Motivational Tip: How You Can Harness Your Creativity

The real essence of creativity is controlled passion. It is the point at which you get out on the edge of what your mind can comprehend. Creativity is the mental equivalent of sailing the uncharted waters, climbing the mountain peak, or digging the endless depths to find a diamond.

But through memories of past failures, the complacency of success, the narrowness of prejudice and dogma, the overconfidence of pride, or the claustrophobia of self-imposed perceptions, we impose the limitations upon ourselves.

It is only when we dare to stretch beyond these limits, will a dramatic breakthrough occur. It’s like “flying upside down.” Risks are not for the timid, but life without risk is like a pot of overcooked pasta. It is nothing but simply edible.

Creativity works to flavor your goals and nurture you for success.

The Urge to Create Something

Whether you are an engineer, a fashion designer, a chef, a musician, or a writer, electrical thought charges are constantly interchanging, mostly during your private moments and in silence. A creative person can’t escape them. Wherever you are, you’re receiving plans, forming metaphors, meeting deadlines, and feeling pressure from all points. But when the inspiration hits, it’s impossible to sit still.

Sometimes the sensation can be described as nervous and edgy. You want to run away from it, but it pulls you back with intensity. You pour another cup of coffee, mix a vodka cocktail, pace around your desk, stroll down the hall, walk to the washroom, back to your chair and out again.

You crave distractions, and yet you don’t. A phone call, a conversation, or a mindless browsing through the internet might instantly destroy the magic. Tracy Kidder, author of The Soul of a New Machine describes it well, “Sometimes, it’s so powerful, it’s scary…and it takes guts to stay with it. It’s like running into the center of the fire. And if the fire starts to cool, you’re lost.”

Or, as Rollo May puts it, the creative moment is “like a diver, poised on the springboard. It’s waiting for the birthing process to begin to move, in its own organic time. And when it happens, past, present, and future form a new Gestalt.”

What can you do to become more creative? First of all, go with your own creativity. Don’t fight it. If you have a sense of mission, are right-brained, and an evening person, you may already have three advantages. If you enjoy your work, new ideas will evolve naturally.

If not, psyche yourself up with lively colors where you work, post a joke of the week—anything that will make you smile and feel good inside. Some need to hear quiet music in the background. Others crave a feeling of more space. When we’re too anxious or feel boxed in, we don’t think clearly. Then we make poor decisions.

At the same time, Newton, Dickens, Eistein, van Gogh, Freud, and other examples of creative thinkers lead us to believe that being to comfortable is not conducive to the creative process.

This is not a contradiction of the enjoyment theory. Obviously, most things that are exhilarating are not particularly restful. Receptivity is not to be confused with passivity. The nudge to great thoughts could come from that little something that irritates us or causes our adrenalin to rise.

A steady dose of conformity won’t provoke ideas. How similar are the value systems of the people around you? How many controversial books, articles, or images have you explored in the last few weeks or months?

Often, solutions to our own problems can be found in problems that others have solved in totally unrelated areas. The searching and dreaming never abate.

Give it time.

Like humor, you can’t force creativity. It must come at the right moment. After the initial inspiration, take care to withhold judgment as you gather information and go through the gestation period. Just because something didn’t work in the past doesn’t necessarily mean it work in the future. And just because something did work in the past doesn’t mean it should remain. Nothing fails like success.

All that is necessary to be creative, according to psychotherapist Abraham Maslow, is not to be afraid of making mistakes or of appearing naïve. Keep your flair for the ridiculous alive. Don’t block out silly ideas. Question the obvious. It’s when you think there’s only one answer to a question that you stop looking. Nothing murders creativity better than bigotry.

“Look for the second right answer,” says Silicon Valley guru Roger von Oech, Ph.D. “If you let your mind exceed its limits, don’t be surprised if the answer hits you like a whack on the side of the head,” he adds.