How to build your creative confidence...
"Creativity is the last remaining competitive advantage for businesses today" - Todd Sampson
"Creativity is the last remaining competitive advantage for businesses today" - Todd Sampson
Friday, November 21, 2014
7 Easy Ways to Stimulate and Get That Creative Juice Flowing
Creativity - if only it were a pill we can take every time
we are in dire need of it. But it isn't and it can be frustrating when our
brains are as blank as the white sheet in front of us after an hour of waiting
for an idea to pop up.
There are a number of things that stifle creative juices
from flowing and doing things to stimulate creativity is just as important as
avoiding things that stifle it. However, be assured of one thing, you can be
creative if you will set your mind free to innovate, be it solutions,
inventions, or artistic creations. The key is not to force your mind but to
liberate it.
So here are 7 ways you can try to stimulate creativity by
liberating yourself to think freely.
#1 Break the Routine
Routines are good because they help us do things faster in
an organised fashion, but routines can stifle creativity. Like when you go to
the same restaurant everyday, don't bother to look at the menu, and order the
same thing. If you want to get your mental juices flowing, break out of your
routine once in a while. There are a trillion ways to do this.
Go out of your office and bring your laptop to the park.
Take a different route to work. Put on your clothes on with a different
sequence. Wear a color you don't like. Eat something you've never tasted. Or go
on vacation to a place you've never been.
Think of something out of the box or out of your comfort
zone. The point is to allow yourself to see things in a different way, to
realise possibilities, and to discover something refreshing.
What routines can you break this week? Have fun and creative
in breaking them.
#2 Chill Out and Relax Your Brain
Do you keep a small notebook in your pocket? One comes handy
when bright ideas pop up during the weirdest times of the day. Don't you just
love how they come when you least expect them? When your mind is at ease and
your subconscious is free to fly, you are most receptive to creative ideas.
Doing things that relax our brain helps our imagination fly.
Feeling stuck up? Listen to good music. Music stimulates the
part of our brain in charge of our emotions and creativity. Feeling choked
inside your office, take a walk along a river or somewhere where there's water.
The view and sound of water is known to having a soothing and relaxing effect.
#3 Exercise and Recreate
Feeling pressured? Play an enjoyable game or go on a
20-minute high intensity workout. Physical activity loosens up our body and our
minds as well. There's actually a study that shows a positive correlation
between regular exercise and creative performance.
Another great creativity booster is laughter. It is not only
the best medicine for sickness, it is also a great prescription for creativity
block because it helps get rid of stress, which in turn stifles creativity.
#4 Change Your Perspective
Much creativity and insights can be gained not only from
others' creative ideas but also from simple people we meet every day. By
looking through other people's eyes, we gain new perspective on things.
When was the last time you had a meaningful chat with a
child or an elderly person? Was your attention called to something you would
never have noticed in a thousand years? Getting to know people from different
walks of life is a treasure chest for inspiration. Have a meaningful
conversation with one person per day. Or simply listen to the people you meet
along the way, and try to find something you can takeaway from your
conversations.
Then there's also social media and the Internet where you
can test an idea... get a conversation running... just by posting a
mind-boggling question or even a survey as your status, tweet, or blog entry.
Or go ask a select few through a closed Facebook group.
And as you go along, try to challenge old ways of thinking.
Always keep yourself open to other people's perspective.
#5 Try a Fun Mental Exercise
Imagine you were tasked to lead a sales team to market
air-cooling units in Alaska, how will you sell them? Think of something
impossible to do and brainstorm how to make that thing possible. Think of as
many uses as you can for human hair, or a pencil, a water tumbler, etc. Mental
exercises like these train our brains to think out of the box. It is also a great
team building activity.
#6 Surround Yourself with Inspiration
Some have a creativity room while others have an inspiration
wall. The idea is to collect items and photos of things that inspire you and
help stir up your imagination. If you are more auditory than visual, perhaps
you can have a creativity playlist that gets your creative juices flowing.
Best of all, surround yourself with people who inspire you.
There is something about hanging out with people who are on fire and driven
with a passion for life. This is why choosing a mentor (or mentors) is
important. Do you listen to tutorial CDs and read books by people who are
successful in the field you have chosen? People with similar passions have the
power to inspire and get your stirred up, and the wealth of experience this
mentor or coach shares can trigger a wealth of ideas and strategies applicable
to your journey.
Remember there are countless webinars available for free,
and so are "mastery" groups you can join. Find one and get
encouragement, inspiration, and lessons from determined people like you who are
also serious about pursuing their dreams.
#7 Let It Flow
After you're done preparing for your brainstorming session
or whatever it is you need creativity for, the next step is to be candid with
your ideas and list them all down. If you think creative geniuses always get it
the first time, or the fifth time, you're badly mistaken. The most potent
creative sparks come from a long list of ideas that are either too boring or
too silly. If you are writing something, start writing freestyle. Don't think
of grammar, syntax, artistry, or what have you. Just write anything that flows
out of your hand. The secret to finding an explosive idea is a willingness to
explore and keep exploring.
Images are courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
How To Build Self Confidence - Robert Greene The Missing Key To Building Self Confidence
Have you ever wondered why some people are self-confident and some people aren't? Becoming self-reliant is the key to boosting self-confidence. Improving this characteristic is the difference between earning minimum wage and sitting on a yacht. Having self-confidence is everything when it comes to creating big success. Robert Greene and 50 Cent teamed to write the 50th Law which is all about conquering fear and becoming self-confident. This book is a must read for anyone that wants to increase their self-esteem or interested in learning how to build self confidence.
Key to Confidence Made Easy in 15 Simple Steps
Behind every success there is certainly a considerable
amount of confidence. It is a belief. Belief in own capabilities that leads one
to conquer the world. Highly successful people in the world have one thing in
common. Confidence in their capability to achieve success. And if you don't
have confidence in yourself, even nobody else will. So here are 15 easy steps
which will help you gain confidence and find your key to success.
Believe in the present and believe in your abilities. The
world is at your feet. If there is a task ahead, don't wait for the environment
to make it compelling for you. Lead by example and act without hesitation.
There is no better time than right now.
Learn from your failures to rise and shine. Success is often
preceded by failure, so don't let a minor setback affect you. Instead, learn
from your mistakes, gain confidence and make a comeback with a whopping
comeback with the corrections in place. If you quit because of facing defeat
you will never taste that sweetness of success. Remember failures have a strong
lesson.
Defeat the fear. Break the ice, defeat the fear and tackle
the uncomfortable zone to achieve success and gain confidence.
Broaden your horizon and work out the best plan. Don't
satisfy yourself with your present potential. Success does not have a single
approach. Work towards exploiting all your available resources and design Plan
A, B, C, etc trying out various strategies to find the best solution. This will
help you broaden your horizon and gain confidence to tackle issues differently.
Break your comfort zone. Realizing and following dreams is
not a walk in the park. You will have to break the rosy picture, face
challenges, prove your worth to achieve credentials.
Positive way of life. Keeping a positive outlook takes one
far in life. You don't need reassurance from others in your testing times. Your
self confidence will help you accept the tough times and help you move on with
a positive approach and confidence of a better tomorrow.
Compete with yourself and no one else. Make positive efforts
of bettering your own capabilities rather than making futile attempts and
drawing negative energy in making comparison with others. Remember, it is your
own self growth you are looking at so even the comparison should be with
yourself rather than others.
Focus on what you have, rather than what you dont have.
Don't waste and emotions on thinking what you do not have. Instead know your
strengths and resources and work out the best plan rearranging the same
yourself. This will help you immensely ingaining confidence in yourself.
Focus on your strengths and opinion of well wishers. There
are different types of people around you. While there are true friends and well
wishers giving you genuine feedback, at the same time there are others who have
the sole aim to criticize and pull you down. But a faith in yourself is what is
required to pull you out of such situations in life.
Don't fall into the vicious circle of criticism. Key to gain
confidence and success lies in focusing on your abilities rather than digging
out and judging people around you. Create a positive aura rather developing
negative vibrations.
Don't take the fake path of people-pleasing. It is a path
which might lift your present status, but without any meat for the actual
success. This will make you dependent on others to get a task done and not help
in honing your own skills. Remember a true leader and successful man will derive
profits only when he himself has the potential to convert that task.
Act today. Believe in the power of today rather than waiting
for a better tomorrow.
Face the problems in order to find a solution. Success
doesn't come in an easy package. Life poses new threat new issues every day,
but we have to learn to face them instead of avoiding them. Digging in the root
cause will not only help tackle resolve the problem at base level, but also
stop it from taking a bigger shape. It might look a dirty job confronting the
issue, getting into uncomfortable conversations today, but it is better than
getting into a deeper trouble in future.
Own up and act rather than making excuses. You have a name
value. Don't lose it by making excuses for your shortcomings. Rather own it up
and take corrective measures to avoid it in future.
Analyse before accepting something as a gospel truth. You
will come across many suggested roadmaps to success, but asses it before
following it blindly. Check it applicability in your life and draw a relative
conclusion.
http://EzineArticles.com/8770283
3 HOURS of Relaxing music | Beautiful Piano | - Positive music - Stress relief - Sound Therapy
Piano music is so relaxing and meditative.
5 Proven Relaxation Techniques for Stress Management
We all have our own way of reducing stress and anxiety in
our own life, however, these are some popular ways of reducing stress that you
can try using to improve your well-being.
Yoga
Practicing yoga is one great way of reducing stress. It is
so special to give yourself an hour or an hour and a half window to escape your
day, roll out your yoga mat and enjoy some time out. Yoga ties together the
breathe, the mind and the body, helping you to remain present and focused.
Walking
Another great way to reduce stress and anxiety is walking.
The Sunshine Coast has so many beautiful walking trails to discover, beachside
or in the hinterland. Getting out into nature is so relaxing and recharges your
energy levels. Take some deep breathes and enjoy the environment. When you are
in nature you can shift your attention from voluntary (where your mind is
focusing on one particular thing) to involuntary (where you can witness what's
going on around you without having to zero in on one particular thing).
Sunshine Coast beach tracks to try are the Currimundi Foreshore Reserve, Noosa
National Park and the Sunshine Coast Coastal Pathway (Point Cartwright to
Kawana; Warana to Currimundi; Currimundi to Caloundra; and Caloundra to Golden
Beach). Sunshine Coast forest tracks to try are Buderim Forest Park,
Kondalillia Falls (Montville) and Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve (Maleny).
Truly spoilt for choice!
Meditation
Meditation is another excellent way to reduce stress. When
we meditate our body acts in the exact opposite way to when we are stressed.
Our heart rate decreases, we start to take nice deep breathes, we become calm
and peaceful and are able to clear our mind.
Listen to Relaxing Music
Another easy way to reduce stress and anxiety is to listen
to relaxing music. The next time you get home, choose a piece of music that is
relaxing to you. Sit back and relax. This is particularly useful if you have
children. Watch how the mood of your household changes by the type of music you
play.
Massage
Finally, a really pleasurable way to reduce stress is
massage. Massage decreases levels of stress hormones in the body, relaxes
muscles fibres and stimulates the lymphatic system, which is your body's first
line of defence against disease. Massage also calms the nervous system by
inducing the brain to release chemicals called endorphins - natural painkillers
and mood enhancers. No wonder you feel so good after a massage!
Image is courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
http://EzineArticles.com/8756645
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)