10 Reasons Creative Thinking Improves Your Career (and life)
It’s worth your time and energy to make your ideas real in the world. Creative leadership is one of the top most valuable skills that companies, mission-driven organizations, and clients look for.
Not only am I personally obsessed with creativity, I teach it to my clients and help them evolve and grow their own.
Not convinced?
NOW is the time to be brave and invest in your creativity. Here’s why:
Creativity lets you to see the big picture
Being able to see the big picture is important to a happy life. Whether it’s your personal life or a work project, it’s easy to get bogged down, reactionary, and lost in the details. Being creative and letting your mind wander (and wonder) is how new solutions and big themes reveal themselves to you. Being creative helps you loosen up and feel more ease in your body, mind, and soul
Creativity motivates you from within
Feeling discouraged or frustrated? Do something creative. Intrinsic motivation is an inner drive that propels you to pursue an activity, not for external rewards, but because the action itself is enjoyable. In other words, you feel motivated and inspired by the fun, challenge or satisfaction involved with an activity, not because of an outside pressure or reward.
It will lift your spirits and help you shake off a "bad" mood. Tinkering or doodling can take your mind off what’s bothering you, while keeping your mind and body engaged, rather than zoned out on social media. This leads to a growing sense of confidence to tackle other problems.
Creativity leads to better problem-solving
Being creative helps your brain open up new solutions to old problems. Your brain makes new connections and gets energized with new neural connections. Humans get stuck focusing on solutions that we’ve always used in the past. While it might still get the job done, it could be done better if it was more creative. Actually making things – poetry, baking, writing short stories, drawing, painting – is like cleaning off the white board of your brain. That’s how we get unique ideas and how innovators set themselves apart.
Creativity makes you more productive
Creative people have open, active minds. The more we use our mind creatively, by following our sparks of inspiration, the more creative ideas we get! Creative people are filled with ideas and soak up inspiration from the world around them. This often makes us more productive because we bring more to the table than someone who doesn’t open their mind to what’s around them. Creative people are always looking for new ways to solve problems, as well, which sparks innovation and increased efficiency. It’s a highly-valued skill in any field.
Creativity leads to more confidence
Being creative helps you see the big picture, stay motivated, and solve problems. What could be more confidence-boosting than that? When you think creatively and overcome all kinds of challenges, you’re proving to yourself that you’re a capable person. Very few good things in life come without some effort. On the way, creativity makes that process more engaging as well as rewarding.
Creativity helps clarify your thoughts and feelings
Creativity is the route to authenticity. The human brain is a chaotic place to live. As we create, we go into the depths of our being, accessing what we value, think, and believe. The more we create, the more we discover and realize our habits, impulses, and desires. When we develop our own ideas, we respect our inner nature and are better able to express ourselves to the world on a regular basis. More creative ways like journaling, mind-mapping, spoken word, or drawing help you let the contents of your mind out with less restriction. When you don’t judge yourself and let your thoughts and feelings run free, you’ll get more clarity about who you are.
Creativity is THE top leadership skill prized by companies
Creativity is one of the most important qualities of entrepreneurs and business leaders. Creativity itself is the shaking up or restructuring of old structures, a very desirable trait for individuals in leadership positions to have in a corporate setting. Creative leaders have the ability to look at things in new ways and solve problems by seeing things others don’t. Synonyms of creativity include words like inventiveness, imagination, innovation, vision, progressiveness, originality, and resourcefulness. All of these are characteristics of successful creative leaders who are changing our world today. The role of creativity in leadership is vital to business and entrepreneurial success in our ever-changing business and cultural climate.
Creativity brings people together
Being creative can be a solitary, individual experience, but it can also be community-driven and connect us to people we resonate with on a deep level. Art classes, coaching groups, writing groups, book clubs, mastermind programs, bands, and so on are all collectives of creative people coming together to collaborate and do what they love. These connections are incredibly valuable for our confidence, mental health, and a sense of belonging.
Creativity improves health and relieves stress
Research shows that being creative relieves stress. This is important because stress is like poison to humans, which causes a wide variety of health problems. Being creative can help you process trauma, and release tension that may otherwise cause pain or emotional eating. It can ease stress hormones in the body and nervous system, leading to a sense of wholeness and relaxation.
Creativity is highly profitable.
The arts and cultural sector contributed $804.2 billion or 4.3 percent to the United States’ gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016 alone. New and unique ideas in established sectors get recognition for the creator and sell more products to established customers (think new flavors of old brands). Creative entrepreneurs can make serious money as long as we treat our creative passions like a business with systems, plans, and dedication.
PS: Over the years I’ve been in a lot of visible leadership positions, including as a kind of well-being and personal development spokesperson, because of my film Super Size Me, and books like Radical Alignment and Women, Food, and Desire.
The pressure and scrutiny was intense. Almost unbearable at times. These days, I use my health coaching experience, artist practices, and positive psychology training to help emerging women leaders, entrepreneurs, public figures, and philanthropists.
If you think some conversation with me might possibly be helpful, you should reach out. People come to me for all sorts of reasons including:
how to navigate challenges,
make big decisions,
surface values,
get unstuck,
feel less isolated,
find meaning, and
improve work and family relationships.
I also run groups. They are particularly good for people who want to learn more about themselves and others, for people who want to be better leaders by increasing their emotional intelligence and ability to communicate clearly and listen fully.
If you're curious, don't be shy. Choose a time for us to connect in person on Zoom or the phone.
We will just talk.
And I'm fun and nice to talk to. I promise.