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by John Hoff @ eVentureBiz.com 約翰hoff@eventurebiz.com

A short time ago I received an email from a young entrepreneur asking me how he was suppose to compete in a marketplace where the competition was high and more established companies had big advertising bucks.在短短的時間內，我收到一個電子郵件從一個年輕企業家向我詢問他是如何被假設競爭，在市場環境下，競爭是高更成立了公司，擁有龐大的廣告雄鹿。 I mentioned a few ideas to him but the one that concerned him the most was creativity.我所說的幾點想法，以他的，但一涉及到他最深的是創造力。 Give him numbers and he’ll work them, but tell him to come up with some creative idea, forget it.給他號碼，他將工作的他們，但告訴他來了，與一些有創意的想法，忘記它。

He said he doesn’t have a creative bone in his body.他說，他不具備創意骨在自己的身上。

People who tell themselves that have already lost unless they decide to do something about it.人對自己說，至今已失去了，除非他們決定要有所作為。

The development of a creative thought process is no different than learning martial arts.發展的一種創造性思維過程，是沒有什麼不同的學習武術。 At first, someone shows you how to stand, execute proper body movement, and teaches you a Kata (aka form - a set of movements that help develop your technique).起初，有人告訴您如何站立，執行適當的身體運動，並教導你一個字（又名形式 -一組動作有利於發展你的技術） 。

Once these techniques are learned you must practice them to become a good fighter.一旦這些技術的教訓，你必須實踐使他們成為一個好戰士。 When fighting, it is taught that the best place for your mind to be is no where at all, called Mushin (means “no mind”) .當戰鬥，這是告訴我們，最好的地方，為您的心目中，是沒有任何地方的一切，在所謂mushin （意思是"不介意" ） 。 The point of Mushin is to blank out your mind so that you are in a state of “openness.” In other words, it allows you to simply react and not worry about what might happen when fighting.點mushin是空白了你的心，讓你身在一個國家的"開放性" ，換句話說，它可以讓你簡單地作出反應，不必擔心可能發生的事情，當戰鬥。

The same can be said when learning to be creative.同時，可以說，當學習，以富於創造性。 You first learn what techniques help develop a creative thought process and then you have to practice them while keeping your mind open to endless possibilities no matter how ridiculous they may seem.你先了解什麼技術，幫助發展一種創造性思維過程，然後，你必須身體力行，同時還可以介意公開，以無限可能，不論如何荒謬，他們看起來可能。

But how do you train your mind to become a well-oiled creative thinking machine?但你如何訓練你的心，以成為一個良好的油創造性思維的機器？

Like the first sentence of this post says, you have to first believe you are a creative person.像第一句話就是這華盛頓郵報說，你必須首先相信你是一個創造性的人。 Following that you need to exercise your mind in various ways.之後，你需要運用你的心在以各種方式。

Let’s take a look at some creative mind-pumping ideas and activities that will help widen your mind’s creative eye.讓我們來看看一些有創意的想法抽水思想和行為，這將有助於拓寬您心目中的創意眼睛。

I. Listen一，聽

Don’t Jump the Gun 不偷步
It is important listen to everything and not judge or come to your own conclusion prematurely.這是很重要的聽一切不是法官或得出自己的結論過早。 This is vital if you are to create a product that wins in the eyes of your customers and employer.這是至關重要的，如果你要創造一種產品，贏在眼裡，你的顧客和雇主。 Remember, listening does not equal simply hearing.記住，聽不等於簡單的聽證會。

Examining 審核
Try listening to a different radio station (or TV channel).盡量聽取不同的無線電台（或電視頻道） 。 See if you can figure who the intended audience is.看看，如果你想不出誰是聽眾。 Who would be the dedicated listeners and who might be the occasional?他將成為專門的聽眾，他們可能是偶然？ What influential people might be listening to this station?什麼有影響力的人可能是在聽到了這個站？ What is it’s market?什麼是它的市場呢？

II.二。 Brainstorm頭腦風暴

Brainstorming can be an effective way to generate creative ideas; however, before brainstorming about your subject at hand, try warming up the creative juices.集思廣益可以成為一種有效的方式來產生創意靈感，但思前對你的課題在手，試圖升溫，創意新鮮果汁。

Warming Up 升溫
Grab a pencil and blank piece of paper and just start writing.抓斗鉛筆和一張空白的紙和剛開始寫。 If nothing comes to mind, write that, then write whatever comes to your mind next no matter what it is.如果對方沒有想到的，寫，然後寫什麼來您心目中未來不管是什麼。 Then expand.然後擴大。

In another example, grab yourself a pencil and paper and create something new and describe it, no matter how absurd it may seem.在另一個例子中，搶到自己鉛筆，紙張和創造新事物，並描述它，不管是多麼荒謬，它可能是兩回事。 Try creating a new life form.嘗試創造新的生命形式。 Where does it come from?那麼，它從何而來？ What is its goal?什麼是它的目標呢？ Or try creating a person.或者試圖創造一個人。 Who is she?誰是她？ Expand on the idea.擴大對這一想法。

These are good exercises to get you in the mindset of thinking outside the box.這些都是很好的運動，以獲得你在冥想的思維外箱。

III.三。 Counter the Negatives with Positives櫃檯底片與陽性

This is probably one of the more important ones to do.這可能是其中一個較為重要的事。 Whenever you want to do something but your mind tells you that you can’t, write that thought down and then next to it write down 2 or 3 reasons why you can.當你想做一件事，但你的心告訴你，你不能寫這麼想過下來，然後在明年給它寫下來， 2或3的原因，你可以。 Do this quickly and often.這樣做的很快，常常。 Soon you will notice that you have trained your mind to automatically react with a positive thought whenever you think of a negative one.很快，你會發現，你們培養了你的心，以自動反應的一個積極思考的時候，你要想出一個消極的。

IV.四。 Be Ready準備就緒

If you’re searching for creative ideas, keep a pen and pad handy at all times, you never know when a thought might pop into your head - or maybe someone else’s thought spawns a new thought of your own that you can build off of.如果您正在尋求創新意念，保持一枝筆，墊得心應手，在任何時候，你永遠不知道什麼時候想過可能會流行到你的頭上-或者別人的思想，造成了一種新的思路你自己的，你可以建立小康的。

For example, one of my favorite shows is舉例來說，我的一個喜歡的節目是 Kitchen Nightmares廚房做惡夢 . 。 I was watching an episode one night and Gordon Ramsay was offering up business advice to the store owner.我看著一個插曲一晚和戈登拉姆齊是提供業務諮詢，以店老闆。 During the show, I kept getting up and jotting down a few ideas that he had mentioned that I wanted to expand on for my blog.展會期間，我不停地起床，並記下一些想法，他曾說過，我想要擴大對我的博客。 The result was結果 an article you can read here一篇文章，你可以在此閱讀 . 。

V. Learn五，學習

Obviously, the more you know about everything, the more you can come up with creative ideas by linking things together.很明顯，更多的，你知道一切，你越能想出有創意的想法，連接東西在一起。 You wouldn’t know how Physics and landscaping might go together unless you knew at least a little bit about both.你不知道如何物理和環境美化，可能是相輔相成，除非你至少知道了一點兩者。

Therefore, the more you know, the more you can create.因此，越是你知道，你越是能夠創造。

Ideas to help you expand your horizons 巧思幫你拓展您的視野

• read blogs閱讀博客
• take classes採取班
• read books閱讀書籍
• try something you’ve never done before嘗試一些你從來沒做過的才
• teach something to someone教東西給其它人
• participate in a group or online community參加A組或在線社區
• talk to people you might not otherwise talk to傾訴人，你可能不會，否則談

Can you add to the list?你能添加到列表？

VI.六。 Evaluate評價

Often times I find when I’m stuck in a rut and can’t come up with a creative idea, I evaluate things.很多時候，我發覺當我不停留在墨守成規，不能想出了一個創造性的想法，我評價事物。

Magazines 雜誌
If you’re stuck, try flipping through a magazine and evaluate the ads.如果你堅持，請嘗試翻閱一本雜誌和廣告進行評估。 Which ones catch your attention and why?哪些吸引您的注意，為什麼？ Who is the target audience?誰是受眾？ What might you do differently if you were to write the ad?可能是你做不同的，如果你寫廣告？ On the ones that catch your attention, how can you modify what they did to what you’re doing?對確需趕上你注意，你怎麼能夠修改他們所做的什麼，你正在做什麼？

Your Competition 你的競爭
Get online or flip through the yellow pages and evaluate your competition.上網或翻閱黃頁，並評估自己的競爭。 See if something they are doing spawns an idea for you.見，如果他們這樣做會產生一個想法供你。 Is there something there you can build on that they could have but didn’t?有一些有，你可以借助他們可以有，但沒有？

Self-Evaluation 自我評價
Grab a piece of paper and draw a line down the center.抓斗在一張紙上畫線下行中心。 Label the left side “My Weaknesses” and the right side “My Strengths.” List all your weaknesses and then under the strengths side, combat those weaknesses with your strengths that might compensate.標籤左側"我的弱點" ，右兩方面的： "我的強項" ，列出所有你的弱點，然後根據強項方面，打擊這些弱點與你的優勢可能補償。

You now have a blueprint of what you need to work on and what you have to build off of.你現在有一個藍圖，您需要什麼工作，哪些是你也必須建立起飛的。

Ask Questions 提問
When stuck on the problem of trying to be creative, ask a series of questions to gain a new perspective of your product or idea.當卡上的問題，就是要發揮創意，提出了一系列的問題，爭取一個新的角度，你的產品或構想。

• What can I substitute?有什麼我可以代替？
• What can I add to it to make it a little better?我能再說些什麼，以使之成為一個好一點？
• What is not needed?什麼是不是需要？
• What is the opposite of this?什麼是相反的呢？
• Where did this come from?如果這樣做是從哪裡來的呢？
• How has something like this been used?怎麼有這樣的被利用的？
• What else can it be used for?還有什麼可以被用來？

Can you add any?你能添加任何？

VII.七。 Exercise Your Creative Thought Process運用你的創造性思維過程

Try some of these activities from time-to-time.嘗試一些這類活動，從時間到時間。

• Every day pick any topic and write it down; then create a flow chart and see where the flow takes you.每天接任何話題，並寫下來，然後創造一個流程圖，看看那裡流帶你。
• Think of a product.要想出一個產品。 How could it have been invented in a different way but produce the same result?怎麼可能，它已經發明了一種不同的方法，但產生同樣的結果呢？
• After reading half a book, close it and write or think about how you would end the story.後半讀一本書，然後關閉，並寫信或想想看，將結束的故事。
• Read non-fiction books and solve the problem before it’s answered.閱讀非小說書籍和解決問題之前，它的回答。
• Do crossword puzzles, it gets you thinking about all kinds of stuff.做填字遊戲，它讓你想到的各種東西。

After a while, by doing these exercises you’ll find that your mind approaches ideas in new creative ways.過了一陣子，做這些演習中，你會發現你心目中的方法思路，在新的創作方式。

VIII.八。 Travel旅行

One of the best ways to generate creative ideas is to go to new places or simply just get out and go for a walk.其中一個最好的方法，以產生創意靈感，是去新的地方，或只是剛剛走出去，去那裡散步。 Don’t have the money to travel?沒有錢旅行嗎？ No problem.沒有任何問題。 Go where you need to go but get there in a different way.去那裡，你一定要前往，但得到有不同的看法。

New experiences and going to new destinations is a great way to gain new perceptions that can generate creativity.新的經驗，並前往新的目的地是一個偉大的方式，以獲得新的看法，認為其可以產生創造力。

So there you go, 8+ ways to to mold you into a creative thinking machine.所以，你走， 8 +方式來塑造你成為一個創造性的思維機器。

Do you consider yourself creative?你認為你自己的創意嗎？