Whether you are an artist, writer, scientist, or business person, having a great idea can take your career and your life to a whole new level. When Einstein came up with the theory of relativity, he changed the way we thought about the world and paved the way for new inventions. But you don’t have to be as smart as Einstein to come up with a life changing idea.
A few of my favorites are:
1. The book by entitled Everything that Men Know about Women (it is a completely blank book). The woman who “wrote” this book bought a house and retired on the sales of it! She never expected it to take off, but it did.
2. Spanx. One woman couldn’t find a pair of underwear that she could wear with her white trousers so rather than waste the $60 she spent on the trousers, she was determined to invent a pair of underpants that made her look good. She is now a mega-millionaire as Hollywood celebs walking the red carpet swear by Spanx.
How do you come up with a great idea?
Keep a journal. Anyone can increase their personal creativity by simply keeping a journal. (I sure hope by now you’ve already been keeping one, but if not, this might just be the motivation you need to get started!) It doesn’t matter if it is a pen-and-paper journal or an online electronic journal. The key is to write about three pages a day about anything you want. This gets the creative juices flowing after a month or two of writing and soon the muse will be perched on your shoulder as you start to write.
Massage is also good. Relaxing in any way is very good for creativity.
Pottering about is good. Have you every wondered why creative people seem to “waste” loads of time pottering about the house or garden doing bits and bobs a bit aimlessly? They are clearing their heads and creating space for ideas to come or they might be ruminating on a topic.
Water. Get into a bath or shower, take a walk by the sea or a lake. For some reason, water stimulates creativity.
Nature and nurture. Do something that nurtures your own creative nature. Go for a walk in the woods, attend a concert, see an art exhibit. Do whatever inspires and nurtures your creative side regularly — it is brain fuel.
Give yourself time and space. The best ideas usually come to those who are relaxed. If you are struggling with a problem, take a break. Go for a walk. Forget about it and you may be surprised that the answer finds you when you aren’t looking so intensely for it.
Solve a problem. (Spanx is a good example).
Homework:
1. If you aren’t already writing in your online journal, for heaven’s sakes, what are you waiting for? The benefits are immense. If you prefer an old-fashioned paper journal, that works just fine too. Start writing. Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, grammer, syntax. Just write. No one will be reading or grading this. It is just for you.
2. Nurture your creative self. Spend time in nature, attend a museum exhibit… do one thing this week that fuels your creative nature.
10 Minute Option:
1. Write for 10 minutes in your online journal. Daily would be ideal, but at the very least do this 10 minutes.
2. If you are already keeping a journal, then take a walk for ten minutes in nature. A park is fine. Near water, even better!
