Creativity is the true starting point for all accomplishment in life.  I supposed Pablo Picasso knew a little about creativity.  In 2006, one of his paintings sold for over $95 million in an auction at Sotheby’s.  How did he create such masterpieces?  He was a rebel of sorts in his day.  He liked to challenge the status quo.  He pushed the envelope of people’s comfort zones with new styles of art that hadn’t been tried.  He was a creative genius!  It takes guts to be creative.  You have to be willing to put the result of your creativity on display for others to admire and criticize.  Of course, creativity is the source of all innovation.  We need to nurture our creativity to live life to the fullest.

Creativity seems to breed creativity.

We have to use it or we lose it.  Are you being as creativity as you could be?  It seems we all have a knack for creativity when we are kids, but then we tend to lose it as we grow older.  We become stifled.  We worry to much about what other people will think.  We suppress our creativity and then we wonder why we aren’t achieving much in life.

I challenge you today to rekindle your creativity.

Today, I want to share with you some excellent ways to spark creativity in your life.  This is for your own good.  Go do something that takes you outside your comfort zone.  Get in touch with your inner child that loves to finger paint, make mud pies, and dance in front of an audience!  Take a risk!  Show the world what you are made of!

1.  Observe the creativity of others and copy what they do.

This is a secret of creativity that many successful people use.  You didn’t think that all the great ideas in the world were original ones did you?  The idea that creativity is 100% original is a farce.  Many great artists had mentors that they learned their techniques from and then added a twist to make it their own.  Find someone that is doing something highly creative that you like, learn from them, and then add your own creative genius!

2.  Begin by creating your own space for creativity.

You need a creative project to get your juices flowing.  A great place to start is to find and customize yourself a work area for your creative projects.  You need a place that inspires you.  The act of finding and creating such a space to your liking will help you reconnect with your creativity.  Here are some excellent tips that will help you get started.  Go to town!  Be creative and make it a place you love to be.

3.  Work on creative projects during your best period of the day.

Are you an early bird or a night owl?  If you aren’t sure, then do a little experimentation.  You will likely find that there is a period of the day where your creativity flows more easily.  You can then further enhance this natural time of creative genius with various types of stimulation.  For instance, I like to read inspiring books just before I write.  For you, it might be listening to great music or watching a movie that fires you up.  The key is to catch your mind at its peak and then to stimulate it to a crescendo!

4.  Pursue ways to open your mind to new ways of thinking.

Creativity flourishes where thinking is unrestricted.  There are many ways to open your mind to new ideas.  We tend to be creatures of habit even in the way we think.  However, by pursuing new experiences, we can open ourselves up to creative thinking.  Try doing something you’ve never done before.  Read a book that expresses opinions different from what you commonly hold.  Daydream about the impossible.  Build or create something from scratch.  These techniques can expand your thinking and get your creative juices flowing.

5.  Let go of your fear and take a chance.

One of the biggest obstacles to creativity many of us face is fear.  We fear that we will be criticized or that we will make a mistake.  I’ll admit that it takes courage to express creativity.  However, there are also great rewards that come from being creative.  The sense of accomplishment and meaningful contribution is enormous.  Where would we be if creative geniuses like Thomas Edison, Ben Franklin, and Alexander Graham Bell had been too afraid to express themselves?  We can’t be certain that our ideas will be accepted, but it is worth the risk!

6.  Explore online resources for igniting your creativity.

As you know, the Internet is a goldmine of resources.  Well, guess what?  There are a ton of excellent sites that can help you rekindle your creativity.  One technique I found that I especially like and use quite often to assist me in the creative process is called mind mapping.  It is a fantastic way to help open yourself up and let the ideas flow.  When you use mind mapping, write down ideas as soon as they occur to you.  Don’t worry about organizing your ideas.  That comes later.  The key is to quickly capture your ideas and to let your creative thinking flow.

7.  Set a creative goal to achieve to keep you going.

Write down a creative goal that you dream of accomplishing.  You need a purpose for rekindling your creativity.  Maybe you want to write a book or a blog.  Maybe you want to redecorate your house or create a handmade masterpiece.  There are any number of possibilities.  The key is to have a specific reason in mind for pursuing this goal.  This will help keep you engaged even if the process is difficult.  Depending on how long you have let your skills in creativity lay dormant, it may take awhile to revive them.  A goal will keep you focused.

Don’t let “good” sense rob you of your creativity!

It is easy to let that negative little voice in our heads talk us out of our creative pursuits.  It might remind you of how your last endeavor didn’t work out or of how someone in your past told you weren’t any good.  Don’t listen to this voice.  You have to work through these things.  The tips in this article will help.  Once you’ve had some success, you’ll thank yourself that you pressed on.  Who knows?  Maybe one day in the future one of your masterpieces will sell for millions of dollars!

In what ways do you stimulate your creativity?

Photos by oddsock and Lil Erna