How To Be More Creative - Surely There's An Easier Way?

When we do things a certain way for so long, we forget there may be an easier way. However much we may be struggling, we just assume this is the way it is for now and forever more.

We find set routines and patterns that become so natural and so embedded in our way of doing things, we overlook that there might be a better way, a more efficient way, a more enjoyable way.

Here’s an example:

A friend of mine (let’s call him Jimmy) had a battered old heap of a car that was a little “temperamental” and wilful.

This sweet quirky old car (let’s call her Betty) would only start in the morning in winter if Jimmy went through a certain ritual each time. He’d get in Betty, put the key in the ignition and try to start her. Nothing.

So, out he’d get, armed with a sturdy hammer he kept under his seat, muttering obscenities under his breath at Betty’s unreliability. He’d open Betty’s bonnet, look at the engine, and give the starter motor a swift and precisely aimed whack with the hammer.

Climbing back inside, Jimmy would turn the ignition key and Betty would start up right away and chug along happily.

To many of us, this ritual with the hammer might seem odd and a bit of a hassle. Especially in the snowy depths of mid-Winter!

To Jimmy it was no big deal. It's just what he had to do to get Betty going. In having done the same thing day in day out for so long, he’d closed his mind to even considering if there was an easier way of doing things.

As a present for Jimmy, I got someone to fit a new starter motor in Betty. After that she started first time every time. He couldn’t believe how easy it’s been to fix the problem. “I should've sorted this out years ago!” he cried!

Now think about how this applies in your creative life.

What do you struggle with on a daily basis, that you’ve stopped even questioning whether there was a different way?

For each element of your life and your creative routines, ask yourself these questions:

If there was an easier way to do this, what would it look like?

If there was another approach that could save me time, effort and frustration, what would it be?

What are the first steps I can take to find this new, better way?

Of course it’s likely there is actually more than one other way to do these things. So don’t stop at the first obvious alternative solution. Keep asking the questions above until you have a list of alternative approaches.

Then pick 2 or 3 of the best ones and start putting them into action right away.

You’ll soon see that all you needed was a little rethink and to look at things with a slightly different perspective. And, like Jimmy, you won’t need to whack anything with a hammer each morning to get it going!

Kick-start your creativity today by downloading your free copy of the powerful and practical Explode Your Creativity! Action Workbook at http://www.CoachCreative.com