12 Crucial Tips On How To Get Into A Creative Mindset
Studying how to get into a creative mindset has been around since at least the 1970s when J. P. Guilford, a psychologist, conducted his now famous nine-dot puzzle experiment. Tapping into creativity is seen as a great skillset. People often view creative ideas, or how to get them, as the secret sauce of success.
What once started as simple ideas have made tremendous waves across cultures and generations. Whether it’s the Wright Brothers creating the first successful flying machine or Scott McCoskery wanting to keep his hands busy during work meetings, creative ideas have the potential to inspire tremendous change.
Why Should You Cultivate A Creative Mindset?
Work smarter, not harder, is an easy answer to the above question. But aside from revenue, developing a creative mindset is a crucial factor for success in daily existence. Creative solutions enable you to balance the multifaceted pulls of life:
Fix your lawn mower
Check off activities on your bucket list
Propose in a way that’s memorable
Build a five-year plan
Whether you want to develop your creativity for personal or financial gains, or another area entirely, this type of personal development is vital.
Developing A Creative Mindset: 12 Steps
Knowing you should develop such a mindset is simple—taking the steps to do so can feel daunting. With a bit of guidance you can be well on your way to tapping into your own creative mindset. Here are twelve options to empower you to get started.
#1 - Act Like A Creative Person
If you want to be a healthy person, at some point you must start acting like a healthy person. Rather than go up for that third slice of cake or skip the gym on that dreary Monday morning, if you want to be healthy you must start acting healthy.
If you desire a creative mindset you must start to act like a creative person. This could be as simple as adding a painting to your blank office wall, or more time-consuming: Writing for an hour a night, joining a pottery class, taking hip-hop for the first time, or enrolling in a film class at your community college.
#2 - Take Advantage Of Creative Energy
When I was in college, a New York Times bestselling author was gracious enough to have coffee with me. Among her many tips of advice, she encouraged me to harness my creative energy by working out and then immediately writing. “Skip the shower,” she said, “Just write.”
Moderate exercise is known to aid in creativity, so you may want to give it a try. Writing with a clear mind is a rare privilege and one I’d highly recommend.
#3 - Surround Yourself With Creative People
If it’s true that we become like the five people we spend the most time with, look around your social circle:
Who do you spend the most time with?
What are their goals?
Do you aspire to live the life they lead?
I firmly believe we should engage in a cyclical pattern of pouring into others and being poured into by those further ahead. That said, it’s important to notice who you spend the most time with, and if you want to become like them.
#4 - Contribute To Other Creative Projects
Engaging with other creatives is a great way to draw inspiration from various projects and give back to the creative community. For writers, book launch teams allow you to not only read another writer’s work but also support them in their publishing endeavors. Paying it forward in this way will encourage them on their journey and inspire you with new viewpoints.
#5 - Learn Problem Solving Skills
It’s easy to hyper focus on your specific project and essentially force creativity until you feel you’re against a brick wall. While persistence is key to growth, sometimes choosing to go around the task at hand is a necessary break.
Learning problem solving skills in other areas of your life will train your brain to use this same mindset when it comes to creativity. If you can problem solve how to work under pressure, you will better equip yourself to write your daily word count when under contract.
#6 - Build An Environment For Intense Focus
Director Peter Brooke once said, “I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged.”
While the best actors’ imaginations can come alive in an empty room, atmosphere and aesthetic go a long way in helping you reach a creative mindset. Building your environment could look as simple as going to your local library or shutting off notifications on your phone. It could also be investing in creating a home office that inspires you.
#7 - Listen To Other Creative Minds
Fostering a creative mindset hinges on learning from the creatives who have come before. No one exists in a vacuum, and this is no less true for creative minds. Podcasts, books, and documentaries are all simple, low-cost ways to fill your own mind with the thoughts of the greats.
#8 - Treat Your Creative Work With Dignity
The verbiage you attribute to your project drastically impacts how you pursue it. Consider the weight side hustle has in comparison to hobby. Neither term is inappropriate for a passion project, but one lends itself more to a formal pursuit than the other.
Whatever you find yourself pursuing, give it the time and dignity it deserves. Your project may be a hobby now, but if you treat it like your future career, it will likely become your main income stream. This mindset shift will help keep your creative thoughts flowing when it feels easier to give up.
#9 - Accept That The Creative Process Is Long
Acceptance brings a type of peace, especially in relation to creative pursuits. Knowing that writing your book, recording your first album, or booking your first wedding as a photographer takes time can actually free up your headspace.
When you accept that pursuing your dreams is rarely an overnight process, you no longer need to worry. Rather than fight through anxiety or comparison to those further down the road, use this newfound headspace to focus on building your creative mindset.
#10 - Pursue A Growth Mindset
Your first draft, gallery, and business venture may flop. That’s okay. Flopping is not equivalent to failure. Choose to view your creative blocks as opportunities for growth. Instead of thinking, “Oh no, I’ve written myself into a dead end.” Think, “I’ve written myself into a dead end. How can I use the tools I’ve learned to write myself out of it?”
#11 - Stimulate Creativity
For creatives, stimulating creativity often comes through consistent learning. Growth helps you to reject a fixed mindset, realize you can always find areas for improvement, and therefore, stimulates further creativity.
The learning platform, MasterClass, has been a great aid for me in this.
Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon has helped me look for inspiration in new places.
Signing up for free webinars has opened my mind to a myriad of creative processes.
Choose what works for you, and then commit to it wholeheartedly.
#12 - Embrace Trial And Error
Trialing an option, making a mistake, and trying again is the only way to move forward long term. Without mistakes there can’t be progress. The sooner you learn to fail fast, fail forward, the sooner your creative mindset will follow suit.
Ensure These Creative Solutions Work In One Step
Bestselling author of Atomic Habits, James Clear, says that over time, habits compound. I just listed twelve steps you can take to help you reach a mindset of creativity. But what if you try one everyday, for twelve days? You will make some progress, but it will be slow.
Instead, like James Clear, I recommend you stick with a single method for several weeks until you form the habit. For instance, try going on a fifteen minute walk every evening, then writing for fifteen minutes immediately after. After a few weeks, if you see progress, keep at it. If not, consider trying one of the other steps.
The key to success is persistence. While I can’t promise that following a single step will land you an Oscar or bestseller status, you will grow in your creativity. Creativity is a sought after skillset. Your dreams may look different than your reality, but with hard work and a creative outlook, you never know where you may end up!
