How to Train Your Brain to Be More Creative
Are you someone who believes that being more creative is overrated? Or do you think that humanity needs great ideas? Are you someone who lets others have original ideas, or do you believe that you can contribute something new and change your life and other people’s lives?
All people can train their brain to be more creative. But to do this, you have to believe that creativity is very useful.
“Here is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns”.
-Edward de Bono-
Day-to-day creativity
It is an inevitable truth that creative minds will always be highly valued. On the other hand, creativity can also help us in our daily lives for both small and large problems. It also helps us to come up with ingenious solutions for issues that haven’t yet been solved by the “normal” route.
Actually, what we are talking about here is not how to have a brain like Albert Einstein’s, but how to expand our creative capacity to be better and better. Creativity is not something only artists, writers or great entrepreneurs have. It gives us all the potential to innovate every part of our lives.
9 ideas to be more creative
Many people believe that they cannot become creative people, but they’re wrong. We can all be more creative than we are right now, and by properly training our brain, we can be a little more creative every single day.
Cultivating ideas is one way to make more and better ideas. There are also ways to help ideas flow more easily. That is part of the process. Here are some ideas and tips that will help you train your brain to be more creative.
“Everybody is talented because everybody who is human has something to express”.
-Brenda Ueland-
Forget about the result
The important thing is the process, not the result. Enjoying the process of shaping an idea will give your mind freedom to think about alternatives and develop the idea more broadly. The result comes out of such a creative process, a process that must have your full attention in order to bear fruit.
Ignore criticism
A creative person must become immune to criticism that is not constructive, both from others and themselves. Neither criticism nor self-criticism let you think clearly. Don’t waste energy on them. Be compassionate with yourself and have the courage set yourself free to create. You will mess up a lot, but you’ll only get something great if you let yourself flow.
Relax
Stress is one of the main enemies of creativity. Some level of stress may be helpful to finish what you have to do. But when it comes to creating, you need to be calm. Why do you think there are so many people who have great ideas in the shower, when going for a walk or doing mundane things like washing the dishes? Because your mind relaxes.
Record your ideas
It is one thing to have an idea, and another to give it a form. Shaping an idea can take time and sometimes the idea arises at the most inconvenient moment. If you write it down, you will get two things: first, you will not forget it. Second, it won’t occupy your mind when you’re immersed in other things. Writing down the idea will take away the pressure and you can come back to it when you need to.
Read
One of the most stimulating activities for the brain is reading. Reading, in some ways, enhances your experiences. In addition, reading creates new neuronal connections in our brain — a process known as neuroplasticity.
Practice meditation
Meditation, to the extent that it helps us to relax physically and mentally, also facilitates the creative process. Moreover, the type of meditation known as mindfulness trains us to focus on an idea and not to get sidetracked. It’s a very useful skill during the creative process.
Lead a healthy lifestyle
Alcohol, smoking, drugs, a sedentary lifestyle, and a poor diet are major enemies of the brain in general, and of the creative brain in particular. Eliminating toxins from your body and exercising will increase your energy levels and improve your creativity.
Dare to leave your comfort zone
The problem that many people have is that they try to create new ideas without leaving their comfort zone, which limits their options. But big ideas do not understand the limits of “politically correct”, “tradition” or “comfort”. They usually require courage and bravery to look beyond these limits.
Think about the problem in a different way
Absolutely all the questions that come up around you can happen in more than one way. In fact, sometimes the solution to the problem is not to find a creative option, but to pose the problem in a creative and different way.
Having a lot of ideas does not mean having a lot of good ideas
Being more creative and having a lot of ideas does not mean that all ideas are really good, useful or valuable. A writer has to write a lot to achieve something really good. The same thing happens to a painter, a sculptor or a composer. And really, to everyone.
In reality, the smartest or most creative are not the ones that come up with the creations of most value. Rather, it is the one that works the most on their ideas. It’s that easy. Maybe some need more work than others, but in the end, only the one who is willing to fail a lot is the one who will get something really good.