Variation is key. Health is the foundation of creative expression. Cultivating an open mind and developing habits to exercise “the creative muscle” dramatically increases creativity over time.
Be Open-Minded
Easier said than done, but once cultivated, the open-mindset is incredibly powerful. An open mind is infinitely flexible and powerful, anything is possible, everything is “do-able”.
An open mind is easiest within the context of a healthy mind, body, and spirit. Health is the foundation of the ability to express creativity in the world. Creativity requires energy, simple as that.
A healthy mind and body are best prepared to execute creative vision and develop habits of creativity.
Be Intentional
Begin with the intention to increase creativity. This will put the idea at the front of the mind and the eyes will begin to see opportunities to exercise the “creative muscle”.
What is the “creative muscle”?
The creative muscle is the driving force behind the ideas available to an artist at any given time. At a very simple level, a more powerful creative muscle would exhibit a greater ability to produce variations on a theme, etc.
EXERCISE: Grab a notebook and a pen(cil). Pick a theme and draw as many images related to that theme as you can. Take some time to do this now. (Some themes might be: nature, music, musical instruments, outer space, etc.).
What the exercise above will demonstrate is the creative muscle at work. Some will find a flood of ideas, others a trickle. Some will fill half of a page at a fury and find the second half feeling permanently empty.
The result is not important, but the feeling and the practice are important. It’s like doing a creative push-up. It’s not important if you can do one or a hundred at this point, only that you feel the muscles working, and understand that they will have to be worked to increase their capacity.
Variation is key
Some combination of repetition and variation are the mechanisms of developing new skills or learning new things. Just like muscles in the human body, variation of use increases both the capacity and capabilities of those muscles.
Creativity is very much about “new”. New ways of seeing things, new ways of doing things. It’s not about giving up your passion of horse riding to bicycle riding, but rather suggests that, there’s something to be learned about riding a bike that might be applicable to riding a horse and that we’d benefit greatly from the learning process involved.
Here are some techniques to embrace change and variation in life:
Embrace Randomness
Randomness can be embraced in the spirit of the moment, or on a schedule. Either way, embracing randomness in life is both healthy and boots creativity.
If you’re normally very spur-of-the-moment, try to think of places in your life that you’re not so creative or random and think of a way to mix it up.
For those of us who aren’t normally so free spirited, scheduling some variation can be extremely healthy.
- At least once a week, change your method of commuting to work (car, train, bus, bike, walk, car-pool). If that’s too much, be sure to drive one-way once a week a completely new way. Heck, for bonus points, stop at a park or library and read or draw.
- Once every few months move as much furniture as possible in your home. Don’t be too concerned about getting things “right” at first. Especially if it’s not that big of a deal to move stuff around. This is almost always uncomfortable for some or all involved, but almost always yields great results. Each time the furniture is moved, usually some stuff gets better and some stuff is worse. Anytime the “perfect spot” for something is found, leave it from future moves and keep re-arranging until almost everything has found it’s place. (This usually takes at least a few times, assuming there’s not too much moving and life-changes in the process).
- Always organize things in the same order, try something new. Try moving something in a way that makes it easier or more difficult to access [better yet, just like in Atomic Habits, you can move the things you want to do more of to be easier to access (musical instruments, writing/drawing materials, games, your bike, a ukulele, etc.) and the things you want to do less further away (the TV, junk food, etc.)
Keep Your Eyes Open
This might sound funny, but sometimes just simply keeping our heads up and our eyes open can allow opportunities to be spotted that might otherwise be missed.
For example, dreading an L ride home last night (hot and muggy), I noticed people hopping on rental bikes on my walk to the station. Instead of the plan, I spotted an opportunity to do something new, something different. It was my first time, so i learned something new, had a great experience, burned plenty of calories, and got home faster and with more fun than the L!
Think Differently
This is one of the best, more rewarding mental habits. Thinking differently puts your mind into a different universe than most. By simply trodding the mental path less traveled we can leverage new frontiers both imaginary and literal.
- What’s “everyone” doing that’s crazy? What can you do differently?
- What’s something that is invisible to most people, but that you seem to be able to see?
- What would doing the opposite look like?
- How is this approach completely wrong? (or, what about this thing, situation, process is not optimal, and what makes it better or worse?)
Start Where You Are
Whatever it is you’re doing to increase your creativity, start where you are. That means in the space you’re in, with the time, and tools already at your disposal. No need to read a book or watch a video (although those things are fine too later on). Simply start.
Song writing? Grab some paper and a folder or a note book, write “my songbook” on the front. If nothing else, sit and hold it tight, embrace that you’re taking concrete steps to your dreams.
Just learning to draw? Use whatever you have around. It will be plenty and all that’s needed in the beginning. Start with a tiny doodle or sketch. Figure out how to incorporate drawing into your day, either as a stand alone activity or as a part of things you’re already doing (waiting in the car to pick up the kids? now you have a drawing notebook to doodle in!)
No matter what it is, it’s okay to eventually buy a bunch of cool tools and books and lessons, but in the beginning, make sure to be able to start today, however small that might look.
The Best (Creativity) Habits are Daily
There is almost no limit to how creativity can be exercised, expanded, and embraced.
The best way to ensure you’re maximizing your creative potential is to be creative everyday.
Whatever your passion, be sure you can practice everyday, again, however small it is. Touching your favorite instrument or sketchbook or brush or equipment everyday is crucial.
Practice creativity everyday.
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