7 Techniques to Supercharge your Creativity and Solve your Problems
7 Techniques to Supercharge your Creativity and Solve your Problems
Do you ever encounter problems, challenges or obstacles in your business? If you answered 'no,' then you can stop reading and continue to rake in the fortune you must be making. For the rest of us, the answer of course is 'yes.'
For the most troubling problems, the biggest challenge is in your inability to come up with new and innovative solutions. This is because when you try to solve a problem, you probably use the same approach every time ('let me sit here and think about it until I come up with something?'). The next time you try to solve a problem, try applying any (or all) of these approaches:
1) Be Obvious - Cances are, whatever your problem is, there is some conventional wisdom about how to solve it. Ask yourself why you are not following it, and evaluate for yourself whether your reasons are valid. Sometimes the easiest solution is the one right in front of us.
2) Be Contrarian - The opposite of being obvious, being contrarian means to consider doing the opposite of what conventional wisdom says. If the standard advice is to buy, think about selling. Instead of working more, work less. Note: This does not mean you should automatically DO what the opposite is; it just means to let your mind wander over the opposite to get it working in another direction.
3) Start Where you are - Sometimes we get so caught up in the long term goal that we lose sight of where we are. Think about your problem and what you might do right now to solve it. Usually this results in frustration because we don't have a fully formed solution. But just because an idea is not fully formed does not mean that it does not have some validity. Start with your current idea and watch as new ideas present themselves.
4) Chunk up - If you can't figure out how to achieve your goal, try looking at the bigger picture. If your goal is to earn $10,000 this month and you can't figure out how, think bigger - maybe you want $10K because you want to earn six figures this year. Then start to brainstorm ways of earning six figures. Don't get so caught up on your problem that you lose sight of the bigger picture.
5) Chunk down - The opposite of chunking up. Think in terms of smaller details. Continuing with the $10K example, if you can't think of how to earn $10,000 this month, can you think of ways to earn $333 per day? Maybe, but even if you can't it gets the mind working in a new way.
6) Take a REAL Break - Stop working on the problem for a bit and let your subconscious work on it. This requires two things. First, you need to actually give your mind a break and recharge. Switching from thinking about one problem to another will not do it. Get away from the problem an your work, even if for only five minutes. Second, make sure you are not dwelling on the problem. Taking a walk to get away from work is great, but if you continue to mull over the problem your not really giving your mind a break from it.
7) Move - Get the blood flowing! Exercise, walk, run, stretch, whatever. Be it from blood flow, endorphins, or a change in focus, physical movement enhances creativity. I do some of my best thinking while shooting baskets. Find out what works for you and do it.
There are many different techniques you can use to solve a problem. Try the few above to start, and then come up with your own. Use them well, and watch yourself create new and exciting solutions faster than ever.Avish Parashar is a professional speaker who runs seminars on creativity, teamwork, productivity, leadership, and communication using the principles of improvisational comedy. http://www.professional-speaker-avish-parashar.com
Creativity e-book:http://www.supercharge-your-creativity.com
Three Ways Journaling Can Boost Your Creativity and Your Business
Three Ways Journaling Can Boost Your Creativity and Your Business
I have a friend who has struggled with her creativity for a
long time. She's extremely uncomfortable thinking of herself
as "creative." We've been working together on it, and making
progress. One of the tools that's really helped her has been
journaling.From Julia Cameron's The Artist Way to Natalie Goldberg's
Writing Down the Bones to Linda Trichter Metcalf, Ph.D. and
Tobin Simon, Ph.D.'s Writing the Mind Alive to numerous
other publications, journaling has enjoyed a long history of
creative-nurturing along with a host of other benefits.For my purposes, I'm defining journaling as any sort of
loose, longhand writing. Whatever thoughts come into your
head you put them down on paper. There's no structure, no
form, nor concern about spelling or grammar or even
legibility.Even if writing isn't your dream, incorporating a regular
program of journaling into your life is a wonderful way to
jump-start your creativity and cultivate a constant flow of new
ideas. Here are three reasons why.1. Helps you get rid of the junk in your head. We all have it.
Junk thoughts. Everything from self-defeating comments
("Oh, I'll never be good at that." or "Who told you that you
could be a writer?") to the "worry of the moment" to neurosis
of every type to the ever-growing, constant to-do lists.Who can be creative with all that noise going on? For that
matter, who could even hear a creative thought over all that
racket?Journaling is a way to quiet the mind. Writing all that junk
down transfers it from your head to the paper. Suddenly, you
find you can actually think rather than simply react.The best part is this quiet lasts long after the journaling is
done for the day. And if you journal frequently, then the effect
is cumulative.When I finish journaling, I find that I feel peaceful. Calm.
Able to focus. The junk is gone, leaving space to be creative.2. Gives you a chance to try new ideas. What better way to
see if a new idea will work than to try it out on paper? You
can write out the pros and cons, describe a scenario, play
"what if" games ("What if my new business was
successful?" "What if I tried that new advertising
campaign?" "What if I contacted the editor at Money
Magazine?"). And the best part is it's all in a private little
notebook that no one will ever have to see.Try writing down your hopes, dreams, goals, visions. Play
around with them. You may find as you journal about them,
a strategy for making them come true suddenly presents
itself, right there in the pages of your notebook.3. Helps you build a bridge to your muse. This one really
only kicks in after you've sufficiently done number one (at
least, this is the way it works for me). It seems only after I've
gotten most of the junk out of my head that the muse
sometimes slips out to play a bit.How do you know the muse came to visit you? When that
brilliant idea flashes in your head. It may not happen while
you're journaling, but instead while you're showering,
walking, driving or something else. This is the muse talking
to you.It's important to remember muses have quiet voices. They
can easily be drowned out by the incessant bickering of the
other noisy chatter going on in your head. Once you can get
those other voices to shut up, you can start to listen for the
muse.Don't worry if this doesn't happen right away. There have
been weeks and even months when I write nothing but junk
down. But then, one day, that great idea appears on the
paper or in my head as I'm walking my dogs.And when that happens, I know all the time I spent
journaling about nothing has paid off.Creativity Exercises -- Journal more ideasI would love it if you made a pact with yourself to journal
regularly for a month. If that's too much of a commitment for
you, try it as a creativity exercise.Write down your challenge at the top of a piece of paper.
Maybe it's ways to increase business or promote your
products more or a new PR campaign. Now just start writing
about it.Don't think, just write. Fill a few pages of musing about that
particular challenge. Don't type it either -- write longhand. If
you wander away from it, try nudging yourself back.Write for at least 20 minutes. If no answer presents itself in
that time, don't get too hung up about it. Try it again the next
day or a few days in a row. Sometimes it just takes awhile to
jar things loose. And remember, great ideas have a
tendency to pop up in the most unexpected places, not just
when you're doing something "creative."Michele Pariza Wacek is the author of "Got Ideas? Unleash
Your Creativity and Make More Money." She offers two free
e-zines that help subscribers combine their creativity with
hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become
more successful at attracting new clients, selling products
and services and boosting business. She can be reached
at TheArtistSoul.com.
Creativity with Ponds-Gardening
Creativity with Ponds
Here's where your creative instincts kick in. This is where you make your pond your own. Basically, it's landscaping, but with a pond it can really become an artistic endeavor.Sandstone, bricks, slate, field stone, crushed bricks, stream pebbles, mulch, you name it. Let your imagination be your guide. And that's just the beginning. Once you get a base down then you can start thinking about how you want to work in flowers, and plants. You can integrate annual flowerbeds with perennial beds. That way you can add something different each year for variety and still have the "permanence" of the flowers that come up year after year. In the perennial beds for example you could plant some early spring blooms like daffodils, and then in the same bed plant mid summer and fall bloomers to keep the color going. Of course there are so many different varieties of annual flowers that you'll never run out of ideas for your annual beds.Maybe you like the little ceramic figures that can be set in among the plants. The garden centers have loads of that kind of stuff. You can even get a ceramic toad or two if you like, but I'll guarantee you that you will have plenty of real toads around your pond.As for lights, the garden centers and places like Lowes and Home Depot have great selections of yard lights. You're sure to find something just right for you. The new solar powered lamps are especially nice for use around water because there is no wiring needed at all.Robert Dorrance has had a pond for the last eight years and would like to share his experiences with you. You can read other articles and download my free e-book, "How To Build A Beautiful Backyard Pond at http://www.Backyard-Pond-Guide.com