How to Be (More) Creative

If you already consider yourself to be creative, good.

If you don’t, you’re wrong.

Now, you may not be able to draw a straight line or paint a recognizable portrait of your neighbor, but those are skills, not creativity.

Have you ever figured out how to get out of something you didn’t want to do?

Have you ever tried to convince a parent to change his or her mind about something?

Have you ever built or fixed something using a make-shift tool that wasn’t intended for the job you used it for?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, I’ve got news for you: You were being creative.

“There is no such thing as creative people and non creative people. There are only people who use their creativity and those who don’t.” -Brené Brown

Now it is true that some people, like children and those we’d traditionally consider “artists,” seem to be operating at a more advanced level of creativity than others. That’s because the more you exercise your creativity, the stronger it gets. The good news is that there is an easy way to supercharge your creativity, without relying on performance-enhancing substances: Embark on adventures.

Travel. Meet new people. Try new things. Experience life.

People who do these things are always creating new neural pathways in the brain. Those who follow the same routine every day, eat at the same restaurants, interact with the same people, and vacation in the same places every year, settle into ruts. Not just metaphorically, but physiologically as well. Their brain gets, well, stale. Creativity thrives on the brain making new connections.

This is even more important the older you get. When you are young, you encounter new things just by default. As we age, it becomes increasingly easier to settle for the comfort of the status quo.

Creativity is something you already possess. But you can easily upgrade to a new, more powerful version today.

Just do something new. On purpose.

P.S. Here’s a good place to start.