Creativity is always about finding new and innovative ways to solve problems or deal with different life situations. It is not only a skill for artists, musicians, or writers; in fact, it is a skill for individuals of all walks of life and fields. Whatever your field of specialization or field of knowledge, you can always develop your creative skills and harness them to serve you. In today’s article, we will put in your hands 17 unique and easy ways to develop your creative skills and take them to the next level!
1- Commit to developing your creative skills.
It is the first and most important step, so how do you develop creative skills if you do not make the decision to do so and do not really intend to do what you can to develop them? Don’t delay this decision; start immediately by allocating a specific time during your day, making a list of the people you need to help, and setting specific goals for acquiring and developing creative skills.
2- Be an expert in the field.
One of the best ways to develop creative skills is by gaining experience in the field. When you have a deep understanding of what creativity and creative abilities mean, you will be more able to think of renewed and innovative solutions to the problems you face.
You can read books about creative skills or watch specialized programs that talk about them, and you can also enroll in free online courses related to innovation, creativity, and skill development.
3- Satisfy your curiosity
In fact, the belief that curiosity is a bad quality is one of the most common obstacles to developing creativity. When you find yourself interested in something, avoid berating yourself and ignoring your curiosity, and instead try to satisfy that curiosity and learn more about what interests you and your love of discovery.
Not only that, but cultivate a love of knowledge and discovery, as well as seeds of positive curiosity that will lead you to broaden your perceptions and learn more about the world around you.
4- You have to take risks.
When it comes to building and enhancing soft skills, you have to be willing to take risks in order to develop your abilities. It is true that your efforts and the risks you take may not always lead you to success, but they will nevertheless unleash your creative energies and bring your hidden talents to light. These energies and talents will definitely serve you in the future.
5- Build your self-confidence.
If you are not confident in yourself and your abilities, you will suppress your creative skills and kill them inside you before they see the light. If your self-confidence is low, you will always feel that your ideas are not worthy of being put out in public. No matter how wonderful and special these ideas may be, you will always see them as worthless and useless. Therefore, it is important to always strive to build your self-confidence:
- Always record the progress you are making in any area of your life.
- Praise your efforts, whether in your work or in your personal life.
- Always look for ways and means to reward yourself for coming up with fresh ideas.
6- Make time for creativity.
You will not be able to develop creative skills if you do not take the time to do so. Always try to leave room in your weekly schedule for some creative activities or to work on projects that encourage you to think creatively. Here are some of these activities:
- Photographer.
- Dance.
- Sewing and knitting.
- Gardening and farming.
- Visiting art galleries Carpentry and woodwork.
- Cooking
- Learning languages.
- Painting and arts of all kinds.
You can choose what suits you best and keep practicing it. You will notice the impact of this on your creative skills, and the results will definitely surprise you.
7- Overcome your negative behaviors
The negative, pessimistic person does not have time to develop his creative skills because he is preoccupied with seeing the dark world around him! Don’t waste your time focusing on the half-empty glass or criticizing everything that is bad around you. And make sure to keep negative thoughts out of your head, or any personal criticism that destroys your confidence and ability to develop your creative skills.
Learn the art of optimism and focus on seeing the world from another, more positive perspective, as this is the best way to unleash your creative energies.
8- Overcome your fear of failure.
Fear of making mistakes or of failing in what you are doing will paralyze your progress, and that is a failure in and of itself! Every time you have these feelings of fear, always remind yourself that mistakes are only a passing stage in your journey through life.
Remind yourself that the lessons you learn from failure are much more valuable than the successes. The successful person always learns nothing, and no matter how much you stumble and fall, you will eventually be able to stand up again and reach your goal with determination and persistence.
9- Keep brainstorming
Brainstorming is one of the most popular techniques both academically and professionally, but it also plays an important role in developing your creativity.
To get the most out of the brainstorming process, follow these steps:
- First, give up self-criticism and unjustified judgments.
- Determine the problem or situation for which you want to find solutions or new ideas related to it.
- Now try to find as many ideas and solutions as possible in the shortest possible time, or in a specific period of time. When you set your mind to a certain time frame for thinking, it will become more able to come up with ideas.
- After writing down all the ideas you have found, now start arranging them and excluding the useless ones in order to reach the perfect solution.
10- Explore multiple solutions to the problems you face.
Next time you encounter a problem, try to look for multiple solutions. Instead of applying the first idea that comes to your mind, take the time to think of other ways to deal with the problem or situation in front of you. This method is very effective in developing both creative and problem-solving skills.
11- Keep a notebook to track your creative progress.
A journal is a great way to keep track of your progress in all aspects of life, including the creative one. Buy a special notebook to do this, and be sure to write down all the thoughts that come to you at all times.
Don’t forget to write down the progress you’ve made in various areas of your life, whether it’s work, study, a special project, or something else. Then review what you wrote from time to time so that you are aware of the progress you have made during the previous period.
12- Use mind maps and flow charts
Mind maps are a great way to connect ideas and find creative answers to questions. They assist you in branching out ideas and provide an excellent visual representation of how different ideas relate to one another.
Another way to develop creative skills is to use flow charts. When you start working on a new project, create a flow chart to track the stages of the project from start to finish. Take a look at the different paths of the project and the possible implications of certain events that may occur during the implementation process. This method will help you see the end goal, eliminate potential problems before they occur, and even find creative, innovative solutions.
13- Challenge yourself and create new opportunities.
Once you have developed your basic creative skills, it is important to keep challenging yourself so that you can make more progress. You can do any of the following:
- Always look for harder ways to do things.
- Always try new things and get out of your comfort zone.
- Avoid using solutions that you have resorted to in the past to solve problems, and try new solutions each time.
In addition to challenging yourself, you also have to create new opportunities for creativity and innovation. This might involve working on new projects or researching different tools to use on your current projects.
14- Experiment with the six-hats technique.
The Six-Hats Technique involves looking at a problem from six different points of view. This way, you will be able to find much more creative ideas than if you were satisfied with looking at the problem or situation from only one angle.
In this technique, you will have 6 hats of different colors, and each of them represents a different way of thinking, as follows:
- Black Hat: Take a negative stance.What aspects of the solution will not work?
- Blue hat: think big. What is the best general solution, in your opinion?
- Green Hat: Think Creatively: What other solutions could there be to your problem?
- Red Hat: Consider Your Emotions: What do your emotions tell you?
- White Hat: Think about the situation or problem impartially: What facts do you have in front of you?
- Yellow Hat: Think positively: What aspects of the solution do you think will be useful in resolving the situation?
15- Find sources of inspiration
Do not expect creativity to come to you from places you do not know, because that will not happen. Instead, always look for new sources of inspiration, which will give you renewed ideas and motivate you to search for other answers to the questions before you. Read a book, visit a museum, take a nature walk, or have a deep conversation with a friend. Simply do your best to put yourself in situations and experiences that inspire and prompt you to think differently.
16. Consider alternative possibilities.
Whenever you are faced with a problem or are exposed to a specific situation, ask yourself questions that begin with, “What if…?” This is to consider the various possible possibilities.
If you take a specific decision to solve this problem, what will happen? And how will the result be?
When you consider these alternative possibilities in advance, you will be able to always find creative solutions to the various problems that you encounter.
17. Try the snowball technique.
Have you ever noticed how a great idea that might come to your mind usually leads to other great ideas? Then this idea leads you to other great ideas as well, and so on until you find yourself drowning in a sea of amazing ideas!
This is the snowball technique, which starts with one small idea and then grows bigger and bigger, just as a snowball rolling down a hill or mountain increases in size.
Once you enter the stage of abundance of creative ideas, always make sure to write them down and keep them aside, even if they seem inappropriate for solving the current situation or problem you are facing. It will definitely come in handy for future projects!
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