You were born creative. We all were.As a resume designer, I must be creative everyday. Sometimes it’s difficult to unleash our creativity because our creative genius is stifled early on. It actually starts as early as 5 years old.
I remember a story an educator once told me. A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom while the students drew pictures. Occasionally, she would walk around the room to see each child’s work. “What are you drawing?” she asked one little girl who was working diligently at her desk. The girl said, “I’m drawing God.” The teacher paused and said, “But no one knows what God looks like.” The little girl said, “They will in a minute.”
Remember when you were five?
If you’re going to live up to your creative potential, you’re going to have to remember when you were like that 5-year-old and you believed in endless possibilities because you hadn’t lived long enough to place limits on yourself.
That’s where you take off the limits and you give it all you’ve got because you’re not operating out of fear, your operating with a child-like faith that says anything’s possible. Because it is.
4 Steps to Becoming More Creative
1. Get Started
Of all the elements of the creative process, getting started with your creative vision is the most important because unless and until you get started, you simply cannot create anything. Stop procrastinating!
2. Make Time for Creativity
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of Google – one of the most creative companies in the world, wrote the following in their 2004 IPO letter: "We encourage our employees, in addition to their regular projects, to spend 20% of their time working on what they think will most benefit Google," they wrote. "This empowers them to be more creative and innovative.
You must be intentional about being creative. Set aside some time daily to work on a creative project. You could try to solve a problem, start a blog, invent a solution, or take up painting, or sculpting.
3. Don’t Fear Failure
One of the reasons we don’t get started is past failure. We remember where we came up just short in our creative endeavors. I don’t know anyone who has ever created anything who hasn’t failed. Don’t fret. If you fail, you’re in good company. “Fail’ is an action verb for a reason because all acts come to an end — even failing. So, if you could just take that first step toward your creative destiny, at some point, you will succeed.
4. Go Dark
Psychologists Anna Steidel and Lioba Werth report in the Journal of Environmental Psychology that the darker a room, the more creative we are. The researchers assert that dim lighting creates a visual message that nudges our minds into a more creative mode. We want to “sleep on it” for a reason. Sara Mednick, a sleep researcher, conducted a study that reveals deep sleep directly enhances creative processing.
Creativity Equals Influence
Creativity in the workplace, at home, or even with friends is important if you want to increase your influence. Nurturing the immense creativity that you were born with is a giant step in the right direction. Just remember when you were a kid…I do.x