Are you a creative person? How do you know? What does that really mean? Have you been told that you are not creative? Do you just think you’re not creative? Can you become creative? These are all good questions. Perhaps it depends on your definition of creativity and your point of view.
There are people who are born with a talent like a good singing voice, writing talent, athletic talent, academic talent, musical talent, artistic talent etc. We all admire these people. We may even wish we were these people or had their talent.
These people stick out in a crowd because of their level of talent. But one thing is for sure. For them to stick out in a crowd they had to take their gift and develop it into a powerful skill through hard work and practice. We label them gifted, talented, and creative.
The truth is we are all born with a talent. It is our gift. Our job is to find and recognize that talent, and then do what is necessary to develop our talent to reach higher levels of accomplishments. Sometimes it’s difficult to recognize that talent because we are used to it. You know, we all have something we do that comes kind of easy to us. We may not even call it a talent, but it is. It’s our job to nourish that talent and get as good as we can with it.
Does that then make you creative? Do some degree it does; especially if you head in new directions with that talent. Breaking new ground tends to get you new labels around the word creative. Okay, let’s say you are not buying into this because you still haven’t identified your gift. Then think about this. Regardless of how old you are you have accumulated some level of knowledge and experience on many different subjects. This can be the beginning of your creativity. I say this because I believe creativity can be learned; and if it can be learned it can be developed into something new.
It’s been said that knowledge is power. That’s a crock. Knowledge is knowledge. It is the application of knowledge that creates power. It’s also the intertwining of knowledge and facts that will lead to new ideas and new solutions. Try this. Take a subject that is a problem or opportunity for you within your field. Write it down and then read it aloud morning, noon, and night until it’s ingrained in your head. Don’t try to solve it. Turn it over to your sub-conscious mind to solve. Do this every day until your sub-conscious returns the answer to you. You will be amazed when it does. And oh yes, keep a small pad and pen by your nightstand. Why, because your sub-conscious is liable to return the answer to you in the middle of the night. If you don’t write it down immediately you may not recall it all in the morning. Believe me. I know that for a fact. I also keep a small pad/pen with me at all times, just in case.
I had a mentor years ago that gave me some sage advise. He suggested that I immediately find something new for my life, and then take 5 years to get real good at it. He wanted me to repeat the cycle every 5 years. I asked him why? He said it would make me a more interesting person. My immediate response was “am I not interesting enough”? He only smiled. I talked with my bride and she thought it was a good idea but the something new better not be a girl friend. She has a way of keeping my feet on the ground. I’m here to tell you I did take his advice. I wasn’t sure where to start so I began with fun things. Keep in mind this was in addition to my career in the Awards industry and bringing up a family with my bride. Since then I have learned to play the guitar, became a runner, counseled children going through death and divorce, became a photographer, studied mandarin Chinese, became a gemologist, became a Scout Master for the leadership development of boys, became a Rotarian attending to humanitarian issues, became a jewelry appraiser, with two friends started and maintain a leadership institute, with my bride started an annual adoption awareness carnival in conjunction with CPS, and yes, that’s how I became an internet marketer.
It wasn’t long after I started this process that my mentor died, so I never got to thank him. His idea was probably the single most important thing that guided my development over the years. And yes, I did become a more interesting person in the process. More significantly, it was a prime factor in developing my own creativity.
So let’s put this in perspective with Internet Marketing. You need to learn the basics, and not just a couple of them. Study niche and keyword research, copywriting and SEO, affiliate marketing and web design. There’s more but start here. You can find this information stored as E-books on my web site. As you test and practice your new skills you will find yourself drawing connections between them and then you will be able to solve new issues and exploit new opportunities. This process will allow you to develop your creativity. If you stay with it, it will take you to the bank…..literally.
So if you weren’t born a star develop yourself into one. You can become a creative person. It all starts with desire. My conclusion. “It is far easier to criticize than create”. So be a Dream Maker and not a Dream Breaker. Yours in interweb business, friendship and service,
Tom (TR) Ryan
