Creativity and innovation are the foundation for long lasting success in both our professional and personal lives. Creativity is that thing that makes us jump out of bed in the morning, enthusiastic about the day and willing to take on the world.
Creativity brings us to life and makes all the fears, mistakes and mishaps we encounter along the way worth it. Creativity is that which advances ideas, products and services and helps the world evolve into a more vibrant and interesting place.
“Ability to produce something new through imaginative skill, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form. The term generally refers to a richness of ideas and originality of thinking.” – Merriam Webster Concise Encyclopedia
An even more concise definition is it’s a new way of looking at the same ole same ole! When you get stuck in your box of “this is the way it’s always been” or “this is the way it must be done to be successful” you snuff out the spark that ignites the feelings that infuse creativity and sets the world on fire with incredible, innovative ideas.
We are all creative! Think about it. We create human life, we create our thoughts, we create songs, homes, toys, jobs, vacations, gardens, and so much more. Yes, we are all creative.
What happened to your creativity? Maybe you packed it away into the “no creativity allowed” box. Maybe you decided somewhere along the way being creative wasn’t safe. It happens to the best of us.
Someone tells you that you will never make it or succeed if you step outside the tried and true box of what has always been. You are out of control and must be reigned in and brought to your senses. Someone decides that you need to get a real job instead of becoming a painter or singer or dancer. They scare you into thinking you will be ostracized, alone and weird for being different. Someone laughs at you, rejects you even ignores you because you created something outside of their limited way of thinking.
You would think we would find a creative way to tell them to bug off! But no, we don’t fight for our right to see, be and do things differently. We instead agree with them and believe that they know better. They must know better than we do because they are the “expert” they are the successful one.
So we shut down and shut up. We stop visualizing, imagining and dreaming. We ignore our instinct to expand, to challenge, to innovate and create. As we shut down we become less and less human, depressed, sad and lifeless.
Our world becomes small and our options limited. We become more and more fearful and more reliant on others opinions and direction. We stop being us. We become them. We become the “Sheeple of America” blindly following that furry little but in front of us. And as I say in my Ignite Your Snap Power talk, “that is a baaaad position to be in!” (Get my Snap talk here)
It doesn’t have to happen to you or your business! You have the power to climb out of your box and re-ignite your creative power.
Here are 5 Ways to Ignite Your Creativity
- Be curious about what can be
- Create something small everyday
- Trust your instincts then act
- Allow ideas to percolate and collaborate with others
- Be different, be bold, be you and be alive!
Being creative is who you are. You were created to create. Kill creativity and you die. Your business dies. Your enthusiasm dies. Your passion dies. The desire to serve others dies. Remember, something always comes out of nothing. So don’t fear the lack of creativity today for tomorrow you just might set the world on fire!
Wake Up, Stand Up & Snap Out of It!