1. How do you find out if you’re a creative genius?

If you have an inkling that you might be a creative genius, and you want to find out for sure, try by creating something, anything! You don’t have to take an IQ test to find out if you’re a creative genius. Start by exercising that creative muscle. Everyone possesses creativity, even if it’s just an iota of it, no matter what they think. It’s in our genes!

Without creativity, humans would have never been able to survive. In the path to human evolution, the early primates used tools such as sticks for their utensils. What else shows why creativity is in our genetic makeup, if not that?

To find out if you’re a creative genius, simply start by doing and creating. Start sharing. Do others like your creations, too?

So how do you find out if you’re a creative genius?

The first step is to do it. Take action. Create something. We all have a bit of creativity in us.

What are your interests? Do you like arts and crafts, which you can sell on Etsy? Or do you like to write songs or works of fiction? Find out what your interests are and start creating!

2. Can creativity be taught?

Are people inherently or genetically creative? Maybe. But what if you don’t think you were blessed with those creative genes? Can you learn how to be creative, like any skill? Yes, creativity can definitely be taught! Just because you don’t think you’re creative doesn’t mean that you can’t look for ways to learn creativity.

There are different types of creativity, for example, in business and the arts. You just have to find one outlet for your creativity that really resonates with you.

There are courses and books on creativity that you can read to jumpstart your creative journey. Because that’s what it is, a journey. And like any journey, the more frequently you travel on that road, the more familiar you will become with how to be creative. Flex those creative muscles often until it becomes second nature to you.

3. Why is creativity useful?

Developing your creativity is useful because it can help you in problem solving. Creativity is not only needed for the arts. It’s required for a lot of non-artistic careers, such as entrepreneurship and business. These careers require a ton of creative problem solving.

You’ve heard of the saying, if there is a will, there is a way. To overcome obstacles, you have to find creative solutions to problems. There’s no better way to develop creativity than to get yourself into a situation where you must be resourceful. Creativity is like a tool. You become adept at using it only if you practice often enough.

4. Do you need a certain environment to be creative?

What makes for an environment that is conducive and encouraging to creativity? An environment that is open and accepting is essential for you to get creative.

Work with others who are pursuing the same artistic endeavours like you. For example, there are meetup groups for writers who gather to work on their writing. There are plenty of other groups like these, like knitting clubs, oil painting groups, or songwriting groups. Being among other creators puts yourself in an environment to bounce ideas off people, get feedback, and be inspired.

5. What to do if you think you’re a creative genius

If you think you’re a creative genius, congratulations! You believe in yourself enough to take that crucial first step to creating a work of art.

Next, you should find ways to develop and nurture that talent. Stretch that creative muscle everyday to strengthen your talent.

Find other communities and groups that will appreciate your creative output. They can encourage you to keep pursuing your artistic endeavours.

6. What to do if you don’t think you’re creative

On the flipside, what should you do if you don’t think you have a creative bone in your body? What if you don’t have the urge to be creative? How do you channel or tap into that hidden creativity?

If you find that it takes a lot of effort to be creative and that you’re toiling away at your creations, take a step away from it for a while. Take a break. Maybe you just need a change of scenery to reset and draw out your creativity from its hiding place.

Take a walk in nature, because a change of scenery might be all you need to jog your brain for new ideas and thoughts. Being open to new and fresh experiences is also a way to jump start new projects.

Finally, have more conversations with people, especially people you don’t know. Talking to strangers is like deepening your social circle, which can present you with more opportunities and ideas.

The first step to finding out for sure whether you are a creative genius is to start creating something. Tap into that creative well that everyone has. The more you draw from it, the easier it becomes to be creative. If you don’t think you have a creative bone in your body, surround yourself with some creative people, whether it be an art class or writers’ group. Challenge yourself to find new ideas, and break out of your routine. It might just be the thing to hit the reset button on your creative outlet.

People struggle with alienation and feelings of loneliness, much more so since the start of the pandemic. Suddenly, with self-isolation, societal boundaries were redrawn and you might have found yourself lost in the shuffle. How can you find a place where you belong?

Feelings of being displaced from your niche in society are common. When your self in relation to society is not aligned to its optimal state, it can increase the feeling of being unsettled. You become lost when trying to find a place where you belong.

Do you find yourself searching for meaning?

Maybe you’ve found yourself in an existential crisis. You come up with nothing when you evaluate your contribution to society. When your self-worth is dependent on whether you are acceptable to society, you may find yourself trying to conform when really you want to just be who you are.

1. Are you valuable to society?

When the things that we do feel so meaningless, it’s easy to feel like you don’t contribute anything to society. When you question what value you bring to society, a diminishing self-esteem follows. If they would rate their life satisfaction, the ratings would be dismal. But you need to stop that negative self-talk. Everyone can be valuable to society. It can feel small when you start, but you are underestimating the impact you make. There are several steps you can take to feel more like a valuable contributor to society.

2. Find a career that enriches your life.

Dissatisfaction comes from feeling disengaged and apathetic. To have a meaningful life, find something that interests you and gives you fulfillment. This applies not only to the work environment, but the people that you spend the most time with.

We are social creatures. Even if we don’t like it, our happiness depends on other people. Our career and workplace are where we spend most of our time outside of our homes. So it’s essential that you choose the right one.

The friends and family in your social circle should be supportive and encouraging of your hopes and aspirations. Carving out a space to be yourself also means choosing the right people to surround yourself with.

This leads to the next step.

3. To find a place where you belong, search for the right community, friends, or work environment.

Society can feel like a machine that you’re not an essential part of, like you’re not essential to making it run. The reason why people feel disconnected from society is because they don’t play an active role in it.

Try community-giving or volunteering your time to a worthy cause. A simple act of charity means that you’ve played a role in a stranger’s life, no matter how small.

Do something that involves teamwork and share that work with other people, to strangers, to people you meet on the street.

4. Communities thrive because the people who live in it are productive and creative.

Exercise your creativity because it’s a valuable skill. Creativity is like the universal key to relatability. It is easy to find a thread of commonality with others if you are sharing your creativity. Everyone has thoughts, hopes, and ambitions, which you can pour into your creation. Build something out of nothing and then share it.

5. What value do you bring to society?

It’s a tough question because sometimes you feel like you’re just a cog in the wheel. When trying to make room for yourself in society, and to find a place where you belong, it can feel like knocking on everyone’s door and getting turned away.

The secret is to know which door to knock on. Not everyone is willing to listen to you or be your friend, so the best thing to do is to be selective and choose carefully.

The self and society are sometimes at war with each other, struggling to align but not achieving any ground of commonality. Sometimes it’s hard to know where you stand in society. The search for meaning can be lonely. Start by finding work that fulfils you, then fill your life with people who support you. Fan that creative spark and share it with these people, because that’s where you can find commonality, and belonging.

You’re ambitious, intelligent, and driven. But when a promotion you’ve been chasing finally opens up, you’re overlooked. Why can’t you get what you want? And what should you do about it?

You can’t get what you want because of one or more of these reasons: First, you lack clarity and focus. You’re not sure what it is that you want so your path towards it is murky. You lack guidance and could use more direction. Second, you have the desire, but not the means of executing on it. This includes opportunity and chance. Third, you take “no” for an answer thinking that it’s the final word and you give up too easily.

Let’s review these four reasons.

1. You can’t get what you want because you lack clarity and focus.

There’s nothing that kills motivation more than lack of clarity.

Pinpoint exactly what it is that you want, whether it’s that promotion, to lose weight, or to have a healthier lifestyle. Make a list of all the details surrounding this goal.

Next, give yourself a timeline. What is the deadline for accomplishing this goal? A deadline can help narrow down your focus, eliminating any distractions.

To get what you want, you must build relationships, do what you don’t want to do, and get out of your comfort zone.

Most of the time, to get what you want, reach out to people and ask pertinent questions that will lead you to sources of information. Information gathering should be the first step you take if you’re unsure where to start. Just as you can’t see your way in the dark without a flashlight, you can’t know where to start if you don’t have the right information.

2. You can’t get what you want because you have the desire, but not the execution strategy.

You may have the desire for something, but not the right strategy for going after it.

You’re struggling because you don’t feel sure of yourself. You may meet some internal resistance that stops you from taking action. This relates to the previous point of getting out of your comfort zone. You can’t rely solely on ambition, because a lot of people have ambition but can’t execute on it.

What you need is a detailed plan with all the steps needed to execute it. The more detailed, the better. Don’t leave anything up to chance or ambiguity, because this is where you will trip up and make you forget what it is you’re going after. Once you envision your roadmap, it will be much easier to follow it to get what you want.

3. You take “no” for an answer and you give up too easily.

A common roadblock is that you don’t know how to ask for what you want, so you avoid asking for it altogether. Preparation is key. Timing is also crucial. There’s a good and a bad time to ask.

But let’s say you ask and the answer is a resounding “no.” Rejection is painful. So much so that you may get too discouraged, give up altogether and not even try again to ask for what you want. Or you don’t want to inconvenience anyone with your request.

I can relate to being told “no”, and quietly accepting this as the final word. In hindsight, I realize that it’s not an excuse for giving up.

But you must know that “no” doesn’t mean “never.” It may just mean “not right now.”

But you might say, “Ask and ye shall receive” may be too simple, too easy. Other factors besides asking come into play, and you’d be right.

You don’t want a year to pass by and realize that your career has stalled or grown stagnant. You want to grow, don’t you?

4. You can’t get what you want because you don’t desire it enough.

The single most motivating factor to achieving a goal is wanting something badly enough that you won’t give up until you get it. Re-evaluate whether your goal aligns with your desires. Once you are clear on that, take action instead of waiting for the opportunity to present itself, because if you do, you might be waiting forever.

These are the key reasons why you can’t get what you want, and the solution to each. It might not be easy to follow all of them, and the path to where you want to be may be winding with uncertainty. Eliminating these obstacles requires planning and strategizing. Go out there and chase after your dreams. Go after what you want, but be strategic about it.

1. Why it is important to be well-connected

Is it really true that successful people can only get to where they are because of their connections? You may disagree, but there’s a benefit to networking because of the importance of being well-connected.

Maybe there are other factors involved, but there’s no denying that being well-connected can get you where you want to be.

Connections are like a web: the more people you know, the more social circles you are permitted to frequent.

How do you start being well-connected?

Expand your social circle and don’t stay where you’re comfortable. Being comfortable is like swimming in your own pond. If you want to benefit from new perspectives, new ideas, and new experiences you have to reach outside of your immediate social circle. Don’t limit yourself to people that you are most familiar with.

By being well-connected, you will find that it opens a lot of doors in your personal and professional life.

2. Belong to a community so you don’t get left out

Yes, I’m saying that with a touch of irony. But there’s a bit of truth to it.

Things like hearing news through the grapevine, and being privy to information that’s not just from the internet is one of the benefits of belonging to a community.

As social creatures, humans don’t function in isolation. There’s a reason why we work, live, and play in tribes. If you’re in complete isolation, there’s a risk that you are left out of the loop. That includes important information that can help you live and work smarter. That’s the importance of networking and being well-connected.

It’s interesting how information is passed along between people living in societies. Information that is useful is also sometimes hidden. That’s why you should join networking groups to uncover hidden information that will help you.

3. Expand the number of people in your zone of influence

How many people rely on you for your opinion? The more people that seek out your opinion, the more influential you are.

Why is this important? It’s important because the more people who can vouch for your expertise, the more opportunities you have to advance your career or leverage those connections to make sales and grow your business.

Building expertise is one of the ways that you can become a well known authority on a particular subject. You might not be comfortable with being well known, but the upside is that people will seek you for your guidance. It’s one of the ways that your social circle and number of connections grow.

4. Associate with positive people you aspire to be like

The saying that you should hang around the five people you aspire to be like is a cliche because it’s true.

When people make connections, they don’t do it only because they want to assimilate and fear getting left out. They do it because they know that making that connection gets them one step closer to their goal, whether it’s professional or personal. That goal can be building a business that reaches more people, or having a well-balanced lifestyle.

When you associate with positive people you aspire to be like, you may find that their habits are easier to emulate, their language and speech influence the way you communicate, and your overall outlook on life is more positive. That’s the importance of networking and being well-connected.

5. Is there no hope if you don’t have any connections?

Yes, there is hope. If you don’t have many connections, my advice is to network. There’s no way around it. Not a lot of people like networking, probably because they’re uncomfortable with strangers, and because meeting at a networking event feels fake and forced.

Networking is not just something that only social climbers do. If you don’t have a wide number of connections, and feel discouraged at having to build that network from zero, you still have to start somewhere.

Seek out introductions to “warm” connections if you’re just starting. These warm connections can be friends of friends, or friends of relatives or coworkers. There’s less pressure than if you were to be thrown into a networking event where you don’t know anyone. Even then, a networking event attended by people who have the same interests as you can be places where you can start meaningful conversations.

6. Are you so connected, yet feel so alone?

I get it that there are a lot of loners in a hyperconnected world. How do you reconcile the fact that most of our interactions lead to meaningless connections? As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, it’s easy to feel alone despite there being so many channels for virtual connection. It can lead to feelings of alienation and paradoxically, disconnection.

To solve this, forge connections that are based on commonality and mutual benefit. It’s easy to forget why we seek out connection in the first place. Remember that meaning is derived from giving as well as receiving. So when a connection does you a favor, try your best to do something kind in exchange.

Introduction

Since joining a running club recently, I’ve learned that exercise builds resilience. Strong in body, strong in mind means that when you build muscle and endurance through exercise, this mindset transfers itself to other areas of your life. Exercise not only benefits you physically, it also benefits you mentally.

I run with a few of my fellow co-workers. We meet weekly after work to run for about 40 minutes along the lakeshore downtown. I also jog in the park whenever I can, though at a slower speed and shorter distance than with this club. As a result, whenever I run with my co-workers, I’m pushing myself to keep up and to finish the run no matter how much I want to stop running and walk instead.

Sometimes my mind is screaming at me to stop running because I feel like I can’t do it. But these runs are like practice for pushing myself to do things when I want to throw in the towel and give up and take the easier route.

1. How to implement exercise to build strength and resilience

To implement strength-building in your life, start with something easy, like walking, jogging or running. Choose an activity with a low or no cost to start. It should also be in a low stakes, low pressure, and non-competitive environment. Whichever activity you choose, you have to keep up and do it consistently or else it won’t work. The point is to start building mental resilience with a gentle activity, then increase your endurance until you can move onto the bigger goals, whether it’s in your career or business.

This takes a lot of discipline. Now, I don’t have the greatest endurance. I can run for only so long before I’m winded. But during my run club, I found that I was able to keep up even though my mind was begging for me to give up and walk instead of run.

Exercise trains your brain to do things that it thinks it can’t do. It benefits your brain by building those muscles. You experience the mindset of persisting when everything is telling you to give up. The more times you do this, and the more practice you get, the easier it is to strengthen that mindset. It will become a habit that you do automatically.

2. Running trains your mind to do things you don’t want to do

To get over my reluctance and discomfort of running until I reach my limit, I began to tell myself to acknowledge the fact that no one likes to exercise. Same for selling to clients, eating vegetables, or whatever it is that you don’t like to do.

Telling myself this is like accepting that everyone has things that they don’t want to do, or keep putting off.

I found that when I was running, I reached my breaking point, or the point when I just wanted to collapse on the ground and not get up. But I didn’t quit, because I knew that that’s when I would start to see results. Running is really a practice in discipline. You strengthen your mind to focus and achieve that goal of getting to the finish line.

3. Exercise teaches your mind to be resilient

Whenever I run, there are many moments when I want to give up and walk, but I push through it. Through running, I’ve taught myself to not give up.

You might’ve asked yourself these questions: how do you get through it when you feel like giving up? How do you train yourself to be persistent?

The way to do this is to practice. I’ve mentioned that the voice in my head is begging me to give up and stop running. Learn to tune down the voice that says you can’t do something. It’s a bit like meditation, how you focus and tune out noise that can distract you from your goal.

Conclusion

Strengthen your mind through strengthening your body. Exercise, like running, makes you mentally and physically strong. Exercise also builds resilience. Life itself can feel like an endurance test, like it’s testing your limits to see how much stress or hardship you can handle. Sometimes what you’re trying to accomplish feels like running a marathon. By building exercise into your everyday routine, you get used to pushing through and reaching your goal.