Creativity and Personal Growth

Our education system does not stress the importance of creativity much. Rather it focuses more on memorizing facts and scoring well on tests. Maybe that is what is wrong with the system. It is widely known that creativity and innovation lead to entrepreneurship; however no one ever figured you could instill this in a young person. It was naturally presumed that it was a sign of naturally gifted individual. This article will look at how using our creativity can be an excellent sign of self-development.

How the creative/innovative process works:

1.  It all starts with imagination. Geniuses tend to be imaginative types. So much so that the average person distances themselves because they think they are mentally ill.  Many Psychiatrists will tell you that the majority of patients who are diagnosed with some form of mental illness actually show to be above average intelligence and possess imagination. Imagination is the ability to see something that has yet to exist.
2.  The act of being creative involves acting upon the individual’s imagination in the face of a challenge.
3.  Innovation is applying the act of creativity in order to develop solutions to the challenge that are unique to that individual.
4.  Entrepreneurship involves being innovative enough to inspire one or more people with their creative ideas. In and of itself, entrepreneurship does not guarantee success or becoming rich since many innovative and entrepreneurial types down through the ages were not taken seriously enough. It depends on whose attention you get and where it all goes from there.

More on Personal Growth
Personal Growth Plan (Template)
Spirituality & The Brain
How to Create a Personal Growth Plan
Creativity
Addressing Burnout for Teachers and More
Climbing the Ladder of Consciousness
Mindfulness and Meditation

How to teach creativity to an individual

It is by far easier to teach creativity to a young person during his elementary education years. This is carried out by recognizing what each individual traits each student possesses and encouraging them to solve problems in their own fashion. For those that move into adulthood and experience a world of heartache and disappointment because they never unleashed their potential, it is a little more challenging.  It would require a commitment to personal growth and a general understanding of Psychology principles along with some time to really get to know yourself and see what makes you different. What sets you apart from the rest of the pack?

The benefits of getting in touch with your inner creativity

In the past most creative types were nonconformists who were willing to stand out in the crowd in order to do something great that was the complete opposite of the Status Quo.  A couple of these examples are Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Many people do not know that Gates was a Harvard dropout. So was Mark Zuckerberg who founded Facebook. 

Why do so many people choose to conform? The human race has a natural tendency to want to follow the path of least resistance. It is actually the easier path since most people do not like to stand out.  The few who do are known to be risk-takers tend to get ridiculed and called crazy.  That is until they succeed, in which case everyone wants to be their friend.

In order to step out in faith and start applying creativity to solve your own problems and make a difference in the world, you must first come to a place where you realize you have no other way out.  For example if you feel trapped in a job you hate, you decide whether you really want to have a career there and get creative enough to inspire upper management so that they will move you up the ladder. Another scenario is where you have enough assets saved up that you jump ship and work for yourself. You may want to make this a side venture so you can at least be somewhat established before doing so.

A famous poem about choosing a different path is “The Road Not Taken” by the famous poet, Robert Frost. The last line in the poem talked about taking the road that was less travelled making all of the difference in the writer’s life.  However, creativity and innovation which lead to entrepreneurship are not traits that are unique to only a select few individuals. These are just the ones that are bold enough to commit to self-development and apply personal growth to their lives in order to do whatever it took to make their dreams come to pass. Every human being is a unique creation and has it in them to do something great that will leave a mark on the world.

It kind of makes you think about what would happen if “the road not taken” would someday become the road that the vast majority of people choose to take if more people suddenly realized their potential and stepped out in faith to pursue their dreams.

- Erwin Wooten