The ability to think creatively is not an innate talent. Creativity will help you communicate more easily with others, solve problems and approach any issue in a versatile way.
How do you become a creative person? For most of my life, I didn’t consider myself a creative person at all. Then, many years ago, I started a postcard company, although I hadn't had much interest in them myself. The motivation was both a desire to do business and a desire to care for the environment by making postcards from recycled paper. And then it turned out that I have to learn to think creatively - in order to create something new, and then promote it on the market. In addition, my leadership role required extraordinary creativity from me in order to successfully think through the company's strategy.
There are many reasons why creative thinking is so important. This is a way to avoid getting bogged down in old habits and useless beliefs. Creativity helps you solve problems, maintain relationships with others, lead a healthy lifestyle, and be happy.
I realized that the ability to think creatively is not an innate talent. Everyone can develop it in themselves. And most importantly, creative thinking can become an ongoing practice. For me, as the director of the Institute of Leadership "Search within yourself", this is especially important now, because my job is to help business leaders to act more efficiently and live happier lives.
Get to know your inner critic. Everyone has it. It is difficult to come to terms with the fact that this is an integral part of any person. The good news, however, is that the inner critic is not the enemy; he is only trying to protect us. Knowing this, you can calm him down. Experiment, play with it, give it a name. You are still able to create, regardless of your own inner judge.
Pay attention to details. Once you decide to be creative, you will begin to notice more details in your daily life. Pay more attention to them, and you will learn to live in the present, and your world will sparkle with colors - then creativity comes. Think: which boot do you put on first, left or right? What color is your front door? How many emails per day do you receive and send? You can also invent new names for things. Let's say take a paper clip and look at it as if you were seeing it for the first time. What would you call it? Such experiments with seemingly insignificant little things help to see the world in a new way.
Practice mindfulness. Being mindful means focusing on the moment you are living without thinking about the past or worrying about the future. It's simple but powerful. Of course, analyzing the past and preparing for the future is also important. But creativity takes place only in the present. The practice of mindfulness is to track over and over again when your thoughts are wandering somewhere, and again to focus on the present moment. This is how we teach ourselves to create and live in the present. Awareness also includes a conscious expansion of the focus of attention - and this is also a creative process.
Noticing paradoxes. Almost everything in human life is paradoxical. For example, I am an introvert, but at the same time I like to make public speeches; I can hesitate for a long time, but I can quickly make a decision; I trust people and still remain a vulnerable person. Think what is paradoxical about you? Try to find your contradictions, understand and take them for granted, instead of pretending that they do not exist. I began to be guided by such a paradoxical statement: strive for change and accept everything as it is. This would seem to contradict itself; but in order to change your habits, you must first acknowledge their existence.
Creativity is a habit that can be developed through constant practice. See how kids think creatively as they experiment and discover a new world on the go. Creativity is easy if you allow yourself to be spontaneous, inquisitive and open, like a child. Try starting with one of the six steps I just described.
(Mark Lesser is the author of Know Yourself, Forget Yourself. Five Steps to Changing Your Life, director of the Seek Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, conducts weekly meditations in Mill Valley, California).
