The key to busting through creative blocks
Tapping into your creativity is an integral part of successfully launching a course or offering to your audience. Creativity can also be elusive, fleeting, and unexpected, with ideas flowing at all times. Yet when you sit down to bring those thoughts to paper, it’s not always simple or you find yourself producing subpar content.
This frustration is only exacerbated by time constraints, which as a business owner, are practically unavoidable. Luckily, there are ways to overcome creative blocks and tap into that inspiration flow right when you need it instead of wishing (and waiting) for a good idea to strike.
The many facets of creative ideas
Creativity is something we all possess. It’s an inspired thought that combines both originality and functionality; it’s innovative and useful. There are also different types of creativity. For example, finding a creative solution to reaching your ring that rolled under the fridge as opposed to creatively generating content for your course video or sections.
While it’s impossible to constantly creating, here are some ways to bust through a creative slump and transform your daily routine—whether you’ve experienced a mental block for a passing moment or for much longer.
The importance of play
This one might sound counterintuitive, but “play” is actually integral for getting the creative juices flowing. When you’re having fun, the pleasure pathways in your brain are activated. This decreases stress, which is a major blocker to your creative process and great ideas.
Stress puts your brain in a fear and survival mode, making it almost impossible to tap into your creativity. It’s a higher level of thinking (picture Maslow’s hierarchy of needs here, with creativity towards the top of the pyramid). This is an inaccessible place if your mind feels stuck at the bottom of the pyramid in a state of stress.
The more that you allow space for yourself to have fun and destress, the more you’re able to move up the pyramid and access the higher level frames of thinking.
An ‘aha!’ list
This can be in your phone or a notebook, but the important part is that you’re writing down good ideas when they pop into your head. Write down any good ideas, not just related to your course or business. After a couple of weeks, you might be surprised by how many ideas you have on a regular basis.
By recording your ideas, you’re bringing an awareness to your creativity and drawing inspiration more into your conscious mind. If you’ve felt your creative inspiration has been blocked (especially for a long time) you might start to believe that you lack good ideas. Keeping this running list is not only proof against that limiting mindset, it’s also a springboard for more innovation.
We have a step-by-step “ultimate course creation guide” to help you bust through those creative blocks. We’ll lead you through each day of our recommended launch strategy.
Always in motion
Research shows that the act of walking, regardless of environment, can promote creative thinking. In fact, a study by Stanford found that walking, (indoors or out) produced twice as many creative responses compared to when the participant was sitting.
Rest—and more rest
You know how important sleep is to your overall mental and physical wellbeing. But, rest is just as important as sleep. In fact, the moments in which your mind and body are relaxed and quiet, while still conscious, are integral to your creativity. Rest can actually be part of the incubation stage of the creative process.
This is a time when your subconscious mind is processing and integrating information. This can feel frustrating to your conscious mind because it feels like “nothing” is happening”, when actually a lot is going on behind the scenes. So take a break and know that your subconscious mind is probably doing some heavy lifting, and be patient as the ideas germinate.
All a matter of time
Understand that humans operate in the same cyclical way as nature. Nature isn’t in full-on creation mode all the time, as we see with the calmness of winter.
But remember, this period of rest is actually essential to the life that comes in spring. Similarly, you’re also not going to be creative all the time. If you’re feeling frustrated and creatively blocked, take a step back from what you’re working on.
And, while you’re stepping back, go ahead and turn it into a full blown restorative walk, rest, or total reset. You may find that your creative mind will revive faster than you think.