There are many definitions of creativity; dictionaries give the following meanings: create: To cause to exist, Bring into being, Originate, To give rise to, Bring about, Produce, To be first to portray and give character to a role or part (appropriate to creating fictional characters and writing stories) creation: An original product of human invention or imagination. "Being creative is seeing the same thing as everybody else but thinking of something different"
There are many aspects to creativity, but one definition would include the ability to take existing objects and combine them in different ways for new purposes. Creativity is the ability to generate novel and useful ideas and solutions to everyday problems and challenges.
How to Develop Creativity
Here are a few things you can do to improve your creativity:
Study books on creative thinking techniques and put them into practice
Attend courses on creative thinking and put the ideas into practice.
Keep a daily journal and record your thoughts, ideas, sketches, etc. as soon as you get them. Review your journal regularly and see what ideas can be developed.
Indulge in relaxation activities and sports to give the mind a rest and time for the subconscious to digest information.
Develop an interest in a variety of different things, preferably well away from your normal sphere of work. For example, read comic books or magazines you wouldn't normally get. This keeps the brain busy with new things. It is a common trait of creative people that they are interested in a wide variety of subjects.
Don't work too hard -you need time away from a problem to be creative after periods of intense focus.
There's no better way to broaden and refresh your outlook than travel.
Set a measurable goal
S et up criteria to indicate whether or not you have or are reaching your goal. S urround yourself with people who love and respect you; people who encourage you to take risks.
C elebrate your progress in reaching your creativity goals.
Begin thinking of yourself as a creative person. Surround that identity with beliefs about your creative abilities. Learn the skills of creativity, act creatively every opportunity you get and find environments that support creative behavior.
Creativity is increased by acknowledging that it exists and by nurturing it. Create a sensory stimulating environment, increase awareness of that environment and provide sufficient quiet time to allow that sensory stimulation to be translated into external reality
Flood yourself with information in your chosen area of creativity then deliberately expose yourself to information outside your area.
Practice meditation or some kind of peaceful, relaxing activity such as handwork or quiet exercise. Avoid becoming too entrenched in your routines.
Don't allow your beliefs to distort your perceptions. A useful technique is to deliberately and consciously attempt to integrate opposites at every opportunity within your own mind.
Develop the attitude that your creative work is important even if others do not share your belief. There are hundreds of hobbies and some of them can be real workouts for your imagination. Painting, Drawing or Sculpture can't avoid putting you creative machinery to work.
Practicing internally seeing everything you can--colors, shapes, images.
Listening to the sounds associated with your visualizing--music, environmental sounds, voices, tones,
Noticing aromas you are smelling and flavors you are tasting;
Paying special attention to your emotional/ feeling states;
Reaching out in your mind's eye and touching what you are visualizing; be- coming aware of textures;
In your body, noticing physical motion or movements that are associated with your visualization
A written list is not the best tool for planning, note taking or idea generation. Use Mind Mapping instead
Take a new challenge each week. Work on a new problem each week; explore something new with the purpose of solving it, or generating ideas.
You can benefit by learning from the lives, ideas and actions of the great geniuses of history. Adopt a role model - maybe Leonardo da Vinci, Picasso, Einstein, Iqbal, Ghalib, Sadquain, and Spielberg.
Observe the following:
Objects
Small parts
Construction
Creative Aspect
Change
People
Outlook
Life
Achievements
Quotations & actions
Places
Features
Development
Aesthetics (beauty)
Change
Events
Characters
Sequence
Memorable parts
Results
Ideas
Finer details
How is was developed
What’s so special about this idea
Effects of the idea
Analyze
Discuss advantages & disadvantages of an object
Compare with another object of a similar kind
Suggest changes in design.
Think of another method of construction of a object
Discuss the effects of a personality
Compare a personality with others
Suggests ideas for improvement in a character
Suggest any improvement in the place
Compare with a similar place
Suggest any change in the: Characters, place or the sequence of the events
Think of the life/world without the event. Would it be better or worst? Why?
Suggest any change in the idea
Think of the life/world without the idea. Would it be better or worst? Why?
Give judgment or decision
So what is your concluding statement? Explain this in one sentence. Which one will you choose? Will you buy it? Would you like to exchange it for something else? If yes then what?
Similarly, would you like to visit it or someplace else and would you like to meet him/her or someone else.
Development, realization and expression of feelings. How do you feel about it/him?
Application or usage of a person, place, thing and idea. How can we use it/him/this? What is the plan of action? List down the steps.
Solving a problem. How he/it/this can help us solve the problem?
Creativity. After looking at him/her/it/this can you think of something new? How can you change it/him/yourself?
Obstacles to Creativity
Being too busy and getting too involved with a problem
Having conflicting goals and objectives
Not allowing yourself enough time to relax
Fear of criticism
Lack of confidence
State of mind/body (for example experiencing negative stress)
a sterile environment that does not feed the senses
Demands for quick production of results.
Harsh words (from others or from ourselves)
By rigid rules and barriers that prevent us from gathering information and/or from connecting with others.
Stress . Stress is not only a distraction, which drains energy, which could otherwise be used creatively; it is bad for one's health.
Routines . Routines or set ways of performing tasks have their uses, but allowing them to become too entrenched in one's life causes one to limit the range of responses available and can lead to the development of the anathema of creativity, the "bureaucratic mind".
Beliefs . Having a strong belief in something not only limits our response options, but causes us to limit the way in which we perceive and process information from the outside world. We may "filter out" information which contradicts our belief, and end up in our own "reality tunnel", in which we remain blissfully unaware of much that occurs in front of our very eyes.
Ego . Having a strong ego identity with a particular belief exacerbates this situation and can lead to us aggressively defending it, to the detriment of creativity, our society, and ourselves. This is not to imply that one must have no beliefs, merely that one needs to be very aware of one's beliefs and consequent limitations.
Fear . Fear of self-expression and of the judgment of others can severely limit one's creativity.
Self-criticism . Negative thinking and self-criticism are also limiting factors of an individual's creativity.
By Rayed Afzal Executive Director
New Century Education
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