Whether you’re an accountant in a cubicle or a web designer at a hip startup, creativity is an utter necessity if you’re going to do your job well. The minute you feel your creative confidence start to wane, you must do something about it right away.
If you can formulate a plan, you might discover what’s missing and return to your full potential.
Rediscovering Creativity
“Creativity is the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality,” entrepreneur and author Linda Naiman writes. “Creativity is characterised by the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions. Creativity involves two processes: thinking, then producing.”
If the thinking portion of your creativity is missing, then it naturally follows that the production side will be all but nonexistent. In order to rediscover that creative spark, it may be necessary to alter the way you think. You can visit neuropedia to review ideas.
This may entail the cultivation of creative confidence … which is essentially a function in your brain that, when properly nurtured, supplies the necessary strength to innovate. If, like millions of peers, you’ve recently experienced a lapse in creative confidence, you can and should do certain things to rediscover it.
Here are some ideas.
1. Meditate and Connect With Nature
We live in a busy world, in which we’re constantly distracted by media, technology, and impulses that can ostensibly be satisfied with on-demand solutions. Sometimes you have to get away from all these influences, spend some time alone, and meditate.
For some, traditional meditation is effective. For others, it simply looks like taking a walk in nature or spending a couple of hours disconnected from social media, news, and digital distractions.
Find what works for you. Alone time should spark new and creative ideas that previously proved elusive.
2. Deal With Your Confidence Killers
We all have issues and personal concerns that suppress our confidence and, as a result, reduce our ability to think creatively. Too often, self-perceived issues about physical appearance color our ways of thinking and contribute to a decline in creativity.
For men, premature hair loss and balding can be substantial issues. Research has shown that hair loss may lead to a general sense of being unattractive and sometimes to body dysmorphic disorders which cause males to develop overwhelming anxiety about their looks. Using a solution such as low-level light therapy can reverse hair loss and restore confidence.
For women, skin is a big deal. According to one study, 51 percent of women feel as if their skin problems hold them back from living life to the fullest, while 13 percent go so far as to say it makes them reclusive. Learning to manage skin problems via a healthy daily skincare routine can alleviate this concern.
The physical and the mental are far more intertwined than many of us realize. When you address the physical, you may discover you’ve also removed one of the biggest barriers to your creativity.
3. Force Yourself to Think Creatively
Your creative thoughts don’t always float near the surface of your mind. Often, they’re buried deep in your brain and must be actively sought in order to bring them to light.
“When you are searching for innovative solutions on your own, mind-maps can be a powerful way to come up with or to gain clarity about a topic of exploration,” data scientist James Le suggests.
“They are extremely versatile, and we use them all the time. They help you chart the recesses of your mind surrounding one central idea. The further you get from the center of the map, the more hidden ideas you can uncover.”
Mind maps may or may not work for you. But you need to do something in order to pull up your creative ideas. Whatever you’re doing now isn’t working, so press yourself into situations where you have no choice but to come up with ideas.
4. Surround Yourself With Diverse Art Forms
As humans, we have a natural tendency to enjoy what we know — familiarity breeds comfort, which makes us feel safe and sound.
But familiarity and comfort are the archenemies of creativity. If you need to rediscover your creative drive and build your confidence, surround yourself with diverse art forms.
This includes new media, as well as new styles within a specific medium. If you’re a web designer, maybe you need to visit a modern art gallery opening, enjoy a performance at a local theater, or explore a nearby botanical garden.
Exposure to diverse art forms is likely to get your mind moving in new directions.
Putting Creativity Into Action
As Naiman explains, creativity is a two-part process that consists of thinking and producing. Don’t linger too long in the thinking stage, lest you forget actually to produce.
Let your creative thinking fuel your creative production. If you do, you’ll build confidence and find freedom from the creative slump you’ve been suffering.
