The creativity of children

Have you ever noticed how creative children can be? Give them a set of characters and a setting. Their imagination runs wild.

You may get an epic space battle, wild animals in the city, or a cops and robbers story.

Star Wars characters created by a child

The above drawing was created by one of my friend’s children. He loves Star Wars and knows that I do as well. So as a birthday present, he created three new characters.

It blew me away. He is only eight but has such an imagination.

This makes me wonder whatever happened to the creativity I had as a child.

I know I had a much more active imagination when I was younger. There were days of GI Joe battles, sticks becoming guns, or my backyard becoming a place of adventure.

Have you wandered far from those days? Has your creativity waned?

Would you like to kickstart the stagnant creativity?

Creativity, as has been said, consists largely of rearranging what we know in order to find out what we do not know. Hence, to think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.
–George Kneller

Here are three actions I have found to be effective in kickstarting stagnant creativity:

• Schedule in a time to be creative: This action seems counter-intuitive. You want to be creative. Why would you want to schedule in creativity? Does it not come in bursts of randomness?
   
  Creativity can come in unexpected moments but rarely does.

  Many of the greatest creative minds sit down and relax. They let their ideas flow freely. Grabbing and probing the ones that hold promise.

  By scheduling a time to be creative, you are giving your mind permission to create. You are telling it that it is okay. This is what you were meant to do.

  And the amazing thing? Your mind listens and begins to create.

• Get around creative people: This is one of the most important action you can take.
   
  When you are around others, you pick up their traits. Jim Rohn puts it this way “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
   
  If you are lacking in the area of creativity, you need to be around other creatives.

  They will encourage you. They will teach you. They will push you on when you think it is time to give up.

• CREATE!: To be creative, you have to actually create something.
   
  This is similar to when you begin to get in shape. You may not be able to run far, lift heavy weights, or have the endurance. But you build up those strengths.

  The same applies for your creativity.

  Create a new thought, create a new plan, create something great. Even if the idea is bad, create!

  Just create, create, create.

  Eventually the bad ideas will get better.

  You will notice your thoughts and ideas produce better, more promising prospects.

  Before you know it, you will be creating ideas that have the ability to change the world

If you are not being creative, you  must decide to regain your creativity. It will propel you to new levels of success in all areas of your life.

When you are creative in your ministry, things start to happen. People get excited. The BIG becomes possible.

Or in your marriage, you will have new ways to woo your spouse. New ways to connect will become apparent. Growth will occur.

What are you waiting for?

The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.
–Dr. Linus Pauling

Question What could regaining your creativity do for your career or your relationships? Do you think this becoming creative would be valuable to you? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

PS: I was honored one of my friends, Kimanzi Constable, asked me to write the forward to his manifesto. It just released and is titled I’m Not Changing My Life For You: I’m Doing It For Me! It is available for free on the Kindle until February 29th.