Ways to Beat Roadblocks That Affect Creativity
In professions where people spend every day crafting new ideas– creativity is an essential skill. To say that creativity is a skill means it’s something that can be cultivated and improved. People need creativity especially in activities that involve imagination and originality. For example: composing a song, writing an article, painting a masterpiece.
Contrary to the popular belief that some people are born more creative than others, in reality, everyone can be creative as they wish to be. However, it takes quite some time to master the creative process.
1. Stop Waiting and Start Doing
Some people wait for hours on end to capture that elusive “inspiration”. Sometimes they call it the right “mood” or “time”. But is there a unique recipe for creativity? While inspiration does spark the creative process it isn’t the only way to get your creative juices flowing. Most of our creative impulses come from combined ideas, discovery, and experience that force us to think differently. Inspiration isn’t something that simply comes to us. One builds it through action. By taking small steps to build interest, wonder and love with the work you do, you cultivate creativity.
2. Allow Mistakes
Allowing yourself to make mistakes exercises the creative mind. It pushes away doubts that limit your ability to create. Perfectionism can be paralyzing. The fear of “not being good enough” leads to avoidance and undoing. Remember that every great book started as a draft, the best paintings were a blank canvas, and groundbreaking inventions were just ideas. Creativity is made through risk and sometimes- flawed thinking. Do not always aim for perfection, give a little space for yourself to grow, make mistakes and celebrate progress.
3. Believe That You Are Creative
The mind is a powerful thing. Thoughts affect actions. The way we perceive ourselves, impacts our creative thinking. This is the reason why creating powerful and positive affirmations about your creative ability is one way to improve your creative power. Refrain from saying you are not creative. Trash negative self-talks that keep pointing out your mistakes. When we believe that we are creative individuals, capable of accomplishing great things, we open a huge doorway for our creative selves to come out.
4. Set Up Your Environment for Creativity
A couple of factors that affect creativity can be found in the environment. When your workplace or home office doesn’t provide or is not suitable for creative introspection and concentration, creativity may suffer. There are many external distractions that can affect the way we perform tasks (e.g. noise, temperature, poor lighting). These distractions will not only hamper creativity but also affect your mood.
5. Break Free From Routine and Rules
Creativity requires freedom to flourish. Constraints not only limit choices, it also puts the artist in danger. The primary purpose of the artist is to express his ideas through his art. Creative works are not only original; it also mirrors the artist’s experience, thoughts or lifestyle. Some of the best people in history who made groundbreaking masterpiece, books and works of art were the ones who broke rules and made their own. True creative freedom is important for success. When you give someone the freedom to solve a problem by what any means, he finds an easier and better way to do it.
6. More Imagination Less Logic
Don’t get me wrong here; it’s good to be logical. But too much that it affects your imagination, humor and emotion can make your creativity suffer. According to Einstein, people need to think more like a child to draw more creative ideas. Children see the world differently. We may laugh at them for their absurd opinions but their views are actually the most authentic and unbiased, therefore closer to truth.
