Creativity is not just for artists and poets. Everybody has the potential to exercise their creative mind – to innovate new ways of accomplishing things that will ultimately make life easier and more gratifying. Creativity magnifies the effectiveness of our natural talents, generating elevated levels of success and happiness by helping us discover more efficient ways to do what we love to do.
Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
Acts of creativity can be found in every facet of life. We are surrounded by the byproducts of creative ideas both big and small. And the small acts of creativity are no less important than the big ones. In fact, the more creative you are with the small things in your life, the more creative you will likely be with the big things.
Now, it’s to be expected that there will be ups and downs in our levels of creativity. Some days we’ll be full of new ideas, and other days our brains will feel a bit dull. Although this phenomenon is natural, oftentimes our poor personal choices perpetuate our inability to think creatively, and we end up having more dull days than creative ones. The vast majority of these poor choices fall into one of seven categories. I call them the seven deadly sins of creativity.
1. Lack of knowledge and attention.
Knowledge and attention are absolute necessities. Creative thinking cannot be productively applied until a certain level of knowledge is gathered about the current situation or problem at hand. Thus, creativity actually relies on both sides of the brain, the creative right side and the logical left side.
The first steps the brain takes when tackling a creative venture are actually governed by logic, not creativity. This is because most creative breakthroughs rest on the shoulders of everything that came before it. The logical left side of your brain analyzes the situation and all the known facts, defines the problem that must be solved and then hands the data over to the creative right side of your brain. In other words, once a creative challenge has been realized, you must first rely on your logic and absorb yourself in what is already known. Without this logical review process, creativity will drown in misdirection.
2. Lack of passion and enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm is the lifeblood of creativity. Creativity blossoms when you are passionate and enthusiastic about what you are doing. It’s extremely difficult to [Read more…]