What do Thomas Edison, J. D. Rockefeller and Bill Gates have in common?
Creative Intelligence!
Each of these individuals was able to create a fortune because they used their Creativity to come up with doable ideas and then followed through until they succeeded.
5 Sure-Fire Steps to Improve Creative Thinking Skills
So what are some steps you can take to increase your Creative power?
Step 1 – Keep a List Handy
Yeah, I know you’ve heard this one before.
But guess what, this is not about doing your typical Priority List.
This is about clearing your mind of its cluttered thought and making sense of the occasional insights that hit you.
That’s right, what I’m talking about is taming your mind from the monkey chatter and catching the good ideas that pop up. Think about the number of times you have gone to bed and lain there with a mind so active, sleep was impossible.
If you keep a small diary near your bed at night to write down any ideas that come up as you lay your head on the pillow, you will rest better at night knowing you will not loose out on any ideas that come up.
Step 2 – Learn to Relax
You need to release your subconscious mind and let it free.
Find ways to relax your mind as otherwise, when a creative thought emerges, how will you know it’s there?
So learn to find time when you can quiet down your thoughts, connect to nature or simply relax and let your mind float unhampered and free. It is at these times that you should request your subconscious mind to help you and expect creative thoughts to flow to you.
Make sure you identify what activities or inactivities provide you with the best creative ideas. It could be while you are jogging, having a bubble bath or relaxing in the country. A good idea is to take your mobile phone with you when you go for a jog and record any ideas that spring up as you are running.
It doesn’t matter what time of the day you pick to quiet your mind. Just do it every day. The whole point is to increase your Creative ability and it will take practice for you to get good at this.
Step 3 – Focusing
Now this step seems so obvious, you’re probably thinking big deal. Well, it is a big deal.
Focusing all your attention on solving a problem or focusing on something you really, really want is the next step to increasing your Creative Intelligence.
You must know what you want.
Vague doesn’t work here. Your brain is better than any computer and can process thousands of thoughts in a day.
Unless you narrow down the parameters, your brain will just keep going from thought to thought and produce nothing except a creative headache.
Just imagine if Thomas Edison had not put his full focus on creating the bulb. You’d probably still be eating your dinner in the candlelight….and that’s not because you’d be having a romantic dinner.
Step 4 – Day Dreamimg
Learn to let your brain free-float and allow your right brain to day dream new possibilities and ideas.
As ideas start coming forth, write them down quickly. Do not rely on your mind to remember them. Don’t divert your free-floating time with long sentences, just use one or two words to jog your memory. Then start trying to picture the idea in its final form.
Really good artists do it all the time. They flip into a day dreaming state usually every time they pick up brush because their brains are trained to do it. Yours can be too.
Step 5 – Act
Again this seems so obvious but unless you act on the idea your right brain produced, what’s the point of increasing your Creative Intelligence. You must take massive action on your creative ideas.
The right side of your brain needs to know you are taking it seriously. Use your left (logical) side to help you implement your right brain idea. Do not let the left brain’s critical voice take over. Tell it if it doesn’t want to help, get the heck out of your way.
Conclusion
Take your ideas and run with them.
And remember: It only takes one creative idea to make a fortune.
Ask yourself: What would Edison, Rockefeller and Gates have been if they hadn’t acted on their ideas?
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