Ten Ideas On How To Be More Creative

Perspectives of coaches, psychologists and artists

by Douglas Eby

"If you’re not prepared to be

wrong, you’ll never come up with

anything original.”

Ken Robinson

From TED presentation: Do schools kill creativity?

“I hope I’m becoming more eccentric. More room in the brain.” Musician Tom Waits

Psychologist Robert Ornstein notes, “If you spend too much time being like everybody else, you decrease your chances of coming up with something different.”

From post: Being eccentric and creative

"There's zero correlation between

being the best talker and having the best ideas."

Susan Cain

From her TED video "The power of introverts" - included in my article To Be More Creative, Be An Introvert

"I went through a mental shift... I realized that people like me, girls with skin the color of chocolate, whose kinky hair could not form

ponytails, could also exist in literature. I started to write about

things I recognized." Novelist Chimamanda Adichie

See her TED Talk: Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

"There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is

only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.

"And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost. The world will not have it.

"It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable, nor how it compares with other expressions."

"It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep

the channel open.

"You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work."

Martha Graham

From post: Be More Creative: Keep the Channel Open

"There’s a creative side to everyone but most people hide their creative side due to fear. Perhaps it’s time to take some

risks and try lots of new things."

Cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman

From post: Scott Barry Kaufman on Kick-starting Your Creativity

“I find that question very daunting: What’s your

passion? I find that almost paralyzing, in a way.

"I find it less paralyzing to say, What are you interested

in doing next?”

Author Daniel Pink

See post: It takes more than feeling passionate

“The sensitivity and the ability to go there, to create – wherever ‘there’ may be – is a gift and a talent. But getting

stuck there is no fun for anyone, and is not required in order to do good work.

"If you can take good care of yourself, and then visit there, everybody wins.”

From post: Creative People and Mental Health: Interview with Psychologist Cheryl Arutt

“Anxiety is the great silencer of the creative person… Are you creating less often than you would like? Are

you avoiding your creative work altogether? Do you procrastinate?

That’s anxiety.”

Author and psychologist Eric Maisel

From post: To Be More Creative Deal With Anxiety

“It is also good every so often to go away and relax a little for when you

come back to your work your judgment will be better, since to remain

constantly at work causes you to deceive yourself.”

Leonardo da Vinci

From post: What is our rush? Freeing yourself from pressure

This need to "get away" from work and other people, even our own overactive minds, is especially important for introverted and/or highly sensitive people, who are

often creators and innovators.

talentdevelop.com

Presenter : Douglas Eby, M.A./Psychology

Creator of the Talent Development Resources

series of sites :

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