How To Become an Endless Wellspring of Creativity

Would you say your creativity was like a bottomless well, an everlasting supply that can provide all the ideas and energy you need, whatever new creative project you begin?

If you're thinking "Bottomless well? More like a shallow puddle!" then read on for 7 steps to becoming an endless wellspring of creativity.

1. Believe in your creativity. If you believe your creativity has limitations, and that you only have a certain finite supply before it's all gone, never to be replaced, then you'll not create to your full potential. Know that your creativity is with you for life. Sometimes it may feel like it's sleeping, but it never dies, it can always be reawakened.
2. Record your ideas. All of us have periods when we feel like we can't even have any good ideas, so what hope do we have of creating when we've no raw material to work with? Start to record your ideas in a notebook as soon as they arrive. The more you do, the more you'll notice, and before long, you'll realise it's actually impossible to switch your ideas stream off!
3. Exercise your senses. We interact with the world via our senses, so if we don't use them, our experiences and our creativity feel lackluster. Spend time focusing on each of your senses to reconnect with your surroundings. Try this in a variety of places and you'll feel more alive and able to create with new vigour, as if going from a silent black and white TV to full colour surround sound.
4. Make peace with your inner critic. That nagging voice that tells you you're not good enough and why do you bother creating has, behind all its negativity, a positive intention. That is to protect you from disappointment and pain. Once you embrace this idea and make peace with your inner critic, you can acknowledge its role, then thank it kindly and carry on and create anyway.
5. Join creative communities. Struggling to create is not pleasant. Struggling to create in a complete vacuum where no one else even knows about your creative aspirations, let alone cares, is even worse. Explore some online and offline communities to support you as you create. You'll also find that being able to encourage others and see their progress is an inspiration in itself.
6. Adopt an attitude of play. Too often we slip into a "perfect end product" mentality, as if we're some precision factory production line. You're not a robot, you're human. Experiment, explore, play, let your "mistakes" flow freely and take you in unexpected and exciting new directions. Think play, not product, and your creativity will have a new lease of life and inspiration.
7. Create a little each day. If you do all of the above once or twice, yes it will help. Then you'll go back to feeling completely blocked and unmotivated. The key to consistent creativity is creating a little each day, if only for 15 minutes. Once you make this daily creative date with yourself, and put in place the habit, you can expand it to 20, 30, 60 minutes or more. Start small, and develop the habit.

Follow these tips and you'll see how your creativity has a whole lot more depth than a shallow puddle! In fact, it's as deep and limitless as you want it to be...

Want more great articles, tips and exercises to help you be more creative? Then sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine - today, and get your FREE copy of the "Explode Your Creativity!" Action Workbook. Just head over to http://www.CoachCreative.com