Sep 21 2010
Fuel Your Creativity
"Select one suggestion from the checklist each week and incorporate it into your work and life. Write it on a card or poster. Keep it in front of you. Make it your mantra for the week. Concentrate on it. Focus. Put it into action at work, at home, wherever you are. Do this each week for the remainder of the year (and you don't have to select suggestions in the order they're listed), and you'll enter 2011 with sharper creativity and stronger ideas. And you'll have fun along the way. Give it a try." (From .)
A Creativity Checklist.
1. Stretch yourself.
Surprise yourself. Lean into life. Allow your mind to expand and explore.
2. Break out of closed worlds, enter green worlds.
Get out of the office or home -- open yourself to serendipitous opportunities.
3. Pay attention to patterns.
Make connections. Combine existing ideas to generate new ideas.
4. Look.
Take your eyes off auto-pilot and consciously observe the world around you.
5. Listen.
Think of your ears as idea receptors -- silence your mind and listen intently.
6. Ask questions.
Ask customers, vendors, friends. Include lots of "how" and "why" questions.
7. Write it down.
Carry notebooks and capture insights you see, hear and feel.
8. Eliminate judgment.
Gratefully receive thoughts and ideas from others -- and from yourself.
9. Take risks.
Ideas involve risks. Stray out of the ordinary to achieve the extraordinary.
10. Bend rules.
Challenge rules that inhibit creativity in your work or personal life.
11. Be a team player.
Creativity isn't a solo sport. Share ideas and collaborate with others.
12. Be childlike.
Fill your life with awe and mirthfulness. Creativity is joyful!
13. Break out of ruts.
Review daily habits and routines -- are they tiring you or inspiring you?
14. Analyze your energy.
See how you use your energy each day -- are you spending it on creativity?
15. Be persistent.
Don't give up on good ideas. Reevaluate, refine -- and then reappear!
16. Enjoy the process.
Appreciate and embrace all the ups and downs of the creative process.
