It doesn’t matter where you are in life creativity can make your life more interesting. Are you an artist that wishes to create amazing new works to share with the world? Are you a business owner that is looking for different and creative ways to share your products or service with the world? Maybe you are a stay at home Mom that just wants to rearrange the living room to make more room for the family? It doesn’t matter what the purpose, being creative may be the key to getting you there.

The problem is that most people can’t be creative on the spot. If I asked you for an idea out of the blue without telling you the topic you would have a hard time coming up with something no matter how creative you are. That is because you don’t have the necessary information to come up with idea. But if I tell you the topic and what I am trying to achieve it will be much easier for you to come up with some sort of idea that would help to solve the problem. The secret is having a vision.

Vision is the main key element to being more creative. An artist has to be able to see the completed painting before they even make one brush mark on the canvas. Once they have a picture they can go through their process of creating the painting. An author needs to know what they will write about in order to take a plain piece of paper and turn it into an award winning novel. You need to be able to see the furniture in its new place before you begin to move the room around to suit your needs.

So how does having this vision make you more creative? Part of creativity is having that vision. You need to know where you would like to go whether a painting or a business decision. Once you have that end goal you can now start the creative process. Look at every combination that will help you get to the end goal. Often this is done by writing a list of everything you can think of or drawing thumbnails of your ideas. The only rule is that no idea is too weird or outrageous. If you can only come up with a few ideas then leave the process alone and come back to it at another time. The more time you allow for the process to develop the better the ideas that will come to mind. Another important part of the process is to not accept the first idea. Let the goal sit in your mind and let your subconscious mind take over. That is when the real process of creativity begins. Everyone can be creative if they want to be. Creativity is just like a muscle and has to be used regularly and developed to for it to be used. Having a vision is the first step to becoming a more creative.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is an artist, author, consultant, and speaker. He helps people be more creative which enhances their businesses and lives. His business consulting on is on business startups and marketing and his leadership works helps people enhance their careers. To sign up for Bruce’s newsletter the Creative Chronicle or learn more about programs to help you visit his website at www.bruceoutridge.com