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Humankind was created each with his own gift. There are people who are natural athletes, others who are naturally good at leadership qualities, etc. Similarly, if you look around yourself especially in your workplace, you would be able to find someone that you think has naturally been gifted with a creative mind. His ideas and opinions are perhaps unlike any other and you can’t help but wish if your mind could work in that way. Well, the good news is that it is possible for you to train your mind and stimulate its creative side.

While creativity is a natural gift for some people, it is nonetheless, a learned skill which can be mastered with persistence and patience. You can think of creativity as a muscle. Just like you, there are various exercises which help you grow a particular muscle group, there are tips and tricks that you can apply to cultivate creativity as well. What most of us have been doing wrong is waiting for creativity to find us. It’s almost like we’re waiting for a divine revelation that’ll spark the fire of creativity in our minds without putting in a deliberate effort. It’s important to realize that creativity is an active process. You need to work hard and practice creativity in order for it to grow. The opportunities are plenty, you just need to be actively looking for them.

Now that you have been inspired knowing that you can actually stir up the creative side of your mind, you must be motivated to learn about the strategies that you can deploy to get the ball rolling. So let’s not keep you waiting any longer and take a closer look at our list of top 8 strategies for stimulating creativity.

1. Knowledge Will Guide You

Creativity is nothing but a game of mind. The stronger, more capable your mind is, the more you would be able to exhibit creativity in your day to day tasks. For someone who is looking forward to stimulating his creative side, therefore, it is important to be always on the lookout for knowledge and information. Remember that education is a continuous process. It doesn’t confine itself to the predetermined subjects which you need to pass in order to graduate. Make it a habit for yourself to read books of all kinds. Inspirational, personal growth, motivational, even fiction can establish a continuous feed of information to your mind. Simply put, reading books and gaining more knowledge about a range of things will make you use your mind more often. The more it is in practice to process and think, the better are its chances of being more creative.

A thirst for knowledge is a surefire way to broaden your mind and widen your perspective. To take things further a notch, you can make it a habit to discuss your ideas with the people around you instead of just keeping them in and eventually shunning it altogether. It can stir up an interesting conversation and keep your mind motivated to be more creative.

2. Meditation For Mental Clarity

There is a fair probability that you are more creative than you think. It’s just that your creativity has been suppressed by the unnecessary thoughts that preoccupy your mind. More often than not, we find ourselves dwelling overly in the thoughts of the past or the worries of the future. Such an attitude leads to high levels of stress and anxiety. A mind that has not been relaxed in a while is in no state to take up a challenge of creativity. This implies that in order to release the Kraken i-e your creativity, mental clarity is the utmost requirement.

A simple to follow yet highly effective strategy that you can put to use for mental clarity is a few minutes of meditation or mindfulness. Simple techniques like square breathing or mindful listening are known to be impeccable in activating the natural relaxation response of your body. Furthermore, the entire concept of mindfulness is based on collecting the scattered pieces of your focus and putting them all into a single, positive event that is happening in the present. This helps a great deal in pulling your mind out of the maze that the interconnected mesh of your thoughts about the past or the future has created. A few minutes of your time every day can optimize your brain functioning and prepare it better to be creative throughout the day.

Meditation and mindfulness are practices that have been around for hundreds of years. It has crossed all boundaries of caste, creed, and religion with believers from all over the world testifying to its benefits. When such a versatile folk is in support of something, don’t you think it deserves to get a chance?

3. Healing Power of Mother Nature

In this time and age, there is hardly anyone who is not enlightened to the benefits of technology. Ask anyone and he would write you a song in the glory of the technology and how it has made our lives more convenient and efficient. But how many of us are actually aware of the side effects of technology? Do we ever stop to think that we are getting all these benefits out of the tech-intensive world, but at what cost? What are we losing in return? It may come as quite a shock to you but the over-reliance on technology has now been backed by science to be the silent killer of creativity and productivity; two of the most valuable features of mankind. If you are looking for creativity, therefore, it is time for you to shut down your smart devices and gadgets and make some time to reconnect with Mother Nature. Go for a camping trip, take a walk in a park, sit under a tree. The closer you get to nature, the sooner your mind will be optimized for creativity.

4. Reward Principle Is Important for Motivation

There are a few basic principles that drive all humans alike. One such principle is that of reward. There is hardly anyone that you can find on the planet whose motivation for pretty much anything is not directly linked with the reward. Say for example you start to learn a new sport. What do you think will be your impeccable source of motivation? In all honesty, it is going to be the competition and the reward that you’ll get if you won. You may want to beat your friend at it or perhaps you want you to win an upcoming tournament. Whatever it is, the anticipation of the reward is what keeps you going.

Your mind is hardwired to function in a similar fashion. It can maximize its output but it will require the reward to keep it motivated to sustain its performance. Therefore, associating minor rewards to each episode of creativity that you are able to exhibit throughout the day is a tried and tested technique to stimulate creativity. What kind of rewards have the potential to work for you, it’s a decision that we’ll leave up to you.

5. We Are Social Animals

Introvert or an extrovert, social connection and the desire to have meaningful relationships with the people around you is a basic need for all humans alike. The gravity of the lack of social connections can be better understood by the fact that it can turn out to be devastating for your mental health in the long run. Parasites like anxiety, depression, and other common mental disorders are more likely to inhabit your mind in isolation than otherwise.

The characteristics like creativity and productivity of an individual are also dependent on his social environment. If you are thriving in an environment with no social support or appreciation, it is likely to be tough for your mind to find the motivation for creativity. The more you are appreciated by your folks for your efforts, the more strongly it will stimulate your creative side. Feeling supported is directly or indirectly linked with creativity. This is a lesson in the importance of surrounding yourself with positivity.

6. Your Mind Needs To Rest

Along the process of revitalizing your creativity, it is important to keep in mind that it doesn’t require you to pressurize your brain all the time. If anything, it is only going to worsen the situation for you. Much like your body breaks down if it is consistently working hard and is not getting enough rest, your mind has limitations as well. There is no need to keep pushing it to be more creative all the time. It is okay to take breaks and let it rest for a while. The importance of the sleep-wake cycle can’t be overemphasized in this regard. The time that you spend sleeping is essentially what your mind utilizes to recharge itself just so it can return with all of its might the next morning. It is understandable to compromise sleep from time to time because you are working. In the fast-paced era of today, it is inevitable. But if you are losing sleep consistently for days at a time, you are slowly deteriorating your mind’s capacity to be creative. It is recommended to have 8 hours of good night’s sleep every day. Even if you can’t manage that, make it a habit of getting at least 6 hours of sleep every day.

7. Learn Something New

As mentioned earlier, creativity is all about your mind. The better it functions, the more creative you are. In order to keep your mind functioning optimally, it is imperative that you keep it exercised. In this regard, learning something new can help a great deal. Science tells us that learning to play a musical instrument is one of the finest activities to stir up the creative side of your mind. Have you had plans of getting your hands on a musical instrument for so long? There is your reason to finally implement that plan now. In the interest of stimulating creativity in your mind, a game of chess can prove to be effective as well. Being a game of the mind, it stimulates your mental compartments and broadens its capacity.

8. Time To Get Fit

Lastly, it is important to realize that working out in a gym does not have its benefits confined to the physical aspects of your body, but it is equally beneficial for your mental capabilities as well. Physical activity is associated with changing the biochemistry of the human body for the better. It releases hormones like serotonin, dopamine, endorphin, and adrenaline which work to restore mood, reduce stress, and optimize brain function. It also helps a great deal in keeping you energetic so you are always on the lookout for new things and ideas to try. Physical exercises are effective in liberating your mind from the troubling thoughts that make up space for creativity. Even if you can’t keep at it for all days of the week and for hours at a time, make it a habit to go to the gym at least 3 times a week with each of your sessions lasting for only thirty minutes. Try it out and you’d see the results for yourself.

Conclusion

The point of this article was to shun the idea that creativity is merely god gifted and if you are not born with it, you are doomed for life. It is, in fact, a learned skill and if you understand the value of it, it is certainly worth learning too. We have highlighted the top 8 strategies that we have developed with thorough research which can start your transformation into a more creative individual. If you are persistent enough, you would soon be able to finally stop idolizing that one colleague in your office with a gifted mind and be the one to inspire others yourself. It’s time that you stopped letting a lack of creativity confine you behind the bars of mediocrity.