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Stop Choking Your Creativity! How To Have More Great Creative Ideas Than You Thought You Could
Category: Self ImprovementHowever good our intentions are to be more creative, there are often ways that we limit our creativity, sometimes without even realising it.
Becoming aware of the ways you choke your creativity is the first step in changing the behaviour, so you can be free to create to the heights and depths you’re truly capable of.
One of the ways you may be choking your creativity is through not capturing your ideas.
Many creative people claim that the reason they’re not more creative is they don’t have enough ideas, or enough good ideas: “If I had some good ideas to start with, I’d REALLY be able to get my creative teeth into the project and create something worthwhile. But I’ve got nothing to start with.”
There are two crucial elements that contribute to you feeling you don’t have enough good creative ideas. Here’s what they are, and how to turn them around:
1. You don’t capture enough ideas. The real issue here is not that you don’t have enough ideas come to you, though that’s certainly how it feels. The problem stems from not capturing them.
How many times have you found a great idea has come to you at a random time like when you’re in the shower or cooking a meal or reading a magazine? Usually, we think something like “that’s an interesting idea, I could work with that. I’ll remember it and play around with it later.”
Later comes and goes, and you’ve completely forgotten the great idea you had! Sometimes this whole process of having an idea and thinking you’ll remember it, then forgetting it again happens in a matter of seconds.
What’s the alternative? Capture those ideas, all of your ideas. Use a creative journal or a voice recorder of some kind. Just record that idea, then you know it’s there for you to come back to and work on when you need it.
2. You dismiss your ideas too quickly. The other part of why you feel you don’t have enough good ideas is that you dismiss them too soon, judge them as not good enough or not worth keeping, before they’ve had a chance to properly form.
Maybe you’ve become so used to doing this, you actually cut most ideas off so early in their evolution that you barely realise you’re doing it.
It’s a common (and unrealistic) expectation that a new idea will pop out perfectly formed with no need to do any shaping or tweaking. That rarely happens, if it all.
Most ideas appear like rough diamonds and need a good polish before they become something truly beautiful. If you write down all of your ideas, it gives them a chance to incubate a little. Often, the ideas you thought were great straight away don’t really go anywhere, whereas others you would’ve previously dismissed, turn into some of your best creative work.
These are the two major elements in having an endless supply of creative ideas to develop.
Start to apply both of them today, and you’ll notice a dramatic change in your perception of how many great ideas you have.
And after all, without ideas, your creativity is nothing…
This is one of many ways to be more creative.
I invite you to take the next positive step to increase your creativity today by downloading your free copy of the powerful and practical “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook at http://www.CoachCreative.com
From Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin – http://www.CoachCreative.com
Tags: creative, creative ideas, creativity, creativity coach, Dan Goodwin, increase creativity
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