You’ve now made the big decision and you want to leave the 9-5 grind to start a business. However many years of performing boring tasks at work has left you as creative as a dried out prune.

Now you need ideas for your start-up but your creativity is stuck in neutral. Without creativity your business won’t stand out from the crowd and will be like all the rest. Boring!

But how do you start to grow and nourish your creative bug again?

When trying to improve your creativity you apply (what I call) Magician’s Hat Thinking. Magician’s Hat Thinking is when the information you have may not be what it seems. It’s learning how to turn information into inspiration.

For example right now I’m sat in a library writing this post for you. Once I’m finished how can I decide what to write next? I need creativity and inspiration right now for my next post!

I can hear or see…

• Cars speeding past outside
• Stressed out parents chasing their children around the library
• A staff member, who looks frustrated, announces she is on lunch and marches outside.

So how can I turn this information into inspiration?

Speeding cars, stressed out parent and someone desperate for a lunch break?

I think of one word…

Busy – people leading busy lifestyles.

This is why I suggest writing down everything that pops into your head. Not everything you write down can be used and that’s ok. Save it for another day or some ideas are only destine for the bin.

My point is if you listen hard enough your creativity speaks to you.

Let’s get started on 7 easy ways to think  creatively for your business.

1.       Brainstorm

Get a pen and paper and write down whatever comes into your head. Think and write without restrictions. Don’t sit down and write possible business ideas or plans. As you see from my example, random words can creative ideas. You can write down feelings, items or problems. There are no rules here. Let loose!

2.       Experience Happy Things

Start to experience the things in life that make you feel happy and make you smile. When you’re happy, you’re positive and when you’re feeling positive it improves your creativity.

When you’re doing what you love your creativity is allowed to flow freely and helps you to channel into new ideas.

 3.       Build your Confidence

More confidence will mean you start to value and appreciate your ideas. Ideas you think are silly and useless could be develop into something amazing. When you dismiss your ideas as rubbish you throw away valuable thinking time and put yourself under pressure which disables your creativity.

By improving your confidence you’ll feel happy enough that you may have stumbled onto a fantastic idea.

 4.       Find Inspiration From Others.

Spend time with people who inspire you. Creative, positive and confident people who you admire are great at naturally providing you with motivation for creative thinking.

FUN TIP – Children think without any filters or barriers. They usually say what they’re thinking and their behavior is based on instinct. They are brilliant at giving organic ideas without even trying. I’ve managed to gain some of my best ideas from watching my 4 year old interact with other children, in various situations and asking me LOTS of questions.

 5.       Pen and Paper

Keep and pen and paper close and always note what comes into your head.

6.       Negativity

Negativity and criticism kills creativity. Building your creative thoughts has to be practiced and graduallymade stronger. Don’t get frustrated and give up because you’re struggling with ideas.

Creativity must flow and can’t be forced out with anger and frustration.  

7.        Meditate

Meditation clears the mind of daily, negative, stressful thoughts. By clearing your mind you encourage new ideas to develop. For more advice on how to meditate you can download my 12 Crucial Steps to a Solid Business Start-up We all have the power to be creative and produce new and fresh ideas for ourbusiness. Through practice and regular use of my techniques you’ll master Magician’s Hat Thinking in no time!

Source: nitrogr