The No.1 habit of highly creative people

“In order to be open to creativity, one must have the capacity for contructive use of solitude. One must overcome the fear of being alone.” ~Rollo MayMore here: http://zenhabits.net/creative-habit/

Habits for Creating

A number of my blogs have been about the habits [behaviours] that creative people exhibit. Other writers have also written about habits in relation to creativity.

Julia Cameron of The Artists Way talks about the “creative grid,” that web of routine and practice that can protect artists from chaos, drama and subconscious resistance to their work.

Carol Lloyd, in her creative-career-making book “Creating a Life Worth Living”, encourages readers to practice The Daily Activity, which she describes as 15 minutes everyday spent in a solitary, process-oriented activity that “creates an empty space where your creativity can reassert itself.”

“What do most Nobel Laureates, innovative entrepreneurs, artists and performers, well-adjusted children, happy couples and families, and the most successfully adapted mammals have in common? They play enthusiastically throughout their lives.
What common denominator is shared by mass murderers, abused children, burnt-out employees, depressed mothers, caged animals, and chronically worried students? Play is rarely or never a part of their lives.” This from Stuart Brown of the Institute of Play

And on the importance of play as a habit . . “Play reaches the habits most needed for creative and intellectual growth”. according to psychologist Bruno Bettlehiem.

So if you want to be more creative you need to answer the two questions that follow and plan to do something about it!

•What do you do on a daily / weekly / monthly basis that supports your creativity? Need more of this.
•What do you do on a daily / weekly / monthly basis that undermines your creativity? Need less of this.

If you want a Habits for Creating Worksheet then let me know.

The Tahora Diaries - Habits for Creating

Going to festivals like Tahora reinforces my research findings that creative people have habits that support their creativity.

I have talked about these in past blogs but they need reinforcing.

Creative people are OPEN.

They live with a sense of curiosity where every moment is an opportunity for learning and where existing mental models and beliefs are temporary and flexible.

Creative people COLLECT.

They catch and preserve their thoughts and ideas. They collect other creative people and stuff!!

Creative people CHALLENGE.

They give themselves challenging problems to solve.

Creative people SEEK.

They seek out new experiences, with the understanding that the more diverse their experiences the more interesting the interconnections.

Creative people SURROUND.

They surround themselves with interesting people, things and environments.

Creative people PLAY.

They give themselves opportunities to to 'childlike' and the 'permission' to play.

Festivals like Tahora offer opportunities for creative people to reinforce and expand their habits for creating. Long may they continue.

PS: I still have few draft copies of my book on disc about ways of developing habits for creating - The Creative Edge. Putting creativity in your life. Putting life in your creativity. It'll be published later this year and will be a lot more expensive.

Let me know if you want one and I'll send you the details wayne@future-edge.co.nz