I recently decided it was time to learn to ride a motorcycle. Well, not really- I had my eye on a retro-scooter, but under state law I needed a motorcyclist license. The course was a bit intimidating, but while there I learned a few important lessons. First, don’t drop your bike, second power through the turn, and most importantly… “If you focus on something; you will hit it“. If you focus on the rock on the road; you will hit it. If you focus on the exit point of the turn; you will hit it. I can’t help but reflect on the latter lesson and research. If you focus on it; you will hit it. If you focus on not being creative; you will not be creative. If you focus on how to get creative; you will get creative.

  • Programming your brain

From experience we all know that if you tell yourself that there is something you can´t do, you will not be able to do it. You are programming yourself to give up. Do the opposite; tell yourself that you can do it. Tell yourself you can be creative (and in fact that you have always been creative, you just forgot that you are).

  • Positive affirmations

There are several techniques for positive affirmations- largely around building self-confidence. Daily, you jot down several times in different ways your affirmations or say them out loud. You can make a personal mantra to repeat every morning or print it out and hang it over your desk. I think there´s a different technique for every person on how to get creative. The most important thing is that the affirmations are positive and bold: “I am creative.”  “The most creative person on my team is me.” “It is unbelievable how creative I am.” “I am super creative all the time.”  Before I could start writing a blog, I used this technique for three days to build up my confidence- and by the end of the fourth day I started!

  • Keep a log

Some people that are committed to losing weight write down what they eat, how much they exercise and how much they weigh. This is to get a good overview of what they do and what they have accomplished by doing it. Consider doing the same for how to get creative. Write down one thing you did today that was creative– big or small. Write down two or more if you wish. Store this in a log, and look back at what you have written and you´ll find out that you are indeed creative. If you are writing an idea journal as I have suggested in a previous blog post, you can write your creativity log in the same journal.

I If you don´t think you are creative and don’t think you have ever been, look at the video below. It is an entertaining TED talk by Ken Robinson on how school kills creativity. And then – tell yourself that you are creative by writing it down several times or looking at yourself in the mirror saying it out loud – and believe it!

Focus on it, and hit the rock!

If you have used a successful positive affirmation technique on how to get creative, or have a story on how to change the perception of yourself, please leave a comment below on what you did and how it worked for you.