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Five Habits of Highly Creative People
Here are the some of the habits of mind we recommend to foster more creativity in your life.
- Passion
Passion often stems from an experience or a relationship that moved us somehow and can lead to inspiration. It is often the emotional fuel that starts one down a creative path, but it’s only a start. You must look for passion that is in harmony with your authentic self and is compatible with your other activities. Passion to prove yourself to others will probably not result in creativity, as it relies on your avoiding challenges that would otherwise lead to growth. So, while you should be open to what inspires you, don’t follow passion blindly. Make sure it truly resonates with you and your skills.
- Daydreaming
Creative people know, despite what their parents or teachers might have told them, that daydreaming is anything but a waste of time. The act of mind wandering is often anything but mindless; it can lead to improvements in creative thinking. So, the next time you are working hard on a creative project or work assignment that requires intense focus, try taking a five-minute daydreaming break every hour. Try engaging in a simple activity that will allow your mind to wander, like walking or cleaning and see how it affects your ideas and thinking.
- Solitude
It’s important to make time for solitude, to give yourself space to reflect, make new connections, and find meaning. Unfortunately, solitude is widely undervalued in society, leading many people to shy away from alone time. We tend to view time spent alone as time wasted or as an indication of a melancholic. But the ability to enjoy and make productive use of our own company can trigger creativity by helping us tap into our thoughts and our own inner worlds
- Openness to experience
Openness to experience is the drive for cognitive exploration of one’s inner and outer worlds. Its the single strongest and most consistent personality trait that predicts creative achievement. If you want to boost your creativity, try out a new creative outlet or a totally different medium of expression, or take a new route home from work, or seek out a new group of people with different interests or values that you might learn from.
- Thinking differently
Creative people are united by their unwillingness to abide by conventional ways of thinking and doing things. In choosing to do things differently, they accept the possibility of uncertainty and failure but it is precisely this risk that opens up the possibility of true innovation. Doing things differently means you will probably do things badly or wrong; so expect that and don’t let caution get in the way of creativity.
