When we think of creativity, we mostly think about art and music, as these are the most obvious fields of life in which creativity plays a significant role. However, if you dig a bit deeper, you will come to the realization that creativity is actually everywhere. If not every field of life should use it, then every field definitely could use it.
By being more creative, you can make any dull activity – fun, a difficult period in life – easy, a mundane task – exciting, and a gray relationship – colorful again. Please find below the things you can do in order to learn how to be more creative in life.
1. Brainstorm
The most straight-forward method on how to be more creative in life is simply to brainstorm.
I remember when I was still a small kid in school, we were often given a topic by the teachers that we then had to expand on. We were told to write down all of our thoughts onto a piece of paper. These bubbles of thoughts, assumptions and ideas would then be linked to each other with lines. This was done independently but also in teams, both of which proved to be very effective in such tasks.
Brainstorming is so powerful because you don’t really use too much of your awareness when applying this creative method. It’s more of a subconscious task, in which you jot down everything that comes to your mind, regardless of whether it makes sense or not. And if something really doesn’t make sense, you simply don’t include it, but this is something you think about only once the brainstorming time is up.
When analyzing something the way we normally do, we often are limited by our own brain, by the memories, beliefs and experiences that we have. When brainstorming, we don’t focus on rationalizing anything, which is why the most unexpected results may emerge.
Brainstorming is something that not many of us use since we either don’t remember that such a creative method exists, or simply because we think that it’s not worth the time. But please, don’t be mislead, brainstorming is one of the most creative ways to face a problem. It can be used when thinking of a place to visit, a surprise dish to make for your loved ones, or even something as major as finding a niche for your new business.
2. Find the difference
The second approach on how to be more creative in life is to find the difference in whatever is it that you plan to do.
The goal here is to think about the task that lies ahead of you and to think about how you can make it different. For example, you plan to sell some physical product. You see that this product already exists in very many shapes and forms. Of course, you could go ahead and just make the product better. But what you could also do to take it a step further is to make the product different.
Whenever you are being different, you are being creative, which is a good thing. But there is always the danger of being too creative, so to say.
Being too creative means going over the board. It may work in art and music, in which it often does, but if you look at it more practically, from the perspective of everyday life, then it may not be what you are looking for.
For example, taking your wife that has a serious fear of heights on a parachute jump may be creative, but it probably won’t be anything she will agree to. Or you may feel like it’s a “great” idea to sell something that nobody else in your city sells – the deadliest snakes in the world.
Being different is good, but being too different may have undesired consequences. The only way to make sure that your different is on the good side is to make a preliminary research regarding the subject. Find out if it is really what people want.
Of course, you could argue that Elon Musk got away with selling 20,000 flamethrower-sized blowtorches for $500 a piece, but this worked only because he is a very known individual. However, yes, this is an example of creativity and the product was quite different.
3. Take on new challenges
Another way to learn how to be more creative in life is by taking on new challenges.
There are people that are naturally more inclined towards being creative. It’s great if you are one of them, but what if you are like me, somebody who, most of the time, is limited by the usual thinking patterns? Well, then you need to expand the barriers of your mind. And no, I am not referring to the consumption of psychedelic substances…
To expand your mind with creative thinking, you need to enrich your life with new experiences and new knowledge. The more you have of the two, the more you have to choose from when being creative. For example, a person that has been to three different countries can talk about three different languages, three different cultures, three different cuisines, three different national sports, etc. That is much more than what a person that has been to only one country can talk about.
Recommended: Cheap Travel: How Travelling Changed My Life
Going abroad and visiting as many countries as possible is a great way to expand your horizons, but it’s not the only way. Starting a new hobby or a business, going out to meet new people, changing the area you live in – are all ways in which you can expand your life, your mind and therefore have the potential to be more creative.
Do something you’ve never done before, be open to new experience and new people.
4. Take the opposite side
The fourth way to learn how to be more creative in life is by changing the side of the argument that you are on.
Some of us are very stuck with the ideas and opinions that we already possess. For this very reason, it is often hard to be even slightly creative – we just don’t give it any room in our mind.
To challenge yourself, find a friend that has an opposite opinion from yours in something, and swap sides with them. For example, you may like the BMW car brand and can give a hundred different reasons why it’s the best car brand in the world. Your friend, on the other hand, hates the BMW and loves Mercedes.
So what you can do is you spend five minutes arguing with your friend. You try to prove that Mercedes is the best car brand in the world, and your friend tries to prove that BMW is the best car brand in the world.
This exercise is challenging, but it’s also very effective. You crush your beliefs and stereotypes, and therefore learn to be more creative in how you think about things.
5. Don’t rush
The last but not least thing to keep in mind when learning how to be more creative in life is that rushing things will never do you any good, especially when it comes to creativity.
Creative jobs are often the most challenging, not because they are physically or mentally more demanding than others, but because the person doing them must force the creative process, even when there is no mood for it. Of course, this often leads to poor results, unfortunately.
Creativity is a state of mind that comes to you when you create the optimal environment for it. This is why brainstorming is so effective; you don’t force anything, you think freely and broadly.
If you feel at the moment that you are not able to be creative, then don’t force it. It’s totally ok to not feel the creative muse. Give it some time, wait a day or two, and you will be surprised when it comes to you at the most unexpected moment.
Hopefully, you found this post useful and you now have a better idea of how to be more creative in life. In any case, this is something we all have to struggle with from time to time, so don’t worry.
Thank you for stopping by and good luck!
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