Stuck in a rut? Here’s 5 ways to jumpstart your creative possibilities:
1. Capture your ideas
Did you ever have an idea only to find that it disappeared before you had the chance to save it? Write your brilliant ideas in a small notebook that you carry with you. Do you get your best ideas in the shower? Place a small white board near the shower so that you can jot your ideas before they disappear. Another method is to speak your ideas in your cell phone so that you can refer to them later. Finally, use an app to track your ideas. Create an idea dashboard using Evernote®, or try keeping track of your ideas with Google’s Keep® or Android’s Ideagrowr®.
2. Find a new way of doing the same thing
Are you caught in habituated thinking that keeps you stuck in a rut? Family therapist Virginia Satir discovered in her research that there were actually 250 ways to clean dishes! Find an activity and change the sequence of steps or find a new driving route and see the back roads. You might find the new activity or driving route gives you a fresh perspective and creative possibilities!
3. Be curious and ask questions
Have you noticed that children ask “why” and are curious about the world around them whereas adults tend to make assumptions? Restricting our thoughts limits our thinking and willingness to explore new possibilities. Begin to ask questions, starting with “why?” Why is this done that way? Why are you still using this system? Why did you choose red over blue? It can provide clues into outdated modes of thinking that may need revising. It can also provide clues as to why your customer chose a specific product or what prompted them to call? In this way we can recognize what drives the customer and better understand the pain or pleasure points. New products or services can be created by simply asking questions and having a curious mind to try new ideas.
4. Mind map your way to creative solutions
On a large sheet of paper, write a central topic in the middle of the paper that you would like to find brilliant ideas for and then circle it. For example you might write “A birthday party for Suzie.” Begin to make associations or connections to this central theme by drawing lines that branch out to other ideas. Ask yourself what else can I add to this idea? In the birthday example you might add “decorations” and “food ideas” as two avenues of thought. Branching out from these two examples you may have “piñata” and “taco theme.” Keep adding new ideas and making connections. By the time you are done you have several ideas to a great party! Take this further into your business and map out new services, products or to help with event planning and organizing.
5. Be the change you want to see
Stop hiding behind the curtain and let your work be shown! Are you an artist? Did you know you can submit your artwork to minted.com where it gets voted on by the public? If your artwork is chosen it can be made into greeting cards. Are you great at coming up with business names? Namingforce.com will pay you to name a company if you are a chosen winner!
You can change the world with your brilliant ideas! As you release the barriers that stand in the way of creativity you gain new insights and solutions for your business. Each problem contains the seeds of possibilities within it to solve and transform ourselves and the greater good.
How will you transform your ideas into seeds of possibilities?
Guest Writer-Tobey Allen, co-author of Catch Your Star, holds a master’s degree in Art Therapy. She is an art therapist/seeds of possibilities coach™ and licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Tobey specializes in connecting people with their creative gifts and life purpose. She has incredible insight in coming up with ideas and finding creative solutions for businesses. For further details about Tobey, please visit seedsofpossibilitiescoaching.com.