8+ Ways To Train Yourself To Be Creative
February 27, 2008
by John 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. I mentioned a few ideas to him but the one that concerned him the most was creativity. Give him numbers and he’ll work them, but tell him to come up with some creative idea, forget it.
He said he doesn’t have a creative bone in his body.
People who tell themselves that have already lost unless they decide to do something about it.
The development of a creative thought process is no different than learning martial arts. At first, someone shows you how to stand, execute proper body movement, and teaches you a Kata (a.k.a form - a set of movements that help develop your technique).
Once these techniques are learned you must practice them to become a good fighter. When fighting, it is taught that the best place for your mind to be is no where at all, called Mushin (means “no mind”). 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.
To be creative, you have to first believe you are creative.
The same can be said when learning to be creative. 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.
But how do you train your mind to become a well-oiled creative thinking machine?
Like the first sentence of this post says, you have to first believe you are a creative person. Following that you need to exercise your mind in various ways.
Let’s take a look at some creative mind-pumping ideas and activities that will help widen your mind’s creative eye.
I. Listen
Don’t Jump the Gun
It is important listen to everything and not judge or come to your own conclusion prematurely. This is vital if you are to create a product that wins in the eyes of your customers and employer. Remember, listening does not equal simply hearing.
Imagination is Power!
February 18, 2008
John Lennon entitled a song “Imagine.” Thoreau once said: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” Neville once said: “Imagination is the very gateway of reality.”
Are you waking up to a new way of being? Can you feel something rumbling deep within you, calling out to live more creatively, successfully, joyfully? The fragmented ways of your old thinking cannot bridge the divide between mind and matter, body and soul, challenges and dreams. What if you build your finances, your business, your health, your relationships and your life around imagination and use your mental images, thoughts and feelings to attract the fulfillment of your dreams? By intentionally shifting into new states of consciousness you can change your blueprints of reality and affect your world. Imagination is power and you have it! Imagination creates reality.
Life is a banquet
Life is a banquet, so why are so many starving to death with unfulfilled desires? Laziness, complacency, no time, fear of the unknown – you name it and the excuses line up. It’s up to you to impress your subconscious mind with beneficial images of success. Doing this allows you to shift from undesirable patterns of being disempowered into habits that empower you.
Everything begins with a dream, a purpose or a goal. Being able to focus and concentrate in the midst of chaos gives you the winner’s advantage. You are a “focuser of energy.” Focus plus uplifted emotional moods are the keys to your success. Whatever you do, never lose focus!
Everybody Wants a Better Life
Everybody wants a better life, but if you do the same old things in the same old way you will get the same old results. If a farmer plants corn seeds, he gets corn; he doesn’t get tomatoes. If you focus on failure, poverty, or violent ideas how will you harvest (attract) success, wealth, or peace. If you want to change the results you are getting, you must change your images, because thought is creative. How to begin? First you must have a desire that is far greater than what you are currently experiencing.
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What are the Qualties of a Visionary?
January 19, 2008
By Ross Bonander
In 1899, the commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office wrote a letter to President McKinley urging him to abolish his office, noting that “everything that can be invented has been invented.” Lacking an imagination, this man’s vision was to shut down the state-sponsored hunt for innovation and new ideas. Contrary to this, a true visionary sees in ways others can’t or don’t, for whatever reason. Furthermore, visionaries across all disciplines share certain qualities, and while nothing they’ve done can be mimicked without corrupting their ideals, they stand today to inspire the rest of us to follow — not fear or reject — the direction of our own calling.
_________________visionary qualities
Conviction
Any man can disagree, but true dissent requires a rare conviction, especially when one’s thoughts or opinions face a roar of opposing voices.
In post-World War II Japan, Soichiro Honda defied a corporate culture that claimed “Japanese companies succeed as one.” He believed that Japanese corporations could benefit from the so-called American business phenomenon, which included a focus on individual achievement. He founded Honda Motor Company and put this into practice, even though he had to face disrespect and scorn from business circles and bureaucrats who tried to block Honda’s growth.
Dov Charney, founder of American Apparel, refused to believe that U.S.-based apparel manufacturers could only make money if they had their garments made in Third World countries. But he also knew that if he were to succeed, he’d have to change the way factory workers were treated. He accomplished this through highly competitive wages, paid vacations, health insurance extended to families, free English classes, direct paycheck deposits to save on check-cashing fees, and five certified massage therapists working exclusively with factory workers. The result? 2005 sales in excess of $250 million.
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Thank And Grow Rich
July 18, 2007
By Rebecca Fine
No, that title isn’t the written expression of my old Okie* accent kicking in. “Thank” is EXACTLY the right word! (My apologies to the late Napoleon Hill, author of the classic, Think and Grow Rich.)
Gratitude is like a muscle. It takes regular exercise to strengthen it and make it strong. And if you find yourself in a situation where it SEEMS like there’s nothing much to be grateful for, you’ll find it of little avail to try to FORCE gratitude. It’s slippery that way — kind of like trying to force yourself to sleep when you’re wide awake.
In those times, the key is simply to relax and just let yourself be WILLING to be grateful. To just let yourself look around with “soft eyes.” I heard it said once that there is no one who has so little that gratitude is impossible — and there is no one who has so much that gratitude is inevitable.
It’s a choice. In every moment.
Once your gratitude muscle is toned up from regular use and repetition, you’ll find things that were formerly difficult become effortless — just as walking up four or five flights of stairs doesn’t “wind” you when you’re in shape.
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