7 steps to cultivate your creativity
Being creative can be harder than you think! But it’s a skill you can easily learn with a little practice and a few simple steps.
Get creative with some of the exercises below and see how many new ideas you can cultivate in a very short time.
1. Be a beginner. Go straight to the basics on something you’ve never done before. Water ski, crochet or write a poem for the first time and take all the first steps beginners do and ask the same questions. Then turn around and ask yourself about your own project and evaluate it as if you were seeing it for the first time.
2. Make lists. To have the best ideas, you have to have a lot of ideas. So pick one aspect of your custom logo products and create as many variations as you can for that part – the wilder the better. Some of your ideas will be dumb, but maybe your next big concept is also hiding in the middle.
3. Accept accidents. Many great discoveries happened by chance. Learn from each scenario, even if it’s not what you expected, and be open to the possibility that surprise is the best solution.
4. Use all your senses. To become an expert in something, you have to know everything from all angles. Taste, see, smell, feel and hear the sounds of your subject.
5.Creative time. Many artists and writers agree that the best time to be creative is at the same time every day. Whether it’s an hour before bed or the first thing you wake up, train your brain to be at its best at these specific times. Freewrite, draw, or brainstorm to spark that “on-demand” creativity.
6. Commit to someone different. There is no one type of creativity or one way to be creative. Connect with someone you normally wouldn’t agree with or understand. You will surely learn a lot about their kind of creativity and maybe something about yours too.
7. Change perspective. Take the question you’ve been working with and see how many ways you can rephrase and turn it around. Make sure your approach really meets the needs of your audience.
After exploring different techniques to be creative, consider which ones are the best, the ones worth pursuing. Look past the good in each to the pros and cons, worst case scenarios and everything in between. Put your ideas face to face and let the best of all win.