I have professed to be the ultimate left-brained nerd. For

years I saw myself as the analytical automaton, sorely

lacking in creativity. And creativity is something that I

really valued. Think about it - being creative is defined

as “having or showing imagination and artistic or

intellectual inventiveness.” Who wouldn’t want that

quality?

As I am also a professed personal growth addict, I have

worked hard on boosting my own creativity. And I am happy

to report that I do consider myself much improved in that

area. If you can identify with me, don’t despair. It

really was not as hard as I thought. How did I do it?

Here are some of my secrets to help you get started.

1. Exercise your creative muscle regularly

There have been lots of studies on the human brain and

evidence shows that our brains works very much like a

muscle, which means that the more we use it, the stronger

it becomes. In order to boost your creative muscle, start

using it every opportunity you get, especially when it is

just for fun.

Here are some things you can do:

• Pick up some brain teaser puzzles and work on those

• Instead of reading from a book, choose a toy from your

children’s collection and make up a story about it at

bedtime

• Play games that engage the mind such as mah jong or chess

• Approach things differently – instead of writing down a

list of words, try using pictures or symbols

2. Identify your Creative Environments and Schedule Time

There

Do you know where you do your best thinking? For most of

us, it is not sitting at our desks. My best ideas come to

me in three places: the shower, on my long walks, and in

the car. There is something about the isolation and the

relaxed state I’m in while engaging in these activities

that allow my mind to come up with solutions to problems.

So your assignment is to figure out where your best

creative environments are and schedule yourself to spend

time there.

A word of caution though – once you have identified what

these environments are, don’t spoil it for yourself by

expecting that you will be doing creative thinking every

time you are there. Look for it as a special bonus, like a

prize you get when you open up the right bottle of Coke.

If I went for a walk specifically because I need some

creativity, it doesn’t come as easily. But if I just let

my mind wander to whatever it wants to think about, the

ideas start to come. Learn to relax into your creativity.

3. Adopt a “the more the merrier” attitude

One of the books that has helped me develop my creative

muscle is “A Whack on the Side of the Head” by Roger von

Oech. It is a fun little book and I highly recommend it.

In it, he talks about the “right answer” and the “second

right answer”, and the next right answer. His point is

that while we are in school, we are trained that there is

only ONE right answer to test questions. And we adopt that

same approach to everything else in life.

In order to boost our creativity, we have to remember that

there is often more than ONE right answer. So, don’t just

stop after you have one answer, keep going and see how many

other ones you can come up with. Make it a challenge. It

doesn’t matter how outrageous it is. The most significant

inventions seemed completely preposterous at the time they

were first considered. Don’t start judging when you are in

the brainstorming phase. That can come later.

When you start using these suggestions, I think you will

notice an improvement in your creative ability, as I have.

I must admit that now I really enjoy my creative

activities, like writing these articles, brainstorming with

clients, and just letting my imagination run wild. And if

you stay tuned, I will have a follow up article on this

subject as there is much more great information I want to

share with you.