Creativity isn’t something you are born with. It is something you practice. Here is a 60-second trick to train your brain to think creatively.
Look around you. Find one object in your room. Consider a chair. Ask yourself, “What if this chair had a secret feature?” What would it be? Maybe it folds out to become a bed. Maybe it has built-in Bluetooth speakers. Maybe it can move like a robot to any location.
The goal isn’t to be “realistic” --it’s to loosen up your thinking. This is how inventors, Youtubers, and designers come up with wild new ideas!
Try it yourself and tag us with your weirdest object remix!
What If?” Creativity Exercise
What happens when you take two things you love and mix them together? That’s creative thinking in a nutshell—combining ideas together in new ways.
Take something you love: music, food, or fashion, for instance. Ask yourself, “How can I remix this with something totally unexpected?”
Examples: What if sushi was a desert? What if basketball and baseball were combined to make one sport? What if your favorite song was turned into a video game?
The ideas don’t have to make sense. In fact, the weirder the better! This “remix mindset” is how creative thinkers break out of old routines to come up with new products, viral ideas, or bold designs.
Try it now. Combine two unrelated things and remix them into something entirely new. Pose your best remix and tag us!
The #1 Creativity Killer
What is the #1 thing that blocks creativity? It’s not talent. It’s not time. It’s not even money.
It’s fear. Fear of failing. Fear of being weird. Fear of making mistakes. Fear of hearing “that will never work.”
But here is the truth: All creative ideas are “weird” until they’re popular. Imagine telling someone in 1995 that people would carpool with complete strangers using only an application on their phones. (Hello, Uber.)
Creativity takes courage. Messy tries. Bold “failures.”
Try this: Think of an idea you’ve been too afraid to say out loud. Now say it. Post it. Sketch it. Share it. Let’s normalize bold thinking!
4. Barriers Blocking Your Creative Brain
Do you want to think creatively, but something’s blocking the way? What is it?
Maybe you are afraid your idea will flop. Maybe you think you’re “just not that creative.” Maybe you are feeling overwhelmed. Or maybe you’re stuck in a loop of “that’s how it’s always been done.”
Do you want the good news? These barriers can be broken.
Pick one barrier that hits home for you:
- Fear of failure
- Lack of time or tools
- Fixed mindset
- Lack of focus
Now write down one way to challenge it this week. Creativity takes practice and confidence, and you are already starting!
5. What is Creativity?
When you hear the word “creativity,” what comes to mind?
Art? Music? Someone painting a masterpiece?
Creativity is so much more than that.
Creativity is the ability to generate original ideas and turn them into something useful, meaningful, or fun. Creativity is used in education, science, medicine, technology, business, and everyday life.
Creativity involves
- Divergent thinking (coming up with many ideas)
- Risk-taking (being okay with failure) and
- Problem-solving (applying new ideas to real challenges)
You don’t have to be a musician or artist to be creative. You just have to think differently.