Creativity Bandwidth

As a business owner, you’re an innovator, a creator. You have to be because you’re constantly creating sales pages, marketing messages, etc. – not to mention what you’re creating in your work with your clients!

Whether you’re an artist, a healer, a coach or anything else, your creativity is an essential part of your business.

Often what keeps us from being creative is the feeling of being “stuck.” The feeling of struggling, or having low energy, can seriously inhibit our creative impulses. It’s like we don’t have enough bandwidth for creativity.

To feel creative, you must have energy in your tank (see my previous post on energy tanks HERE) and appreciate the value you have to contribute to the world. You must understand that you have something to say or share that makes a difference for others.

Creativity Looks Different for Different People

Creativity comes in so many different forms. I used to think that I wasn’t creative because drawing is definitely not one of my talents. In fact, I remember doing a painting of a Disney character in middle school and being thrilled that it was recognizable!

What I’ve discovered since then is that creativity comes in all shapes and forms, and every single person is creative. Some people are creative with words, or with problem solving. Others are creative with music or with being able to see situations from a unique perspective.

It might look different, but everyone is creative.

What’s in the Way?

Often, what gets in the way of experiencing our own creativity is our limiting thoughts, such as, “I’m not creative. Anybody can do this. I don’t have anything new to contribute.”

Fears may come up around being creative that feel so frightening that we don’t take creative action. “What if I write this and people judge me? What if people think I’m stupid? What if people laugh at me?”

We may have memories from childhood of being told that we weren’t creative, or that something we did or said was stupid.

We Know that Children Are Creative, But…

It’s funny how we adults can look at children and say, “Absolutely, they are creative. But I’m not.”

In a funny sense, it’s almost egotistical to think that. Why would you be any different? Every person is innately creative. I truly believe that. Sometimes it’s difficult to see because we’re not necessarily creative like other people.

Sometimes we don’t feel like we’re creative because we’re trying to fit into someone else’s box, or someone else’s ideas of what we “should” be doing. If someone’s true gift and area of greatest creativity is in storytelling and they’re working for an accounting firm, they may believe they’re not creative.

Often, we don’t recognize our own creativity because we think everyone can do this. It feels so easy and natural for you, that you assume it’s easy and natural for everyone else, too.

Get in Touch with Your Creativity

One powerful shift you can make to get in touch with your creativity is to have a sense of playfulness around it. Think of how young children draw. When they’re doing their own thing, it’s not about being right. It’s not even necessarily about staying on the page! It’s about expression.

Creativity needs down time – time when your mind isn’t occupied and you’re not focused on doing. Allow yourself some quiet time with the TV off, Facebook closed, and your phone out of reach. This is a time to dream, to play, to allow.

Some people like to do this while they’re driving, or cooking, or running, or gardening. It’s a time to just be.

Also give yourself time to create and express. Whatever form your creativity takes, whether it’s writing or drawing or something more unusual, let yourself do it. And do it without a purpose.

Often when we allow ourselves to do this, we’ll discover little nuggets of gold that we can then go on to develop into something else.

How do you create? Share a way in which you’re creative (whether it’s “normal” or not) in the comments area below.