Nurturing The Brilliant Creative Genius In You!

There’s a brilliant and creative genius inside of YOU!

Do you view yourself as a creative person or do you feel like you were overlooked when creative genes were passed out?

Consider how some have defined creativity:

“Creativity is an idea that is novel, good, and useful.”
– Michael Grybko

“Creativity is seeing and communicating ideas in ways that are unique, compelling, and unexpected.”
-Lee Odden

“Starting with nothing and ending up with something. Interpreting something you saw or experienced and processing it so it comes out different than how it went in.”
– Henry Rollins

Those who are able to express themselves artistically through art, music, dance, or the written word are certainly creative. Yet there’s plenty of room for leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs, and YOU to be creative too! In fact, if you want to excel at what you do, tapping into your creativity is the ticket!

You Are Unique!

You were made in God’s image, and God is wildly and wonderfully creative! Just look at the amazing world around you, not to mention the billions of unique people that have walked this year. That’s creativity!

In light of that, there’s a creative side to you! Do you believe it? It’s true!

You are one-of-a-kind – there’s no one else in the world like you. You have a unique set of skills and perspective. Over time, you may have allowed yourself to conform in an attempt to be more like those around you, but at the core, you are rare and designed to reflect God in an original way.

Are you nurturing your creative side and applying it to the various aspects of your life and work? Or are you hindering your creativity and don’t even realize it? Perhaps you are limiting your creativity by…

• Operating without margin
• Taking on too much
• Being afraid – you are afraid of failure, being vulnerable, or what others will think, etc.
• Believing you aren’t creative or have limiting beliefs
• Being pessimistic
• Engaging in habits that aren’t helping
• Being impatient – it’s hard to be creative when you are rushing!
• Not taking time to slow down, think, and reflect
• Striving for perfection
• Living life in a disconnected way

Creativity

Creativity is like a muscle: left unused it atrophies.

Consistently work your creativity muscle and it flourishes!

The temptation will always be there to revert back to the way you have always done things, but I’m guessing you are ready for some different results in your life and work! I’m confident that you are eager to step into your full potential and all that God has for you!

Problems, conflicts, and unexpected glitches will always be there vying for your attention! They are just a part of living in this fallen world. Will you frantically react, or will you creatively respond? The choice is yours!

In order to apply more creativity to your life and work, it’s important to regularly nurture your creativity. Water it! Fertilize it. Let it soak up the sun!

The Reward…

To nurturing your creative side is that the creative process actually nourishes and refuels you!

Nurturing your creativity requires that you to do some things differently. And that you make some conscious choices that will take you outside your comfort zone. Take it slow! Trying to transform yourself into a wildly creative being overnight is a recipe for burnout. Instead, look for small ways to integrate small changes over time. Those are the changes that are going to last!

Here are some practical ways to nurture your creativity by focusing on your…

Remember…

Start small! Pick one area to focus on: your environment, thinking, routines, or habits. Which one would make the biggest difference if you were to focus on this area? Then chip away at the suggestions and don’t be afraid to come up with some of your own ideas on how to intentionally invite more creativity into your life and work.

The temptation is to apply creativity to the obvious parts of your life. However, something remarkable happens when you infuse creativity into the unexpected areas like your…

• Communication – why not make your emails more interesting?
• Parenting
• Relationships
• Cleaning and/or organizing
• Journaling
• Business development or sales
• Cooking
• Processes, procedures, and systems
• Workouts
• Your time with God
• Frustrations – yes – what creative solutions would eliminate your current frustrations?

Creativity begets more creativity. What if creativity were to permeate your life? What if you focused on a different aspect of your life each week and intentionally “watered it” with creativity?

Just a heads up…when you use a muscle in a new way, it will feel uncomfortable initially, so as you attempt to do activities you are not used to doing, expect that. Don’t give up! Stick with it! I promise making the effort to connect to your inner creative genius gets easier!

Nourishing creativity in your life may mean narrowing your focus and/or tightening up your priorities. While you may wind up focusing on less, you will actually accomplish more, all while enjoying the process! Who doesn’t want that?

Where in your life or work would a little shot of creativity make a big difference?