The word creativity can be defined as the act of forming something novel that has value. It may be a physical object such as a piece of art or something intangible like an idea. Creativity is important for many reasons including the development of problem solving skills and can impact everything from science to art and everything in between. It also helps people deal with uncertainty because creative people are better able to adapt their thinking to ever changing situations. Creative people are better able to see the big picture and not get bogged down with unimportant details. When you are feeling down, being creative can help to motivate you to take action by distracting from something that is bothering you. The list of benefits to being creative goes on and on.
The bottom line is that creativity is simply good for you. Though creativity doesn’t come naturally to everyone it can and should be developed. So, the big question is how can we foster creativity? New York Times best-selling author and journalist, Steven Kolter says that there are three main things that everyone should be doing to boost their creativity levels.
1.) Befriend your brain – Play nice with your brain; specifically your anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The ACC plays a role in attention and is the part of the brain that helps to correct errors by detecting conflicting signals. In an excerpt from his book Art of the Impossible: Peak Performance Primer, Kolter discusses the work of Northwestern neuroscientist Mark Beeman and Drexel University cognitive psychologist John Kounios. In their research, Beeman and Kounios gave people a series of remote association questions then used EEG and MRI to monitor their brain activity. They found that right before people viewed a problem that they’d eventually solve using intuition, there was heightened activity in their brain’s ACC. This included alternative strategies for solving a problem. “The brain can’t use two different strategies at the same time. Some are strongly activated, because they’re the most obvious and some are weak and only remotely associated to the problem — odd thoughts, long-shot ideas. These ideas are the creative ones,” wrote Kounios. An active ACC can detect non-obvious ideas and signal the brain to switch attention to them.
So how do we activate the ACC? Simple, be happy. Research has shown that when we’re in a good mood we are much more sensitive to creating thoughts that are outside our normal range of ideas. Conversely, when we are unhappy our brain tends to be much more closed off to strange, unconventional ideas, thus limiting our options. Negativity also makes us less likely to act if we do think of something new.
To achieve this creativity fostering happiness, Kolter writes that we need to come back to the tried and true methods gratitude, mindfulness, exercise, and sleep. Gratitude trains the brain to focus on the positive which allows us to filter alternative ideas less often. This not only improves mood but it also increases the likelihood of new ideas. Gratitude also allows our brain more raw material for ideas, thus giving us a better chance of coming up with new and different things.
Mindfulness teaches the brain to be calm and focused. This distance from stray thoughts and feelings gives the ACC time to come up with alternative ideas that might normally be disregarded. The kind of mindfulness training you’re using matters, writes Kolter. Alternative thinking requires an open monitoring style of meditation which means instead of trying to ignore thoughts and feelings, you allow them to flow without judgment.
Exercise, known for its ability to lower stress, helps the body to rid itself of the stress hormone cortisol and boosts the feel-good chemicals serotonin, norepinephrine, endorphins and dopamine. This further decreases anxiety and allows us to be more open to new possibilities. In addition, the time we spend exercising is time our brains can take a break from concentrating on a problem which allows the brain to work on problems in the background.
Sleep is also critical to revving up the ACC. It improves energy levels and gives us the strength to meet new challenges. It is also involved in creating a positive mood and increasing our willingness to take risks. Last, sleep is the most important incubation period for ideas and allows our brain to find connections we would never discover during waking hours.
In pt. 2 of this article we will be discussing the importance of “Non-time” and “Thinking inside of the box”. Two important strategies for getting those creative juices flowing and Living Well.
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