4 Ways to unleash the creative genius within you

 "Creativity is intelligence having fun." ~ Albert Einstein

Being creative helps us not only build a positive life style but also enhances our thinking capabilities. Whatever may be our filed of work, there will  always be scope for creativity and like any other habit it can be developed by continuous practice. You need not be an artist to be creative, but you need to be creative to excel at what you do. Creativity can be drawn out of an individual in several ways. Here are 4 ways to unleash the creative genius within you:

1.Be Unconventional

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." ~ George Bernard Shaw

In other words try to be different. A process, product or an idea can be called different only if it breaks the custom of doing things in a conventional way. Following conventional methods makes us settle in a comfort zone and makes it difficult for us to get out of that zone. But unless you get out of that comfort zone and try to break the existing paradigms you cannot be creative. You need to start with a basic question 'can this be done differently?'. Being unconventional is always accompanied by the risk of not knowing the outcome. You need to believe in your ideas and be ready to face criticism until you arrive at your desired result. Also, being unconventional helps you to learn a lot of new stuff. Always remember that there is always a better, innovative and creative way of doing things, and being unconventional definitely helps you to be creative. Being unconventional might result in failure sometimes, but failing is the starting step for creativity. If you fail you learn one way of not doing a certain thing! Stay positive and dare to be unconventional and different.

2.Find your passion

"Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate."~Jon Bon Jovi

Creativity is the product of a free mind. If you are forced or you force yourself to work on things which you don't like, then the result will always be mediocre. Also, working on things which you don't love doing may drive you towards distractions. As said by Robin Sharma, "Addiction to distraction is the end of your creative production." You can think freely and creatively only when you do the things which excite you, the things which you love to do and the things which you are passionate about. Working to your full potential is key for developing creative thinking and you can work to your full potential only when you work on the things which you love. Stress is one of the major obstacle to creative production, you get stressed because you work on stuff in which you have no interest. A stressed mind is deadline driven where as a passionate mind is creativity driven. So, if you want get out of the boredom and be relived from the stress, and unleash your true creative potential start working on things you are passionate about.

3.Prefer Imagination to Practicality

"Imagination is literally the workshop where all the plans are created. It is where the impulse, the desire is given shape, form and action through the aid of imaginative faculty of the mind. We can create anything that we can imagine. Our only limitation, within the reason, lies in the development and use of our imagination. The greatest leaders of business, industry and finance, and the great artists, musicians, poets and writers became great because they developed the faculty of creative imagination. Just as any muscle or organ of the body develops the more it is used, your imagination also becomes more receptive in direct response to the amount you use it. Ideas are the products of imagination. An idea is a thought that prompts you take action because it appeals to your creative imagination." ~ Napoleon Hill in Think and grow rich

Do not limit yourself on the pretence of being practical. Practical thinking is good. But creative imagination is the best. Imagination has no limits. So go ahead and stop restraining yourself from being imaginative.

4.Learn to connect things

"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was they've had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people. Unfortunately, that's too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven't had very diverse experiences. So they don't have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one's understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have." ~ Steve Jobs

Dig down deep and recollect all the experiences you have had in your life; the things you learnt, the things which exited you, the things which caught your interest and most importantly the experiences you have had. Now try to connect those things with the present ideas you are working on and try to incorporate those experiences to create a world class product or service.

Previous posts:

 7 things we can learn from children

 How to live a BLISSful life?

5 steps to improve your presentation skills

 Inspirational Poems by various poets

5 habits you need to get rid of to excel at what you do

5 Steps for improving verbal communication skills

Qualities of Great Leadership defined by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

4 steps for developing Effective Thinking skills

Get Inspired, Get Motivated and Get things done!!

7 things we can learn from children

“Every child is an artist; the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.”- Pablo Picasso

As we grow up we tend to overwhelm ourselves with lot of unwanted stuff and stress ourselves to succeed in life. But if we rewind our lives and think about our childhood, we realise that things were not always hard; we used to laugh, play and enjoy life without being affected by thought of tomorrow. We had many good habits which we gave up due to the influence of people around us. Come, let is try to relearn those good things form children which will help us to find the lost spark within us. Here are the 7 things which we can learn from children:

1. Being Creative

“Creativity is an area in which younger people have a tremendous advantage, since they have an endearing habit of always questioning past wisdom and authority.” - Bill Hewlett

Children are creative because they seek to learn continuously. Their thoughts are powered by imagination and their imagination is limitless. They don’t limit their imaginative capabilities on the pretence of being ‘practical’.

2. Being happy for no reason

“Children are happy because they don’t have a file in their mind called ‘All things that could go wrong’.” – Marianne Williamson

Children find happiness in small things and they are happy with what they have. Sometimes, they are happy for no reason at all! They are not trapped in the vicious social circle which forces people to crave for wealth and fame.

3. Being curious

“Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which they were born.” – Albert Einstein

Sometimes they may surprise you and sometimes they might make no sense, but children ‘never stop asking questions.’ They are curious to know how things work and why things work only in a certain way. Their fear of being mocked is overpowered by their willingness to know. All they want to is ‘why, what and how’!

4. The ability to tell stories

“We are story telling creatures, and as children we acquire language to tell those stories that we have inside us.” – Jerome Bruner

Children are master story tellers. They are the heroes of their lives. They try to tell their adventurous tales in the most gripping fashion you might have ever heard.

Your ability to engage audience in your speech lies in your ability to tell stories. We all are great story tellers here. But we limit ourselves due to lack of self belief and fear of facing audience.

5. Being expressive

“Everyone pretends to be ‘free thinkers’, but few individuals pass the line into expressive territories that may be detrimental to their own social well-being.” – Criss Jami

Be it love, hatred, anger or laughter, children never hide their emotions. They live in the moment by being expressive. They let all their fears out and they speak about their feelings without any hesitation. Children have a stress free life is because they are expressive. They don’t let the moment pass without taking any action.

6. Dreaming big

“If you can dream it, you can do it.”-Walt Disney

Children have no fear to dream big because they are unaffected by the negativity around them. They believe in their abilities and for them nothing is impossible. They are not bogged down by the opinions of people around them. Big dreams lead to big thoughts and when these thoughts are acted upon they lead us to the path to fulfil our dreams.

7. Having a Sense of wonder

“Don’t lose the sparkle in your eyes and your sense of wonder about the things most people take for granted. Don’t miss the simplest rewards of standing for world class.” –Robin Sharma

They find pleasure in counting the stars; they wonder why sun hides behind the clouds; they wave to the people travelling on trains and many more. In a child’s mind this world is beautiful place. They've very less to complain about and a lot to wonder about. However busy the life may seem to be, they always take a moment to appreciate the wonderful world around them. 

Previous Posts:

How to live a BLISSful life?
5 steps to improve your presentation skills

Inspirational Poems by various poets

5 habits you need to get rid of to excel at what you do

5 Steps for improving verbal communication skills

Qualities of Great Leadership defined by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

4 steps for developing Effective Thinking skills

Get Inspired, Get Motivated and Get things done!!

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How to live a BLISSful life?

The word bliss generally means perfect happiness. What should you do to achieve perfect happiness in your life? 
In this post I am writing about the the way in which you can live a 'BLISSful' life by considering BLISS as  an acronym for :

B- Be brave
L-Learn Continuously
I-Improve yourself
S-Self-discpline
S-Simplicity

Here is the explanation about each component of a BLISSful life

B- Be brave

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
                                                                                                                      ― Nelson Mandela

Bravery is the result of self belief. Believe in your abilities. Affirm yourself daily “I am more than what I think I am and I can do great things.” Stop thinking and start acting on your dreams. Take a leap of faith and the success shall follow you in all your endeavours.

Be brave-

to face all your fears
to take risks
to face rejections
not to accept failure
to be committed to your principles
not to succumb to negativity
to fight your way to success
to travel an unexplored path
to make decisions and face the consequences of those decisions
to follow your heart and intuition

Bravery exercise:

You might be afraid of public speaking or giving a presentation or confronting someone or taking a bold decision or any other thing. For the next one week select one of your fears and try to face it. If you are not able be brave then act to be brave!

L- Learn Continuously

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
                                                                                                                                    ― Mahatma Gandhi

“Never stop learning” is the mantra for success in this competitive world. The world is changing at a rapid pace and if you don’t update your knowledge and skill set on a regular basis,  you can’t produce a world class work. Never be complacent and satisfied with what you have learned and what you have achieved. If you are satisfied with what you are then you might never become who you could be. All the progress in this world is based on generation and implementation of ideas. Learning helps us to acquire knowledge which in turn helps us to develop and work on ideas.

Learning-

helps us to find new path ways

drives us in a positive direction

widens our horizons

shifts our paradigms

Learning exercise:

Many people do not keep interest in learning new things because they find the process of learning to be boring and uninteresting. To make learning a habit, first start learning things which you are interested in. For example: a hobby, a foreign language, a musical instrument etc. This can make the process of learning joyous and fun-filled.

I- Improve yourself

“No matter how good you get you can always get better, and that's the exciting part.” 
                                                                                                                                          ― Tiger Woods

Gone are the days where good and better choices were preferred. The only result that is accepted in today’s world is “the best”. And the only way to be “the best” is to continuously improve yourself until you become “the best” in your niche.

Excellence is not a destination. It is a journey of a lifetime. Always remember one thing “There is always room for improvement.” Work relentlessly until you become “the best”. If excellence is your ultimate goal then complacency and mediocrity should not be spared.

Improvement exercise:
You might be a student, teacher, parent, an executive, a leader or an entrepreneur-In your daily routine find out the areas where you think you are the best and the areas where you think you need improvement. Find the differences about why you are able to excel in a particular area and why not in other areas. Finally, implement improvement strategy and become “the best” even in your weaker areas.

S- Self Discipline

“Self-discipline begins with mastery of your thoughts. If you don’t control what you think, you can’t control what you do. Simply, self-discipline enables you to think first and act forward.”
                                                                                                                            ― Napoleon Hill

You might have a million dreams, goals and ideas in your life, but if do not pursue them in a disciplined and organized manner then you might falter in your journey. Self discipline helps you to have an organized way of life and imbibes in you the habit of positive thinking.

Self-discipline is the result of ultra strong will power. In words of Robin Sharma “Will power is like muscle. The more you exercise it, the more it grows.” In simple words will power is nothing but having complete control over your mind. Another important factor that contributes to self-discipline is self awareness. You have to completely understand your strengths and weaknesses and conquer yourself to develop the habit of self discipline.

Self discipline exercise:
Select one of your daily routines like: exercise, reading, going to office or college on time, going to bed or waking up on time etc. Try to perform the routine continuously for one week. Work against your will for one week. Later start implementing the same strategy for other activities also. This helps you to develop a will of iron and also to lead a self disciplined and organized life.

S- Simplicity

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

                                                                                ― Leonardo Da Vinci

Simplicity is nothing but having only the things that add value to our life and trimming away the excess. You must always try to think high but live a simple a life. Simplicity helps us to cut off the unwanted things from our life and helps us to drive away all the distractions. This in turn increases our focus. Craving for a luxurious life is not at all wrong. But do not tie your happiness to those luxuries. Keep your thoughts simple and lead a healthy and successful life.

Simplicity exercise:

Look around you and try to eliminate all the things that do not add any value to your life personally or professionally.

Previous Posts :

5 steps to improve your presentation skills

Inspirational Poems by various poets

5 habits you need to get rid of to excel at what you do

5 Steps for improving verbal communication skills

Qualities of Great Leadership defined by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

4 steps for developing Effective Thinking skills

Get Inspired, Get Motivated and Get things done!!

5 steps to improve your presentation skills

Whether you are a college student or a corporate professional, at some point of your life you may have to give a presentation, facing an unknown set of audience and make them to buy your vision. Many of you might be lacking these basic presentation skills that help you to prepare and deliver a world class presentation. In this post I am sharing 5 important steps that would help you to enhance your presentation skills.

1. Know your audience

“If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation, your audience never will.”

                                                                                                -Harvey Diamond

Before you start to prepare for your presentation always note down the type of audience you are going to face. Answer the following questions before you start your preparation:  

• What is your primary purpose?
• What would be the age group of audience?
• What do you intend to interest the audience in?
• How knowledgeable are the audience about your subject?
• How can you mould your approach towards your audience
• What questions would they ask you?
• What response do you want from audience after listening to your presentation?

Once you answer these questions, try to incorporate the answers at each and every step of your presentation.

2. Learn the art of telling stories

“Story telling is about connecting to other people and helping  people to see what you see.”
                                                                                              -Michael Margolis

Hope everyone remembers the commencement address given by Steve Jobs at Stanford University in the year 2005. All he spoke about was three important stories of his life; watch the video below for complete speech:

Have you observed the power of organizing your presentation or speech in the form of a story? So go ahead and create stories. Remember the following points while trying build stories for your presentation:

• Your story should serve the purpose of conveying the exact information which you want your audience to know.
• Always try to tell stories in a crisp manner, do not prolong the story else the audience might lose interest.
• Try to incorporate humour wherever possible. (Do not fake it!)
• Mix emotion with your words. Only then you will be able to connect with your audience.
• Do not let the stories hamper the actual presentation. Use them only as a tool to engage your audience and to present your ideas in a more fun filled manner.

3. Improve your verbal and non verbal communication

“Take advantage of every opportunity to practice your communication skills so that when important occasions arise, you will have the gift, the style, the sharpness, the clarity and the emotions to affect other people.”                                                                                                                                                     -Jim Rohn

Please read 5 Steps for improving verbal communication skills to know more about improving your verbal communication skills. 

Non verbal communication includes:

• Your body language (Gestures and posture)
• Your attire
• The way you use the space
• Eye contact
• Facial expressions

While preparing a presentation it is advisable to write down what is the appropriate non verbal communication for each and every step. While practising you need to imbibe the gestures and postures so that they don't look artificial during the actual presentation. 

4. Plan your presentation

"Plan your work and work your plan."

                                                   -Napoleon Hill

Here is how you can plan your presentation :

•  Make your presentation flexible- always be ready for last minute changes.
• Prior to the presentation check whether all the equipment that you need is available.
• Take care about the slides or points which you want to emphasize on.
• Make sure that each and every step of your presentation is directed towards your primary purpose.
• Make the presentation visually appealing- always prefer pictures over text.
•  Make sure you plan the presentation within the time limit, reveal the key slides accordingly.

5. Practice, practice and practice

"Repetition is mother of learning, father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment."

                                                                                          - Zig Ziglar

Practice helps you to build confidence in yourself. Follow the the below points while you practice:

• Do not read what is there in the slide or repeat the presentation verbatim, try to elucidate the points with the help of pictures.
• Take feedback after the rehearsal from your close circle and improve your weak zone.
• While practising follow your plan as it is, but always be ready for last minute changes.
• Make a list of possible questions that could be asked and prepare for the answers.
• Always keep in mind your primary purpose and try to finish the presentation as per time given.
• Follow the trick of mind mapping to remember key points, dates and stories.

Previous posts :

Inspirational Poems by various poets

5 habits you need to get rid of to excel at what you do

5 Steps for improving verbal communication skills

     Qualities of Great Leadership defined by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

     4 steps for developing Effective Thinking skills

     Get Inspired, Get Motivated and Get things done!!

Inspirational Poems by various poets

If 

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

                                                                      – Rudyard Kipling

Road not taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day! 
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference

                                                          -Robert Frost

The will to win

If you want a thing bad enough
To go out and fight for it,
Work day and night for it,
Give up your time and your peace and your sleep for it
If only desire of it
Makes you quite mad enough
Never to tire of it,
Makes you hold all other things tawdry and cheap for it
If life seems all empty and useless without it
And all that you scheme and you dream is about it,
If gladly you'll sweat for it,
Fret for it,
Plan for it,
Lose all your terror of God or man for it,
If you'll simply go after that thing that you want,
With all your capacity,
Strength and sagacity,
Faith, hope and confidence, stern pertinacity,
If neither cold poverty, famished and gaunt,
Nor sickness nor pain
Of body or brain
Can turn you away from the thing that you want,
If dogged and grim you besiege and beset it,
You'll get it!

                                                  -Berton Braley

The man who thinks he can

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but you think you can't,
It is almost a cinch that you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you're lost;
For out of the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are;
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
you can ever win the prize.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can!
                                                     -Walter D. Wintle

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me, 
Black as the Pit from pole to pole, 
I thank whatever gods may be 
for my unconquerable soul. 

In the fell clutch of circumstance 
I have not winced nor cried aloud. 
Under the bludgeonings of chance 
my head is bloody, but unbowed. 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears 
Looms but the Horror of the shade, 
and yet the menace of the years 
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. 

It matters not how strait the gate, 
how charged with punishments the scroll, 
I am the master of my fate: 
I am the captain of my soul.

                                               -William Ernest Henley

Previous Posts:

5 habits you need to get rid of to excel at what you do

5 Steps for improving verbal communication skills

Qualities of Great Leadership defined by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

4 steps for developing Effective Thinking skills

Get Inspired, Get Motivated and Get things done!!