5 Steps to Uncover Your Inner Creative

There are some people that truly believe there isn’t a creative bone in their body while others are born artists. For the rest of us, we really have to work at creativity. We tend to admire the naturalists, the way creativity seemingly flows through them. Creativity, for us, is divine magic, it has a life of its own and comes and goes as it pleases.

Creativity isn’t usually something you can muster up and the more you try to force it the more you suffocate the fire that lights the spark. Regardless of whether or not your creativity comes naturally at some point in time, we are faced with a situation that requires us to harness our creativity in the moment.

That is why today, on the blog, we are sharing five steps to uncover your inner creative to help you tap into creativity force and reconnect with the divine magic of the world. 

With every process, the first place to start is always by awareness, research, and education. Begin with learning how creativity works, understand it, then take what you learn and utilize it to your advantage. One of the biggest eye openers for us when it came to seeing and understanding a whole new perspective on creativity was reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic. Once you better understand creativity you can follow these steps to open the door to your own creative magic.

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1. Get Calm.

Creativity is a tricky bug that strikes people most often when they are either in the shower, out for a walk, or cruising in the car… pretty much anywhere you don’t have a pen and paper or should be focusing on something else. This is because you are at your most relaxed state of mind.

Ideas flow best when you are calm. When you find yourself in those moments struggling to get those creative juices flowing, stop and take the steps you need to get to a more relaxed place. 

There are three ways you can help find a calmer mindset.

1. Change your environment. If you don’t own your own business or have freedom in your work environment this will be the most challenging for you, but every challenge has a solution. Ideally, you should try to create an environment that makes you feel comfortable. That might be working from a different space like a coffee shop or the couch, certain decorations, keeping a hot drink on hand, or having a blanket on your lap to give you a sense of coziness. Maybe it’s playing a certain kind of music, burning a specific candle scent, or the right light from a corner by a window. We all have our own little things in our environment that make us feel more at home. Find a way to make your environment feel less like work and more like your own corner of the world.
2. Decompress. They say “outer” chaos causes inner chaos but if you are still feeling overwhelmed and your mind is going a mile a minute even in the right environment you need to focus inward. We have found a few easy ways to calm an overactive mind. You might try keeping a notebook on hand to dump all your thoughts in to or maybe talking with a close friend or loved one is more your speed. The one thing they have in common is that they are an outlet, all that brain chatter needs someplace to go. On the other hand, if you’re simply feeling mentally exhausted without the “noise” you may try decompressing by distracting yourself. Sometimes taking on a mindless task just helps clear your head. You can try watching TV, going for a walk, playing a simple game or puzzle, or any other hobby that you enjoy doing. The goal is to allow your mind to take a break from everything that is weighing on you.
3. Mind, Body Training Techniques. A widely used technique to train yourself to come into a calm state is meditation. Meditation is a technique used to teach you control. There are many activities, like meditation or deep breathing, that help you return to a calm state. Find a technique that works for you and start training yourself to access a calm state of mind with the trigger action you’ve created.

2. Always Save Ideas.

As we mentioned in the beginning, creativity is on its own time clock. We can’t control when creativity or inspiration hits us, but what we can do is take the ideas as they come and save them into either a journal or the notes section of your phone. Start writing down all those thoughts as soon as they pop into your head. Make sure to include as much detail as possible for when you are able to sit down and take action. This is a great way to capture the inspiration when it hits. When you are ready to work simply pull out your journal or notes. Sometimes after reading your ideas again, you can summon that spark back and continue to build on it. Now anytime you need something to work with have your own personal inventory of material at your fingertips.

3. Strike While the Iron’s Hot.

If the situation allows, you’ll usually produce your best work by giving yourself the opportunity to work on ideas as they form in the moment. You can use tips and tricks to help you work around a schlump, but at the end of the day, the work you produce through constantly struggling to force your creativity won’t be as good of quality. The purest forms of creativity, where magic creates breathtaking results, is best created when you strike while the iron’s hot.

Instead of fighting creativity and trying to force it into our 9-5 hours we must try to live where creativity flows rather than on someone else’s schedule. That spark of inspiration can hit you any time, anywhere, and it is in those moments that you just have to jump on board and go with it! Go where the creativity takes you! This is no easy task but if you set the stage for success by improving your environment and giving yourself grace and forgiveness while you wait patiently, then the magic of creativity will work alongside you not against you.

Giving yourself the space to be creative when it hits you will also lead you to be more aligned with the flow of creativity and like water, creativity continues to flow where there is the least resistance.

Once you give in to the life of creativity, the magic of inspiration will be drawn to you, continuously surrounding you. 

4. Transform Tasks Into Service and Thoughts Into A Journey

If you are finding yourself struggling to get those creative juices flowing at work, there may be other forces into play. If you are working on daunting tasks and endless projects that are leaving you drained it may feel impossible to step out of the moment and recenter yourself. However, changing your perspective on the task at hand can be really beneficial.  Sometimes looking at the same thing with a different mindset can take something tedious and turn it into a more positive experience. Remind yourself of something’s purpose; even small tasks that feel like they aren’t propelling your forward can be reframed as opportunities. Every task, big or small, helps lead you to serve your overall purpose. Some people find fulfilment in serving others. If that resonates with you try thinking of your tasks as ways to continue to provide for the people you care deeply for.

That endless to-do list of tasks is no longer a place of obligation, but a place of heartfelt intentions. 

Furthermore, your thoughts impact your ability to work. If you find yourself in a constant state of crippling negativity you should try not to fight the negativity but instead follow it. See where it leads you. Your thoughts can take you on a journey where you will find all the pieces you will need to create something raw, real, and relatable and most importantly… influential and inspiring.

Sometimes these thoughts that you keep trying to avoid, that you think make up the worst parts of who you, are the thoughts that connect you with the people you are trying to reach.

They are the stepping stones to create not what you want people to see from you, but what they need that you can provide.

The strongest thoughts and feelings, be they positive or negative, are the best place to start a new journey. Let them lead you to whatever your creativity wants you to seize.

5. Don’t Stop Before It Gets Good.

Let’s be honest we can all be a little impatient especially when you find yourself in the middle of a frustrating or not so pleasant moment. We don’t like the uncomfortable feelings and sometimes instead of fighting a little longer, we just decide to walk away. 

The last and biggest step to really uncovering your inner creative is to not stop right before it gets good. Once you get the creativity ball rolling the one thing you don’t want to do is drop it. While you don’t want to force ideas to come this is the time for fighting. If you hit a speed bump or there is an obstacle in your road it can be daunting and frustrating. Instead of just walking away envision all the ideas and burst of inspiration surrounding you and remember that all you have to do is be open to receive and the answers will come to you.

Let the inspiration in and see where you go from there. 

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There is an unlimited supply of creativity in the world and infinite moments to tap into it. The reality is, you cannot go your whole life without getting a spark of creativity. Heck you can’t even go a week without at least a few ideas popping into your head, even the mundane ones! So while you may be reading these steps and thinking about how daunting and overwhelming all this sounds just remember some days will be full inspiration but for those few and far between days these steps are there for you to uncover that inner creative in you.

Let these steps also be a reminder that the possibilities for inspiration are infinite. Creativity can hit anyone at any moment and your struggles don’t necessarily mean you aren’t on the right path.

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For more cretive ideas and to see more of our creative posts head on over to our creative category.