Creative Thinking 

Here’s something I’m sure you’ll resonate with:

Whether you’re clocking in at the office or rocking the home front, everyone expects you to be some kind of super-creative, problem solving savant these days.

Right?

Maybe you’re navigating disagreements with your stubborn teenager at home, figuring out consequences for their latest shenanigans, or brainstorming fresh date night ideas to rekindle that long-lost romance.

Or maybe you’re at the office, resolving conflicting demands from frustrating colleagues, crafting solutions for that irate high-maintenance client, or desperately trying to dream up the next big product line.

Wherever it is and whatever it is, you can bet the answer to your problems isn’t going to magically materialize in some outdated textbook or employee handbook.

Constantly cooking up genius-level solutions to a shifting scattergram of issues is ABSOLUTELY EXHAUSTING!

One week you’re a parenting MacGyver, dishing out genius life hacks while simultaneously killing it at work with your breathtaking ideas!

The next week your creativity tank is drier than the Sahara desert and more stale than week-old bread left sitting in the sun. . .

What then? How do you get your magic up your creative mojo back when your brain has tapped out and mind is running on empty? 

It’s a situation we’ve all been in.

But fortunately, there are some simple strategies that will recharge your creative batteries and get those genius juices flowing again.

You just have to be willing to do the work.

Supercharge Your Creative Thinking Skills

Sometimes creativity can feel like some kind of mystical, magical power that only the lucky few possess.

But the truth is, being creative isn’t some innate talent. 

It’s a muscle, one that ANYBODY can build up and flex with the proper knowledge and the perfect game plan.

And that’s what I’m sharing today. 

I’ll show you how in five simple steps you can master the art of creative thinking and turn yourself into a veritable idea ninja, striking with precision to slice through any creative block.

Why Is Creative Thinking Important?

I’m not gonna lie to you, unleashing your inner creative beast ain’t easy.

It demands courage, grit, and a willingness to venture outside your comfort bubble.

But trust me when I say the payoff is worth its weight in gold.

Once you tap into that creative flow state and learn to think creatively, you unlock a cheat code for life, one that helps you not only create but also become an expert in problem solving at work, in your relationships and in every aspect of your life.

As I said, it’s HARD.

BUT there’s some good news.

There’s a proven 5-step framework that can guide you all the way on this transformative journey. 

It’s the same process innovative individuals throughout history have used, from brilliant artists and inventive geniuses to hustling entrepreneurs and ground-breaking scientists.

Now YOU can use it, too.

5 Steps to Igniting Creative Genius!

We all have an innovative idea warrior inside us, lying dormant until awakened.

Here’s how to rouse and empower that creative force:

1. Power Up Your Mind with Meditation and mindfulness

The first step is using meditation to power up your mind.

Once the mind is more still, it becomes more powerful.

Once it becomes more powerful, it is able to handle more demands placed on it.  

Regular practice unlocks the mind’s deepest wellsprings of energy and builds your ability to access this powered-up creative flow state at will.

Mindfulness practice — even just 10 minutes per day — has been shown to boost creativity (which is why some of the world’s biggest companies are all over it).

So, combining both of these forms of meditation is an excellent way to enable yourself to be more creative more of the time without burning yourself out. 

Learn about meditation and mindfulness by taking one of our online courses.

2. Seek Out New Sensory Experiences

Expose yourself to fresh perspectives by traveling to new places, immersing in different cultures, picking up unfamiliar hobbies, and reading about subjects light years away from your usual orbit.

Those novel sensory inputs jolt your brain out of its ingrained patterns and forge new cognitive pathways wired for innovative thinking.

Approach it all with vulnerable curiosity and be prepared to open your mind to and be engaged by new information.

Like a potted plant, the more soil there is the wider and deeper it can spread its roots.

3. Give Your Brain Reviving Breaks

Even creative warriors need to rest and recharge.

so make sure you plan for regular periods of quiet rest that provide a revitalizing break from focused problem-solving.

Take real breaks by gazing out the window, taking a short walk, or doing light tasks that allow your mind to reset to a soft, open state of diffuse attention.

or switch things up completely by going for a run, playing a sport or playing a musical instrument — all of them are great ‘circuit breakers’.

These breaks are crucial, as they allow the mind and brain to rest.

When the mind is at rest, surprising creative connections can emerge from the depths of its unconscious processing.

Most importantly, sleep well. 

When we’re sleeping the unconscious mind is hard at work processing, recombining and synthesizing the day’s experiences.

This restorative cognitive reshuffling helps clear mental logjams and produces the rich associations and insights that fuel creativity upon waking.

Skimping on shuteye essentially handcuffs your creative capacity.

4. Become a Concept Blender

The most brilliant innovators blend insights across disparate fields into novel combinations and syntheses.

So read widely across diverse domains — from science and philosophy to history and the arts.

If you’ve never been into science, GET INTO IT!

Dive into topics like physics, biology, or computer science that stretch your usual boundaries.

History not for you? It is now.

Immerse yourself in the stories and perspectives from other eras and cultures.

The wider the array of influences you consume, the more raw material your brain has to synthesize into original creative breakthroughs.

Embrace intersecting ideas that seem wildly unrelated at first.

That’s where much of the magic happens, by forging novel links that lend surprising new insights.

Remember: Don’t just learn — learn to RECOMBINE knowledge in imaginative ways no one else does.

That’s how you craft truly disruptive innovations.

5. View Problems Through Different Lenses

Ditch your usual lenses and reframe problems by imagining you’re one of the stakeholders, or even an outsider from a wildly different culture, profession or personal background. 

This psychological distance helps you see your existing assumptions and defensive tendencies in perspective.

It also opens up new opportunities.

By looking at the problem from different perspectives, you’ll see new facets of it and potentially new solutions, too.  

You’ll be surprised how powerful — and simple — this particular technique is.

Trust me.

The Journey is Yours

Look, I’m not going to sugar-coat it:

Awakening your inner creative beast to the point of genius is a hell of a mountain to climb. 

It demands serious tenacity, hard work, and a whole lotta steely determination to keep venturing outside your usual playpens.

But here’s the brilliant part: Creativity is just a SKILL, a MUSCLE, nothing more.

It’s one that only gets stronger and more badass the more you flex it through creative thinking exercises.

So embrace that 5-step process as your North Star, and let it guide you toward unleashing your full creative skillset. 

Once you crank that innovative flow state to the max, you’ll have all the tools you need to dice and splice your way through any challenges that life throws your way — AND do it in style.