Ten unexpected behaviours that make you instantly more creative

You can’t be seriously saying that tiny shifts in our behaviour make us instantly more creative?

Yes indeed.

Because creativity has far more to do with getting out of our own way than doing anything clever.

Creativity is closer than you think:

1. Practice non-resistance.

Do you ever get the sense that what you resist grows?

I resist this article I have to write because I’m not in the mood.

My frustration grows.

I close up, my creativity splutters and dies, and the article never gets done.

Do the opposite.

Open yourself to uncertainty. See what happens when you stop resisting.

2. Ask: ‘What’s interesting?’

Simple questions can propel you.

Questions are powerful because they direct our attention. When we point ourselves to things that prompt creativity, we can’t help but be instantly creative.

What’s interesting about that thing in front of you?

3. Slow your breathing.

Creativity is best served by a quiet mind.

To still the mind, one in which thoughts aren’t circling at 100 miles per hour, we can slow our breathing.

This, incidentally, is the way to reduce anxiety effectively too.

Slow your breathing, and your creativity will emerge.

4. Doodle.

Doing things is far better for encouraging creative insight and flow than thinking about doing things.

Instead of trying to force creativity, get out a pen and doodle weird shit on a page.

Let your hand flow like an ice skater possessed.

You’re in the act of unbridled creativity.

Exciting, huh?

5. Watch your sensations.

The most common response to discomfort or boredom is finding a way to escape the pain.

We scroll on our phones or throw on a movie. But this kills creativity instantly.

Creativity is born in space, silence and — often — feelings of boredom.

When we observe our emotions, instead of running from them, an interesting thing happens: they transmute from discomfort to creative insight.

Try it.

6. Ask, ‘What’s a problem I can solve?‘

Nothing cuts to the heart of creative energy like identifying problems.

Most people steer clear of problems and then wonder why they aren’t creative and energy-filled.

Find problems you or others are having, then get intentional about finding a solution.

Your brain will then immediately get to work.

7. See things as though you were born this morning.

Imagine you were born just a few hours ago.

How would you experience the world differently?

There’d be no pre-assigned language or labels. Look at the room around you through reborn eyes.

Now it’s all to play for.

Creativity flourishes where judgement is absent. What could this mean for your creative process?

8. Write total junk.

There’s something incredibly freeing about creative expression without the need to perform or produce something of brilliance.

When we allow ourselves to write any old shit, we loosen up.

We get into a flow that is more about movement than it is about doing anything the ‘right’ way.

This is gold for stimulating a creative mindset.

9. Drop your shoulders.

Like with slowing our breathing, there are things we can do to bring us back into our bodies and out of our heads.

We can sometimes get so wrapped in worry that we don’t realise how tight we are physically.

Dropping our shoulders and allowing our bodies to relax hijacks our minds and calms us down instantly.

10. Do nothing.

You serious, bro?

I sure am.

Often we stall our creativity simply because we’re trying things.

We reinforce the fact that we’re struggling when we try.

Stop. Let go for moment.

And do nothing at all.

What comes up comes up.

Creativity is a funny one.

It appears when we’re busy doing anything but trying to create.

There’s one thing stopping most people from being uncommonly creative: self-respect.

I know because I struggled to be more creatively productive in my twenties, and couldn’t figure out the bottleneck until I realised it was a self-identity issue.

Learn the 25 little daily habits I use that reinforce a powerful identity of self-respect in achievable daily steps.

My book shows you how (comes with 3 awesome bonuses):

Get the Art of Self Respect book bundle here.

“One of the best self-help books I’ve read in a long time. Alex exposes, in a clear and concise manner, the behaviors we should study, practice, and adopt to develop better self-respect. This, in turn, leads to earning respect from others.” - Jean Pierre

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