Creativity is much like any other form of working out, be it physical or mental. If you do very little on a regular basis, you have very little to draw on when you need it most. If you work out at high intensity every day, you become far more capable.
Creativity is no different. If you rarely exercise creativity, if you never push out of your comfort zone, then what you create will be mediocre at best. If you force yourself beyond your limits, you strengthen your creative skills.
Additionally, consider what it takes to be creative, and what it takes to work out. Do you need an expensive gym, a personal trainer, etc.? If that’s what it takes to get you to work out, then yes. If you can make do with a chair and a few free weights, or a pair of sneakers and the open road, then that’s all you need. Creativity is the same way. Do you need to be surrounded by paints, easels, computers, white boards, brash environments, a creativity coach? Perhaps. However, you can often make do with what you have. Just as fitness comes from your body under duress, creativity comes from your mind under duress.
Just as you cannot walk into a fitness center or gym and bench press 400 pounds on day 1, so should you not expect to create the best idea ever developed by a professional in your industry on your first sheet of blank paper.
So how do you get started being more creative? Push yourself to create new ideas every day – and add creative “weights” each day, to push yourself a little more.
Today, create an idea to blog about.
Tomorrow, create two.
The next day, create three.
If you’re a more visual person, draw an outline or a mind map today.
Create two tomorrow.
The next day, three.
Write a few words today in your next novel.
Write 10 more words the next day.
Write 20 more words the following day.
Pick a creative medium as well. The person who tries a different workout all the time without dedicating time into one type of workout gets less focused results than someone who just runs or just lifts weights. Make a commitment to a creative channel and stick with it for at least a few weeks.
The best time to start your creative mental workouts was yesterday. The second best time is right now. Get creative!
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