Creativity is the ability to make something new or to develop new ideas. Developing more creativity can benefit your career, relationships, and hobbies. Children love to be creative, but many adults have less motivation to create. There are also many obstacles to creativity.
Stack the deck in your favor by dealing intelligently with most the common barriers to creativity: 1. Fear of ridicule. As they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. No matter what you do, someone will provide criticism. Learn to ignore the naysayers and let your creativity shine. 2. Fear of failure. It can be the fear of losing money or valuable time. Or it can be a simple fear of failure. You’re tough enough to handle it. You’ve already failed thousands of times in one way or another and you’ve survived. What would happen if you did fail? 3. Interruptions. Time and space energize creativity. It’s more challenging to come up with a brilliant idea if your kids are calling your name or your phone is chirping at you every 30 seconds. Schedule your creative time to minimize as many interruptions as possible. Early in the morning and later in the evening can be the best options for many. 4. Distractions. A distraction is an interruption you give yourself. How do you commonly waste time? Remove those distractions from your immediate environment. Put your cell phone on mute and throw it in the drawer. Turn off 1 the TV. Focus 100% on your creative activity. Distractions are controllable. Have the self-discipline to control them. 5. Past experiences. Your past affects your current thinking and beliefs. Attempt to open your mind to all the possibilities. Just because something didn’t work once in the past doesn’t mean it can’t work today. Let go of the past and free your creativity. 6. Stopping too soon. Once a good idea is found, it’s common to stop looking for a better solution. Are you sure you’ve chosen the right color for your painting? The right word for your novel? The right idea to make $10 million? Once you’ve found a good idea, keep looking for an even better one. 7. Stress. Stress and creativity rarely go hand in hand. Whether it’s the stress of being tired, running out of time, financial issues, or illness, creativity is more challenging than when you’re relaxed. Find time to relax and decompress before starting a session of creativity. Your results will be enhanced. 8. Negative moods. It’s not just stress. Anger, jealousy, fear, impatience, sadness, or hopelessness can also be barriers to creativity. Studies have shown that creativity tends to peak while experiencing strong, positive moods. Do whatever is necessary to boost your mood before accessing your creativity. Take a walk, call a good friend, or listen to uplifting music. What makes you feel better when you’re in a bad mood? 9. Too many options. It can actually be easier to find your creative streak if you limit your choices. Try to make a painting with only three colors. Write a short story with only 300 words. Or compose a song with only a few chords. Having too many choices can be a challenge in itself. Try limiting your options if you’re stuck. If you can’t get your creative juices flowing, maybe something is in your way. Your creativity is a significant part of your uniqueness. Avoid the common obstacles to creativity and show the world what you have to offer. To really boost your creativity, try using it regularly. And start today!
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There comes a time when we have to make a big decision with our creativity....whether or not to share it. I have noticed this is a big issue for many people in creative recovery....I hear a lot of people rationalizing why they don't share their work.
But in the back of many people's minds is really, "I don't feel confident about sharing my work." Or "people are going to trash it." And of course, "my work doesn't look as good as. so and so's." Gaining the confidence to share your work is a process that takes time and patience. I always tell people to be gentle with yourself with this and to trust your intuition as to when and how you will share your creativity. But once you gain the courage to share your work, you will find that it will be one of the most rewarding and freeing feelings that you will ever experience. It took another artist friend poking me ever so often to share my work. I was more known as an art curator than an artist at the time, and didn't feel confident putting my work next to the beautifully talented artists that I worked with in exhibitions. My friend and I were co-curatoring an exhibition at a coffee shop in Baltimore, Maryland and she encouraged me to make something for the show. I did and it was a proud moment for me to place it on the wall and place a label beside it. After that, I had the courage to submit my work in a few exhibitions and next thing I knew, I was exhibiting regularly as an artist. When I first sold my first art piece, I really gain more confidence to create more work for exhibitions. Even today, after over ten years of exhibiting my work, I get just as excited as I did with my first sale. But how do you get there? Here's a few tips that may help you move from hiding your work to getting it all out there.
In conclusion, I thought I would share the following advice that appeared on on a blog featured on Life Hacker on the topic of sharing your creativity by Leanne Regalla, a Freelance writer and content marketer:
Have you recently started sharing your creative work to others? What steps did you take to get the courage to share your work? What would you do differently? One of the biggest barriers to getting our creative goals completed is the big four-letter word: FEAR. Fear can take any creative dream or goal off the rails, no matter our progress and instead of a creative project that we are proud of, we have excuses, rationalizations or other messages that prevent us from moving forward in its place.
What do we fear about moving forward with our creative dreams? What other people think is huge....I may think I am an artist, but what if people don't consider me a good artist or an artist at all? People don't know that I have a passion for creating music...they just know me as an accountant, engineer, office manager, etc. How will people react to this side of me? Will that threaten other opportunities? Don't people think negatively of creative people? Then there is failure....what if it doesn't work out? What if people hate what I create? What if it alienates me from people I care about? What if I look foolish? We also can fear success....what if it DOES blow up in a good way? Can I handle the attention I will receive? Can I keep up with the orders? What if I end up so successful that no one will be able to deal with it in my circle? Whatever the reason, fear is real and can block us from moving forward with our creative practice. What does fear look like? Any of these statements sound familiar:
And ten, twelve or twenty years later, we come back to our creative dreams and regret that we didn't move forward. But it doesn't have to be that way. Here's some tips to begin moving past the fear of unleashing your creative dream and make it a reality:
When you find that you are making some progress, the voices and beliefs you may have held about whether you can or cannot do something will begin to vanish. You will begin to feel more confident in your dream and your ability to execute it. Working with an accountability partner or a creativity coach is also a good way to move past some fears. Ready to get started on your creative dream? Schedule a complimentary meeting with me at this link and let's talk! |
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