5 Steps To Being More Creative

Creativity. What is it? To be creative isn’t always being the first person in a meeting to stand up and share an unrealistic dream. However, it does take a certain mind set to be able to free up thoughts and be able to organize them into a pattern that will produce success. Creativity comes natural to some people, and to other people, it is much more difficult. Streamlining the creative process can save you time and yield much better results. While there are a variety of way to do this, I have chose 5 key words to focus in on.

Motive
First, determine the motive. There needs to be a reason why you are sitting down, trying to come up with a way to do something in a way that someone else hasn’t already explored. Once you determine the motive, it gives you a starting point from which all your other decisions can be referenced.

Ideas
Secondly, once you have the motive, it is time to come up with ideas. This part can be challenging, because we refuse to give ourselves time to cultivate ideas. We usually have deadlines, and our projects needed to be done yesterday. This fast-paced behavior doesn’t lend itself to true creativity. Creativity doesn’t come when you want it. You can’t snap your finger and come up with an idea. It can take time and lots of collaboration to come up with a single idea. With that being said, in the idea stage, don’t limit yourself to a single idea, yet. Lay out all the options and play with different versions of the ideas to see if one stands out. Often times, there will be two or three mediocre ideas, but perhaps there are parts of each idea that combine together to create one great idea. Come up with an idea, and be sure it fits within the boundaries you set for the motive.

Method
Next is the method. This is how you will take the idea and extrapolate it into a plan of action. In digital media, the method could be a new program, software upgrade, or a new pluggin idea. How is your idea going to turn into a final outcome? Decide what method to use and then flush out your idea.

Execution
Fourth, execution is a crucial role in the creative process, because without it, you only have an idea. Make your idea happen. This can be simpler than actually coming up with the idea. When executing an idea, this often involves many revisions and changing elements, and frustration can set in if you let people start changing the direction of the motive. You must stick with the guidelines you established in step one. Finish the project. Execution can be so rewarding when proper planning has taken place. Creativity takes planning and most of the time, there is no shortcut.

Trend
Finally, creativity sets trends. If you have a genuine idea that is executed properly, it will lead the way for how people think about the future. So many websites are focused on republishing someone’s creative way they did something. There is always a source to that creative idea, and being the source is what’s most important. Anyone can follow. Creativity doesn’t go where the path may lead, rather, it goes where there is no trail and creates a path.

The key to creativity is finding time to liberate thoughts and give proper attention to planning. The rest will fall into place.