Kick Start Your Creativity Part II

I has been a while, but I have started on a whole new project that may (or may not) take me far! Watch this space! :)

http://lifehacker.com/5963282/creativity-takes-courage

True Story!

So, a while back I wrote an article on how to kick start your creativity. I promised a part 2, so here it is!

Match your interests, hobbies and skills

What do you love to learn about, know, make, hear and see? What perks up your day when you read about it? Now, ask yourself what you CAN do. Can you write, craft, sew, cook, inspire or motivate?

Matching the answers to those three questions can give you new ideas on what to make or how to form a business out of what you love. Recently, I have been through this. I made three columns on a sheet of paper. What I love, what I like and what I can do. Oddly enough, I had a connection of two or three things that WEREN’T TO DO WITH JEWELLERY! And so, I am now exploring those. Not to necessarily make money, but to keep my creative flow moving and to allow me to explore past what I thought I loved and find some new things to love.

It’s all about pushing boundaries BUT you have to find those boundaries to begin to be able to push them!

Be excited about it!

Whatever your idea, whether it is doable or not in its infancy should get you excited! It should be able to keep you up at night just thinking about the possibilities! If you are not excited then it is not the right thing for you. If you are looking to build a business for example, you are going to have to keep that business going with new ideas and new directions for a long time (if you are successful which I hope you will be!) Eventually you will run out of excitement. And THAT is when it is time to change tact.

It is like writing a dissertation. You know that you have to write 10,000 words, possibly more on a subject which you have to thoroughly research and pick apart and argue over months and months. So it better be a subject which gets your blood pumping!!

Try to do the opposite

Now, this is a far out idea. If something isn’t working for you in whatever path you have chosen or found yourself on—then do the opposite.  Been writing? Do drawing. Telling everyone? Keep it to yourself. Buying lots? Using what you have.

It will make you think more about what you are doing and where you are going as you will be going against what your mind is used to doing. From this you can then develop different ideas and ways of thinking that allow you to build on everything that you have done and learn more about everything that you are going to do.

Or do a bit of brainstorming with opposite ideas. So what is the problem and how do people usually solve it? List a few then list the opposite to those answers. You will soon switch your mind set and journey off into a completely different road that will (hopefully) keep the excitement up and those creative juices flowing!!

Imagine you are someone else—how would they solve the problem

If you are stuck in a rut with your job, creativity or life in general then imagine you were someone else.  

So for me, I imagine (don’t laugh) that I am Lara Croft. A) because I am a woman and b) because she is absolutely kick ass with no compromises thrown in. And SHE would be able to solve any problem! (Let’s face it, if she can come back from that awful Angel of Darkness series instalment, she can do anything! Oh, and she beat death. Lots.)

So if she was going to attack any problem she would think logically, and hit it hard. So that what I do when I hit a problem that really knocks me for six. I think like Lara.

You could think like Einstein or President Roosevelt or Gordon Freeman! You will probably you’re your own role models. Let them help you think your way out of a problem!

Finally….interview your future self

Now this is a hard one but if you are already set in your role model mode then you can always answer the questions like they might.

Interview yourself from the perspective of 5, maybe even 10 years in the future. What have you achieved? What was your biggest obstacle? Who helped you get this far? Can you give anyone any advice on how to start? What was your very first step?

You can think of more if you try that are more personal to you. If you can see the goal, perhaps you can think of how to get there. Baby steps but in the right direction will give you the time and perspective that you need to keep you thinking on the track. Don’t rush, the journey is worth it!

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So that is the second part to the “Kick start you creativity”. I hope it was helpful. I am on a new journey now having worked through the above ideas with regard to Bewitching Bijou which will hopefully bring you all some interesting work and art from me!

Have a wonderful Spring!!