While acting creativity helps us to solve problems – it also helps us become more engaged with our work and more fulfilled in our lives. But, accessing our creativity doesn’t always happen on demand and we sometimes get blocked from our ideas and actions.
What many people haven’t considered about creativity is that we’re all creative in our own ways and the best way to gain access and understand our own style is to know more about our own personality. There are many reasons we get blocked, and different personalities each have their individual obstacles. Knowing yourself and knowing what your obstacles are, is the first step to overcoming them.
While there are many aspects of our personalities, knowing about one part is the key to getting unblocked. Doing one exercise and answering the following simple question will help you to get your creativity flowing.
Do you prefer to project an image and create an environment that is ordered, structured, and punctual? Or do you prefer to project an image that is spontaneous, scattered, and doing things on your own time?
We all tend to prefer one over the other most of the time and both types of people are creative, however; each can best use a different remedy to get going again when they are stuck. In fact, when we ramp up to solve a problem, too much of our own personality strengths are actually the very forces that get us stuck - so we have to temporarily reach toward our non-preferences.
If you happen to be an ordered and structured type of person, you tend to get stuck by limiting your choices and painting yourself into a corner. To break free, try something that opens you up to new ideas. Do something out of character like having a conversation with someone that you know will be a waste of time. Try reading the most uninteresting article on a topic far outside of your regular pursuits. What you consider most pointless is what will challenge your assumptions and brings you the most openness to restart your creativity.
But beware; if instead you are the type of person who prefers to be spontaneous and do things in your own time, then opening up to new ideas is the last thing you need to become unblocked. In fact, too many directions leave you stuck at the crossroads, as you tend to be so open that all the possibilities can overwhelm you. To regain your traction and get going – your best medicine is to temporarily set some limits, prioritize your goals, and make some tentative decisions.
Knowing this one aspect about your personality can help you find the right cure. This exercise is just the beginning of how learning about your personality type can help you to be more creative in your own way and to gain the necessary confident about yourself to be creative.
© 2021 David B. Goldstein
This exercise by David B. Goldstein appears in Deb Snyder's book, Ignite CALM, Bliss at Work
Learn more about David's work on his website: https://davidbgoldstein.com/book-creative-you/