Fundamentals of Creativity

QUESTION

Do you believe everyone has the ability to be creative? And if so, how can the “uncreative” recognize and nurture that spark?

—Kristine

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ANSWER

Kristine, these questions have been the center of my thoughts for the better part of my life.

Do I believe that everyone has the ability to be creative? According to NASA, 98% of five-year-olds score at the “Creative Genius” level. By adulthood that number dwindles to a mere 2%.

So yes, I believe that at least 98% of folks can be creative. For the vast majority that lose their creative mojo, they can certainly regain it.

How do you nurture your creative spark? A few ways:

1. Let your interests show.
   
   There are 8 billion people on Earth. It’s hard not to feel like a needle in a haystack. But when you inject your interests into what you do, you become incredibly unique. The math proves it. Three interests* comes out to 1 billion combinations. Now you’re 1 in 8 people. Add a fourth interest and it the number jumps to 1 trillion. You are far more unique than you realize.
    

2. Challenge conventional knowledge.
   
   Why do we do the things we do? Did we always do them this way? Of course not. Our methods and knowledge evolve over time, which means approaches and ideas are regularly replaced. There’s no reason to believe that you can’t do the same—you can. Question why you do what you do before you do it.
    

3. Think in combinations.
   
   Language is powerful, and that power sometimes produces negative results. “Creativity” as a word is a misnomer—it’s flat out incorrect. You aren’t actually creating in a creative act (I know, sounds wild)—you’re combining. Pull ideas from everywhere and ask yourself how things can fit together, like puzzle pieces, to create new and interesting forms.
    

These are the absolute fundamentals to being more creative. When you put yourself in your work, question the world around you, and combine existing ideas—wonderful things start to happen.

If you haven’t already taken it, check out my free email course to being more creative in 20 days. Signing up pauses these newsletter emails during the course, but you can always view each week’s new email in the archive.

The three ideas above are taken from my book, The Laws of Creativity. It recently ranked as a #1 Bestseller on Amazon (woo!), so if you want to be more creativie this year, I recommend getting yourself a copy and jumping in.

Here’s to your creativity.

—Joey Cofone

Creator of Baronfig
Author of The Laws of Creativity

*Limiting each interest to just 1,000 options each. For example, 1,000 books or movies (of course, there are many more, but this keeps the math simple).

Study done by NASA exhibiting the dramatic decline in creativity between ages 5 and 15.