Creativity

Tips For A Winning Attitude

2008-02-22T09:55:00.000-08:00

Every dieter struggles to maintain a weight loss attitude. All it takes is one tiny slip of eating too much chocolate and you want to quit. If you’ve tried to diet but think it’s just too hard and want to give up, try these four tips to develop a losing attitude.

1) Never give up. The first rule you must learn is that you can never give up. No matter how difficult things become, or how much you’d love to cheat on your diet, you can never give up.

2) Each day is a new day. One of the biggest reasons why so many diets fail is because you cheat one day then feel so guilty that you tell yourself that it’s useless and that you may as well just give up. (See Rule #1.)

3) Set yourself up for success. Failure does not happen for any good reason at all. If you fail it’s because you have surrounded yourself with a failing environment. If your weakness is snack cakes, then throw away any in your cabinets and don’t buy another box to bring home. When you set yourself up for success, your diet will be much easier to follow.

4) Test your hunger level. The next time you think about going to the kitchen for a quick snack, test your hunger level, using the HALT method. Are you:

• Hungry?
• Angry?
• Lonely?
• Tired?

Ask yourself this and see what your answer is. More times than not, you are really not hungry, but one of the other three. If you’re not hungry, step away from the kitchen and go find something else to do to busy yourself.

Staying Grateful Despite Problems

2008-02-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

Are you dreading Thanksgiving this year because you aren’t so thankful? Do your problems loom so large over you that you don’t think there’s any possible way to enjoy this thankful holiday season? There is hope!

The trick is staying grateful, despite your problems. Look, it’s no secret. We all have problems that we deal with on a daily basis. Have you ever wondered why it seems like some people can laugh and smile, even though they have problems that weigh on their minds?

Their secret isn’t a secret at all. It’s all in your mindset.

You can choose to be happy, regardless of what problems you face. Or, you can choose to let your problems weigh you down so much that you can’t sleep at night and you walk around with a sour look on your face.

It is a proven fact that people who seem happy simply choose to not allow their problems to get the best of them. Not only that, but they have a positive outlook on life. They believe that no matter what problems arise, they are going to make it through them just fine.

Even though you are facing surmounting problems, stop for a moment and ask yourself what is GOOD in your life right now.

• What is going right for you?
• Is your family healthy?
• Do you have a job?
• Are you steadily working to change your situation?

Choose to remain grateful in the middle of your difficult situation. Find a way to put a smile on your face, no matter what you’re going through.

You can choose to suffer, or choose to be grateful. What do you choose?

Relieve Your Stress With A Hobby

2008-02-20T09:27:00.000-08:00

Stress is one of the major factors of depression. With growing demands of everyday life, stress can quickly pull you down. One of the easiest ways to relieve stress is to have a hobby.

Maybe you’d like to take up a hobby but aren’t sure what to do. Here are some great ideas for stress-soothing hobbies:

• Wood burning and carving – Men especially find wood burning projects very calming and soothing. Likewise, sculpting beautiful images from wood can be not only a stress reliever, but rewarding hobby as well.

• Ceramics – Ceramics is almost a lost art today. However, the process of taking a raw piece and creating a beautiful work of art is a very rewarding hobby.

• Reading for pleasure – If you do a lot of reading every day for your business, then you probably don’t read for pleasure any more. Grab a book in a genre that you’d never read and give it a go.

• Hand embroidery – Designing and creating beautiful fiber art by hand is extremely calming.

• Golf – Golf has been widely used as a stress-relieving hobby. Many golf enthusiasts claim that golf can take your mind off your problems and greatly reduce your stress levels.

No matter what hobby you take up, the idea is to do something to relieve stress. Set aside time every week to work on your hobby and you’ll soon find that your stress levels will be greatly reduced in very little time.

Motivate Yourself to Try Again

2008-02-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

Are you stuck in a rut and don’t know how to get out of it? Are you tired of failing but feel like you don’t have the courage to try again? I have three rut-busters that will help you motivate yourself to get up and try again.

Rut-buster #1 – Look at your progress. One of the quickest ways you can motivate yourself to get up and try again is to take a look at how far you’ve already come. Do you really want to give up and quit now? I don’t think so!

When you begin to feel like there’s no use in pushing on any further, stop for a minute. Take a good look at just how far you’ve come along the way. I’ll bet you just might be surprised at how much more progress you’ve made, than you thought you had.

Rut-buster #2 – Take another look at your ultimate goal. What are you working toward achieving? Can you smell success? Can you imagine what it feels like?

Getting a good mental image of what you want can quickly motivate you to try again. In fact, being able to mentally visualize the outcome that you hope for can help motivate you over and over again.

Rut-buster #3 – Pat yourself on the back for a job well done. How often do you give yourself credit for having completed something or given your all? All too often people tend to give in to negative thinking: ‘I should have done that differently.’ ‘I could have done better on that task.’ ‘I really screwed up that one.’

If this sounds like your own thought process, stop thinking that way! Start giving yourself credit where credit is due.

The Keys To Success

2008-02-18T09:24:00.000-08:00

Success is defined as an event that accomplishes its intended purpose. To reach a measurable level of success, you have to be prepared. Once you are prepared, accomplishing your purpose will be more than possible, easy even.

Here are the five keys that will lead you to success every time:

1) Know what you want. In order to be successful, you have to first have a goal in mind. The only way you’ll be successful is to know specifically what you want in life.

2) Align yourself with other successful people. Start hanging around with those who are successful. Listen to their conversations. Watch how they react to challenges. You can learn a lot just by surrounding yourself with other successful people.

3) Read about successful people. I’m sure like many, there are people that you admire. Read their biographies and learn about their failures that led to ultimate success. It will inspire and motivate you to continue on.

3) Practice what you want to become. Just because you know what you want, that doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to get there. However, you can act “as if.” The best way to do this is to practice being successful.

4) Hone in on your passion. If you aren’t passionate about what you’re doing, you will probably never enjoy it. Enjoying what you do will make you even more excited and enthusiastic about doing it.

5) Improve your self-esteem. Everyone can use a little self-esteem boost now and then. High self-esteem will give you the confidence you need to keep moving forward, even when it seems like there’s no way to win.

Is Anxiety Controlling Your Life?

2008-02-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

Word Web defines anxiety as a relatively permanent state of worry and nervousness occurring in a variety of mental disorders, usually accompanied by compulsive behavior or attacks of panic. Anxiety causes you to worry about things that could never even happen.

One of the main issues regarding anxiety is the fact that it so easily consumes a person’s life. In very little time, anxiety attacks can cause a person to feel out of control, crazy even. With symptoms like sweating, nervousness, nausea and tension, breathlessness, and anxiety can make you feel as though you might even die.

Many people who suffer from anxiety are ashamed of how they feel. They think that something really terrible must be wrong with them, for them to experience such horrible things. They are often afraid to tell their doctor, for fear they may be hospitalized in a mental institution.

Those suffering from severe anxiety may feel like it will never end. Many become hermits, as they stay indoors to hide from the public because they are afraid their secret will come out if they are around others. In fact, some may even experience feelings of paranoia as well.

If any of these symptoms discussed within this article sound like something that you have been experiencing, there is hope for you. Don’t allow anxiety to take control of your life. If you have been feeling like you can’t be around other people, or that you can’t leave the house, your anxiety could be more severe. Make an appointment to see your physician as soon as possible, to discuss potential medication to help your situation.

I Don’t Have Time!

2008-02-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

How often have you said those exact words? We are each allotted 24 hours every day. Yet somehow we don’t all seem to have enough time to do what needs to be done.

If you’ve been complaining about not having enough time lately, here are some simple ways you can shave minutes off your daily activities.

• Set the coffee pot before you go to bed. Almost all coffee pots today come with a clock and timer. If you’re a coffee drinker, fix your coffee and set the timer the night before. If you set it to brew 15 minutes before your alarm goes off, it will be ready and waiting for you when you wake up.

• Use the crock pot. The crock pot is quite possibly one of the most underused kitchen essentials. You can create endless dinners by simply combining everything in the pot and letting it cook on low heat all day. When you come home from work, you have a ready-made hot dinner.

• Iron your clothes on the weekend. If you only iron for one person, you are probably spending at least 2-3 hours total ironing. If you have a family and iron for everyone else, too, that number is probably tripled. Make Saturday your laundry day: wash, dry, and iron all clothing for the week.

• Share your responsibilities. Don’t try to do everything on your own. Create a family chore chart and dole out jobs to each of your family members. Even if you have young children, they can help out, too.

How To Ward Off Holiday Depression

2008-02-17T09:10:00.000-08:00

Every year hundreds of thousands of people across the world suffer from holiday depression. Family squabbles are almost always at the brunt of this problem. Close behind that are things like job loss, marital problems and the death of a loved one. Use these simple tips to help ward off holiday depression this year:

• Be joyful. The hardest thing to do sometimes is just to smile. But sometimes even a simple gesture such as this can make a huge difference in the way you feel. Practice being joyful every day.

• Sing. Singing can lift your spirits in a way that nothing else can. If you don’t like seasonal music, then put on one of your favorite CDs and sing along with the artist.

• Remember the good times. One of the biggest reasons for holiday depression is the loss of a loved one. If you are experiencing this sorrow, try to reflect on the good times you had together, rather than focusing on the grief you feel. Allow yourself to recall funny stories and good times together.

• Go on vacation. For some, the best way to overcome holiday depression is to just get away for a little while. Take that extended vacation you’ve been dreaming of. It could be just the cure you need to perk up your heart once again.

• Don’t overdo it. All too often the holidays are stressful to those who may not blessed financially as others. If you are struggling over your finances, don’t try to go overboard by purchasing gifts for everyone. Instead, plan a nice quiet dinner at home with your family and enjoy each other’s company while watching old holiday movies.

Get More Sleep Now

2008-02-16T09:05:00.000-08:00

Do you have trouble falling asleep at night? Do you go to sleep, but wake up frequently throughout the night? There are several kinds of sleep disorders, all of which plague hundreds of thousands of people every night. If you’ve been having trouble sleeping, here are some things you can try to help you get more sleep every night:

• Get more physical exercise during the day. People who are more sedentary throughout the day especially tend to have more trouble sleeping at night. It is important to move around during the day so that you’ll be tired enough at night to sleep.

• Have a bedtime routine. While you might have set a routine for your children at night, you probably have neglected to do the same for yourself. Try setting a bedtime routine for yourself and see if it will help you sleep better.

• Take a warm bath about an hour before bedtime. If you are overly tired, a soothing warm bubble bath could be just what you need to calm your nerves. Add a dash of lavender bubble bath, too.

• Journal before you go to sleep. Sometimes the main cause of sleepless nights is worry. When you go to bed with worry and trouble on your mind, you tend to wake up more and have more restless nights. Try journaling just before bed, to get out all those pent-up thoughts and emotions.

• Use aromatherapy to soothe yourself before bedtime. Lots of people swear by aromatherapy and use it to help them sleep at night. Plug in your favorite, calming scent and turn on some soothing classical music for a lullaby.

Exercise Is Important To Your Mental Health

2008-02-15T09:04:00.000-08:00

Have you been experiencing a tremendous amount of anxiety and stress in your life lately? Do you feel depression sinking in? There is a single key to boosting your mental health—exercise.

Research has shown that patients suffering from depression see a dramatic improvement in their mental status whenever they keep a regular exercise routine. Practice some of these exercises on a daily basis to improve your mental health:

• Walking – It can’t be said enough that walking is one of the simplest and easiest forms of exercise that almost anybody is capable of doing. You don’t have to go for a power walk for it to count. Just get outdoors and walk for a full twenty minutes or longer. Breathing the fresh air and getting natural sunlight is conducive to a better frame of mind.

• Jump rope – A quick morning routine of jumping rope will get your blood stirring fast.

• Aerobics – Aerobics have long been a fun way to get exercise. The more different the routine, the more fun the exercise will be. Look for fun exercise videos that are a little different from the same old boring routines.

• Kickbox Aerobics – Kickbox aerobics is a vigorous, but very fun type of aerobics. You’ll get fit and learn some great self-defense moves in the process.
Get out and get busy exercising today. Try it for three weeks and track your progress and mental status throughout the weeks. Discover how exercise makes you feel.

Give A Gift of Thanks

2008-02-14T09:07:00.000-08:00

Every Thanksgiving seems to bring about the same thing: a huge family dinner, football game, and everyone groaning about how much they shouldn’t have eaten. This year, why not do something different? Give a gift of thanks to someone you love.

Usually people only consider Christmas to be the time of year to give special gifts. But Thanksgiving is the perfect time to give someone this special gift of thanks—a gratitude journal.

A gratitude journal is a notebook that is filled with things you are thankful, or grateful, for. It is special because not only does it help open your eyes even more to the small things that we so often overlook, but it helps someone else to see us in a new light, too.

A gratitude journal can be kept all year long, if you’d like to give a plump journal to someone. However, you can create a nice, simple, small gratitude journal in a very short amount of time.

First, choose a small journal. Usually a pocket-sized notebook with a hard cover is the perfect size for this project.

Second, decide who you are going to create this gratitude journal for. Perhaps you want to show your spouse how much you love him/her. Maybe you haven’t felt as connected to your teen as you once were. Or maybe you miss your best friend that you haven’t talked to in a long time.

Next, think about what you want to include in this journal. Think about all the ways that you are grateful to have this person in your life.

Finally, begin to write a list on each page of the things you are grateful for. The size of your gratitude list on each page will depend largely on how big your journal is. If it’s a pocket-sized journal, you might write 5 things per page. If it’s larger, you might be able to fit 15 or 20 per page.

When you have every page in your gratitude journal filled, it’s time to package the journal. If you want to recover the journal, do so now. When you’re finished, wrap the journal in a fall wrapping, then give it to that special someone on Thanksgiving.

Change Your Outlook On Life

2008-02-14T09:02:00.000-08:00

Are you becoming a pessimistic person? Do you commonly find things that are wrong, rather than the positives in any given situation? It’s time to change your outlook on life.

Did you know that just by changing your outlook on life you can actually improve your health? Here are some quick tips you can use, starting now:

• Practice positive thinking. There’s only one way you will change your way of thinking—with lots of practice. In order to create new habits, you must repeatedly practice it on a daily basis. So put on your positive thinking hat.

• Look for the good things. It doesn’t take much effort to point out everything that’s wrong. When you find yourself nit-picking, make yourself stop and then purposefully look for something good, instead.

• Forgive, even if you can’t forget. The old saying, “Forgive and forget” has been used quite a bit throughout the years. But we all know that forgiving is often times easier than forgetting. Take a small step towards forgiveness. While you won’t forget what happened, forgiveness prevents bitterness, which is extremely taxing, on both your soul and your mind.

• Be ready for the best. No matter what kind of life you’ve had up to this point, there is always hope for the future. If you’ve been struggling, prepare yourself for better things to come. Sometimes the darkest night is just before the dawn.

Brainstorm Your Way to Better Health

2008-02-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

UC Medical Center Women’s Health Research Program conducted a research which showed that women are more prone to depression than men. Furthermore, evidence proved that healthy women produce less serotonin than men. What does this mean? For women who already have a low level of serotonin, stress can totally wipe out the remaining, which leads to an onslaught of depression.

Perhaps one of the reasons for women being more susceptible to depression than men is because we are the caregivers. We take care of our families and everyone else and put ourselves on the back burners. It is time to stand up and make a positive change, though. Here are several ways you can brainstorm your way to better health:

1) Write down 5 ways you would like your health to improve.
2) List 4 reasons why you need to work harder on improving your health.
3) Write down every person in your family who has health problems and list what problems they are. Now put a check by the ones that you are experiencing right now.

Continue brainstorming in this fashion. Sometimes it just takes a cold, harsh dose of reality to wake you up.

After you get all these things on paper, now start over and brainstorm all things you can do to become proactive in your life. List all the tiny changes you can start to make. Once you get busy working n the little things, the bigger things will become easier to change, too.

Blast Away Procrastination—Plan Your Daily Activities

2008-02-14T08:57:00.000-08:00

One problem that many procrastinators seem to face is not planning ahead. When you don’t have a plan for each day, you’ll be much more likely to put things off because you’ll never feel a sense of urgency to get anything done.

A daily task list helps to keep you on track with your goals. It also creates a feeling of importance for each task, which will push you to work harder towards completing everything.

To get you started, let’s create a daily task list for you:

1. First, sit down with a pen and paper (don’t use the computer for this!) and write down everything you do, or need to do, in a week’s time. If you want to plan ahead for next week, then write down everything you have to get done next week. Just make a simple, unnumbered list.

It is important that you write down everything, no matter how minute it seems. Write it all down—everything from brushing your teeth to job tasks. If it has to be done, write it down.

2. After you’ve listed every single thing you need to do next week, you’re ready to do triage.

During this second stage of the process, you are going to reread your list and eliminate any unnecessary tasks.

First, go back through your list and see if there are any tasks that are glaringly needless. Most of the time, you’ll automatically be able to point them out with no problem at all. If you see tasks that seem to be unnecessary, just draw a line through them to mark them out.

Now that you’ve done this quick process of elimination, it’s time for the dirty work. Of the remaining tasks on your list, which ones take up too much of your time? Which ones do you end up wasting time on, when they really aren’t all that important? Cross them off your list.

What we are doing here is paring down your list to get to the bare bones. The only tasks we want on your list are the ones that are truly important and necessary to your daily existence—in both your personal life and your career.

If you work from home, doing this is probably more important to you. Your time is even more precious and is probably more difficult to manage. Working from the comfort of home tends to make one just a tad bit lazier than the next person. Eliminating these unnecessary tasks will help free up more of your time to work on building your business.

3. Prioritize your new task list. Now that you have eliminated all the time suckers from your task list, you can prioritize your new list.

First, if your task list is a weekly one, break it down into a daily task list. Many times you’ll have repetitive tasks, and then a few extra ones. That’s fine.

Take your daily task list and give each task a number, with 1 being the most important task on your list. No two tasks should have the same number.

After you’ve completed your task prioritization, take another look at your list. If you think some tasks need to be rearranged then do that now. Keep rearranging the tasks until they are in order of importance to you.

Now you have a list of your daily tasks. These must be done every single day. If something doesn’t look right, or if you realize you forgot a task or two, change your task list as needed.

This isn’t something that is written in stone. Rather, your daily task list is flexible and should be changed and updated as needed.

Are Your Goals Lacking Oomph?

2008-02-14T08:56:00.000-08:00

Goal setting is something that anyone can do. But after having set your goals, are they lacking oomph? Do you feel totally uninspired by them, so much so that you’ve already forgotten all about them? Take a look at how you can add some life to your goals…

Dream bigger. Are your goals so small and insignificant that you don’t care about them? While it is important to be realistic when setting goals, it is equally important to allow yourself to dream big. Set some goals that you can accomplish quickly, as a self-esteem and confidence booster. Then set some bigger goals that will take a little longer and a little more work to accomplish.

Reward yourself. Sometimes your goals are great ones. The problem is that you lose excitement because you don’t reward yourself for your accomplishments. Set up several benchmarks and when you reach each one, give yourself something nice as a reward: a day at the spa, a manicure, a shopping trip. Be sure to save the best reward for last!

Get others involved. A terrific way to stay motivated and excited about your goals is to get others involved. Enlist some close friends or family members as your personal cheerleader. Ask them to help you stay motivated and focused by checking up on your progress and complimenting you on jobs well done.

If your goals aren’t getting you excited, then it’s time to change that today. After all, what good is a goal if you aren’t ecstatic about reaching it?

Are You Good Enough?

2008-02-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

Self-esteem is an important part of every person’s life. Low self-esteem seems to be a plague among many children and adults alike. Feeling like you’re never “good enough” creates a continuous circular motion of low self-esteem and self-worth. This article will define self esteem and give you some specific ways you can build your own self-esteem.

Self-esteem is defined as a feeling of pride in yourself. Self-esteem is usually thought of as a result of your environment. If you were abused as a child, you probably grew up with low or no self-esteem.

Signs of low self-esteem can include:

• The need for certain things to be perfect.
• Unrealistic expectations for self and/or others.
• Possessing a “herd” mentality (doing what everyone else does).
• Constant feelings of unhappiness.
• No self-confidence.
• Focusing on problems, rather than solutions.
• A pessimistic attitude.

It is possible to build your self-esteem if you have low or no self-esteem. You should be aware though that this takes time, and is not something that happens in an instant. That being said, here are some simple ways you can work on having a more positive self-esteem:

• Allow yourself to dream big for yourself.
• Set measurable goals that you can accomplish.
• Keep a file of nice compliments others pay you. Refer to this file when you’re feeling down or need a quick boost of confidence.
• Surround yourself with positive people.
• Assign yourself a personal cheerleader and call on that person when you need motivating.
• Don’t make assumptions. Instead, search for truth and facts when you begin to feel out of control.

Are You Depressed?

2008-02-14T08:50:00.000-08:00

Depression is a serious illness that affects about 17 million Americans every year. Surprisingly, depression affects more people than cancer does. Depression can cause you to feel a wide range of unhealthy emotions. If you have been feeling down but aren’t really sure if you are depressed or not, take this self-quiz today.

DIRECTIONS: Answer YES or NO to each of the following questions.

1. Are you experiencing extreme sadness that you can’t explain?
2. Do you have trouble sleeping at night?
3. Has there been a significant change in your appetite lately?
4. Do you experience frequent mood swings that are not associated with PMS?
5. Do you dread being around friends and family to the point that you avoid them at all cost?
6. Has your sex drive decreased?
7. Do you find it difficult to get out of bed in the morning and get dressed?
8. Have you lost a dear friend or loved one in the last six months?
9. Have you recently lost a job or been passed over for a promotion at work?
10. Have you recently returned home from war?

SCORING: Give yourself 1 point for each YES and 0 points for every NO. Total your score then refer to the chart below.

6 or more – You are probably experiencing symptoms of depression. Seek medical attention immediately.

3-5 – Recent changes in your life could be causing you to experience some degree of depression.

3 or less – Some life events could be making you feel as though you aren’t in control of your life. You may or may not be depressed, but a visit to your physician should clear things up for you. As always, if you think you even the slightest bit depressed, it is always advisable to seek medical attention. This article is written solely for the informational purposes only.

Are You Bringing Stress Home With You?

2008-02-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

According to the experts at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, stress is linked to both physical and mental health, as well as decreased willingness to take on new and creative endeavors. With this kind of findings, it is no wonder that so many people feel burned out every single day.

In addition, researchers found that up to 40% of job burnout in the United States is due to stress. Stress affects millions of people every single day. Much of marital and family problems occur because of stress being brought home from the work place. Take this quick quiz to see if you are bringing stress home with you.

Directions: Answer YES or NO to the following questions.

1) Do you feel as stressed out when you walk in the door of your home as you did when you left work?

2) Do you have a daily after-work routine that allows you to unwind and de-stress?

3) Do your work problems weigh heavily on your mind, even when you are trying to have a nice relaxing evening at home?

4) Do you find it difficult to carry on a conversation with your spouse that doesn’t have something to do with work-related issues?

5) Are you able to deal with problems at work in a calm manner?

If you answered YES to three or more of these questions, chances are you are bringing stress home with you. Here are some possible solutions you should try:

• Sign up for a gym pass. Go at least 3 days per week after work to work out your frustrations.

• See a therapist. Sometimes all you need is a good therapist to listen to you and help you figure out how to better deal with work stress.

• Go for massage therapy. A professional masseuse can do wonders for tired, sore muscles that are due to stress.

21 Days To A Brand New Habit

2008-02-14T08:46:00.000-08:00

You can create a new habit in just 21 days. It requires persistence, effort and dedication. Do you really want to change a bad habit? You can, but you’ll have to work hard at it.

Kick off your new—good—habit with these quick tips on building new habits.

1. Determine you will change the bad habit. The first step is always reframing the way you think. If you don’t think you can change a bad habit, then chances are you never will. You must first agree with yourself that you can and will create a better habit to replace the bad one.

2. Find a good habit to replace the old one. Before you can replace a bad habit, you have to be able to have a newer, better one to replace it with. If you want to change your bad habit of being pessimistic, then a good habit to replace it with would be to become a more positive person.

3. Actively force yourself to perform the new habit. The truth is that new habits feel weird at first. Saying something optimistic, instead of negative, will feel downright strange. But if you are persistent and keep at it, being a positive person will eventually become natural to you. You must force yourself to practice the new habit, though, even when it feels wrong or strange.

Even though I’m sure you’ve already heard it said plenty of times, it really is true that it takes a full 3 weeks to change a habit. Another old saying that applies to this is “Practice makes perfect.” Write that down and repeat it to yourself a few times every day.

6 Ways To Increase Your Creativity

2008-02-14T08:45:00.000-08:00

Creativity is the ability to create, also known as the creative process. Sometimes though creativity seems to fall through the ground and you might feel like you just can’t possibly think of anything to do to help it. If your creativity levels have been low lately, here are six ways to increase your creativity:

1. Don’t dwell on your lack of creativity. The worse thing to do if you’re feeling uncreative is to sit around and think about how you don’t feel creative. Get up and do something else instead.

2. Keep an idea bank. An idea bank is a necessary source for you to draw ideas from when your creativity levels are low. Stock pile your idea bank when your creative juices are flowing and then you will have lots of creativity to draw from later.

3. Ask lots of questions. One really good way to get that creativity flowing again is to ask a lot of “What if…?” questions. Those can really get your mind to thinking about things you might not ordinarily consider.

4. Create mini challenges for yourself. Challenges are a great way to really prime the creative pump. Set some small goals for creative things you want to accomplish.

5. Set a self-imposed deadline. Deadlines have a tendency to make us work harder and faster to accomplish our goals. If your lack of creativity has caused you to procrastinate, set a deadline.

6. Move your work space around. Sometimes something as simple as moving the furniture in a different position can jar you out of a creative slump. Give it a try and see if it works for you.

The 5 Golden Nuggets For Your Creativity

2008-02-14T07:47:00.000-08:00

Are you creative juices drying up? Do you feel like it’s just too difficult to come up with new ideas? Believe it or not, creativity is not something that only comes and goes with a Muse. Creativity can be generated and conjured simply by becoming active.

Here are three terrific ways to stir up your creativity and generate fresh inspiration today:

1) Spend A Day Out

If you are always in the office, you probably hardly ever stop to take the time to get out. Make a “play” date with yourself. Visit a local museum or take a trip to an aquarium. Do something totally out of the norm. You’ll feel inspiration stirring soon!

2) Get A Hobby

Do you always feel overworked? If you don’t take time for yourself, you’ll constantly be stressed out. A hobby can not only help relax you, but take your mind off work for a while.

3) Go For A Walk

Studies have shown that exercise helps to promote creativity. If you’re feeling especially low on ideas, put on your walking shoes and head outside for a 2-0-minute walk. Bring a pocket notebook or camera to capture ideas as they come to you.

4) Listen To Classical Music

Great classicals can stir your creativity like nothing else can. Go for Beethoven or Bach. Close your eyes for the first few minutes as you allow the musical notes to waft over you.

5) Solve A Problem

If your lack of creativity right now is mostly due to a personal problem, there’s only one way around it. Grab a pen and paper and write down the problem. Now brainstorm ways to solve that problem.

Creative Flavor Through Your Everyday Routine

2008-01-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

We often link creativity to artistic pursuits, but we can add a dose of creativity to our everyday activities too. In this way, we are able to make our entire lives more creatively inspired, rather than saving creative inspiration for those odd moments when we have time to engage in creative activities.

Below you’ll find simple and effective ways to weave creativity into your daily activities:

Bring natural beauty indoors. Flower arrangements or mini-fountains are good ways to bring a creative flavor to a mundane setting. Stop by a floral shop on your way to work and buy a small arrangement of flowers to beautify your workspace, or stop after work and buy some for your home.

Even better, buy a few small arrangements and mix and match them to create something entirely new. Buy a mini-fountain or build one out of river rocks, and let the trickle of water soothe and inspire you.

Surround yourself with color. Experiment with different colors and pay attention to how they make you feel. You may discover, for example, that red makes you feel more empowered and inspired, so you might wear a red scarf or tie on the days when you feel out of touch with your creativity.

If your job is very stressful, try placing a lavender-scented candle in your workspace. Even if you can’t light it, you can look at the soothing color and take a whiff of the calming scent from time to time.

Shake up your routine. If you always visit the same coffee shop in the morning and order the same flavored coffee and the same plain bagel with cream cheese, why not try something new? Leave earlier and visit a diner for a hearty breakfast of eggs or pancakes. Try taking a different route home, or find a local park and take a walk before heading home.

Visit your local library some Saturday morning and explore new subjects. The more you can open your mind to new experiences, the richer and more creative your life will seem.

Just add music. Rather than doing chores and driving in silence, why not turn on some pleasing music? Even better, explore different types of music than you may be used to. Try hard rock while exercising, or opera while taking a bubble bath. Or if you usually listen to music, try tuning into a radio talk show to open your mind to new ideas and alternative views.

Engaging your mind and emotions while performing mundane activities can make the time seem to pass faster while also stimulating your creativity.

Spice up your diet. If you’ve gotten into the rut of eating the same old foods every day, try including new foods to tantalize your taste buds. Buy a book of interesting recipes or take a cooking class to experiment with different dishes. Ask friends with different ethnic backgrounds to share some of their favorite recipes with you, and share some of your favorites with them.

Visit new restaurants in your area and try menu choices that you wouldn’t ordinarily order. Since food is such a large part of our daily lives, expanding your food choices is a great way to add flavor and richness to your ordinary activities.

3 Ways to Make Creative Activities More Fun

2008-01-06T13:30:00.001-08:00

As adults, we often get wrapped up in the seriousness of our everyday responsibilities and lose touch with that light, joyful part of us that used to laugh and play.

As a result, we lose touch with our creative side and we begin seeing our creative pursuits as very serious business too. Instead of enjoying creative activities, we approach them with the expectation of perfection, and get frustrated if our creations don’t match the vision we expect to see.

Remember when you were a child and you dove into creative projects just because they were fun? You didn’t care if your creations weren’t perfect because you actually enjoyed creating them. Your parents probably hung them on the refrigerator and proudly displayed them to family and friends, which filled you with pride and satisfaction.

You can recapture that sense of freedom and lightness again by purposely making your creative activities fun. Here are three simple ways to do that:

Get silly. Instead of trying to make a “serious” piece of art, act like a kid again. Make a finger-painting, construct something funny with clay, make some macaroni necklaces, or trace your hand and make a “turkey.”

Sitting in front of a mirror trying to draw a self-portrait can easily get you giggling uncontrollably; or if you’re already accomplished at sketching or drawing, try doing a caricature of yourself. With any of these activities, don’t worry about what the creations look like afterwards. Just have fun with the process of creating them.

Get outrageous. Make it your mission to be as bold and unorthodox with your creations as you can. Try making an abstract painting, writing a dirty limerick, or experimenting with new dance moves. Let go of your inhibitions and step away from known or traditional ways of doing things.

Let your creative vision burst forth in riotous color and come up with something completely original. Remember, no one has to see your creations but you! The more you can enjoy the process of creating them, the less you will care what they look like when you’re done.

Get emotional. Try infusing strong emotion into your creations. Imagine that you want to express your emotions in your artwork, so that anyone looking at it would know instantly what you were feeling at the time you created it. Use colors, shapes, words, numbers, and symbols to express strong feelings of love, anger, hate, sadness, joy, or anything else you wish to express.

Consider which colors express your emotions most accurately, and then use them boldly. Also experiment with different mediums. For example, you might want to write when you’re feeling sad, and paint when you’re feeling inspired.

There are many more ways to make creative pursuits fun; we have covered just a few of them. The most powerful way to have fun with your creativity is simply to let your heart lead you. Visit a hobby or craft store, and pick up a kit to try something new.

Buy a book about a creative activity you’d like to learn. Then simply spend time playing with it each day. Before long, you’ll have forgotten all about any notion of perfection and instead will have tapped that childlike joy of creative inspiration again.

3 Simple Ways to Stimulate Your Creative Inspiration

2008-01-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

When you’re not used to tapping your natural creative flow, it can seem incredibly difficult to awaken it. You may be so used to working long hours, dealing with problems, fighting traffic, or living your life on autopilot that you’ve forgotten how it feels to be creative and inspired.

You may be surprised to learn that awakening your creative inspiration can be a simple and quick process, if you use the right activities to do so.

Below are three simple suggestions for stimulating your creative inspiration.

Exercise. Exercise helps your body release all those feel-good endorphins that benefit you in so many ways. Besides better health and clearer thinking, your creative inspiration is naturally triggered by physical activity. Not just any physical activity, but those that make you feel happy and energetic.

Try walking briskly through a natural setting, dancing to upbeat music, or even engaging in a more soothing exercise like yoga. After your exercise session, spend a few minutes gently stretching your muscles and relaxing your body. Not only will you feel wonderful physically, but your senses will awaken and your creative inspiration will flow more naturally.

Meditate. Meditation is great for stress relief and spiritual pursuits, but it can also create a harmonious environment for your creative inspiration. In order to tap into your creativity, you need to feel relaxed, peaceful and happy. Meditation can easily help you achieve this, and it’s not as complex as you might fear. Meditation can be as simple as sitting quietly with your eyes closed for 10 or 15 minutes.

The objective is to quiet your mental chatter and rest in a state of inner peacefulness. This may be challenging at first if you’ve never meditated before, but the more you do it the stronger your mental focus will get. It’s not uncommon for people to start with only 10 minutes of meditation a day, and quickly decide they like it so much that they extend that time to 30 or even 60 minutes! If you stick with it long enough, you’ll notice that not only do you feel more creative, you feel calm and in control in all areas of your life.

Breathe. Deep breathing gets ALL of your energy flowing more freely, which also boosts your creative inspiration. Most of us are shallow breathers, using only a portion of our lung capacity. This is especially true if you have a hectic and stressful life. Get into the habit of taking very slow, deep breaths several times a day and you’ll quickly notice a difference in how you think and feel.

A “deep” breath is one that starts in your abdomen. Place your hand on your tummy and allow it to expand as you begin inhaling. Once your abdomen is expanded fully, continue expanding up through your chest, fully filling your lungs with air. Then slowly exhale until your lungs are deflated. Do this 2 or 3 times, slowly so you don’t hyperventilate and get dizzy.

As you breathe deeply, imagine that you can feel your energy flowing freely through your body, awakening all of your senses. Besides being very relaxing, you’ll quickly notice that deep breathing makes your mind seem sharper and clearer, which helps you more easily tap into your creative inspiration.

Of course, once you’ve awakened your creative inspiration, it’s a good idea to set aside time for the expression of it. Even if you have limited time available, devote a few minutes a day to creative pursuits that make you feel good. By doing so, you keep your creative energy flowing more steadily.

Creativity And Self-Esteem

2008-01-06T13:27:00.000-08:00

Whether you consider yourself to be especially creative or not, you can use positive self-esteem to bring a greater flow of creative inspiration into your life. Your self-esteem has a lot to do with your creativity, simply because everything you create contains a little piece of your unique essence.

This means that no two creations can be identical, whether they are paintings, sketches, floral arrangements, or written works. Even if you tried to duplicate a work done by someone else, yours would likely vary even in subtle ways. That’s because with everything you create, you bring your own personal perspective and experiences into the mix.

This is especially interesting when you consider that how you view yourself will be reflected in any of your creative works. If you think poorly of yourself, you might not put forth the same amount of effort and joy and passion into your work as you would with healthy self-esteem.

A poor self-image is usually accompanied by a sense of defeatism, a feeling that there is no point in trying to create anything beautiful because you probably wouldn’t do it right anyway. A poor self-image also nearly guarantees that even if you did create something beautiful, you wouldn’t see it as beautiful. You’d obsess over flaws and inconsistencies, and you would dismiss any compliments others tried to give you about your work.

A healthy self-esteem creates just the opposite effect. With positive self-esteem, you wouldn’t be afraid to engage deeply and meaningfully with your creative self. You would focus more on enjoying the creative process rather than obsessing about getting it “perfect.” You would take pleasure in the act of creating itself, as well as taking pleasure in the finished result of your efforts. You would enjoy the compliments that others give you about your works, and allow yourself to feel good about what you have accomplished.

Here are three simple ways to build your self-esteem and enhance your creativity:

Honor your uniqueness. Most of us spend a large portion of our adult lives trying desperately to blend in and be like everyone else, but eventually we come to the realization that such an intention diminishes our joy. Instead, take time each day to honor yourself for who you are. Let your uniqueness be a plus rather than a minus. Strive to make everything you do your own unique creation, whether you are focusing on mundane chores or work projects or a piece of artwork.

Love the process, not just the end result. Allow yourself to tap into your natural creative inspiration and engage fully with whatever you are doing. Let your creative self lead the way, and don’t worry about perfection or what others might think of you or your work. Allow yourself to enjoy every minute you spend in the act of creation, for it enhances your enjoyment of the end result too. If you don’t enjoy the journey, you won’t enjoy the destination either.

Know you deserve time to yourself. Creative activities are one of the things we tend to eschew when we get very busy or when we struggle with a poor self-image. Since they are typically viewed as unnecessary activities, we feel guilty taking time for something we enjoy doing.

Consider your creative activities as vital to your well-being as breathing and sleeping. Give yourself time to do things you enjoy each day. Affirm and know that you deserve the pleasure you get from exploring and expressing your creative side.

While healthy self-esteem can enhance your creativity, engaging in creative activities frequently can also help boost your self-esteem! Creative pursuits have a way of connecting us with our deeper selves in profound and beneficial ways.

The more you allow yourself this needed respite from the more mundane aspects of your life, the more the rest of your life will seem to transform into something beautiful also.

Creative Problem Solving And How To Use It!

2008-01-06T13:25:00.000-08:00

Few things in life are more aggravating than having a problem with no clear solution. Whether the problem applies to your personal life, your work, or your financial situation, not knowing what to do about it makes you feel powerless and out of control.

Most of us try to force a solution to appear, which can not only leave us feeling drained, it can result in magnified problems if we act out of desperation and make poor choices.

Rather than continuing to struggle with problems, let your creative insight lead you to the most productive solution. Below you’ll find four simple ways to do that:

See it from a different angle. Most of us view our problems as very rigid and inflexible, when they might not be that way at all. For example, if you are unhappy with your job you might think the only solution is to get another job. If you can’t find a suitable replacement, you will feel trapped and unhappy.

However, your creative insight might reveal other options that would work just as well. You might be able to speak to your boss about changing your duties, revising your work schedule, working from home, or perhaps a simple attitude adjustment could help you enjoy your job more.

You can apply this process to any problem by simply looking at it from a different perspective. Think of your problem and the types of solutions you’d like to have, and consider the possibilities. Turn it upside down in your mind and see if you can find a way to make it work. Start from the solution you’d like to have and work backwards, considering each step needed to make it happen.

Do a puzzle or maze to stimulate your creative juices. Puzzles and printed mazes are great ways to open your mind to new ideas. Because they require a bit of intuition combined with mental strategizing, they naturally tap into your ability to recognize alternate ways of thinking. Set aside your problems and work on a puzzle or maze for a few minutes, and you might find the best solution to your problem lurking within it.

Work on something unrelated to your problem. If you’re stuck on a project at work, switch gears for a few minutes and do something unrelated. Take a break if you can and go out for a walk. Call a friend and chat for a few minutes. Write out a shopping list, balance your checkbook – the activities don’t matter except that they remove your attention from the problem for a few minutes. When you return to your problem, you might be refreshed enough to see another way around it.

Ask the universe for help. Grab your favorite book of quotes (or any other book with gems of wisdom) and hold it in your hands. Think about your problem and mentally ask the universe for assistance in finding a solution. Open the book randomly and let your eyes fall on a passage.

Very often this can trigger an idea you wouldn’t have considered before, which can make all the difference. Whether this insight really comes from the universe, your higher self, or your subconscious mind ultimately doesn’t matter – just the fact that you came up with a viable solution does!

Ultimately it doesn’t matter how you engage your creative thinking ability. You might find that watching television works best for you, or reading a book, taking a shower, or any of the suggestions above.

Go with your gut feelings and believe that a solution to your problem is right around the corner. That alone can make you feel better than believing that a solution doesn’t exist.

Can Creative Thinking Benefit Your Business?

2008-01-06T13:24:00.000-08:00

As a business owner, creative thinking is a vital part of what you do on a daily basis. Whether you’re developing new product lines or forming a marketing strategy, your creativity plays a large role in the process.

Very often, your creative side is largely dormant, only peeking out when you’re working on something big. However, you can learn to actively tap your creative inspiration more frequently and use it to benefit your business.

There are many ways to do this, but here are a few to get your creative juices flowing:

Study other creative businesses. If you’ve ever read about a company that started in a man’s basement and grew to a multi-million dollar enterprise, you were likely fascinated and inspired by the story. Spend more time reading stories like this, or simply study other companies on your own.

Observe a small start-up company and see where it goes. Check out their marketing campaigns and product lines. What are they doing that you’re not? What are you doing that they’re not? Don’t try to copy other business models, but rather use them as a source of inspiration for your own ideas.

Revisit procedures now and then. Just because a certain procedure or protocol worked best for your company at one time doesn’t mean it still does. Get into the habit of reviewing your business procedures and see if you can improve upon them. Are you wasting too much time on administrative tasks? Should you be outsourcing certain jobs instead of doing them yourself? Is it time to hire a manager to oversee daily operations so you can free up your time for more creative pursuits?

Get other perspectives. Ask your employees, family members, or colleagues for their thoughts on your business. You can do this for both operational procedures as well as the business itself. Ask them for their opinions on how you might improve your business direction, products, or procedures. You might be surprised by the great ideas you receive, while making your associates feel good that you sought their input.

Think outside the box. As trite as that phrase has become, it holds a true gem of wisdom. By opening your mind to allow in creative ideas, you can make any business venture much more effective, enjoyable, or unique. Rather than following a traditional or normal route in your business activities, consider whether something might be done better in another way.

See if you can expand upon your business ideas, your products, the level of services you offer, or any other aspect of your business. The more you focus on opening to other possibilities, the more ideas you will trigger.

Make room for daydreams. You might think that doing “nothing” is a waste of time and productivity, but time and time again it has been proven to be a lucrative activity indeed! Don’t your best ideas come to you when you’re relaxed? That’s because your mind is naturally more receptive when you’re calm.

In addition, this enables you to more easily connect with your authentic self, from which all creativity flows. Make it a habit to set aside a few hours a week to daydream. Let your thoughts roam randomly, or think about a specific aspect of your business that you want to get insight about.

Don’t try to puzzle out a solution, just let your mind drift. Keep a notepad handy and jot down those ideas as they fly into your conscious awareness!

5 Ways To Bring More Creativity Into Your Life

2008-01-06T13:22:00.000-08:00

Many of us live lives that are focused on everything BUT creativity. We’ve got heavy obligations, meetings, chores, commitments and endless demands coming from every direction. Who has time for creativity, and who has the energy for it, even when we have the time?

Fortunately, even small amounts of time spent in a creative mind-set can expand our creative vision, and in the process add a greater sense of enjoyment to every aspect of our lives. If you’ve lost touch with your creativity and want to recapture it again, there are very simple techniques you can use to do so – even if you don’t have a lot of spare time available.

Try something new as often as possible. It’s easy to fall into a rut of sameness in our lives. We travel the same route to the same job and do the same activities day after day. This puts our minds into a trance of sorts, because we can accomplish most everything on autopilot.

If we go on long enough like this, we forget that our lives could be any other way. Make a commitment to add at least one new activity to your life each week. It could be as simple as trying a new recipe, shopping at a different store, or taking an alternate driving route. Shake up your routine and you awaken your mind – and your creative inspiration.

See things from a different perspective. When was the last time you really LOOKED at the people and objects surrounding you? Are you really seeing them, or do they blend into the background because you’re so focused on other priorities? For a few minutes each day, take some time to really SEE what’s around you.

Notice your friend’s radiant smile, the way the sunlight plays on the clouds and trees, and the scents carried in the breeze. Lie in your back yard and gaze up at the clouds, or flip over and study the grass and insects. Observe everything more closely and you’ll suddenly realize you’re “seeing” much more than you did before.

Seek creative outlets more often. One reason many of us avoid creative pursuits is because we believe we don’t have time for them. You don’t have to spend a lot of time to get a lot of enjoyment from engaging your creativity. You may not be able to abandon your obligations but you can definitely squeeze in 10 or 15 minutes to write, paint, dance, sing, or stitch each day.

You may think that such a small amount of time wouldn’t make a difference, but those few minutes can seem like hours when you’re doing something you genuinely enjoy. You might even get inspired to allocate more time for creativity by reducing your television watching, eliminating an activity you no longer enjoy, or even switching jobs to gain more free time.

Recognize the streak of creative inspiration in all things. Have you ever wondered how ideas for common products and inventions were conceived? Look at all the items in your home, from artwork to kitchenware, and consider the process that the creators used to bring these items into your life.

Who thought up that nifty little gadget that helps you open bottles and jars more easily? Who got the idea to put paper towels on a roll for easier storage and use? Can you think of any great inventions that would make people’s lives easier? Can you think of ways to improve on the products you see around you? Whether you take action on any of these ideas isn’t important; just by thinking more creatively, you will be tapping into your own creative inspiration.

Open your mind and let good stuff seep in. One of the reasons we feel shut off from our creative vision is because we don’t spend enough time feeding it with positive ideas. Take time to open and expand your mind.

Read more, learn more, and open to the possibilities in your life. Focus more of your attention on positive, uplifting material. Read books that inspire you, visit an art gallery and look closely at the beautiful creations on display, or listen to music that stimulates your senses. Before long, you’ll be itching to express your creativity.

Remember that there is no right or wrong way to tap into your creativity; go with whatever works best for you. Use these ideas as they are, adjust them to better suit your circumstances, or use them as jumping off points for your own creative ideas. Simply focusing more on creativity alone will help you to tap into your natural creative flow.

How To Enhance Your Creativity With Visualization

2008-01-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

If you’ve spent any length of time feeling blocked creatively, it may seem as if your muse has departed on an extended vacation with no intention to return. One good way to entice her back is by using visualization.

Visualization is the process of seeing images in your mind and feeling the feelings you would experience if the images were really part of your physical experience. Many studies on visualization have determined that the subconscious mind does not differentiate between mental and physical experiences; it sees both of them as equally “real”!

This is great news because by simply creating and watching a mental movie, you can bring about positive change in nearly any area of your life – including creativity.

There are no set rules for using visualization to enhance your creativity. Use the suggestions below, or come up with your own. The only requirement is that you have fun with the techniques.

Visualize your mind opening to creative inspiration. If you spend much of your time feeling confused, scattered, stressed or fatigued, your mind is likely closed to new ideas and insights, simply because you’ve got so much going on mentally already. However, you may find that daily visualization sessions can not only stimulate your creative side, they can help you focus better in all other areas of your life too.

First spend a few minutes breathing slowly and deeply, relaxing your body and quieting your mind as much as possible. Then imagine you are looking at yourself from outside your body. Focus on your face and head, and imagine that the top of your head begins to open slowly, like an oval-shaped bowl.

Shift your focus up to the space right above your head and imagine that you can see dozens of creative ideas swirling around, looking for a place to take root. Give them permission to enter the top of your head, and watch as they spiral down to soak into your mind. Then switch your perspective so you are once again inside your body, feeling these wonderful, juicy ideas soaking into you and stimulating your desire to create with joy and abandon.

Visualize yourself being more joyful and creative. Many of us feel cut off from our creativity simply because we forget to focus on it throughout the day. Spend time visualizing the opposite situation. Imagine that you are very in tune with your creative self, and you weave a ribbon of creativity through every experience you have.

Imagine yourself wearing bright colors, laughing robustly, enjoying delicious foods, loving deeply, and taking time to enjoy your life more. See yourself as an accomplished painter, writer, actor, musician, or any other creative persona. How would this version of yourself act? How would he or she live each day? Then make an effort to incorporate these qualities into your physical experiences.

Visualize yourself being more confident about your creative works. If you’ve blocked out your creative side because you fear you’re not “good enough” at it, it’s time to revisit what creativity really means! During a visualization session, affirm that creativity is not about trying to measure up to someone else’s idea of beauty or accomplishment – it’s about YOU expressing the unique qualities only you possess.

Imagine yourself creating with joy and confidence, knowing that the process of creation is infinitely more important than the end result. See yourself growing in mastery with everything you create, and allowing more and more of your unique qualities to be infused into everything you do.

Imagine that the more you engage your creative side, the more confident you become in yourself, and the less you care about what others think. Imagine that with every moment you spend expressing your creativity, you reclaim another little piece of your inner power, which you can then use to further enhance your creativity.

These are only a few ideas for using visualization to enhance your creativity, but you can come up with many more! Think about an aspect of your creativity you want to change, and then create a positive mental movie to make it your new reality.

As with anything, the more you visualize, the better you will be at it, and the bigger impact it will have on your life.

Starting Your Creative Pursuits

2008-01-06T13:19:00.000-08:00

You may think that creativity is all about the physical activities of writing, painting, drawing, or dancing, but creative pursuits are also valuable for what they awaken within you.

When you engage in creative activities, you tap into the essence of yourself. Some might call this your soul, your spirit, or your divine nature. This is the part of you that experiences consciousness, the part of you that loves and laughs and feels joy, and yes, creates. It is the part of you that is the unique expression of who you are at a core level.

When you’re out of touch with this vital part of yourself, your life may take on shades of gray. You may find yourself feeling bored, uninspired, depressed, aimless, or disinterested in just about everything.

When you awaken your authentic self, your life takes on brilliant colors. Everything around you seems brighter and clearer and more robust, including your job, your energy, your relationships, and even the food you eat.

Awakening your authentic self may seem daunting, but only until you realize how simple it can be when engaging in creative pursuits. When you do any creative activity, or even make an effort to think more creatively, you automatically tap into this core essence of yourself.

This can benefit and enhance your life in many ways, but here are just a few:

You feel calmer and happier with yourself. When you are engaged fully with your authentic self, you don’t worry so much about what others think of you. You are able to be genuine in your relationships with others, as well as being honest and respectful with yourself.

You find yourself wanting to do nice things for yourself more often, like taking better care of your body and making time to do things you enjoy. Inevitably, these activities will boost your self-esteem and contribute to a lasting positive self-image. Even better, the better you feel about yourself, the more likely you are to continue taking time to indulge your creative side, which keeps the positive cycle going.

You experience and hold less stress in your body and mind. Even when you’re not actively engaged in creative activities, you may discover that little things don’t seem to bother you as much as they once did. You are better able to let go of unproductive thoughts and unhealthy relationships.

Your authentic self is by nature very peaceful and joyful, and by connecting more frequently with this aspect of yourself you are able to carry these traits into every area of your life. As a result, you are better able to handle stressful moments, as well as let go of the stress when it threatens to take over your life.

You are more in touch with your passion. Passion has the ability to transform nearly any situation in your life, but it is most effective when applied to situations that are unfulfilling in some way.

Perhaps your job has become a bore or your relationships could use a little boost, but you’re not sure what to do about it. Connecting with your authentic self through creative pursuits gets you in touch with your inner passion and awakens your intuition about how to use it effectively. With a little introspection, you’ll know the best steps to take to turn around any dissatisfactory situation, or simply to add more passion to otherwise acceptable situations.

It may seem like too much effort to make time for your creative activities, but once you start incorporating even small changes you will quickly notice a difference in how you feel.

If you take it a step further and make your creative pursuits a high priority, sit back and watch in wonder as your authentic self awakens and takes over your entire life, painting it with rich colors, pleasing scents and meaningful experiences.

Creating From The Heart

2008-01-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

When you engage your heart while immersed in creative activities, you add a boost of incredible power to whatever you do. To demonstrate this concept, think about the last time you were deeply in love with someone. When you said, “I love you,” you were not just saying it with words, were you?

No, you said it with your eyes, with your heart, with your energy, and as such, the recipient of your love was able to feel it more deeply. On the other hand, have you ever said “I love you” to someone when you were really feeling annoyed or angry at them? Your words said, “I love you,” but your heart was saying something far different. Very likely, the other person could feel a difference in the energy level.

The same thing applies to whatever you do. If you tried to make a painting or write a novel when you were only half paying attention to it, how good do you think it would come out?

In order to enhance your creativity and achieve better results with your creative works, try engaging your heart. This means not just seeing your works with your eyes, and not just manipulating the works with your hands, but actually “feeling” a sense of love, joy and inspiration with your heart.

First, it helps immensely if you are doing something you truly enjoy. It is possible to generate a sense of love and joy for something you don’t like, but it takes a lot more effort. Instead, try this technique with something you already enjoy. Then:

Fully immerse yourself in the activity. Let go of all worrisome thoughts, emotional burdens, anger, frustration, and stress. Promise yourself that you can pick them back up later if you want to, but in this place and time you choose to set them down. Blot out all distractions and focus fully on your artwork, writing, or whatever you are creating.

Allow yourself to feel immense love and joy for what you are doing. Don’t do it halfheartedly, go all the way! Allow yourself to laugh, cry, sing; whatever feelings come up within you, infuse them into your work. If you feel moved to go in a different direction than you originally intended with your work, go with that feeling and do it. If you can let go of rigid ideas about how something “should” be done, you give yourself the opportunity to discover how it could be done!

Suspend judgment of your work. Too many of us try to edit and censor ourselves because we don’t trust our creative inspiration. We’ve got a streak of perfectionism that holds us back from taking bigger risks and trying something new. Let go of your fears that your work won’t be “good enough” and allow it to bloom into something far better than you imagined.

Let your heart lead you in every step and you’ll find that you won’t have to control the creative process because it has a beauty and wisdom all its own.