Creativity Guide: 7 Simple Ways to Unlock Your Creative Genius

Everyone has a hidden creative genius.

Yes, you too!

If you’re like me, you’ll find that hard to believe. When you think about creativity, names like Einstein, Mozart, Da Vinci, or Picasso might come to mind.

But you and me?

Not even close, right?

Wrong.

You see, creativity comes in many forms and degrees.

And while school has done a pretty good job at killing creativity by making you memorize “single answers” and not ask too many complex questions, everyone has a creative genius.

Being creative is part of being human.

It makes life exciting and joyful. Besides, leveling up your creative skills enables you to add more value, increasing your earning potential.

In this article, you will learn why you’re a creative genius – and how you can unlock your potential. We will cover:

• What is creativity?
• 4 levels of creativity
• Creative character traits
• 5 stages of the creative process
• 7 ideas to unlock your creative genius
• When do you feel most creative?

So let’s dive in!

What is creativity?

Creativity is your ability to make connections between information and concepts that result in novel insights and ideas, either in physical (like a painting) or intangible form (like musical insights).

Here is what’s interesting about this description:

Creativity is essential in almost any area of life. We constantly connect pieces of information and concepts to solve problems, make decisions, and develop ideas.

That’s all part of creativity!

Let’s explore that a bit further to help you see that you’ve been creative all along.

Levels of creativity: the 4 C’s

Dr. Kaufman and Dr. Beghetto identified roughly four levels of creativity. And you can find yourself somewhere on the spectrum of these 4 C’s:

• Mini-c creativity includes all your ideas and insights that are not shared with the world. Everyone experiences these all the time. For example, when you’re planning a busy day.
• Little-c creativity involves problem-solving at any level. That could mean solving a work-related problem. But it could also mean everyday situations, like finding creative ways to save money.
• Pro-C creativity is where you practice creativity as part of your profession. This is when most people acknowledge that someone is creative. For example, think about art, design, marketing, and web development careers.
• Big-C creativity is the kind of creativity that comes to mind when first thinking about the topic, most top performers in any field or industry. For example, think of the revolutionary companies of Elon Musk, like Tesla and SpaceX.

The four C’s show that you’re already a creative genius. And while the road to the Big-C is undoubtedly challenging, it’s not impossible. 

Sure, you may not become the next Musk or Einstein. But you can find a niche area where you can unleash your full potential and thrive as a creative genius.

An example of moving from mini-C to Big-C

Beeple, or Mike Winkelman, is a fantastic example of crafting a unique path, putting in the effort to develop the necessary skills, and thriving as a creative genius in a niche market.

Although he studied computer science, he desired to get into art. And in 2007, he decided to make one piece of art per day for 5.000 consecutive days and never miss a beat.

He started like this:

And although his art wasn’t great, he stuck to his goal and kept learning new skills. Beeple even created and published a piece of art the day his child was born. 

Today, he not only thrives as a creative genius in the digital art world, but he also sold his 5.000 consecutive pieces for 67 million dollars!

Here’s one of his recent pieces:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by beeple (@beeple_crap)

Does that not inspire you?

The main point is that everyone has creative potential. And if you want to unlock your next level, you will benefit from the following creative traits.

What traits will unleash your creative genius?

Professor Land developed a creativity test for NASA to help them select the right engineers and scientists. When he later gave this test to 1,600 children, a shocking 98% of all 5-year-olds were creative geniuses. 

But only 2% of adults passed the creative genius test…

The conclusion?

Creativity declines as we age.

We already mentioned how schools play a significant role in this decline. Memorizing information and not fostering environments that promote the habit of asking more questions are fantastic ways to reduce creativity.

As if the system is made like that by design…

Anyway, of course, other factors play a role too. Think about our growing need for other people’s validation and developing various fears.

So what character traits make the “creative geniuses” stand out from the crowd? 

Here are the traits you should nurture to unlock your potential:

• Openness and eagerness to new experiences
• Genuine curiosity – and rarely drawing definite conclusions
• Physical energy and a discipline to explore consistently
• Mental energy and habits to create clarity and focus
• Appreciation for solitude to think and reflect
• A positive mental attitude in general

While these traits are not surprising, they’re all teachable. Not a single trait in this list is out of reach.

Still not convinced that you’re a creative genius?

Let’s take a look at what the actual creative process looks like.

5 Stages of the creative process

Graham Wallas was a social psychologist who studied the creative process. And he identified the four stages of creativity, which he wrote about in his book, The Art of Thought.

However, you can split up the fourth stage into two different phases. And that’s how we get to the following five stages of James Taylor.

1. Preparation is the exploration stage during which you seek to understand the creative problem. This phase includes research, learning about its dimensions, and gathering information.
2. Incubation is the stage during which you internalize the problem. In other words, you let the information sink into your subconscious mind. That often includes stepping away from the issue and doing something unrelated while your mind works its magic.
3. Illumination or insight is the phase during which you get the gut feeling that you’re onto something, followed by an “aha moment.” Many creative ideas often follow this experience.
4. Evaluation is the testing stage of your idea. Is your insight valid? How does it compare to other ideas? And how well does it solve the initial problem? Reflecting characterizes this phase.
5. Verification is the final stage and includes the implementation of the idea. During this phase, feedback from others is essential to improve and develop your creative ideas.

While these stages look pretty straightforward, the time you spend at each varies tremendously. You will spend most of your time in the preparation and verification phase. 

Unfortunately, people often get discouraged when they can’t find a creative idea fast enough. And that’s why they give up.

But remember the character traits?

You will unleash your creative genius if you stay persistent and curious, focusing relentlessly on the process rather than the results.

Creativity doesn’t just happen – it’s a skill.

And here’s how you can develop and master it.

7 Ideas to unlock your creative genius

Do you recall the definition of creativity we discussed earlier?

Here’s a refresher: 

It’s all about creating neural connections between information to develop novel insights and ideas. It reveals two steps to unlocking the full potential of your creative genius:

1. Researching and gathering information;
2. Creating connections between these data points.

The character traits we just discussed play a significant role here too. Openness to experience, curiosity, positivity, and energy is all about the endless pursuit of learning and exploration.

Creativity is not rocket science.

But becoming a successful creative genius isn’t easy – nor should it be. Success in any endeavor takes time, effort, work ethic, and growth. 

And here are seven ways to master creativity.

#1: Become an ideation machine

When I told myself that I wasn’t a creative person, guess what? I never even gave myself the opportunity.

Self-judgment is a significant obstacle to creativity. 

The reason is that it takes quantity to get to quality. A genius idea or creation doesn’t simply appear. You must go through the repetitions first.

Allow yourself to create junk.

Come up with dumb and impractical ideas. Create terrible paintings. Draw worse than a 5-year-old. Come up with awful innovations.

Take action – as often as you can.

Of course, the goal isn’t to create terrible stuff… Instead, the goal is to increase your output without judging yourself.

Try to improve the quality – but don’t let perfectionism become an excuse for inaction and procrastination. To unleash your creative genius, you must create – a lot.

Here are some DAILY ideas to improve your creativity and become an ideation machine:

• Solve one problem (at least in theory)
• Come up with a business idea or vision
• Come up with ideas to improve your (or a) business
• Create a painting
• Write a short story
• Make a drawing
• Brainstorm ideas for a work-related topic
• Find a way to enhance an experience
• Find a way to improve a process at work
• Think about a way to make an impact on the world

Create a daily creative practice, and you’re certain to unlock your creative potential.

The problem?

Most people never do the necessary reps. Therefore they struggle to come up with ideas or creations when they have to – resulting in calling themselves not creative.

If that includes you, I hope you understand it’s a lie. 

You are creative. You just need daily practice to create consistent output, whether that means 15 minutes or 3 hours per day. 

Consistent output will lead to better creative skills.

Short example of creative thinking in action

I’ll give you an example of improving an experience I read in the book, The Power of Moments.

John Dietz was designing an MRI machine for kids and quickly figured out how frightened they were to get into it. So he set the goal to make the experience more fun, transforming the MRI scan into a game:

• The hallway had rocks on the floor, so they would jump from one stone to the next.
• They painted the waiting room like a jungle.
• And the MRI machine was a canoe, and they told the kids to lay completely still, so it wouldn’t rock over.

The result? 

The number of kids that needed to be sedated dropped from 80% to 27%. And the time it took to get kids into the ‘canoe’ dropped from 10 minutes to only 1 minute. 

The point of this story?

Think about problems or experiences in your life, business, or big challenges the world is facing. How could you improve them?

Action: come up with many creative ideas and practice this exercise regularly. Focus on high-quantity output and train your brain to make new connections. Eventually, quality ideas will arise.

#2: Build your internal library

Making connections between concepts and information requires an internal library of that. That’s why learning is essential to creativity.

You need to broaden your knowledge.

But here’s the crux:

To unleash every inch of creative genius inside you, you must go deep and broad on as many topics as possible.

Explore the world.

• Read books on a wild variety of topics, like these best self-help books
• Try stuff out and explore new activities
• Say yes more often to random experiences
• Talk to more people

And here’s the secret to broadening your library rapidly:

• Read books you wouldn’t usually read
• Talk to people you wouldn’t usually talk to
• Go to events you wouldn’t usually attend to
• Try to learn something from everyone you meet

When you broaden your perspective, you can make connections between areas that, at the surface, have zero to do with one another.

It’s all about being able to recognize and then use patterns.

And you can quickly get more creative ideas through exploration, learning about different topics, and seeing how best practices in one area could apply to another unrelated field.

#3: Ask more questions than a 5-year old

I’ve heard countless stories of people meeting billionaires. A great time to pick their brain, right? Well, when the billionaire left the room, what they found was quite the opposite…

They told the billionaire all their secrets – not the other way around.

Why?

Because they simply asked more questions. They were more curious than anyone else they had met before. And they believe that everyone knows something that you do not.

The obstacle to learning is our ego.

How often do you stop listening because you believe that you’re right?

How often do you cling to your self-limiting beliefs rather than exploring them?

Albert Einstein said this:

I have no special talents, I’m only passionately curious.

Of course, Einstein was exceptional in many ways. But, like many successful and creative people, he understands the power of curiosity and asking questions.

So in your conversations, become more interested than trying to be interesting. Ask questions and seek to understand the perspective of others. Where do they come from? What do they know that you do not?

Also, question yourself more often.

Here are some ideas to improve your curiosity:

• Learn with an open mind and invite new perspectives…
• …but simultaneously be sceptical and question everything
• Do the same thing for your own thoughts and beliefs
• Get around interesting people and ask questions
• Be genuinely interested in others and their ideas
• Ask yourself: “If only…”
• Ask yourself: “What if…”
• And occasionally ask yourself WHY more than 5 times.

Here’s an example for the last one.

Say you want to create a business selling wines. Why does that matter? People want to drink good wines. Why does that matter? People enjoy the experience. Why does that matter? Experiences make for a good life. 

From this small exercise, you can conclude that you want to get into the business of selling experiences, not just wines. 

Questions lead to insights. And when you stop asking questions, you stop learning.

#4: A tip from the mind of Einstein

The last few tips were quite dense, so here’s a short but valuable tip from one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time:

Capture your ideas.

Have you ever had the experience that you got a great idea but then forgot about it…?

I’ve had that many times.

So when a genius idea strikes you, write it down. Since everyone is walking around with a phone, get an app or place where you can capture your ideas.

It’s a simple tip to improve your creativity. 

#5: Seek solitude

While many people fear being alone, there’s nothing wrong with loneliness sometimes. And if you’re an introvert like me, you might cherish and embrace these moments. 

Loneliness is required for creativity.

When you go into solitude, that’s a time to explore your inner world. It’s a moment to reflect on what you’ve learned in the outer world and explore your feelings and emotions about these discoveries.

Doing so develops neural pathways in your brain, providing new insights. And here are some powerful ways to enhance that:

1. Go for a long 4+ hour walk in nature.
2. Sit down and journal everything that comes to mind. Ask yourself questions in the process and write down the answers.
3. When learning something new, think about how it could apply to your life or how it could give you insights into past experiences.
4. Write a blog post, video, podcast, or presentation as if you will share it with the world – even if you do not share it.
5. Travel by yourself. Although not easy, it’s powerful.

When you go through these exercises, know it’s okay to experience boredom too. That’s part of being alone.

To be more creative, spend a chunk of your time alone.

#6: Embrace paradoxes and complexity

Coming up with creative ideas means finding ideas and insights that are unique. And while people view most topics as either black or white, you must embrace all the shades in between.

You see, ideas are never good or bad.

Political stuff is never good or bad.

Actions are never good or bad.

Most of the time, everything is good and bad – at the same time. 

When someone steals bread, that’s bad. Stealing is not good. But if the robber is in absolute despair and sees no other way to feed his two kids, can’t we say that he has good intentions – at least to a degree?

Try looking at the world from various angles.

Try to understand different perspectives, the many nuances at play at any given time, and the world’s complexities.

Things are never as simple as they appear.

Life is simply too dynamic.

And when you hear that X or Y is the best way to approach a situation, wonder if that’s true. Question your own beliefs. What contradicting pieces of evidence can you find?

Embrace complexity and difficulty.

This, btw, is another tip of Einstein’s desk.

#7: Sleep on ideas

If you’ve read through the entire article, you know that incubation is one of the essential steps in the process of creativity.

It often takes time before your eureka moment strikes.

While you can always broaden your knowledge and practice these exercises, it often takes time before a brilliant creative idea comes to mind, especially if you need it for a specific reason.

My blog is an example of that.

For months I’ve been pondering who exactly I’m trying to reach and what your struggles are. The more I get to know you, the better I can write for you and the more value I can provide. 

If you want to help me, please email mick [@] insideoutmastery.com and let me know your biggest challenges.

Anyway, you must give your subconscious mind time to brew on all the information so it can blossom up some creative ideas.

One day, a lightning bulb moment will strike you.

Practice all the tips in this article, and you will undoubtedly realize that you’ve been a creative genius all along.

When do you feel most creative?

Consistent effort and practice is the best way to unleash your creative genius. So if you’re serious about creativity, make it a daily habit.

And the best moment to do that is by auditing your day and figuring out at which time you’re most creative.

Is it the morning?

Afternoon?

Or are you a night owl that produces the best ideas when most other people’s brains are shutting down?

For me, it’s the morning if it comes to creative writing. I notice that the morning is the best time for me to do my writing. But it’s the afternoon or early evening hours when it comes to idea generation.

What is it for you?

Give it some thought and develop a daily creative practice. You will see improvements if you exercise it for a couple of months. 

Let alone what it can do in 5 or 10 years.

Creativity books

If the ideas and information in this article didn’t do the trick for you, you might want to dig into some more stuff from exceptionally creative folks. Here’s my list of favorites:

• Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All by Tom Kelley
• Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon
• Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon

Want even more ideas? Then check out the best books on creativity for beginners.

Summary

Creativity is your ability to make connections between information and concepts that result in novel insights and ideas. 

And you, too, have a creative genius inside of you.

It’s important that focus on continuous self-improvement and nurture the following ideas if you want to unleash your full creative potential:

• Be open and curious about new experiences;
• Be disciplined and persistent in your pursuit;
• And never stop questioning and wondering.

Gathering information from various sources allows you to make new neural connections. And these will provide you with creative insights and lead to your eureka moments.

Pick an inspiring creative practice and make that a daily habit in your day. Then, ensure you create and generate much of what you want to become great at.

Consistent creative output will lead to quality – and you might just create something that will change your life.

Want more creative ideas to enhance your life?

It’s my mission to inspire struggling individuals to find meaning and create a life they’re passionate about. And while creativity is one part of the equation, there are more secrets to unleashing your full potential.

Want to know them?

Then, sign up for the newsletter below, where I’ll share weekly insights to inspire you to unleash your full potential and thrive.