Creativity: born or made?

by Guadalupe Casas

We live in a hyper connected world, constantly bombarded with all kind of information, amazed by technology advances and knowledge increasingly decentralized. Don’t you think it is hard to believe that some things are not invented yet? And when I say “invent” I’m not only referring to creating new things but also modifyng those we already use today in pursuit of improvement. It is essential to link this thought to the concept of creativity but… how do we activate creativity in an environment of multiple and constant incentives?

Losing the fear of being wrong will undoubtedly be the main action to take in behalf of stimulate our creativity. The renowned author Joseph Chilton Pearce said: “To live a creative life we ​​must lose our fear of being wrong”. Thinking of this advice reminds me of the famous athlete Dick Fosbury, who, in 1968 was crowned champion of high jump at the Olympic Games in Mexico after using a jumping technique completely different to the one used before. At that time, the rest of athletes mocked of Fosbury but after being crowned, history of athletics include in its pages the Fosbury Flop as a single technique in the practice of High Jump.

How did Fosbury make this historical turn in sport? Simple, and this is where we found the second important point in motivating creativity:** Changing our point of view** towards simplifying and improving something. Fundamental then, is to think things upside down, turn them around and above all, keep track of all our ideas, although they may look crazy or surreal, ideas are all potential triggers of new ideas. I invite you to try, keep a written record of ideas in a notebook, reread them from time to time; you’ll see what today (THEY) might not inspire us at all, probably in the future new ideas will burst out.

Creativity is, at any level the motor for breaking old paradigms, or perhaps being the springboard to catapult to a new procedure, a new know-how. Till this moment I’ve emphasize three important points so far to encourage our creativity:

  • Do not be afraid to make mistakes
  • Always look for new insights
  • Keeping track of our ideas

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**Now, I can only advise you not to stop reading. Reading feeds us with knowledge, and knowledge is the main fuel of creativity. Reading is an infallible tool and a powerful skill.
We all have the ability to create, and it is our responsability to clear our minds of all that contaminates us to re-encounter our creativity. It will be essential to dedicate time to disconnection. Allow yourself to turn off all the distractions that surround you for a while; great changes have emerged due to the creativity of man. The world needs many of these small changes to help us and help to create.

Do you think there are more techniques to stimulate our creativity? Which of the methods suggested is the most difficult to implement? – I invite you to watch and share with us your own techniques and opinions on this article.