Linus Pauling was a chemist, biochemist, author, educator and activist. He won multiple Noble Prizes for his work in different fields. Pauling was gifted and talented, but he understood the value of “doing reps” when it came to ideas and creativity. Pauling was credited with the quote: “The best way to get a good idea is to get lots of ideas and throw the bad ones away.”
Reps. We have to do them and we need a lot of them.
Creativity is a muscle. If you want to be more creative, have better ideas, and come up with more creative stuff, you have to commit to working out your creative muscles.
- Write.
- Draw.
- Paint.
- Sing.
- Read.
- Watch a movie.
- Take a picture.
- Film something.
- Look at a magazine.
- Listen to music.
- Have a conversation that inspires you.
- Look for something to inspire you.
- Make something.
- Go on Pintrest.
- Surf the Internet.
- Do work.
Without reps, we will be tempted to say we’ve hit a wall when the reality is, we just haven’t kept our tank full and our muscles ready to work.
What is your favorite way of staying sharp?
Man, so convicting. I forget that it takes doing SOMETHING to keep the wheels turning, the ideas flowing, the creativity moving. Reminded of the quote “whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it…”. Thanks for the push!
Experimenting with & learning new techniques as I create for myself.
For almost 10 months I blogged everyday. I forced myself to. It sucked. I’ve since taken a break from it to finish my 6th novel, but at the time, I noticed significant improvement in my ability to communicate through writing. And I’m still benefiting from it.
Picked my paints back up at the imploring of my wife.
Started producing a new record for said wife as our new studio finishes completion. It’s gotten me caring deeply about music again.
I take long, hot showers. Something about the sound of the water. Likewise, sitting near waterfalls or on the beach.
I’ve found that Instagram and Flipboard have become much more about stimulating my creative side than actually keeping up with friends…the pics work that muscle like you said, and it gives me so many ideas.
As I think about it, I’m finding that many of my creative ideas can be logged into one of two categories: conscious and subliminal. The conscious ones are the ones I take notes on. “Do this for this next design project.” The subliminal ones are those which are “deep inside” but that I can’t truly articulate; but soon, and very soon, they’ll help apply just the right pressure on some unseen synapse that will take inspiration to manifestation.
Thanks for the thought provoking post! I needed that. To keep my thinker thinking.
ch:
Always love the freshness on here.