Don’t be shy, even as knowledgeable business owners, we are all familiar with the more frequent than not, abrupt stop in our professional process. Whether writing a blog, designing a website for a client, perfecting a portfolio, or whatever it may be, we all get stopped in our tracks at some point or another. Here is some easy, fun, and engaging tactics that will knock this stubborn pattern out of the park.
One of the best ways to upkeep the momentum in your writing or work is to always be one step ahead of the rest. In order for this to happen, creativity has to play a large and important role in your everyday life, so let’s talk creativity. Creating something that has not been done before, something showing originality and functionality essentially is creativity. If you can do this, you will always maintain a healthy lead above your competitors. Having said that, it is not nearly as easy as it sounds to do this. The newfound criteria must be useful in a way others can easily adapt to.
Now we have to consider the psychology of creativity in order for us to think in this way. There are a couple ambiguous factors within this thought process that need clarification. Problem solving through everyday situations and having the ability to adapt to change easily by using mental health strategies is one kind of creativity, known as little-c. The other form of creativity is very rare as it deals largely, in part, with creating an object that makes people feel, think, and live a certain way based upon solving a problem, known as big-c. A good metric to distinguish the two is either the implications of functionality, verse winning a Pulitzer Prize. Based on personalities, each individual encompasses the right to different pursuits, making the definition of creativity a challenge to define. For example, there is some indifference in the creativity a painter needs to use verses a physicist, while the mastery of skill is similar, the personality traits in each person reveals a different passion and use of their creativity. With creativity comes constraints, and dependent on the field of study or work lies the degree in constraints. It is up to us to fight the constraints and work past them in order to pursue our end goal of intrigue.
A common misconception behind this psychological brainpower is the requirement of superior intelligence. In actuality, intelligence is a factor to consider, but not the only component into having the ability to come up with new and innovative advancements. One has to be able to view things from multiple perspectives that most common people do not even consider or see. This sounds easy enough, to think with an open mind and intelligently. Well, when you are presented with the time to sit down and get to work this all of a sudden becomes “not so easy.”
Let’s all dope up now; I’m referring to dopamine of course. Dopamine is an element naturally produced in our brain that allows the mind to relax, feel good, and organically generates new impressions and ideas. Many doctors and psychiatrists say that the more dopamine produced, the more creative we are as individuals. This inbound chemical is ignited when we feel great and are very relaxed. Contrary to a normal assumption, distractions also make way for new realizations and relaxation within the mind. When our minds are disengaged from a fixation by a distraction we then are able to move away from an ineffective solution and onto a brand new perception that comes to us almost without thinking.
Since being relaxed is such a necessity in being creative, even more so than intellectual, it can so very enjoyable to create new ideas and concepts, that it will not even feel like work. Try it on your drive home from work, when you are exercising, or cooking, the instructions are limited and easy to follow: just be logically relaxed.
If you like trying new things, or just willing to try anything that will lead you to success, then get ready to zone in. Studies have shown that the most common times our brains become aware of problems and ignite a resolution for them is when we are most relaxed and disengaged as we previously discussed. However, this does not mean: go to the beach, down a six-pack of beer, and start jotting down your ideas of a revolutionary revolt. What you can do is hop in the shower, yes the shower, and let the dopamine flow. Say for instance, you have spent the entire day pondering a problem and the success of the solution is little to any. You then find yourself done for the day and hop in the shower, you mind is now relaxed and you have entered the “incubation period”. This gives our subconscious a rest on trying to solve the problem and allows for it to wander off into planting those ideas into the conscious. You will most likely find that before you are done rinsing out the shampoo from your hair the solution may have already come to you.
If this did not do the trick for you, go to bed 15 minutes early, a time when you are not as tired as usual and just lie down. You want to enter a mental state between meditation and the first stage of your sleep cycle. This allows your mind to conduct a replay of your day and see it in a new perception, as you will be in the most relaxed state.
New experiences always make way for improvements in our lives and guide us through the road of self-actualization. This state of realization paints a very clear picture of how and when we need to conduct certain things. There is no harm in taking some time to relax in order to benefit you, your project, and business. What do you have to lose?
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