Unlock your creativity for a fulfilling life
- Genevieve Loh
- Jun 1, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 6, 2023
If you are longing to be creatively fulfilled or connected in life, perhaps the question to ask is, what does it mean to be creative? In coaching, trusting that people are naturally creative is not only a belief - it is an imperative for self-discovery, learning and empowered action towards fulfilment. Here are some tips to unlock your natural creativity - I wonder, what would be different in your life?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE CREATIVE?
There is a difference between being creative and doing creative things. Many of us may associate creativity with professions such as artists, designers, poets and so on, or tangible works such as a book or a sculpture. The reality is many of us perform roles in our life that require us to tap into our creativity, whether we are working on a process improvement initiative or a sales pitch at work, or planning our kid's next birthday party.
Creativity, simply put, is the ability to create using our imagination. I'd like to think of creativity as a state of being, a flow of energy that turns our imagination into reality. You may have experienced something familiar to being 'in the zone' where everything else tunes out and you're in a state of 'flow' - what I'd allude to as the zone of creative expression. How our creative energy is expressed is entirely up to us, however, not using it or plainly saying, 'I am not creative' risks us not bringing our whole and authentic self to life.
'Unused creativity isn't benign. It lives within us until it's expressed, neglected to death, or suffocated by resentment and fear' - Brene Brown
As Brené Brown puts it, 'There's no such thing as creative people and non-creative people. There are only people who use their creativity and people who don't. Unused creativity isn't benign. It lives within us until it's expressed, neglected to death, or suffocated by resentment and fear.'
PEOPLE ARE NATURALLY CREATIVE, RESOURCEFUL & WHOLE
There's a lot of research on the benefits of using creativity, particularly on health and well-being, and I wanted to spend some time elaborating this important tenet in the context of coaching. As coaches, we trust and hold our coachees as naturally creative, resourceful and whole to live the lives they desire. It is not only a belief, but also an imperative on the coach in their commitment to hold the coachee as such even during times when the coachee doesn't have access to their own creativity.
Coaching, at its core, is a creative process to help coachees gain insight from their inner resources and experiences to achieve their full potential. The coach holds space for the coachee's creative expression to raise their self-awareness and expand their perspectives. Coachees may discover aspects unbeknown to themselves and this increased awareness boosts confidence and empowerment as they gain increased access to the natural resources within them.
4 tips to unlock your creativity
Anchored in my firm belief that people are naturally creative and from my experiences in coaching, I wanted to share a few tips which may help you get into the creative 'flow'.
1. Discover your access point(s) to creativity. Reflect on a time where you felt most creative.
What was happening?
Where were you?
How did you feel?
What was the energy?
What was fulfilling about it?
Gaining clarity on the imagery, emotion or energy that connects you to creativity allows you to tap into this inner resource. For me, reading deeply honours my desire for learning and is when I feel the most connected with creativity. Repetition is key here - with time, what we end up building is not our creativity (it's already there!) but rather our access-ability to our natural creativity.
2. Don't be afraid to get bored. Staring into the screen or being too task-focused rarely helps us reach a breakthrough. It is usually when we get up to take a break or have a side conversation with someone - precisely when our attention wanders away - that we get the 'aha' moment, the missing link to unlocking the task at hand. So, get bored and let your mind wander - who knows what might come up? There's research on how people come up with their best ideas while taking a shower - I'm thinking laundry, doing dishes, walking your dog - the more bored you get, the better!
'Inertia is the death of creativity' - Austin Kleon
3. Start small, don't worry about it having to be original or perfect. When we are free from the burden of trying to be perfect or original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing and take that first step. Many times, we get caught up with producing our ideal creation, and we forget that an important part of creating is enjoying the process. As it is important to capture and enjoy the creative process, also keep a routine for creative pursuits. You could pen your thoughts and ideas down in a journal or set up time blocks for creative expression.
4. Raise your hand for the next problem to solve (especially when you have no idea how to). There's nothing like taking that leap of faith and getting out of your comfort zone to rejig the creative juices. Put together a list of things to complain about and pick one to fix! It could be as fun as rewriting the ending of a movie you didn't like or as impactful as solving an issue in your organisation. I recall a conversation with a coachee who is a software engineer - he was going on and on about the user interface of a product he was working on, and at one point, I blurted, 'What's stopping you from fixing this? You obviously care a lot about it!' While his initial reaction was that he didn't know much about design, he spoke to his manager who agreed to let him take on the role as the team's UX/UI designer on an interim basis. Now, having enjoyed the interim role, he says he has found his calling in the field of product design and is taking steps to make this shift in his career.
For me, being a coach and writing about self-discovery, empowerment and development have given me an outlet to be creative, integrating with an old dream of mine (as a child, I dreamt of being a writer).
Here are my coaching inquiries to anyone longing to be creatively fulfilled in their lives:
As you write the next chapter of your life story, what would it be about?
Imagine your life now is a blank canvas, what would you paint?
If your life is a song, what would you want it to sound like?
You are the author | artist | musician of your life - what will you write | paint | compose today for tomorrow?