normally say or how you say it; write more or less than you usually do. All these things can get your creative juices going.

3. Try some new food. Try some new food that you’ve never had before. Consider something that maybe you’ve always avoided but never really tried. So, how do you know that you don’t like it? Personally, for many years I would just not try sour cream. The name turned me off. When I finally tried it I discovered, of course, something delicious and wonderful that I’d been missing out on.

Be creative, visit a new restaurant. Be bold and daring if you’ve always been conservative. Try a different sauce, maybe some foods that don’t normally go together. You might just come up with something totally new; maybe even start a new trend.

4. Take on a new hobby or course. Taking on something new makes us stretch. It creates new pathways in the brain. It stimulates brain activity and causes us to feel a greater sense of wellness and being alive.

So, if you’ve never taken yoga or martial arts, or a belly dance class, try it. Be creative. Perhaps try painting or take up playing an instrument. Try something you’ve never done before, maybe something you’ve even secretly thought that you didn’t have the ability for. Stretch and try something new. Guaranteed to get the creative juices flowing. And you might just discover a talent you didn’t know you had!

5. The “Mozart Effect”. Don Campbell’s book explains how Mozart’s music, played in schools affected the minds of the young students hearing it. They were more creative and they performed better. He broke the music down into three categories, producing cd’s for each. One, of course, was for “stimulating creativity”. On that cd were very simple themes with variation after variation. It didn’t take me long to see how it did indeed stimulate creativity; how it opened the mind up to new possibilities. I often found that I felt like painting when I heard that music.

I don’t say that it has to be Mozart, but I do recommend listening to some music that is a theme with variations, to stimulate your creativity and get those creative juices flowing. You hear the same thing presented many different ways. It is particularly helpful if you are a musician. And you certainly can’t go wrong by choosing Mozart either.

If you try these five tips to stimulating your creativity, you’ll find yourself paying more attention to your day. You’ll find yourself more creative. You’ll find yourself more involved in your day and I dare say that you’ll find it more interesting too! By constantly thinking and making conscious choices, you are stimulating, using and practicing your creativity. And then when called upon to perform, it is honed and ready to go to work for you.

Gail Karen (G.K.) Eckert is a vocalist, musician, songwriter and teacher. She founded Musikhaus Studio of Creativity in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada in 1987 and continues to guide students through the crucial steps of learning to sing. She believes that anyone can learn to sing, given the proper guidance and encouragement. She also believes that singing your music your way is not only a fun past time but is also crucial to self expression and well being.

For more tips on creativity and self expression, visit her site http://www.YourMusicYourWay.com gk@YourMusicYourWay.com

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If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

If you create art and no one is around to appreciate it, is it really art?

We all create for different reasons, but do those reasons impact the way we feel about what we do?

This interesting article explores these questions and gives a bit of thoughtful insight into the reasons we create.

Photo courtesy SnaPsi Сталкер

Blocked! Words are not spilling onto the page; color choices elude you; you can’t embody the character you’ve been chosen to portray. Simply put, you’re stuck! It’s not the first time you’ve been stuck and certainly not the last if you’re a creative being. In your stuck-ness you beat yourself up, and often others, in your frustration and anxiety over your creative blocks. You worry that you may not have another creative thought, an inspired moment, ever again! Your life will be over! Argh!! And you resist your stuckness only to give your power over to it allowing the struggle to grow large blocking your vision, your expression, your talent, your gift to the world. Double ArrrggghhhH!!!

“Being true to yourself is what feeds creativity, not self-doubt and criticism.” – Diane Arenberg

Did it ever occur to you that you were trying too hard to get over your artist, your creative, block? What if your seemingly blocked moments were just pauses in your creative process? What if the pause is a call to you to replenish your energy, feed your creative soul, with what it enjoys, what it plays with? What if this pause was opportunity calling?

“An inconvenience is an unrecognized opportunity.” – Confucius

Instead of resigning to the possibility that you’re washed up as an artist, consider that you are merely making a pit stop. Pit stops are essential to any Formula One race champion and you are absolutely a champion! You are a master, endowed with unique gifts and talent, here to express your full potential. Pull into the pit stop and refuel!

I can hear your Inner Critic screaming now! “If I stop, pull out of the race even for a moment, others will pass me by!”. Nonsense! Others will require pit stops as well. Besides, they’re not running the same race you are. They’re not creating YOUR masterpiece. They are in the process, the race, to create theirs as you are yours. The only one you’re racing against is your very own Inner Critic who has no idea where he’s going or how to get there. He is hopelessly lost begging you, your Higher Self or what I playfully call the Wizard Within, to take over the lead.

“Creation is such an elusive thing, for the more we think we are in control, the more we remove ourselves from the actual creation.” – Betty Jean Billups

Recognize that you’ve paused and allow the pit stop experience to unfold. Let if flow naturally without restraint. What you resist, persists. If you resist being blocked, your block will persist. If you embrace where you are in the process the process will continue to move forward, you will naturally replenish your energy that serves your intuition and inspiration. Before you know it you will pull out of the pit stop inspired and firing on all cylinders!

“The creative act is not hanging on, but yielding to a new creative movement. Awe is what moves us forward.” – Joseph Campbell

Valery is an Artist Mindset Mentor and Coach who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to express & actualize your full creative potential. http://www.innerwizard.com – http://www.InnerWizard.com Free tips!

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As creative people we are always looking for ways to nurture our creative spirit. 26 Simple Ways to Nurture Your Creative Life is a series of short articles that give great advice for dealing with such things as focus, going with the flow, and addressing our fears. It’s a great list of creative nurturing tools and I’m sure you’ll find something useful there.

Photo courtesy bixentro

Having a bad day? Even if you start your day off badly, it doesn’t have to ruin your whole day. This article will put a little perspective on things.

Photo courtesy www.morguefile.com

To increase creativity, you need to do two things. First, you need to encourage it. Second, you need to train your brain. Start on both of these right now, and you can experience greater creativity today.

Encourage creativity and you’ll increase creativity. This is true of most things you want to see more of in your life. Encouragement can work wonders. How do you encourage creativity, though?

First, by paying attention to it. Your subconscious mind tends to give you more of what you pay attention to. If you ignore the creative aspects of your life, you are telling your subconscious that they are unimportant. If you consciously note when you are creative, and you look for opportunities to be creative, your subconscious mind will start feeding you more creative ideas. Look for it and you’ll find more of it.

Another way to encourage and increase creativity, is to write your ideas down. Keep an “idea journal.” If you do this regularly, you’ll notice that you often start having more ideas the moment you start to write. A so-so idea may normally be forgotten, but by writing it down, you may remember it, your subconscious works on it, and it can transform into something very creative.

You can also encourage greater creativity in yourself by putting creative ideas into practice. If you paint or write, for example, try anything new. Even just driving a different route to work to see if it is quicker can help. The point is to get you mind working outside of its regular patterns.

Just changing your surroundings can encourage creativity. If you want more creativity in your love life, go hike up a mountain with your partner. If you write, try sitting on a roof to write. If you need new ideas for your business, take a notebook to the park and sit by the duck pond. A change of enviroment can get your brain out of it’s ruts.

Creativity Training

If you want to dramatically increase creativity, develop creative habits of mind. Watch a good comedian and you’ll see that she has trained her mind to look for the “different angle” on everyday things. You can train your mind to do the same.

Challenge assumptions, for example, until it becomes habit. Looking for ways to get customers into your store? Stop and say, “Do I really need more customers?” The question suggests other creative solutions, like finding ways to make more money off existing customers, or ways to cut expenses. These may lead to more profitable ideas. Challenge assumptions to increase the creativity of your solutions.

As you drive to work, randomly choose anything around you and ask how it may be connected to whatever problem you are working on. A helicopter overhead might make you think about a way to track where the car goes when you loan it to your kids. A palm tree may lead to a new design for patio umbrellas.

The above techniques are called “Assumption Challenging” and “Random Presentation,” and are two classic creative problem solving techniques. There are dozens more. Train your brain to habitually use these, and provide it with a little encouragement, and you really can increase your creativity.

Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years. For more creative problem solving techniques, and to subscribe to the Brain Power Newsletter, visit: http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com

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Rules were meant to be broken, right? Right! So why is it that the rule “we should always finish what we start” maybe gets bent a little at times, but never gets really and truly broken.

Maybe this article, Seven Ways and Reasons to Start Things You Won’t Finish, will finally give you a reason to break that unwieldy rule.

Photo courtesy nickwheeleroz

Definition of Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Do you want to create something and you just haven’t been able to do it? Here’s the thing: If we want to experience something differently, or create something new, we need to get out of our regular routine. We need to expose our minds to different ways of looking at things. We need to mix things up. This is especially true if we want to stir up our creativity and hear our authentic voice. We need to be different, and to do different.

Here are some ideas:

• Try a new workshop
• Go for a walk
• Look at art
• Meditate
• Dance
• Travel
• Daydream
• Exercise

Get out of your normal routine and way of thinking to allow your creative mind time to gestate. Start exploring the options. Be proactive. Go online and do research, or tell a good friend about your plans, and listen to their ideas. Imagine where you might experience what you are currently searching for and put yourself in that situation. Start to give to others that which you wish to create for yourself. Be open to all the possibilities.

The physicist Fritjof Capra put it this way: “During a period of relaxation after concentrated intellectual activity, the intuitive mind seems to take over and can produce the sudden clarifying insights which give so much joy and delight.”

Joy and delight are the qualities of the creative mind. This is when the little kid inside of us comes out and plays. Freeing this part of us frees our creativity. The more willing we are to open to new experiences and try new things, the more we put the juice into our creativity machine.

Unfortunately, for some of us, we stop ourselves before we even begin. We’ve been given so many messages throughout our lives to “not look stupid or silly.” It’s important to face those messages, and the fear they create, and see them for the illusions they are. Whoever expressed those ideas to us was coming from their own limitations, which were placed on them as well. The good news is you can make a different choice.

Adopt a beginner’s mind. To do that, we need to let go of what other people think. I don’t mean don’t care what your boss wants, or what your client wants, or what your spouse or kids want. I mean be willing to step outside of your own egoic concerns and don’t worry about looking silly. No great ideas were ever conceived when there was a great deal of concern over what someone else thought.

Here’s what Paul McCartney had to say: “I used to think that anyone doing anything weird was weird. I suddenly realized that anyone weird wasn’t weird at all and that it was the people saying they were weird that were weird.”

And T.S. Elliot: “Only he who is willing to go too far will ever find out how far one can go.”

Every time I’ve been willing to do something that others might perceive as a little crazy, I’ve freed myself. And so can you. You will free yourself to experience life more fully and to create new possibilities in any area you desire.

So, go out and try something new. Be different and do different. This is the way to turn on your creativity machine and hear your authentic voice. Give yourself the gift of being childlike. If things don’t turn out like you’d hoped, who cares? Just laugh and smile. It doesn’t matter. Just learn, cut yourself some slack, and try something else!

Andrea Beaulieu is a professional speaker, author and coach, assisting individuals to become the people they always wanted to be — themselves. She helps them engage their true potential to live, work, and lead in ways that are authentically theirs. She is the author of Ah Ha! 100 Flashes of Insight and Inspiration from Your Authentic Voice and Finding Your Authentic Voice: Seven Practices to Free the Real You and Experience Love, Happiness and Fulfillment, about her Your Authentic Voice® System. http://www.AndreaBeaulieu.com

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