Years ago, the Federal Government used to pay me to come teach workshops to government employees on how to build creativity.
At first, I didn’t know exactly where to start.
I mean, sitting down to write a song was one thing, but teaching people how to build creativity for themselves just didn’t seem possible.
Until I realized that I had to shift gears.
Creativity isn’t some exclusive club that you have to be allowed into. It’s not something that you can either do or you can’t.
It’s all about changing your thinking.
How to Build Creativity – It’s A Process
People tell me all the time, “I’m not creative” or “I don’t have a creative bone in my body.”
And I tell them that that’s just not true. They just haven’t learned how to build creativity yet! Like anything else, creativity takes practice.
(Do you think Van Gogh’s first painting was a masterpiece?)
It’s a process, and like any process, it takes time. You can’t learn how to build creativity without a little openness, a little practice, and a lot of continued intention.
You can buy twenty books on how to build creativity. But when you do, all you’re doing is putting off TRYING your hand at creativity.
No book is going to be a magic pill that turns you into an instant overnight creative virtuoso. You have to accept that being more creative takes time. And it takes action.
How to Build Creativity – Take Action (Even if it’s Imperfect!)
In this case, “Just Do It” is actually quite the wise advertising slogan.
You can’t figure out how to build creativity without jumping in and TRYING it.
I mean, think about it”¦ you haven’t become more creative by just sitting around WISHING you were more creative, right?
Well, exactly.
Let me tell you a little story to tell you what I mean”¦
I read about an art professor who was curious about how his students would learn best.
So he took his two intro-level painting classes and told one class that their final grade would be determined by how many pieces they completed by the end of the semester. He told the other class that they only had to produce one painting, but their entire grade would be based on how good that one painting was.
Can you guess which class produced better paintings by the end of the semester?
Yeah, the ones who were just trying to produce as many as possible!!
This is why I teach all my clients that imperfect action is the way to go as you’re learning how to build creativity. You can’t expect your first creative endeavor to be perfect. Or earth shattering. Heck, it doesn’t even have to be very good. You just have to try.
How to Build Creativity -Envision Your Creative Self
At this point, you might know that you want to learn how to build creativity in your life, but you don’t even know exactly what that means.
Well, what does that mean to you?
Do you want to write a screenplay? Be a painter? Or maybe just be more creative so you can offer new solutions in your business life?
Maybe you haven’t really decided, but you know that the idea of figuring out how to build creativity in your life sounds really appealing to you.
No problem!
Creating a vision board is an easy step towards envisioning the types of creative endeavors you’d like to take on.
You can fill your vision board with images of the types of creative things you’d like to do, the type of person you’d be once you became more creative, or even just images that feel creative to you.
There are no rules as you make a vision board!
Once you’ve created your vision board, hang it somewhere that you’ll see it every day.
That’s it.
Then, you can just let the unstoppable power of intention work while you try some other creativity-building approaches.
How to Build Creativity – Spend Quiet Time
The connection between spending quiet time and learning how to build creativity might not make sense at first.
But trust me here.
Light a few candles after dark and just sit. You don’t have to meditate. Just sit. Be quiet. Listen. Look around. Be okay with the silence.
We are a noisy people. Lots of people tell me that they can’t stand silence. But in silence is where we can hear the voice of our creativity.
It might not happen right away. But in time, ideas and inspiration will start to come to you in the quiet.
Drive with no music on. Make dinner in silence. Pay attention to your hands as you slice the veggies. Gaze at your vision board. Just be quiet.
Quiet time has been one of my greatest teachers as I learned how to build creativity for myself.
How to Build Creativity – Stop Reading and Get Started!Â
So that’s it! These are just a few of the tools in my “˜how to build creativity’ arsenal, and I’m sure that as you get started, you’ll find several more that work for you.
But like I said, the only way to really become more creative is to TRY, so do this for me”¦
Download the free Complete Guide to Vision Boards ebook.
Spend an evening creating a board and envisioning what creativity means for you (a glass of wine and some great music while you do makes this process even more fun!).
Enjoy some quiet time to let your creative thoughts start to flow.
And then take get started.
I promise, soon you’ll be so full of wonderful, creative ideas that you’ll be wondering why you were ever asking me how to build creativity in the first place!!
