Free report # 4 Creativity Booster The Key To Unleashing Your Creativity By Paul Bauer This report will give you a simple 10-minute process that you can use whenever you need a creative solution to a problem or challenge. You will be amazed at how powerful this exercise can be in your life. Beneath the "surface" of your awareness is an endless stream of ideas, talents and creativity. All people have this creativity within them, but they're not usually aware that it's even there or how to find it and develop it! So, since it's not a question of if you have these abilities, but instead it's what these abilities are and how do you tap them regularly to help you come up with creative solutions and not just solve problems. Too often, people get caught up in the vicious cycle of trying to fix what ails them. This approach actually multiplies the original problem because your focus is placed upon the problem, not the solution. Instead, this report will re-mind you that you always have choice - You can either get caught up in the conflict of why things don't happen for you OR You can to be the force in your life that creates what you really want. Which do you choose? People just like you have innate genius within them just waiting to be tapped. To solve problems - (Creatively) Develop new ideas, products, services To take your ideas to the next level To relieve stress and become energized again By creating your own MasterMind/Brainstorm Group
How do I begin? Begin with believing you have creativity within you... With a childlike curiosity asking yourself: "What if there was a solution to this challenge, question or problem" "What if I am only one step away from the solution?" The reason why children are so creative is because they have not been taught limitations. They have not been taught to doubt their own creativity and intuition yet in life. Children intuitively trust and know that they can count on their intuition because it is natural to them... it is FLOW. They haven't yet been conditioned to disbelieve their own natural abilities. There is a natural childlike creative genius within you. Whether you know it or not it is there and each step that you take of writing down your ideas and sharing your creative ideas with other people whom you can trust, helps cultivate and nurture your ability to make these creative ideas become real and successfully work in your life. So how do I become more creative in my day to day life? 1. Ask yourself "What would I love to create or develop, or invision or to share"? 2. Write this answer down on paper If you don't know what that answer is thats ok Simply pretend that you are 7 years old again and ask yourself "What if I did know the solution or answer?" (This is how Spielberg, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, George Lucas, Debbie Fields, Oprah, etc., do it, they've gotten so used to trusting their creative intuition that they don't censor it before it has time to grow) 3. Share this with as many people as you can whom you trust 4. Go wild with possibilities as the days go by
Hint: (Pretend also that money is not an object. Pretend that you have all the resources, money, you need to fuel this project Steps to unleash your creativity: 1. Having Awareness that there is a challenge or problem that you would like a creative solution to. (in other words, recognizing that I would like something better or improved in some way) 2. Go somewhere quiet and relaxing 3. Have your creative idea journal with you (notebook, binder) 4. Write down a question, How do I create? (fill in your challenge). 5. (This is the fun stage) This is where your creative genius will have a chance to come out and play. Begin writing down potential solutions... Write down everything that comes to you. Write down everything. If you don't write down everything, the very thing you leave out may very well be the solution! It may have been hiding until you bring it out this is the stage, that separates the creative successes in life from people who say to themselves "I should have", "I could have"..."why didn't I?" Write down at least 10 unique ideas, possibilities, even if they seem "goofy" that are potential solutions to your challenge. (The wilder the better) After you have written all your ideas, circle the one or two best ideas that you have a feeling when you read them to yourself. Which one resonates with you? By the time you have reached this stage your creative energy will have already begun to open up and this is part of the fun!... just by placing your intention towards a solution, you actually feel more excited about the idea you are trying to come up with. (Which helps bring about its completion because your energy either attracts what you want or what you don't want) You ll actually be freeing up the naturally creative and inquisitive kid within you. Your energy will increase, you feel lighter, you'll look at what were once problems with new eyes. Every challenge in life will become a new possibility. Each day will bring new ideas, new energy, new friends, and new possibilities... Old
conflicts will begin to melt away. So continue with this powerful exercise and you'll notice a cumulative difference in a short period of time. Hint: Use at least one FULL page. Doodle, scribble, draw pictures, write anything that comes to you! Hint: Just one day of idea storming does not make a successful masterpiece. It can be powerful, but the key is each day to look at your challenge in a new light. Ask yourself "What if I already knew the solution to this question? As you go to sleep at night allow your subconscious mind to find the solutions for you. Often times, when you wake up in the morning, the solution will just come to you. The more you do this, the more you trust it... to work for you. The more you trust it, the more it will work for you. A Real-Life Story Ray Kurzweil, the creator of the Kurzweil keyboard and the inventor of the first speech recognition software over 10 years ago, is an expert at recognizing patterns. According to Ray: "Pattern recognition is not only the foundation of intuitive processes, but also the key to most of human intelligence. At least 90 percent of our brain is devoted to recognizing patterns. Most people limit the kinds of connections they're willing to make, through a wide variety of self-imposed censors, and thus we prevent ourselves from having as much intuition or intelligence as we're capable of. It's the successful experiments of the mind that matter, and most people are afraid to experiment enough to do something that succeeds." In other words, whatever your Dream or goal is, the ability to connect seemingly dissimilar or unconnected events, ideas and people together is how genius
happens. Are you willing to make these new connections to realize your Life's Dreams? If you truly are, you are about to embark on a journey more valuable than all the gold in the world - the journey of self-discovery and creativity! - Back to the real you, youthful, creative, inspired, limitless... The Mind Storming Method One of the best methods of creating solutions is called Mind Storming - The 20 Idea Method. First taught by Earl Nightingale. This tool is so powerful that when you use it, you will transform your life! Why? You will be taking advantage of what has been called the Iron Law of the Universe, the law of cause and effect. This law states that nothing happens without a cause. Nothing happens in your life without a reason. While you can't control everything that happens to you from outside causes, you can control your own actions and decisions. You control how you use your time and energy. The choices you make about what you do and don't do are the major factors that control your life. They are the causes that bring about the effects. If you change the causes, what will happen? Because of the law of cause and effect, your life will have to change! But, it is in our nature to form habits. We tend to do the same things, over and over again, much as a computer blindly follows the commands of the programmer. This is where your creativity comes in. You can create the life you want by first forming a clear idea of what your future should look like. You then work back from that picture to determine what actions are necessary to bring it about. Taking those new actions will bring about new results. You compare those results to your goal, make any necessary changes, and continue toward your goal. The 20-Idea Method is a structured way to release your creativity and put it to use to solve specific problems and help you progress more quickly toward your ideal future. If you use it regularly, you will see profound changes in your life!
Creative Success Tool Steps ----------------------------------------------- 1. Take a blank sheet of paper and write your current problem or goal at the top of the paper in the form of a question. The question should be as specific as possible. The more specific the question, the better the quality of the answers. A specific question allows your mind to focus clearly. Instead of the general question "How can I improve my marketing?", write "What can I do to reach twice as many qualified prospects this week?". 2. Think of 20 answers to this question. Write down 20 different things you can think of doing, either now or in the future, that will help you reach your goal. Some of the things you might come up with: Advertise more Improve my phone skills Find better prospects Write a more compelling sales letter Develop a better headline for my ads The first 5 answers will be easy, the second 5 will be harder and coming up with the last few answers may seem impossible. But don't stop until you have created at least 20 different answers. If the ideas are flowing, keep writing them down until you can't come up with any more. This method can used successfully for: Relationships Fitness and Health Your Spirituality Your Business 3. Go back over the ideas and select at least one to be acted on immediately. This is absolutely critical to the success of this method. It is the willingness to take action on your ideas that will keep your creativity flowing. Great ideas will not help you unless you act on them! 4. This is an optional step that can help you progress even faster. Once you've selected the idea you want to use immediately, perform the 20-Idea method on that idea, creating 20 ways to put that idea to work.
Once you use mind storming, you'll find yourself thinking of more and more creative ideas. Take the time to write them down! This will keep your mind sharp and alert. Act on your best ideas and continually refine them. Combine them with effective ideas you see around you. Every idea doesn't have to be original. Learn from others who have solved the problem or reached the goal that you're working on. Finally, remember the law of cause and effect. If you find the actions that lead to the results you want, and then start doing them day after day, you will eventually reach your goal. Here are some examples: Question: How can I best create? Question: What aspect of my business should I concentrate on -? Question: What's the best way to get more? Question: How can I be grateful for? As you can see, your questions should be as direct and on target as possible. If you can't say it in one simple sentence, you aren't clear enough on what you want to achieve. Which means you aren't ready to solve your problem. You need to devote more time to defining and understanding your problem before you can take full advantage of this process. But assuming you have a clear understanding of the problem you want to solve, it should only take you 10 seconds to write out your question. Dream-Minder Hint: Short, clear statements are key to having clarity about what you really want in life. As you type-in your Dreams, values, talents, and goals within Dream-Minder, the shorter the sentences the better. Not only will you be able to see your complete statements in the pop-up reminder window as it reminds you throughout your day, but also, you'll be sending a clear message to your
subconscious mind and the universe about your intentions to actually create them in your real world. Why Write It Down? Alright, I know you may be wondering, "Why should I write this down? "If I'm so clear on what my goal is, why can't I just have my question in my mind?" There are very real reasons why you want to write your question down. First, if you can't write your problem down in a simple sentence within 10 seconds, you're unclear on what you're really searching for. Why waste time spinning your wheels? Writing it down will give you a clear gauge of where you really stand. It will tell you instantly whether you're ready to proceed or if you need to define your goal more clearly. Secondly, years ago, when I began my company, Dreams Alive, I needed to come up with my company name and also marketing ideas that could help me launch my company. One of the techniques I discovered uncovering the most complex, difficult material was simply writing it down. When all else failed, writing something down was the key to both short term and long term comprehension. You see, there's some kind of direct connection that happens in your mind that occurs when you write something down. Since the entire purpose of this step is to start priming your brain for creating blockbuster ideas, writing out a question for your brain to work on is an ideal starting point. Every artist, musician, painter and creative person is like You, they begin by sketching out their idea, their craft, their music and then they add to it moment to moment, day by day. This is where creative genius begins and is allowed to grow... Another way of saying this is: Thought + Intention+ Creative Brainstorming = GREAT IDEAS
Step 2: In Rapid-Fire Mode, List All Potential Answers To Your Question (10 minutes) (Begin by playing some music, get into a relaxing space, breathe, and relax...) The purpose of this step is allow as much energy within you to "open up" to reveal as much raw material as you possibly can. Write down as much as you possibly can about your question. Write down small fragments of information. Write down facts and figures. Write down possible solutions if any happen to come to you. Write down anything and everything. Do not censor any idea. Regardless of how ridiculous it may seem, write it down. Don't evaluate. Don't analyze. Just write, write, write. And, yes, you must write all of this information down, not just think about it. This process allows you to make new connections that you didn't previously (or consciously know) of the raw material it takes and re-order into new connections and million-dollar ideas or whatever you truly desire. After you do this exercise several times, your creative energy will be easier to "find" again and you can more easily "connect the dots" - in other words, make new connections between old and new ideas that will surprise you. The beauty of this technique is that it doesn't take long. Simply blitz through it for 5-10 minutes. Step 3: Do A Relaxing, Non-Business Related Activity (10 minutes) In this step, the action you take will be crucial to your success. So please pay very strict attention. What I want you to do is: NOTHING. That's right, take a break. Don't work. Don't labor over the answer. Instead, do something relaxing. However, watching television or reading aren't good choices here. They tend to be too distracting. Creative Mindset Activities Here are a few relaxing activities that I've found work very well.
Take a shower Take a walk Lay down in a lounge chair and watch the wind blow through the trees Play with the dog Go for a drive Or do any other non-work activity you find particularly relaxing Listen to music Close your eyes and breathe... Note: Going for ice cream is a another cool way to help the creative kid inside you come out and play! Be silly, and skip on the way if you'd like!!! The purpose of this step is to let your mind (and other parts of you) do the background work it needs to do to come up with a breakthrough idea. As you can see, it doesn't take much to get your brain started on this process. Once you've primed your mind with raw material, your brain's natural problem-solving process will kick in without you even being aware of it. Be sure to keep a pad of paper and pencil handy. Better yet, have a minicassette recorder available to capture your flashes of brilliance. Now I don't know why, but for some reason, I tend to get tons of powerful ideas when I'm in the shower. No, not those kind of ideas. I'm talking about the kind of ideas you get when you're showering alone. (I also use a notepad to write down any ideas that come to me.) Get Ready For Remarkable Results! As incredibly simple as this process is, it yields powerful results. I use it all the time, whenever I need a great marketing idea or a solution to any kind of problem. I can tell you from personal experience that it yields exceptional results. I've used it to create breakthrough ideas for small projects and I've used it for major, life-changing decisions. And I can directly attribute hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of business to ideas I've come up with using this process. Now it's your turn. Give this process a try. Then let me know about the results it produces for you. You can reach me at paulb@dreamsalive.com (Yes, write to
me even if your slightly tempted... You may unleash some cool idea in the process!) : -) Go to the NEXT page for a powerful exercise that will help skyrocket your creativity when you really need a creative solution to any challenge or problem. Let's Review: 1) Write down your challenge or problem 2) Turn it into a question 3) Brainstorm on at least 10 answers. 4) Go over each answer and circle the best 2 or 3 5) Focus on how this solution can become real for you 6) Connect with those people who can help you energize this solution 7) Allow the process (solution) to unfold I encourage you to use this exercise regularly and you will see wonderful results. May you go forward with the faith and courage that your Life's Dreams and creativity are unfolding... Blessings, Paul Bauer Dreams Alive International http://www.dreamsalive.com Go Forth and Dare To LIVE Your Life's Dreams!
Further reading to help you tap into your Creative Genius Aha! - 10 Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas By Jordan Ayan Thinking For A Living - By Joey Reiman