With less than 70 days till the start of the London 2012 Olympic games and the growing publicity around it, there has been many positive comments about last months newsletter. This month we focus on Innovation, as May is Innovation month and you may have seen a range of festivals around the country organised to promote Innovation.
This is a busy month for us with Damian speaking at three events in Newcastle, Brisbane and the Gold Coast all as part of Innovation month.
Make May the month to re-member how to be more Innovative and Creative.
Damain and the MindStore Australia Team
How to Harness your creative and innovative Mind
Creativity is often mentioned in the same breath as Innovation.
We know from research that we are at our most creative when we are relaxed. Think about the great ideas you have when you first wake up from sleep, or when you are out walking the dog, or mowing the lawn. The secret is to be able to access that relaxed state of mind at any time of the day when required. At MindStore we call that relaxed state, the Alpha state. You may have heard athletes refer to it as the Zone, or being in the Zone. We have tools and techniques which you can use to access this alpha state to improve your creative thinking.
Innovative thoughts also come from being in that relaxed state of mind. Think of the opposite state, when you are answering two phones, deadlines are approaching, you can feel your stress levels going through the roof!. You haven’t had anything to eat since breakfast, you have a growing to do list and you feel hot and bothered. You may have heard people say ” I cannot hear myself think!
Do you think they can be creative or innovative in this type of environment?
Absolutely not.
When were you last creative?
Here’s a thought: When was the last time you made sand castles? When was the last time you used coloured pens to draw or sketch?
What’s that got to do with anything, you might say? Well we know kids love making sand castles, they also love colouring in or playing in cardboard boxes. It is because they are creative and innovative at that age.
The shame for us adults is that we don’t lose that ability, we are educated to curtail our creativity. We all have the ability to be amazingly creative and innovative. If you don’t believe me find Betty Edwards book ” Drawing on the right side of the Brain” buy it and read it, you will create a drawing or painting you are so proud of you will frame it. I know because I did. So did Fiona and she took Art at high school!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Drawing-Right-Side-Brain/dp/0874774241
Like so many things in life, the changes that are required start with you. You need to want to, to have the desire, determination and belief to keep going in the face of challenges, to focus on being innovative when you need to develop solutions.
Re-member: we all have an amazing capacity for creativity and innovation we just need to DARE yourself to access it and unleash our potential.
May May be Innovative for you too!
