You Are Creative

Yes, I mean you. Whether you may have known it all along or you don't believe it, you are creative. Creativity is not monopolized by a certain breed of individuals. Everybody is creative in some way, but not everybody develops and harnesses his or her creativity.

Most people who are deemed creative are only so because they take every opportunity to create something fresh. They are brave enough take different approaches to problems even when they seem to set themselves up for failure. Failure does not scare them because they know that it is temporary. They are not afraid to make mistakes because they know that they can learn from them. They dare to be "crazy" and they allow themselves to be laughed at because they know, as the great philosopher Arthur Schopenahauer once said, "Every idea is at first ridiculed, violently opposed and then accepted as self-evident." In short, it does take balls to be creative and people do not achieve their creative potential because they are sometimes too scared to deviate from the familiar and the accepted.

Creative thinking is a skill that can be learned and must constantly be used. Creativity is a mental muscle that needs to be exercised regularly or it will atrophy. Here are some tips that you can follow to build your creative muscles and be a mental hulk:

BE A SPONGE. Absorb as much knowledge as your mind can handle. Learn as much as you can. Broaden your horizons. You will need knowledge to operate with when you exercise creativity.

QUESTION WHAT YOU LEARN AND WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW. Do not accept everything at face value. Oftentimes, creativity is hampered by preconceived notions. Learn to see past the obvious. Do not be afraid question authority. We are all humans and even the best among us is wrong in one way or another.

ALWAYS FIND A PROBLEM TO SOLVE, LOOK AT THE PROBLEM FROM A VARIETY OF PERSPECTIVES AND TRY DIFFERENT APPROACHES IN SOLVING IT. The problem could be as mundane as washing a mountain of dishes or as dramatic as trying to save your house from foreclosure. Remember, every problem is an opportunity to be creative. Find the easiest and the fastest way to solve every problem. Find the shortest path to every goal. Don't forget that there are many ways to skin a cat.

GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE. If you stay in your comfort zone, you will eventually get tired of being comfortable and realize that the comfort zone is not so comfortable after all. Try something new every now and then. Remember, change is uncomfortable, but without change, growth and progress are impossible. Be like the oyster that makes pearls from the grains of sand that irritate it. Learn from discomfort and let it challenge your creativity.

ENTERTAIN ALL YOUR IDEAS. Some of them may seem ridiculous at first, but they might turn out to be your best. Don't discard your ideas without testing them first. If they don't work, tweak them. Don't give up on your ideas too easily.

Creativity is not a gift for a select few. It is part of who you are. Every person has the power to create something beautiful and/or something useful, and you are no different. Ideas can change the world. Who knows? One of your ideas may make this world a better place, so give it a shot.

So how have you been creative lately?