Being creative is a tool of well-being and progress for humanity. But how to enhance this cognitive resource? You do it by walking, reading and with other keys that we reveal in this reading.
Agatha Christie, Albert Einstein, Coco Chanel, Stephen Hawking or Stephen King. What do these names that many of us admire and that are part of our culture have in common? The element that unites them is that fascinating dimension called creativity. We all come into the world equipped with this gift, but only a few know how to develop it to the fullest.
Surely now you will ask yourself: And why does there come a time when we stop taking advantage of it as we should? Sir Ken Robinson, a British education expert, once said that “schools kill creative thinking.” But don’t worry, you always have time to resurrect and enhance your innovative reasoning. We explain how to achieve it.
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” Pablo Picasso
Creativity, much more than generating ideas
Creativity, from an evolutionary point of view, was what allowed us to adapt to challenging situations. You are looking at a cognitive tool capable of transforming the world and to which we can all contribute. You too. The creative person is one who thinks innovatively, combines concepts and produces unexpected but valuable results.
The creative process is the seed of art and scientific and technological advances. It is a mental exercise that starts from the connection of ideas and information and, in addition, it is rewarding. This is what they highlight in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Being creative increases subjective well-being and both dimensions, in turn, feed each other. In fact, as David Lynch tells in his book A Space to Dream (2018), creative inspiration comes to him when he meditates and is calm. You are facing a sphere that is worth exercising, practicing and enhancing. Below, we reveal the techniques.
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Strategies to enhance it
One of the most notable figures in psychology in the study of creativity is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. His book Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention (1995) is a reference in this field. Something interesting that he points out to us in this work is that this factor is exercised through apparently contradictory processes.
The creative person combines rest with work discipline, joy with effort, intuition with rationing, and fantasy with objectivity. These extremes may seem disconcerting to you, but they make sense. The innovative brain needs multiple stimuli to be productive. And the following techniques can help you.
1. Associate ideas
The idea association technique is a creative method that consists of connecting unrelated concepts, words or ideas to generate new perspectives. The premise is that by finding connections between elements, you can stimulate creativity and discover unusual perspectives. This would be an example:
· Define a problem or challenge you have right now.
· Write a list of ideas that come to mind right now.
· It does not matter that these proposals do not have, in appearance, a certain relationship.
· Next, look for connections between the two, think about how they can complement each other.
2. Activate your curiosity
Always keep an open and curious mind towards the world around you. Ask yourself every moment about why things are the way they are and how they could be different. Don’t take anything for granted, try to focus beyond the immediate reality and recover that childish look that is surprised even by the simplest facts.
3. Read every day
The benefits of reading in the field of inventiveness are undoubted and supported by science. An example of this is a work published in the 3rd International Conference on Learning Innovation and Quality Education. It was concluded that this enriching activity has a great impact on creative thinking skills, especially fluency.
4. Stimulate divergent thinking
Divergent or lateral thinking approaches problems from unconventional angles. It was developed by Edward de Bono, a Maltese psychologist and writer, and focuses on challenging established thought patterns. If you want to enhance this cognitive resource much more, take note of some keys:
Change the approach: Lateral thinking involves changing the way you approach a problem. Instead of following a linear and logical approach, a change of direction is sought to find new solutions.
“What if…?” question: One of the fundamental strategies of this creativity technique is to ask questions that begin with: “What if…?” This invites you to consider what-if scenarios and explore other approaches.
Investigate new perspectives: take into account different points of view for a specific problem. This can include looking at reality through the perspective of other people and even inanimate objects. Why not dare?
Breaking thought patterns: this technique seeks to break the most rigid thought patterns imposed by traditional logic. This often forces you to review your own internal narratives to detect assumptions and pre-established rules that you inadvertently reinforce.
5. List attributes
This is one of the most fun techniques. It was developed by Robert Crawford and is included in the book The techniques of creative thinking (2012). Attribute listing consists of listing all the characteristics of an object or problem. Then, you modify each attribute in as many ways as possible.
The goal is to generate innovative proposals and explore different possibilities, no matter how bizarre they may seem at first. In fact, this technique is frequently used in the field of marketing. You can start by defining that the sky is blue, and finish by stating, for example, that the sky smells like detergent and create an advertising campaign with it.
6. Mindfulness and receptive thinking
How to deny it? In psychology, the technique of mindfulness and its benefits for almost any area are always mentioned. The truth is that mindfulness is a technique that will allow you to enhance your creative thinking. A thematic review published in the magazine Thinking skills and creativity delves into this same subject.
What they point out is that this resource enhances concentration and promotes more open thinking. Additionally, it reduces fear of external judgment and even negative self-consciousness. Such benefits are in tune with the foundations of being creative, such as the ability to relax and flow, wanting to take risks and having a more awake and curious attitude.
7. Mind maps
A mind map is an idea organization technique that allows you to structure information in a more creative way. It was developed by Tony Buzan and is based on a very specific assumption. The human brain processes information successfully when a visual and non-linear approach is used. Take note of how to carry it out:
· Take paper and pencil.
· Write the core idea in the center of the diagram.
· The nodes connected to each other are distributed around.
· These nodes contain the ideas that you are having little by little.
· The ramifications arise from the central proposal and grow with the ideas.
· Associate these nodes with your reasoning and you can use distinctive colors to symbolize them.
8. Walking to awaken creativity
It may seem like mere pseudoscience to you, however, going for a walk awakens your creative thinking. Your brain likes that you move, that you connect with the outside world, that you put worries into perspective. Stress is put aside and only then do you start to think differently.
There is scientific evidence of this relationship. The Journal of Experimental Psychology demonstrates in research that walking boosts creative ideation in real time and that this effect persists afterward. So don’t hesitate, put on your sneakers and explore your city, the beautiful corners of a forest or the calm of a beach. The ideas that arise will be very useful to you.
Interesting facts about innovative thinking
Frida Kahlo used to say that her art and creativity saved her life and that it was a mechanism to relieve pain. Nikola Tesla and writer Stephen King noted that some of her most innovative ideas originated in dreams. Innovative thinking still contains certain mysteries, but its mechanisms are fascinating. We share with you some interesting information about it.
Why are some people more creative than others?
Being creative is more than just thinking outside the box: it’s also a lifestyle. In reality, this construct is a process that integrates thought, personality, motivation and emotion. This makes certain profiles of our society stand out in this sphere. Maybe it’s your case. We analyze what these most creative men and women are like:
· Curious
· They listen to their intuition
· They like challenges
· Persistence defines them
· They are open to experience
· Your mental focus is more flexible
· They have more critical thinking
· They are guided by intrinsic motivation
· Creating is a rewarding and self-realizing act
It has been discovered that the brains of creative people can show greater connectivity between seemingly unrelated brain regions. This could explain their ability to associate ideas in unusual ways.
What happens in the brain during creative thinking?
Innovative reasoning is based on a mechanism based on the combination of mental representations. Your mind analyzes data, compares it with challenging ideas, imagines, reconstructs and creates original proposals almost without knowing how. You will be interested to know that one of the most decisive brain regions in this process is the hippocampus.
In fact, works published in the journal Hippocampus describe that people with bilateral damage in this region show deficits in divergent thinking. This area is the nerve center of your memory and emotions; without them, it would be very difficult for you to carry out the processes that orchestrate creative reasoning. We list them for you:
· Motivation
· Abstraction
· Planning
· Work memory
· Cognitive flexibility
· Insight (understand, realize)
· Convergent and divergent thinking
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Creativity is intelligence having fun
Creativity is a fundamental human faculty that plays a crucial role in your life and the progress of society. It brings innovation, art, problem solving and the ability to enrich your everyday life in a variety of wonderful ways.
In addition, there is another undoubted benefit. Being creative saves you, relieves you, makes you feel better by expanding your reality and bringing you new perspectives. The writer, the artist, the one who promotes the advancement of science or the one who has fun doing crafts knows this well. Take advantage of it and not only will you make great progress: your mental health will also be rewarded.
Source: Beautiful Mind
