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Need a Boost to your Creativity? Read on friend.....


The butterfly metamorphosis, from caterpillar to butterfly

On a scale from 1 to 10 just how creative are you?


Think of Creativity as a Martial Art. One doesn't decide to wake up and become a Blackbelt that day, it comes after years of mind and body practice. It becomes a discipline, even a mindset. Every Black Belt martial artist started as a White Belt.


A Black Belt doesn't walk around thinking about being a Black Belt, it becomes part of their DNA. It takes years of daily dedicated practice, a major change of focus, physical and mental exertion, and massive, repeated failures. How many black and blue marks and gallons of sweat does it take to get the belt? The answer is different for each person. Some may have natural talent and ability making Martial Arts easier to pick up. Others may struggle with each step.


Becoming a Creative Black Belt is no different. Some of you may exhibit creative talents already in the hobbies you pursue, whiles others feel like you must have missed getting the creative gene. Whichever you are, YOU will have to put in the work. This blog offers you some couple of tricks and concepts, but without putting in the effort you will remain a White Belt Creative.


I'd like to share ten things that made me a creative person. I did not always think of myself as "creative". In fact, I'd say between the ages of 10 and 23, I was as creative as a sheep, or at least that is how I perceived myself. Being educated by Boomers literally sucked the childhood creativity we are all innately born with right out of me. The change started after meeting my best friend in high school. His parents were artists... they got paid to take pretty pictures!!! This was a revelation to me! This led me to:

  1. Direct your Daydreams. I've always been pretty deep in my own head, spent time in the Principal's office more than once for staring out the window instead of listening to the teacher. The change came when I started purposefully daydreaming. I started imagining what my perfect life was and while none of those things I thought were important turned out to be important, my brain was starting to sputter back to life. Take time to dream a little everyday.

  2. Become a Great Observer. My Mom and I used to go to the mall and just "people watch" when I was a kid. We would make up stories about who we thought the people were, it was a great game. Teenagerdom and young-adulthood turned me from an inquisitive and creative kid to a self-absorbed little moron who could barely notice anything past the nose on his face. My advice for becoming a great observer... get a job as a bartender for a year. It’s better than any degree in psychology I can think of (sorry psych majors). I believe some part of creativity, that untouchable, mystical part comes from connections we make with other people and making connections starts with observation.

  3. Be a Dork and Ask More Questions. Nobody wants to be the person who gets laughed at in class for asking a stupid question. So we sit there, not understanding, feeling stupid, and wallowing in our own ignorance. Remember that dork in class who asked so many questions? In my class, that dork could buy and sell the rest of us many times over now-days. That kid was brave enough to ask the stupid questions and that bravery led him to greatness. Be a dork. Ask more questions. And honestly there is really no such thing as a stupid question; only those not asked or perhaps if you ask the same question over and over again expecting a different answer.

  4. Become One with Art. I'm not saying you need to move to Paris and take up painting. Artists don’t just make pretty things for other people to appreciate, they take little parts of their soul and mold it into something that speaks to them, and sometimes to the viewer. Try looking past what a beautiful painting or sculpture looks like on the surface and learn the where, why, when, and how of the work. What does this piece of art say to you, how does it make you feel, what was up with the artist when they made this… This is when art speaks from the soul of the artist to the soul of the viewer. Again, more connections lead to more creativity. Furthermore, when you approach a task, do it with the same intensity; that same soul-sharing Picasso would have put into Guernica. I encourage you to look into Zen philosophy to learn more about a more mindful and artistic way of approaching life.

  5. Practice Mindfulness. Speaking of Zen… People who are mindful see the things the rest of us don’t. Part of Zen Buddhist philosophy is the idea of living each moment completely in that moment. My favorite movie is Joe versus the Volcano starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan from 1990. At one point Meg Ryan’s character says, “My father says that almost the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know. Everybody you see. Everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake and they live in a state of constant total amazement.” If you aren’t mindful and aware, opportunity will pass you by when it presents itself.

  6. Practice for 10,000 Hours PLUS+++. If hard work was the signal for success, people who put roofs on houses in Florida would all be millionaires. Malcom Gladwell’s idea that doing something for 10,000 hours (in his bestseller book, Outliers) will make you an expert and successful may be a bit off. If you keep doing the same thing over and over again, yes, you’ll be able to do it faster after 10,000 hours. But what if you had been doing it wrong that entire time? You’d be very good at doing something wrong. Definitely work hard, you should understand that as a given at this point in your life. Nothing happens if no one does it. The PLUS comes in if you are mindful in looking for ways to improve each time you do a thing. Don’t just do it 10,000 times, do it one time and then do it a little better the second, and then a little better the third, and so on.

  7. Gain a Healthy Sense of Dissatisfaction. One of my old professors used to say this was the main ingredient in an entrepreneurial mind. I argue it's integral to Creative thinkers too. Everywhere I go, everything I do, every interaction I have, I notice little things that could be better. I had a meeting recently and the guy I was talking to fumbled for the pen that was in his right pocket with his right hand. He reached for the left pocket and my first thought was “If he kept his pen in his left pocket, he’d have his pen already.” This (admittedly sometimes exhausting) exercise keeps me rooted in curiosity and mindfulness as well as forcing me to ask questions and work toward being a better observer. I love it when stuff gets all tied up nice and neat like that.

  8. Speak Your Mind. All the stuff listed above is going to fill your brain. Some stuff will be pleasant, some will be mundane, and some painful. Living a creative and curious life can be all those same things; pleasant, mundane, and painful. Heck, might all happen at the same time. Not sharing the insights you’ve gained though your journey would be counterproductive. Now imagine how life would be right now if Einstein had remained silent or Michelangelo had decided to be a bricklayer instead of carving David. You are now a creative… an artist… and artists must share. So stand up and tell your story to whoever will listen.

  9. Take a Chance. Inaction is Creativity’s kryptonite. Maybe that’s not correct, let’s try this: Inaction is the opposite of Creativity. If you want to guarantee a lack of creativity in your life, do nothing. Remember Meg Ryan’s movie father’s advice mentioned in step 5 above, and don’t be one of those people who sleeps through life. Go make a goal. Take a leap. Do something. Do you really want to be a more creative person? It is as simple as starting. Now go play, remember that child who was curious about everything and wasn’t afraid of risk, go be creative.

  10. Create, Create, Create… I’ll leave you to think about Black Belts again. Proficiency in anything takes practice, not just repetitive motion but focused, incremental, intentional improvements. If you want to be a Creative Black Belt you will need to do something creative and practice every day. In the beginning it may seem like a chore and just like Martial Arts training, you’re going to get bruised up, you’re not going to be good in the beginning. In fact some of your creative endeavors are going to be compete disasters, you’re going to fail sometimes. But keep at it. Keep doing the things on this list, build them into your daily routine, make them part of you. Do this and I promise, you’ll be wearing a Creative Black Belt soon.

ありがとうございます




 
 
 

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