Monday Mindset Mastery: Unleashing Your Creativity

03 Oct Monday Mindset Mastery: Unleashing Your Creativity

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Have you ever identified and defined your greatest values and put them in writing? If not, I urge you to do so now.

One of my greatest core values is creativity. Although my career in the Intensive Care Unit was really hard work, one of the things I enjoyed most was the degree of creativity it required. No two night shifts were the same and there was always a challenge or two to overcome.

Creativity is one of the most important skills that you can have in life. It drives innovation, invention, and new ideas. But creativity isn’t just about coming up with novel solutions to problems; it’s also about finding ways to express yourself and make your mark on the world around you. 

Learning how to be creative has helped me:

1. Silence negative self-talk
2. Embrace my individuality
3. Overcome the fear of taking risks

Struggling with getting more creativity in your life? Here are a few tips to help:

1. Look for creative people

I’m willing to bet that creative people are all around you. You can also learn so much from creatives that have come before you. They may have been inspired by different things, but they all share one thing in common: they’re great at using different mediums to tell their story whether it be art, music, writing or even business. Try not to copy what these masters did—instead use what you’ve learned from them as inspiration for your own creations!

Remember: people who do the same things in the same ways get the same results!

2. Look for creative opportunities

What was your biggest struggle last week? What can you do differently this week to make it less of a struggle? One of my coaching clients reported that her greatest win last week was meal planning. She got creative by signing up for a cooking class at a local restaurant. She’s meeting new people, learning a new language and she prepped three new recipes in one week — which created more time for her evening workouts!

3. Create before you consume

If you’re constantly looking at your social media feed it’s likely that you’re taking in too many ideas from too many different people. Over time, you’ll find yourself hopping from one idea to the next, never really gaining traction on your strongest goals and ideas. My rule of thumb is to use the early morning hours to journal, write or work on my creative projects. No social media, TV or texting until my creative time is done. Learn more about the power of your early morning brainwaves here

4. Get plenty of sleep 

Sleep is an essential part of your creative process. During sleep, the glial cells in your brain act like little brooms, sweeping out cellular debris and creating new neurons and connections. In medicine we call this neurogenesis. Without adequate sleep it’s really hard, if not impossible, to problem solve and develop creative ideas. Sleep allows you to clear your mind, which is crucial for gaining a fresh, new perspective. 

5. Switch it up

The more you learn new things the more new things you can learn. Scientists understand this as neuroplasticity. Learning and new experiences cause new neural pathways to strengthen whereas neural pathways which are used infrequently become weak and eventually die. This process is called synaptic pruning. Using your non-dominant hand is not only creative it’s also good medicine for your brain!

Creativity takes time and practice. 

Creativity is a skill, like any other. It can be learned and practiced over time. But it also takes more than just practice: creativity is a habit that you can develop, or change your habits to develop new ones. You have to have the right mindset in order for this process—and there are many ways you can do that! 

Your creativity muscle will grow if you focus on what inspires and excites you, which means taking time every day to reflect on what makes things interesting or beautiful or exciting; then write down those ideas or thoughts so they don’t get lost in your head where they won’t do any good at all! 

Are you ready to switch it up and start putting creativity to work for you? 

Then start connecting with like-minded creative individuals you can grow with and learn from each week.

Be sure to check out the Fit & Functional for Life community. You can join  right now with a FREE trial to see if it’s a good fit your you. 

Be well and have an awesome week!

P.S.: Do you enjoy getting clarity on your life goals? Does having a few simple mindset mastery tips help you close the gap between knowing and doing to help you design the life you deserve? Join us in the Fit & Functional For Life community! There’s a whole lot more, just like this, inside.