How to unleash your creative genius

Are you are creative person? If you are, or want to be, there are some tips you can apply to enhance your creative nature. Creativity means putting together new connections and seeing things differently, and in a better way. Creative people tend to be happier, live longer, have better relationships, experience an expanded sense of time, and enjoy a sense of personal freedom.

Try these techniques to strengthen your creativity muscles:

*Decide that You Can Be Creative:  If you have the desire for creativity, you can nurture it and become more creative. Creativity can be simple.  You don’t have to be an artistic or scientific genius. You can develop everyday creativity in the way you cook, organize things, solve business problems, interact with people, teach a child.

*Change Your Routines:  Go to work in a different route, try a new restaurant, talk to people you don’t know. When you change up your typical behavioral patterns, you rewire your brain to think differently and come up with more creative solutions.

*Move Your Inspiration:  Many people say they will wait for inspiration to move them—to write a book, come up with an invention, or start a new business. The reality is that if you wait for inspiration to “move you,” you may be waiting for a long time. The key is to “move your inspiration” through work and discipline. Set aside a certain amount of time each day—a few minutes or several hours—when you can do your most creative work. If you practice creativity daily, you will find a rhythm and flow to your activities, and creative inspiration will come to you naturally.

*Get a Creativity Buddy:  Find a person (or people) who also want to develop their creativity. Throw ideas off each other. One good way to be creative is to Brainwrite: You write an idea down, and then go around the room, with each person writing an idea to add to it. Pretty soon, you have an outpouring of creative ideas.

*Combine Ideas:  Read and listen to material in fields you are not normally familiar with.  If your area is science, try reading fiction; if you’re a history buff, take a look at science.  When you expand your knowledge in other areas, you’re able to come up with fresh perspectives that can stimulate your creativity in your chosen field.

*Maintain Positivity:  Research shows that negative feelings such as sadness diminish creativity, while feeling comfortable and positive enhances creativity. Increase your gratitude by maintaining a Gratitude Journal (write down 3 things you’re grateful for every day). Look at the positives in your life to enhance optimism, give loving energy to others (smile, compliment, give assistance) without expectation, so you can increase your sense of compassion and love.

When you do these things, you will begin to raise your creativity level. You can solve problems better, be a better friend, colleague, family member, and love partner, and you will feel healthier and happier in the process. Whether your creativity manifested in a big discovery to change the world, or simple creative acts that help others and make your environment a little better, you will enjoy the fruits of creativity and feel like a contributing and loving person on this Earth.