Do you think that your creativity is a habit?

I have never thought about creativity as a habit, but could it be?

Habits are things that we do repeatedly that become a pattern in our lives. Not like taking the same route to work but the things that become so much part of who we are that we don’t even think that we are doing them.

According to psychologist Robert Sternberg, creativity actually is a habit: “If we are to assess creativity, we need to assess it as a habit of ordinary life, not merely as something one can do at extraordinary times,” Sternberg states in Creativity Research Journal. “Behind all innovations one finds creativity, so innovations arise from a habit.”

So what are a few things that creative people do “habitually”?

• We look for ways to see problems that other people may not recognize
• We value the art in everything
• We understand the value of failure and take risks others wouldn’t.
• Choose to have courage, stand up for what we believe, and defy the crowd when necessary.
• Choose to be comfortable “beating to our own drum”.
• Embrace the process of working until things “feel”, “look”, or “sound” right…the last 10%
• Seek to overcome challenges to our views.
• Refuse to quit. Because showing up and creating is part of our DNA.

So with these things said…what do you say? Is creativity a habit and are you creating good habits?