Unleash Your Creative Potential

1. Introduction To Unleashing Creativity: Oh, are you amazing artists and welcome to the course, Unleashing Your Creative Potential. Bump, bump, bump bonds. So this course is for artists, creatives. Anybody out there that really wants to connect with their creative side. Or maybe you're feeling that there is a lacking creativity or that you're having creative block. Or maybe you're not having creative block and you just have so many ideas that you don't even know where to start in this course, I'm going to talk about creativity. I'm going to debunk some myths that come with Creativity. And I'm going to talk about just a few ways that maybe you could get your brain to cooperate with the creative side of what you want to do. Obviously, as creative individuals, as artists that want to put themselves out there, creativity is a vital factor in what we do. And I think a lot of times there's not enough conversation that really talks about creativity. So that's what I wanna do here. I want to talk about creativity. I want to talk about how you are instinctively creative and you've got nothing to worry about really. So if you're interested and go to the next part where we're gonna talk about what creativity is 2. Redefining Creativity: So what is creativity? This is an interesting question because until I actually decided to put this course together, I didn't really think about it. I think that it was kinda like this fuzzy idea of, It's funny because I've talked about this in my book. I've talked about divergent thinking and how creativity really is the ability to look at something or observe something and see something else. Basically, you are looking at something and you're able to change your perspective on it. And change the way you look at stuff, basically your imagination in your control versus your imagination being out-of-control and you just thinking whatever thoughts come to you and visualizing worst-case scenarios and all that ****, which is what a lot of people are used to doing. I think creativity is the opposite. Creativity is the ability to think consciously, to create, imagine things consciously, and actually train your mind to go where you want it to go versus your mind just kinda going the place where it's going to go and you have no control over it. Now I know that this is a weird way of describing creativity. But really when I look at creativity and I look at my career, my career, the reason that we've been able to succeed, what we do and put ourselves out there and stuff is because we have really approached this from a very creative place. We're constantly instead of being dragged along and being pulled in directions that maybe we don't want to go. We're always consciously paying attention to how we feel and which direction it is that we want to go. And most importantly, training our minds to think of creative solutions versus being really focused on the problem. So one of the key factors to creativity would be like originality. Like basically originality. All originality means is that you look at something and you see it for what you want to see it right now. Somebody else's description of it, not somebody else's explanation of it, but basically you see what it is that you see and you embrace the fact that this is something that might be personal to you. It's the same way when you're looking at artwork that someone else created, either you like it or you don't like it. And if you do like if that's because there's something there that you connected with, it doesn't even matter what the motive of the artist is. It just matters that you connected with that thing for whatever reason you connected with it for and then there's a lot of people out there. They're like, Why don't know what it means? I need to find out from an expert. So originality really comes down to you knowing what you like and being willing to explore things to find what it is that you like. The other part of creativity is novel combinations like basically mixing and matching those things that you like. I always talk about being inspired by other Art, other artists, things in life. And what that means is like you take a segment of something that you really love from here. Maybe it's a color combination or a texture or something. Then there's something else. And your brain is going to meld these two worlds into this thing because you love this aspect over here, and I love this aspect over here, and I love what this means. And so immediately you want to put something together and it's bringing those components together. That's really where creativity shines through. And we have the ability to do that because instead of those components being what they are outside of you, you create them into something that is within you. The other big aspect of creativity, and this is why I say that it's important that you really embrace your own creativity when you are doing this hard thing is problem-solving. Basically, it's being able to find a solution in places where maybe other people I've told you there is no solution. I mean, that's one of the biggest things to being an artist is that people are going to tell you that you're going to starve, that it's not going to work out that or that you have to do it like this in order to get to where it is that you're gonna get to. And really you're the only Wanda could see something that might look like a Problem. Change your perspective so that you're not focused on the problem. Start looking for the solution or feeling your way to the solution. And really at the end of the day, that's all about creativity and divergent thinking. It's looking at something that is supposed to be one thing. This is supposed to be bad. This is a problem, this is a roadblock. And turning it into an opportunity that's hugely creative. And I know that it's not like the creativity the way that it's spoken of, but that is really creative. Problem-solving is a major component in creativity. Anybody that's had struggles working on something and they've persisted working through that particular work of our nose, that problem-solving is a major, major component and Creativity. The other part that we already discussed is imagination. Having control over your imagination, purposefully visualizing and knowing what it is that you want to see when you look at something. So this is one of those things that we experience or unconsciously write. A lot of times you look at something and there's a meaning behind it that maybe came from somewhere else. When you're really creative, you don't really take those things. Somebody might look at a tree and say, Oh, that's a really beautiful tree. And then it's next to another tree and say that's an ugly tree, right? You, as a creative are able to say they're both beautiful for different reasons, right? Everything is not black and white. Your imagination allows you to expand into a world where things are not just this or that they are, there's shades of gray and Creativity. The other really important part of creativity that really adds to your career is risk-taking. Being able to take materials, things that maybe you've been told this is not what it's supposed to be for, you're supposed to use this. And in actuality, take those materials and do your own thing with them. Experiment. Curiosity is a huge component of creativity. The ability to take risks, the ability to break the rules. That is huge when it comes to creativity. And I would say that the most important thing, the most important factor to Creativity is persistence. The only way that you will get through a project or create an our career, or do anything that you want to do is persistence, knowing full well that you're going to run into roadblocks, you're going to run into insecurities. You're going to run into everything that could go wrong is going to go wrong. And knowing that you are still going to reach the end is a major component of creativity is where problem-solving, divergent thinking and all that stuff allows you to get to the final place that you want to get to. So as a quick assignment, I want you to write down times that you feel taking a look at these points that I've made, that you feel that you've been creative in your life and your career, whatever it is, really, focus on these if you need to watch this video again, watch this video again and really think about what these things mean to you and go ahead and write them down or sketch them out or whatever on what exactly does creativity mean to you when you're done with that, let's go to the next section where I'm going to debunk some myths about creativity 3. Debunking Creativity Myths: Hello and welcome to the section where we are going to debunk the many myths out there that are on creativity. And the last section we talked about what creativity is. Taking an approach that is not the normal, like one sentence thing. Creative creativity is a thing that a creative person does like. No, it's, it's much more than that and it's much more than just creating are it has to do with creating your life. And I think that one of the reasons that a lot of people struggle with what the meaning of creativity is, is because there's a lot of myths out there when it comes to creativity. There are just stupid, they're stupid Myths. And I, those are the things that I want to talk about here. So myth number one is Creativity is just for artists. Only. Artists are Creativity only people that do creative things are creative. And the truth of the matter is that everyone has the potential to be creative. In fact, I would say that everyone is creative in certain areas of their life where they're willing to take risks, they're willing to think outside of the box, are willing to push the boundaries, break the rules. Everybody has that thing that they're very creative in, whether it's food or it's artwork, or it's just their job or anything like that. I believe that were born creative, were absolutely born creative and none in school. It kinda gets taught out of us. I think that, that ability to be divergent, that ability to look at a water bottle and not just see a container of water, see all the opportunities, all the things that, that thing could be turned into. That's where creativity comes in. And a lot of people take that approach in different areas of their life. They don't consider themselves creative. So yes, that is an absolute myth. Everyone is creative. You don't have to struggle to be creative. You are already creative. In fact, you need to let go, not struggle in order to really find your creativity that goes hand in hand with myths too, which is, creativity is an innate talent. It is not something that you're born with. That is absolute ********. Every child is a creative genius. There have been test that have been done. There have been studies that have been done on this. Every child is a creative genius. They showed a study where children first starting school, 98% of them were creative and the ones that weren't creative, chances are there wasn't much Creativity, much of that kind of growth inspired at home. I think that little by little as you go through life and you're told to get your head out of the clouds. Be realistic, blah-blah-blah. That creative, that creative power gets taught out of us. So, yeah, that's, that's a complete myth. Myth number three is that creativity is not practical in the real-world. What a croc of everything. Just look around, look around you and you're gonna see the hands of an artist touched everything around you, from design to practicality to anything that you have you ever, are you sitting on a chair? That chair was designed by an artist. Are you looking at a TV screen or a computer monitor? Well, that was designed by an artists. There is artistry everywhere. You look, everywhere you look in people that think that way that Art is not really needed. Arts, not practical arts, not this. They just don't actually understand what Art is. So that is a myth. Myth number four is you need to wait for inspiration to strike before you can be creative. That is ********. That is ********. There's people out there that really love to be like, Oh, inspiration and stroke. And I can't. The fact that the matter is that they're gonna be times where you're really into flow and inspiration is going to strike. And you're going to work on something and you're going to allow yourself to work on something. But they're also times where you're maybe into flow and inspiration strikes and you're like, Oh, I'm too busy doing this other thing and I don't have time to do that. I'll do it later and then by the time later comes around, you don't do it. Then there are times where you just sit in the studio. You're not really sure what you're gonna do. And you go through your book and you look at, Alright, this is what I'm gonna do. And then you get the process started because months you get that momentum going, then boom, you fall into this state of flow and creativity. So it's not just when inspiration hits. You can train yourself to get that inspiration started by following the motions of what it is. Two, that's gonna get you in that flow state. Myth number five is a creative people are always disorganized and spontaneous. With this one, there is a little bit of truth to that, but it's not across the board. It doesn't work that way. It's not an always think there are people out there that love to play that eccentric persona because that's part of their, as part of the thing that they do. And there are people out there that are very organized and not very spontaneous and are extremely creative and create a lot of our work. And then there are people out there that are completely disorganized and extremely spontaneous and they also are very creative and create a lot of artwork. So no, that's just one of those labels that people like to throw artists like we're completely disorganized, we're not responsible, we're not this. The truth is that you are just you who you are The fact that your creative has nothing to do with that part of your personality. You can be very organized, you can be, you don't have to be disheveled to be an artist. Myth number six, creativity is for the young. ********. Creativity is not for the young. I feel like this is one of those things that goes along with the, you can't teach a dog, an old dog, new tricks or something like ******** like that. Creativity is one of those things that like I said before, is innately within us. It's not that a goes away, it's still there. It's just sometimes we block it off, right? Because we're busy with life and you have to get your head out of the clouds and you've gotta be realistic. And you may be once a year, make an attempt to sit there and sketch something and it doesn't turn out well because anytime you do something for the first time, it's going to suck. And then you're like, Oh, I'm just not creative, right? That's a big thing that people say all the time, Oh, I'm just not creative. Oh, I wish I was creative like you and it's like, dude, creativity is not this in a thing. You have to do something about it. You got to like put the time in and create the stuff in order to get good. Every single one of you, and I've heard some of the artists even in this community say like, I'm terrible at drawing hands. I can't do hands. I can't do hands. I will tell you right now if you spend just one month practicing hands every day, you're gonna get fantastic at drawing hands. You're just going to get really good at drawing hands. Why? Because you've been doing it for a month. And that's the reality of it when it comes to skill and creativity. Those things do not work hand in hand. Those are two totally different things. You develop a skill by practicing it, more. Creativity is already within you. So make that distinction. That is a myth that you have to be young in order to be creative. That's ********. And so the next myth is, if you fail, then it means that you're not creative. I cannot tell you how absolutely destructive that myth is and how much ******** is beyond that myth, it is not true. You are going to fail. You are going to fail whenever you are trying something new, you are going to fail. The problem is that a lot of people base this on the fact that you don't like, I started drawing and sketching and doing stuff when I was like five years, as soon as I can pick up a pencil, which means that I got years and years of practice in before I was 12-years-old. So by the time I was 12-years-old, yeah. You'd see a drawing and it was pretty good. Immediately people were like, Oh, that's an, a talent and it's all this stuff nose just because I was interested in doing it. I did. I went through the process where my hands look like big balloon fingers and all that stuff. But I was really young, so it was like, Oh, well, you expect that from a child, listen, kids, older people, we have the same hand-eye coordinate. Unless there's something wrong, you have the same hand-eye coordination. And it's going to take practice to keep doing it and get better at something. So before you get better at something, you're going to fail, it's going to suck you. It's gonna be terrible. It's gonna be terrible. You're going to suck at doing this thing. You're going to fail over and over, but you gotta keep trying. You gotta keep going. You got to keep honing that thing and then it gets better. So that's the thing, Creativity Versus skill. Creativity has nothing to do with skill, and it has nothing to do with failure. You're going to fail. You're gonna get things wrong because you're taking risk, you're trying new things, and that's just how it works. Myth number eight is that creativity cannot be taught. Okay? So I want to rephrase this one, right? Because Creativity already exists within you. It's not about teaching creativity, it's teaching people how to tap into that. And really the best way to tap into your creativity is to let go of all the ******** that you might believe is attached to creativity. That's really the truth of it. Like Creativity already exist within you. You have the ability for divergent thinking. You may have trained yourself out of that. And in actuality, it's still there. So no, I cannot teach you creativity because it's already there. What I could teach you is how to tap into your own creativity. So those are some of the myths out there that I found that are most like just stupid when it comes to creativity. And I wanted to debunk all of those myths because just debunking those myths also allows you to really, really tap into the creativity that already exists within you as an assignment with this section, what I want you to do is think of a myths, some kind of Creativity Myths that is maybe held you back something that you believe that you're like, I'm only creative at this time, we're all creative. People are like this. Really, really think about this, spend some time writing those things out. And then I want you to debunk your own myths because that's all they are. Basically, whenever you say something doesn't necessarily make a true, it makes it true for you in that moment and you've been repeating it. So now it's really, really true. So I want you to take those things that might be holding you back and rewrite them in a way that is much more empowering for you. And then once you're done doing that, we're going to talk about just a few creativity barriers that you might be going through in the next section. 4. Creativity Barriers: In this section, I want to talk about the barriers that we can run into when it comes to creativity. These are easy because it is, I mean, they're not easy to deal with, but they're easy to come up with because this is something that really affects all areas of life. The first one that I want to talk about is fear of failure. The biggest anatomy, one of the biggest enemies to Creativity is being afraid that if you invest time in this or invest money into this thing or anything like that, that you're not gonna get a return that it's going to, it's just going to fail. And what that does is you've already failed ahead of time. In your mind, you haven't even tried to thing and you've already talked to yourself out of it because you failed. So you don't even try to be career even when you sit down to sketch something. Oh, I'm I'm terrible at doing hands, so I'm not even going to try. And that's one of those things that you have to really stop and look at it. It's like when you have fear of failure, you're going to stop yourself ahead of time from pursuing that thing. And it's very hard to be creative when you're just giving into that failure voice instead of contradicting it and just moving forward with that thing anyway, persisting. The other one that comes along with fear of failure is self-doubts. Just having self-doubts and not being willing to stand up to your own stick man in your head that is telling you, well, you suck at this. You are terrible at this. There's no way that you're gonna be able to do this. You just don't have it within you to do this thing. All of these things that have to do with self-doubt. You have to remember when you are creative viewer willing to take a look at those things that voice that is within your own head and challenge that belief, right? Because it's not yours, it doesn't belong to you. It came from somewhere around. Maybe someone else was like you'll never be good at this. This is the kind of person you are. You're just not this kind of person. And the thing is really at the end of the day, it's your life. It's up to you to decide what is it that I'm going to believe about myself? Am I willing to just allow this self-doubts to come in and like cripple me from doing something that I wanna do. Am I telling myself that I'm not just, I'm not creative, I just can't do this thing and challenge those thoughts. Really, really challenge those thoughts. The other thing is comfort zones, breaking out of comfort zones. The fact of the matter is that comfort zones have absolutely nothing to do with comfort. Like nothing to do with comfort just means that you are used to this thing. You'd know what to expect. So it could be one of those things where you've lived your life. And when you walk past a certain doorway, you get slapped in the face by a fly swatter. And you just know that you take that you know what to expect and you just keep doing it. And the idea that there's a better life, that you don't have to do that kind of like evades you because that's just what you grew up with and that's just what you're used to. You're used to approaching things from a certain way and that's just how it is. You don't see any other options, right? And that's because you're not using your creativity to divergently think of different ways that you could live. And so when it comes to pushing outside of that comfort zone, everything within you is going to try to keep you in that comfort zone. So taking a risk, starting in our career, approaching a gallery with your Art, doing all these things where there might be fear, rejection, all that stuff, you're going to find yourself wanting to stay in the comfort of that place that you know. But the truth is that if you want to live the life that you want and you're not living it now than you need to change something. You need to change. You need to push out of your comfort zones because you've kept yourself in a place that you don't want to be. And so that means changing your perspective, changing your mindset, fighting against your doubt, and really taking risks and pushing outside of the places that you're used to being. For this section, I want you to think about what are your fears, what are your doubts? What are the comfort zones that you're in that you know, we always know like if I were to do this thing, my life might be a little bit different. Think about those things and think about ways that you could just push out of that comfort zone and allow yourself to space to get it wrong. Don't be afraid of failure. The fact of the matter is that every single comfort zone that I push out, chances are I'm going to fail miserably and I need to get back on that horse and do it again and do it again and do it again until I show myself, you know what this is. Okay. This is okay and you have to be okay with failure. You have to be okay with pushing out a comfort zones right down to things that you think that you're afraid of. The you have self-doubts, the self-talk that you talk to yourself with, and what kind of things would help you push out of those comfort zones? And what is it that you feel that you might need to do in order to get to the next level. You're never going to push yourself too much. Just push out of your comfort zone. Just that little bit. It might be making a phone call. It might be approaching a gallery, it might be signing up for a show. It might be anything who knows what it is, but only you could determine that for yourself. In the next section, I'm going to talk about my conclusion, my final thoughts with this whole thing and things that you could do to really inspire creativity. So we'll talk about that 5. Conclusion and tips: This section, we're going to talk about the things that you can do to inspire creativity. So if you have a pen and paper, or pencil and paper, I want you to write these down because I'm just gonna kinda like run through these. We've already been through the myths, through the fears, through the doubts and all that stuff. And now it's what is already in there and what kind of things are going to help you tap into that creativity that lives within you. So the first thing that I want you to think of is creating a supportive environment for yourself, right? Something that is going to support your creativity. I've talked about this before as far as like having a studio and you just walk in and it's one step to get started. Have a creative space that's very important. And sit in there. Even when you're not feeling creative, sit in there and do something for the month of August. Our our career challenge is to create something every day even if it's a little sketch or something like that. So challenge yourself to do things that are going to push you into that direction of creativity. The other part of this is really, really contemplating your life, your belief system, where you're at, when it comes to creativity, there's gonna be a lot of whack ideas when it comes to being an artist, anything like that. There's gonna be a lot of whack ideas and you need to spend that time Thinking and re-evaluating. And here's, here's the rub you guys. If you're thinking and re-evaluating something and you find yourself blaming someone else or situation or something that's outside of you, that I'm going to tell you right now that that is a false premise. It is something that you are using to keep you from moving forward when you are creatively determined. No one can stop, you know, one because they doesn't matter what their agenda is or what they what they think you should do. No one can stand your way because you basically stand in your own footing and you set your boundaries and you do all that stuff. And when it comes to creativity, it's very important to set those boundaries and understand how is it that I'm holding myself back here and really it's changing the conversation from, oh, I can't do it because of these people or this situation or whatever and changing it to how am I holding myself back and how can I move forward with this? In a lot of that comes from contemplation, mindfulness, reflection. You got to reflect on your life, right? If things are not going the way that you want them to go, then you gotta change something. And a lot of times the best way to figure that out is reflecting on it. The other thing that I would recommend is having divergent exercises, right? Get your, get yourself to think differently about something, grab anything, grab a container, and see if you come up with divergent thoughts on how to utilize, how can I use this? Obviously, any idea that surrounds this that is, revolves around being a container or a cup or something like that's not very divergent, right? Because that's what this is used for. It's like, what can I use this for? And it could be like these are circles, so these could be eyes for an owl or things like that. That's just off the top of my head. That's much more divergent than being a container. So take a look at some things that are around you and think to yourself, how can I change the use of this? How can I make this into something else that is not meant, that is not what it's meant for. That's really practicing your divergent way of thinking. Being able to look at something and have a completely different perspective than what it is that you're supposed to think when you look at it. And finally, the last thing that I want you to do is start developing creative habits, right? So if you want to be more creative than you're gonna have to do creative things. You're going to have to think creatively of yourself. You're gonna have to really embrace the fact that you are a creative. That's really the simple truth. You guys, I cannot teach you how to be creative. The only thing I could do is tell you you are already creative. And I would say that 100% of that battle is believing what it is that you believe. If you believe that you are extremely creative and you believe that right now, you're not just saying that you're extremely, if you believe that you are creative than you will be creative. So it's important to take a look at your thoughts and determine like, whatever, what have I been telling myself? I've I've been telling myself that I have creative block. I have, I've been telling myself that I am not creative, but not, for example, when I get into the studio, if I'm in a funk and I'm thinking about life stuff and I can't really, I can't function. I could probably force myself to create something, but I'm not going to like it. Those are the things that you want to pay attention to. That's why self reflection and thinking about your life and thinking about the thoughts that you have are so important because you want to put yourself in a mindset. You want to put yourself in a frame of mind that is going to assist you in being creative and not take away from it. If you feel that you're not creative because this person never allows me to blank, blank, blank. Then you need to take care of that situation. Before you could start feeling creative. You are going to need to set some boundaries with this person that is blank, blank, blank, or whatever it is that you need to do in order to be able to really adopt that story of I am a creative individual, I'm extremely creative. I'm gonna run into creative block. Maybe sometimes they're not going to come to me and maybe it's going to take days for me to get there. But it's embracing that entire process and knowing that it's just getting into state of flow that allows creativity to flow to you. So I want you to really think about this as you're moving forward and set up your creative space and make it a point to get in there every day and just work through those emotions that are within you. Because those emotions though, that understanding your own emotions when it comes to your Art and who you are in your self-identity really, really is where you're going to find your creativity. That's where it is. So, yeah, I know that this is an offbeat class. This isn't the typical type of find your creativity, find your artistic voice and all that stuff. But it really comes down to you and who you are in, what kind of creative you want to be. And really setting that as your mindset, being that person that you want to be not waiting around for answers, you figure out your own creativity. We all have vastly different minds and amazing potential within us. The thing is getting into that state of flow and being able to tap into it. So hopefully you guys got something out of this course. Thank you so much for being here and taking this course. And obviously keep us updated. We have a common section below, keep us updated, not how your creative journey is going, what you got most out of this class. And just push forward, journal all this stuff down, write all this stuff down so that you could really contemplated, I think that that's important. I might not have mentioned that into contemplation section. You want to write stuff down, you want to record stuff. You can really go back to it over and over, right? When you think of something that has been blocking you, usually it's not one and done. You might have to think about that thing a few times to get into the infinite onion, into the bottom layers of what's actually going on when it comes to your creativity. So if you want to unleash Your Creative Potential, you gotta get to the emotional side of it and really, really push through and find that unlimited creativity that exists within you. Alright, so thank you so much guys. You guys are awesome. I adore you and I'll see you next month with another course. The OS