Category Archives: Creativity

“The creative mind is the playful mind. Philosophy is the play and dance of ideas.”

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“The creative mind is the playful mind. Philosophy is the play and dance of ideas.”

—Eric Hoffer, 20th Century American moral and social philosopher

Image from Unsplash by Ben Whites

Try the exercise of counting to one hundred by tens. This is no big deal for us adults, but for a two or three-year-old it’s pretty neat stuff.

Here we go:

10 — TEN
20 — TWENTY
30 — THIRTY
40 — FORTY
50 — FIFTY
60 — SIXTY
70 — SEVENTY
80 — EIGHTY
90 — NINETY

What comes next for my grandson Weston is, of course, TEN-Y! 🤣

How creative and playful are you in your personal and professional pursuits?

What enjoyment would you experience, and what new ideas might result to improve your life if you played and danced with a few more ideas?

EXERCISE:

Consider looking into the philosophical thinking and meditations of the stoics. One of my favorite books easily digested by even beginners is The Daily Stoic, by Ryan Holiday.

 

“Decide to DIY your education.”

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“Decide to DIY your education.”

—Chip Conley, American hotelier, author, and speaker

Image from Unsplash by Jo Szczepanska

I recently learned about Chip Conley through Seth Godin. They first met when attending Stanford and were part of a think tank or mastermind group supporting their entrepreneurial spirits.

Without question, Stanford is one of the finest academic institutions in the world, yet Chip and Seth saw it as limiting in some way. They decided to attract other great and creative thinkers, and take responsibility for their own extracurricular education.

Follow these links to learn about Chip and Seth, and how their continuing education is turning out.

EXERCISE:

How and in what ways can and will you create a DIY education plan for yourself? Who will you choose as your professors or partners on your journey?

“Innovation is born from the interaction between constraint and vision.”

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“Innovation is born from the interaction between constraint and vision.”

—Marissa Mayer, co-founder of Lumi Labs

Image of Marissa Mayer from Twitter

How innovative and creative are you compared to those around you? How do you stack up against your colleagues, your competitors, and to the global pioneers that are transforming our world with new exponential technologies?

If your ego has gotten a bit bruised by pondering those questions, there is coaching for you in today’s quote.

EXERCISE:

Take a few minutes to examine one or two top priorities in your personal or professional worlds. What is your vision for each area, and what limitations or constraints exist?

Consider expanding your vision in these areas to the point where the constraints become greater, requiring you to be even more innovative.

Even if you shoot for the moon and miss, your innovative efforts will land you among the stars.

“There is always room in our budget for a little experimentation.”

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“There is always room in our budget for a little experimentation.”

—Beth Comstock, American business executive

Image from Unsplash by J. Jordan

Variety is the spice of life, they say. How much variety do you experience on a daily basis in your job and personal life? Whether its your organizational budget, your own financial situation, or your personal habits in spending time, perhaps you would benefit from a bit more experimentation.

Where would spending or perhaps investing more resources — including money and time — provide for potential quantifiable or qualitative value? How might a bit more creativity, innovation, and experimentation spice up your professional and personal worlds?

EXERCISE:

Please reply to this post with the “outside the box” efforts you plan to initiate.

“Some people look for a beautiful place, while other people make a place beautiful.”

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“Some people look for a beautiful place, while other people make a place beautiful.”

—Hazrat Inayat Khan, 19th Century Founder of the Sufi Order

Image of paint brushes and bright colors

Image from Unsplash by Anna Kolosyuk

We have all heard the quote, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

If this is true, how much beauty have you beheld today? Many people believe they must visit special places like new cities, national parks, or other bucket list destinations to see such beauty.

Those more tuned into the power of beauty to inspire and enliven our worlds discover and see beauty in the more familiar people, places and things right in their own yards.

Today’s quote challenges us to take a step further to see and become a proactive creator of beauty instead of just a consumer of it.

EXERCISE:

Where and in what ways can you bring – or better yet, create – a more beautiful world to inspire yourself and others in your communities?

FRIDAY REVIEW of CREATIVITY

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FRIDAY REVIEW: CREATIVITY

What place does creativity have in your life? Here are a few creativity-related posts you may have missed. Click on the link to read the full message.

 

“A great flame follows a little spark.”

 

 

 

 

“When your mind is completely open and ‘unfurnished,’ you will have plenty of space for creative thoughts.”

 

 

 

“The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.”

 

 

 

Build a Future

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“Build a future – don’t just polish the past.”

—Author Unknown

New or Improved? Which of these words conveys the most energy for you?

Both words are often used in advertising and marketing to declare some advantage in a product or service category.

Where are you currently creating something new? In my observations, I see most people (including myself) maintaining the stats quo, simply polishing those things we have already done to brighten our lives a bit.

Creating something entirely new is often a messy process and can look like it is more trouble than it is worth due to the frustration and discouragement that can accompany the effort.

EXERCISE:

Where can and will you build a better future by creating something entirely new in either your personal or professional life, and not just polish your past?

Happiness is When What you Think

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“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

—Mahatma Gandhi, 20th Century Indian Activist

Throughout my professional life, I have learned from personal growth and development thought leaders that, “Thoughts Become Things.”

As Wayne Dyer conveyed in his book Manifest Your Destiny, we all have the ability to influence and create our world through our thoughts, words, and actions.

EXERCISE:

Where and how can and will you harmonize your thoughts, words, and actions to manifest greater happiness in your world?

Another one of my favorite Wayne Dyer books on this subject is The Power of Intention.

 

The breeze at dawn

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“The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.”

—Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, 13th Century Persian Sunni Muslim poet

Image of trees in early morning fog

Image from Flickr by Jona Nalder

I’ve been an early riser my entire life. Even as a child, I would wake early on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons. There were no video recorders or DVRs in the 60s!

These days, I consistently wake before dawn to get a quick start on my day through meditation and a multi-faceted exercise routine.

The noise level of the world is substantially lower in the early morning hours. I find the quiet supports greater creativity and the ability to listen to whispers of wisdom that are often drowned out by higher decibel levels during the day.

EXERCISE:

How might an “early to bed early to rise” strategy help you hear more valuable secrets of the dawn, to live a more full and happy life?

Creativity is Inventing

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“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, risk-taking, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.”

—Mary Lou Cook, late Peace Activist

During the Personal Excellence Workshop that begins each of my coaching programs, my clients list their personal strengths. I am somewhat surprised that less than half of them include creativity in their list.

When prompted about their level of creativity, they humbly deflect, stating things like, “On Occasion / Not Really,” or “That is why I do _____ for a living.”

I suggest that we all are far more creative than we believe and that we all create our lives each and every day, for better or for worse.

EXERCISE:

How can you take Mary Lou Cook’s coaching to increase your daily level of inventing, experimenting, risk-taking, rule breaking, and mistake making to expand your creative capacity and make your life a lot more fun?