Have you ever asked yourself if you're a naturally creative person? Or have you ever wondered how some people make their creative talents successfully work for them? Me too! The study of creativity has been an endlessly fascinating subject for me. It's complicated and hazy as to what it is and how some people seem to "have it" and others "don't," but I don't buy that

Personally, I believe that we all have a well of boundless creative output, though the difference between the "creative" and the "non-creative" is the ability to tap into this well of creative thought. The key is creative confidence.

For some reasons, most people have had their creative spirit squashed, and they have come to the belief that they don't have what it takes. ‘The Creativity Myth' is to blame. The myth came from the belief that creativity is an intrinsic trait like the natural colour of your hair. The myth is believed by many and commonly takes hold at some point in the school system. One day you start hearing that your ideas just aren't good enough, and inevitably you start to believe it. (Recommended reading; ‘Creative Confidence').

Well…I'm here to tell you those people were wrong and there is good news! You do have what it takes to be a creative thinking person. Keep reading if you would like to know more about the working habits of highly creative people. You might be making some of these habits already! I recommend practicing bringing in the new habits you aren't doing. Let's challenge the way we think and let's view the world through a different lens.

What is creativity?

To talk about creativity, we should start with a definition. My natural instinct is to give you different creative peoples opinion and views on creativity, though; it's such a subjective and opinion that it may do more confusing than clarifying. I believe this is a job for science! And many Neuro-Scientists have done studies on creativity, and what it does/is to the human brain. I came across this quote on creativity in my research for this article, and I like its simplicity. The quote is by Michael Grybko, neuroscience research scientist and engineer from the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington:

"In science, we define ‘creativity' as an idea that is novel, good, and useful. It's a little broader than the Oxford Dictionary's definition, where it's just the ability to create because that doesn't say much. You can create something, and it's not very useful, or it just won't work well."

"Pooling from this wealth of knowledge we store in our brains and making connections between different ideas, we have to solve a new problem, or create, write a new novel — that's what science looks at when we study ‘creativity.' Just to drive home the point, this is very much a function of the brain. There's no need to invoke all that folklore into this. It's our brains doing what they do." (source; Copy blogger)

To me, the essence here is connections. We draw from our vast pool of knowledge and experience. We've have been acquiring this pool of over our entire lives. When we've learned to access this pool we can connect these ideas together to create something that didn't exist before. As mentioned before, what is it that keeps us from accessing our pool of thought? What squashes this creative confidence? Fear. It's the fear of failure, criticism, of looking stupid.

"Seeing something that doesn't exist and then making it so." – Hugh Howey

20 Daily Practices That Inspire Creative Thought

1. Don't Fear "Failure."

Number one on the list because it's the number one reason why creativity is snuffed out. More often than not we fail before we even begin. It's a self-defeating mindset that shuts us down. A question like; "It's not going to be what I had hoped, so what's the point?" Or a thought like; "I'm not good enough to do something like that." is what keeps us from our real potential.

So, cut it out. Stop with the excuses and just go for it. We need failure. Failure is how we develop as humans. Every time you fail you learn a new and treasured piece of knowledge. Failure breeds creativity. (Source; Filmmakers Process)