Increase Creativity

Encouraging creativity will make you more creative. No big surprise there. This principle is true for many things you might want to see more of in your life. Encouragement works. The only question then, is how do you encourage creativity?

You start by paying attention to it. The subconscious mind tends to give you more of what you pay attention to. Ignore the creative aspects of your life, and you're telling your subconscious mind they are unimportant. Consciously note when you are creative, and look for opportunities to be creative, and your subconscious mind will start feeding you more creative ideas.

Writing down your ideas is a good way to encourage and increase creativity. You can keep an "idea journal." Do this regularly, and you'll notice that you often start having more ideas while you are writing. Mediocre ideas may normally be forgotten, but by writing them down, your subconscious may work on them, and transform them 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.

Changing your surroundings can encourage creativity. Want more creativity in your love life? Hike up a mountain with your partner. Need story ideas? Try sitting on a roof to write. For new ideas for your business, take a notebook to the park and sit by the duck pond. Any change of environment can get your brain out of it's ruts.

Training For Creativity

To dramatically increase creativity, develop creative habits of mind. Watch any good comedian and you'll notice that she has trained her mind to look for the "different angle" on everyday things. You can train your mind in a similar way.

Start to challenge assumptions, for example, until it becomes habit. Want ways to get customers into your store? Ask, "Do I really need more customers?" An assumption-challenging question like this suggests other creative solutions, like finding ways to make more money off existing customers, or ways to cut expenses. Maybe these will lead to more profitable ideas. Challenging assumptions increases the creativity of your solutions.

While driving to work, randomly choose anything around you and ask how it may be connected to whatever problem you're working on. A helicopter might make you think about a way to track where the car goes when you loan it to your kids. Palm trees may lead to a new design for patio umbrellas.

The "Assumption Challenging" and "Random Presentation" techniques are two classic creative problem solving tools among dozens more. Training your brain to habitually use these, and providing it with a little encouragement, can really increase your creativity.

Related Pages: Problem Solving Techniques and Creative Solutions Using 'What If'

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