t to be the most interesting and the deepest, richest sources for developing further.

Also, to give yourself more confidence and freedom, make it a personal book that no-one else will see, so you’re free to write in it anything you want.

Start by just writing the ideas you have in your head right now about your current or next creative project.

Before you say you don’t have any, just think about the following questions and write:

What woul

One of the biggest fears many of us have in our creative lives is that if we increase our creativity, then it will somehow drain the supply of new creative ideas we have.

It’s as if the amount we create is closely connected inversely to the ideas we’re able to have, and we’re allowed to enjoy a high level of only one or the other, but not both.

So let’s put this myth to rest.

“Increase Your Creativity” DOES NOT EQUAL “Reduce Your Ability To have New Ideas”.

In fact it works in the opposite way. When we create more, we become more fluid, more open to new ideas and they complement and feed each other beautifully.

But because this is against the logic many of us hold about the way creativity works, we struggle to accept this truth.

One way to appreciate this from a new perspective is to become a Creative Lightning Rod.

Lightning rods are used on buildings to attract lightning during electrical storms, to protect the building below. The key to their effectiveness is that they’re made of a highly conductive, low resistance material.

So the lightning is drawn to the rod because it’s the path of least resistance for it to connect to the earth through.

In a similar way, if we are to be more creative, and have more creative ideas, we need to adopt some of the properties of the lightning conductor. We must find ways to attract ideas and let them flow to us with as little resistance as possible.

A great way of putting this into action is to start an Ideas Diary.

This can be just a little notebook, small enough to keep with you at all times, in which you jot down new creative ideas as they come to you.

For this to be most effective it’s crucial that you switch off your critical voice when adding to your diary. Sometimes, ideas that seem silly or bizarre or unrealistic at first turn out to be the most interesting and the deepest, richest sources for developing further.

Also, to give yourself more confidence and freedom, make it a personal book that no-one else will see, so you’re free to write in it anything you want.

Start by just writing the ideas you have in your head right now about your current or next creative project.

Before you say you don’t have any, just think about the following questions and write:

What would

Ideas”.

In fact it works in the opposite way. When we create more, we become more fluid, more open to new ideas and they complement and feed each other beautifully.

But because this is against the logic many of us hold about the way creativity works, we struggle to accept this truth.

One way to appreciate this from a new perspective is to become a Creative Lightning Rod.

Lightning rods are used on buildings to attract lightning during electrical storms, to protect the building below. The key to their effectiveness is that they’re made of a highly conductive, low resistance material.

So the lightning is drawn to the rod because it’s the path of least resistance for it to connect to the earth through.

In a similar way, if we are to be more creative, and have more creative ideas, we need to adopt some of the properties of the lightning conductor. We must find ways to attract ideas and let them flow to us with as little resistance as possible.

A great way of putting this into action is to start an Ideas Diary.

This can be just a little notebook, small enough to keep with you at all times, in which you jot down new creative ideas as they come to you.

For this to be most effective it’s crucial that you switch off your critical voice when adding to your diary. Sometimes, ideas that seem silly or bizarre or unrealistic at first turn out to be the most interesting and the deepest, richest sources for developing further.

Also, to give yourself more confidence and freedom, make it a personal book that no-one else will see, so you’re free to write in it anything you want.

Start by just writing the ideas you have in your head right now about your current or next creative project.

Before you say you don’t have any, just think about the following questions and write:

What woul

electrical storms, to protect the building below. The key to their effectiveness is that they’re made of a highly conductive, low resistance material.

So the lightning is drawn to the rod because it’s the path of least resistance for it to connect to the earth through.

In a similar way, if we are to be more creative, and have more creative ideas, we need to adopt some of the properties of the lightning conductor. We must find ways to attract ideas and let them flow to us with as little resistance as possible.

A great way of putting this into action is to start an Ideas Diary.

This can be just a little notebook, small enough to keep with you at all times, in which you jot down new creative ideas as they come to you.

For this to be most effective it’s crucial that you switch off your critical voice when adding to your diary. Sometimes, ideas that seem silly or bizarre or unrealistic at first turn out to be the most interesting and the deepest, richest sources for developing further.

Also, to give yourself more confidence and freedom, make it a personal book that no-one else will see, so you’re free to write in it anything you want.

Start by just writing the ideas you have in your head right now about your current or next creative project.

Before you say you don’t have any, just think about the following questions and write:

What woul

em flow to us with as little resistance as possible.

A great way of putting this into action is to start an Ideas Diary.

This can be just a little notebook, small enough to keep with you at all times, in which you jot down new creative ideas as they come to you.

For this to be most effective it’s crucial that you switch off your critical voice when adding to your diary. Sometimes, ideas that seem silly or bizarre or unrealistic at first turn out to be the most interesting and the deepest, richest sources for developing further.

Also, to give yourself more confidence and freedom, make it a personal book that no-one else will see, so you’re free to write in it anything you want.

Start by just writing the ideas you have in your head right now about your current or next creative project.

Before you say you don’t have any, just think about the following questions and write:

What woul

t to be the most interesting and the deepest, richest sources for developing further.

Also, to give yourself more confidence and freedom, make it a personal book that no-one else will see, so you’re free to write in it anything you want.

Start by just writing the ideas you have in your head right now about your current or next creative project.

Before you say you don’t have any, just think about the following questions and write:

What would you like to create next? How could you create it? What form could it take? What’s at the core of what you wish to express? What other ways could you express the same idea? What other related ideas come to mind?

The hardest part is starting. Once you get going, the writing becomes addictive and the ideas flow freely. If you do feel you’re slowing or get a little stuck, just refer back to those questions and write on.

Remember: The more ideas you have, the more ideas you’ll have.

Or, put another way, the more you allow yourself to have ideas, the more you lower your resistance and become that Creative Lightning Rod, the more the ideas you’ll attract, the more each of those ideas will attract others, and so on.

The next step is to start doing something with this flow of new ideas, but that’s for a whole other article!

© Copyright 2007 Dan Goodwin