Being creative sometimes seems not to go with business, but even creating a spreadsheet can be very creative when you give it a chance. The thing is, most of the time the creative process is not really as spontaneous as some people might wish it was. You can’t just sit around and wait for creativity to suddenly strike. Creativity takes a little work and planning.
1) Brainstorm on a Regular Basis
It’s really easy to get tied down with typical business activities once you have your business flowing. But, you don’t want to rest on your laurels; it’s important to choose a regular time to brainstorm new ideas. It could be at the end of the month, before a new quarter, or any time that makes sense to you. The important thing is to take the time out to brainstorm new ideas.
2) No Idea Is Dumb
While you’re brainstorming, keep track of the ideas that come to mind, and take the stance that no idea is dumb. Sure, some ideas are wacky and may not work, but even a truly ridiculous idea can become genius if given half a chance. During brainstorming nothing whatsoever is off limits. If you put blocks in your way and start classifying things as dumb or wrong, you will not be able to let ideas flow freely.
3) Conduct Research
Once you have some ideas, it’s time to narrow them down and start doing some research. It’s important that you handle this process on your own. Don’t turn over the research at this stage to someone else. Instead, learn about your idea, test your ideas, and get feedback from others before you turn it over to your team.
4) Take Time Out to Learn Something New
The exciting fact about learning is that you can learn anything new and it will help you in all aspects of your life. What you choose to learn about today may have nothing whatsoever to do with your career or business, but it will open your mind to new possibilities. It’s important to always be involved with the learning process, whether it’s learning a new software program, or learning how to make a square foot garden.
5) Get Out of Your Bubble
It’s super easy to get caught up in our own bubble. This happens a lot to people who have their own business, and it also happens to CEOs. If you’ve surrounded yourself with a team, sometimes the team can get lazy and maybe even fearful of disagreeing with you about anything that you say or do. Invite new people into the fold on occasion, and get out of your office by going to a conference or something so that you can separate yourself from your inner circle enough to soak in new thoughts about the world and your niche.
6) Allow Yourself to Think Big
Dare to dream the big dreams about yourself and your business. If your mother did not tell you that you are capable of anything, then that’s too bad. Because, the truth is, your success or failure has almost nothing to do with your education, or even your abilities, it has to do with the ability to dream and think big – outside of the world you currently live – and see the possibilities that are on the other side.
7) Only Action Gets Results
Brainstorming, researching, learning and dreaming only go so far without actions. So, someplace in the creative process should be a plan in which to take action. Actual steps that you need to do to see something through to fruition. It’s like anything else you do in life – if you don’t take the steps necessary to make it to your destination, you will never get there. That goes with being healthier, starting a new business, and being more creative. You have to practice doing to get results.
8) Follow Through
It can be easy to get carried away doing everything and then when things aren’t going the way we want them to it’s easy to give up. It takes 10,000 hours to become an expert. With any idea that you come up with that you want to succeed in accomplishing, you should be willing to spend the 10,000 hours needed to see it through. If you do that, you will not fail.
Creativity isn’t a magic thing; it’s a thing that you plan to achieve. It’s the thing that will get you up every morning working your business so that you can experience the life of your dreams.
