Conscious Creativity — Ignite Your Mind
Here’s something you’ve probably never considered about yourself. You are as creative as…let’s say, Steve Jobs. Okay, I imagine several wry smiles already. So, maybe we should substitute the operative verb “are” with “can be”. Still hard to imagine? Maybe that’s because you’re thinking of the now iconic Steve Jobs and not the college dropout who decades before, wandered through India in search of enlightenment. Of course it is understandable and fitting that we revere creative people like Steve Jobs. They managed to climb out of their ordinary circumstances to become extraordinarily transformational figures. But here is the good bit. Beyond their high IQs and resolute spirits, they are really as human as the rest of us.
Indeed, it is important to remember that as humans, we are intelligently designed to be creative. From the primal instincts of our forebears who developed tools to use in the Stone Age to our modern ideas, methods and approaches to solving contemporary problems, we unconsciously “create” something every day. Almost everybody does. Albeit many of us could well be described as passive creators; i.e. those who after stumbling on new ways of doing things without any deliberate intent, fail to recognise the value of their discoveries and don’t act on them.
Certainly, how well and which direction we focus our creative energies, is typically influenced by our level of technical competencies, training and exposure. Aside these though, the underlying difference between the Steve Jobs of the world and the rest of us is what could be described as “Conscious Creativity” i.e. the deliberate identification of problems or issues and the painstaking process of thinking about solutions. Whether you are working on a process improvement, a technical innovation, a new culinary recipe, a fictional story, a song or work of art, here are five things you can do to harness your conscious creativity:
- Set aside moments of reflection. Call this your quiet moment too but this is your thinking time. A time to ponder over the particular problem/issue/challenge you’ve identified.
- Let your mind free-range over the problem/issue/challenge. Even if no idea comes up immediately, mulling over the issue would have planted the seeds of solutions that would spring up anytime.
- Pay attention and listen to your mind. We’re often too busy or distracted to listen to our own instincts. Beyond the scientific approach of innovation and discovery, learned instincts have triggered the birth of many great ideas.
- Document your thoughts. Once you’ve detected the faint stirring of an idea, write it down in a small notebook. Even your smart phone works just fine. Keep them close always. Ideas are often serendipitous, breaking into your thoughts in the most unexpected moments.
- Execute. Ideas don’t come alive on paper no matter how well written. Don’t be afraid to share your idea/initiative with someone you trust for an objective feedback. But be wary of naysayers. Trust your own judgement and instinct too but refine your ideas based on new information and improvement suggestions from others — friends, colleagues and possibly collaborators. Bringing an idea to life (i.e. execution) is probably the most challenging bit of the creative process. And sometimes it may take longer than you anticipated. But if you truly believe in your idea and never give up in your execution efforts, your nascent idea will soon be birthed into practical existence.
There are probably many more steps in the creative process not listed here. But these are as good as any to start your conscious creativity journey. So go ahead, ignite your mind.
