Search Results for: creative check in

Creative Check-In

July 6, 2009 by 3 Comments

I am not a person who sets goals on January 1. I’ve tried. Actually, people who know me have heard me talking for months now about writing down my 2009 goals. Well, now that 2009 is almost half over, I’ve created a better technique for setting goals.

It’s a mid-year creative check-in. I did it this weekend with the extra time I had to relax and reflect. I find the sun and the warmth of summer more hopeful and inspiring than the dreary winter when the real new year starts, which was why a mid-year check-in worked for me.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

    1. How am I feeling creatively?
    2. What creative projects have I completed in the last 6 months, 3 months, 1 month
    3. What creative projects have I started that need to be put aside or completed?
    4. What new inspiration have I found? Where?
    5. Have I tried to create in a new medium? If not, what can I try?
Filed Under: Creativity, Inspiration

Creative You: Using Your Personality Type to Thrive

July 8, 2015 by 1 Comment

creative-you

Has a book ever arrived in your life at exactly the right moment?

For me, that book was Creative You: Using Your Personality Type to Thrive by my friend, David B. Goldstein and his co-author Otto Kroeger.

A couple of years ago, David reached out to me to review the book when it first came out. I was excited for him but hesitant. I had stopped blogging, and so kindly promised I would do so when my blog was back up. And then after it was back up, I kept putting it off. About a month ago, I was at my local library browsing the shelves when I saw David’s book. I immediately pulled it off the shelf to check it out. I knew it was a serendipitous sign, since I had recently started to seriously explore my personality style and figure out, for once and for all, what my type was.

I went home that afternoon and dove right into the book and to my surprise discovered, not only am I an INTJ, but also that Creative You offered so much more than just a synopsis of my personality type. In fact, I see it now as one of the premier books on creativity and living a creative life.

The book is broken into three distinct parts. The first debunks twenty of the top myths that still persist about creativity. When I started this blog, almost 10 years ago, it was built on the premise of myth #1 that I didn’t have a creative bone in my body. Since then, creativity has hit the mainstream, yet for some reason that myth persists.

The remainder of Part 1 allows you to determine your personality type based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I have taken this test so many times since college, but it wasn’t until now that I finally received an accurate report on my personality type.

Part 2 is where it gets interesting. This part explains in full detail the creative style of your personality type, including your strengths and weaknesses and how best to express yourself. You get to dive deep into yourself and discover how to best nurture your creativity.

My favorite was Part 3. This is where you learn how to apply your creativity to your daily activities. Far too many of us believe that creativity should only be assigned to our work lives or creative hobbies. Here we are presented ways in which to live our creativity, whether it is public speaking, collaborating with others or simply playing. It’s a nice conclusion to a thoroughly researched book and lets you take your creativity style and share it with the world.

I asked David the following questions and he responded with very thoughtful responses I hope will encourage you to explore your creative style.

David_B_GoldsteinQ: What was your inspiration for writing Creative You?

David B. Goldstein: Like all of us have from time-to-time, I had one of those ah-ha moments. While we can’t possibly develop all of our ideas, I knew this one was important enough to be brought to life and shared. In a workshop while noticing the artwork of my classmates, I made a connection between the personality types of my friends and their painting styles. By itself this idea was exciting and as I saw more connections that extended way beyond painting, quickly the concept took on a life of its own. It became clear that our personality is related to the very nature of how we are creative in all aspects of our life. Whether we are cooking or writing a business plan, we are all creative in our own ways!

But sadly, many people consider themselves as uncreative or not living up to their creative potential. And, through interviews, I often found they were discouraged away for the wrong reasons. Today we all need to be creative and along with my revelations, I became inspired to spend years researching, writing, and speaking to show people that we all are creative plus we can be helped by simply understanding our own personality type and finding our unique style.

Q: Why is learning your personality type important to creativity?

David B. Goldstein: You can never go wrong by learning more about yourself and knowing about your personality type gives you power for creativity. Doing anything new means standing up and being different. In our culture, we claim to love what is different but actually when many people come face-to-face with different items on the menu – they often go for the same old chicken club. Creativity takes courage and the best way to have the confidence to be creative is to know yourself and your creative style. Knowing your personality type will help you understand the environment where you come up with your best ideas, it will help you realize the unique way you see the world, it will give you insight into your decision making, and will help you understand your own creative process. Once you know who you are and what your strengths are, you know what you are bringing to the table – and you can gain the courage to stand on the table to share your ideas.

Q: Is there one takeaway you want our readers to know about personality type and their creative style? 

David B. Goldstein: The most important thing to know from my work is that there isn’t just one “creative type.” In our book Creative You, we don’t assume you have the same creative style as we have and show you what has worked for us. Instead we guide you to find your own creative process and your own unique style.

Learn more about David and connect with him!

David B. Goldstein is a management consultant, speaker and the originator of the “creative-type” concept. David speaks about how everyone can be creative in their own way using their natural strengths.

David is a researcher with a science background and an M.B.A. in Management of Science, Technology and Innovation, who uncharacteristically is also an internationally recognized artist. He was commission by the Pan American Health Organization/WHO to create their symbol to promote and protect human rights and David was invited to speak before a global televised audience for World Health Day.

David has been interviewed by the Huffington Post, Psychology Today, Women’s Fitness, and Innovative Excellence. He has spoken at the Creative Oklahoma Forum, the Association of Psychological International’s Conventions, written for The Bulletin of Psychological Type, The American Bar Association’s Law Practice Today, and posts the Courageously Creative blog. As an entrepreneur for nearly 25 years, David founded an early digital imaging company, pioneered one of the first Internet startups creating an award-winning web-directory company. David also founded a research firm specializing in intellectual property, providing clients with information on the novelty and infringement of patents. Over the years, he has served as a consultant to technology start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, universities, hospitals, and government agencies.

Blog: Courageously Creative

Twitter: DavidBGoldstein

Filed Under: Books, Featured

New Year, New Creative Goals

January 10, 2011 by 2 Comments

As I looked at the list of my creative activities from  last year, I was startled and saddened how few there were. Yes, I started school, took a few art/jewelry classes, attended some exhibitions but none of those were planned, they just happened.

I have also mentioned in the past how much I dislike New Year’s resolutions, because, well I never have time to do them in the beginning of the year and then I just feel bad for the rest of the year because I don’t have any!

This year I’ve decided to be more intentional about my creative activities. That’s why I’ve chosen to focus on three specific creative goals. The activities for each goal are meant to not be spontaneous but involve planning and stretch my creativity in ways that may have scared me in the past.

Here they are:

  1. Learn the art of glass blowing by taking a class at the Glass Bubble Project.
  2. Try improv by taking a class at Something Dada.
  3. Write some poetry and have it critiqued during a workshop at the LIT.

As always, I’ll be blogging about my creative adventures during the year. I hope you’ll join me!

  • So what are YOUR creative goals for this year?
Filed Under: Creativity, Inspiration

Setting Creative Goals

July 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Last year, I wrote a post encouraging you to do a mid-year reflection of your goals. The post was so popular (and useful) that I thought I would try it again.

Find some quiet time and ponder the following questions:

 

  1. How am I feeling creatively?
  2. What creative projects have I completed in the last 6 months, 3 months, 1 month?
  3. What creative projects have I started that need to be put aside or completed?
  4. What new inspiration have I found? Where?
  5. Have I tried to create in a new medium? If not, what can I try?

My own reflections on these questions focused on my ongoing collage challenge success, school design projects, new found love of technology and old glass, and the altered book class I took last week.

  • How have you creatively grown in the past 6 months?
Filed Under: Creativity, Inspiration

Everyday Creative: Going Deep

July 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment


This month required me to “go deep” or what Eric Maisel describes in The Creativity Book as going below the surface to find profoundness in your work. Unlike last month, I had so much to ponder that I could have easily spent half a year working on these exercises. Yes, they were that helpful!

The first week laid out the theme for the month by asking you to dive deeper into the meaning of your work and subject. Buying bewilderment is the activity. It was quite a helpful one too, because you can’t really go deeper into your work until you realize there may be things you just don’t know about it. By reciting “I am prepared to work blind” and “It’s all right not to know,” you are truly opening yourself up to the unknown depth your work can extend.

By the second week, I was ready to continue to go deeper by throwing myself into my fears and unlearning everything school has taught me. Actually, one of the exercises was to physically shred an old textbook. But since I am still in school, I thought I’d skip that one considering how much text books cost nowadays.

Week three was one of my favorites and the most useful. Maisel asks you to put up a big idea to describe your current work whether it be color, peace, urban or whatever is the theme of your project. While I never could quite get a theme for my work, it was a great intellectual exercise. Try it yourself!

By the end of the month, I had to incubate, which seems like an easy enough task, right? But I think a lot of people get stuck incubating and this often leads to a creative block.

But the way Maisel explains incubating, it is more of an active process. Slowly, you are building up to your project by asking questions and checking in with your project and even scheduling time to think and incubate your ideas. Oftentimes, we view incubation as completely letting go of your project, but this exercise really allows you to go deeper into it. I know I found this to be a great way to keep my ideas in the forefront of mind and not get lost.

  • Stay tuned next month when I “use myself.”
Filed Under: Everyday Creative, Inspiration

Calling All Creatives: TEDxCLE

March 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment

For the latest installment of Calling All Creatives, I had to overcome some obstacles before I could write this post: a possible closed event and a snowstorm. TEDxCLE is an independently sponsored TED event which promised to bring together some of the most creative thinkers in the Cleveland-area on a late February day during a notoriously snowy winter here in Ohio.

When I first heard about the event, from where exactly I can’t remember, I knew wanted to write about it for Calling All Creatives. Well, that was the easy part. I then had the difficult task of getting a ticket to an event that was taking applications for attendees. Yes, you read that right. There was an online application form that needed to be filled out to see if you qualified for a ticket first. This puzzled me for months, because it did not include the time and/or price. Would I want to be accepted to something I could not attend nor afford?

Luckily, about a month before the event, I started following TEDxCLE on Twitter, where it was revealed that tickets would be going on sale to the general public. And guess what? The price was extremely reasonable and the time fit into my schedule.

Immediately after the announced ticket sale date and time, I bought my ticket. Lucky for me that I did, because the next day or so the event sold out. So with ticket in hand, I was ready for my TED experience.

Or so I thought. The morning of the event a snowstorm shut the city and every public school down in the area. I anxiously checked Twitter and to my surprise the event was still on. Now, I had to decide if I wanted to risk the icy roads and if the TED event was worth it. In the end, I made the last minute decision to go and haven’t regretted it since!

The event was held in a wonderfully restored theater. And the throngs of people proved that a little snow doesn’t scare Clevelanders away from a revolutionary event like TED.

Some of my favorite moments from the event included a presentation from Terry Schwartz of Pop Up City explaining how broken cities are like broken ceramics and the way to fix them involves making small repairs, which can be noticeable, since we will never fully restore them completely to their original state.

Also, Aaron LeMieux of Tremont Electric talking about alternative energy and his discovery of using kinetic energy as power was another highlight for me. He described how his idea was born during a hike on the Appalachian Trail, while he was still in college. He also discussed how it took him almost 10 years of creating prototypes to finally discover the best solution.

Finally, and probably my favorite presentation was by Danielle DeBoe the owner the boutique ROOM SERVICE and creator of Made in the 216, an event featuring local artisans. She highlighted the path to living a passionate life by demonstrating all the creative twists and turns she took along her own personal journey.

Please check out the rest of the presentations here. I promise you won’t be sorry and you’ll definitely feel inspired afterward.

Filed Under: Calling All Creatives

Plan Your Own Creative Retreat

February 25, 2010 by 6 Comments

Have you ever dreamed of going on a creative retreat but didn’t have the time or money to take one?

Why not plan your own?

That’s what I did last weekend, and it was so worth it. The winter had been taking its toll on me and with my birthday just around the corner next week, I thought it was a perfect time for a little rest, reflection and creativity.

So I devoted an entire day, when I knew I didn’t have any obligations, turned off the phone and computer and enjoyed the silence. I spent a lot of the day musing, reading, creating, and planning. I now have a clear vision of where I am going and all it took was about 12 hours of my time.

If you don’t have the time to spend an entire day for your retreat, I would suggest taking a morning or afternoon and finding someplace quiet where you can think without being disturbed.

Here are some more tips on planning your own creative retreat:

1. Start out with an opening ceremony to get you focused on creating. Try lighting a candle or even reciting a creative mantra. I took mine from the Rituals: Light for the Soul Kit:

I look upon an empty canvas
And see there an unformed opportunity
To express my life
And how it could be
I begin

2. Reflect on the questions I created for a bi-annual Creative Check-In to determine not only goals for the upcoming year but also celebrate achievements from the last 6 months.

3. Look for images to reinforce those 6 month and 1 year goals. Create a visioning collage to inspire next years’ successes. For mine, I used images that I cut out of my favorite magazines.

4. Work on your creative project. Once your goals are established and you have a visual plan for them, then have some fun by creating. I completed a few small sketchbook collages, with no particular goal in mind.

5. At the end of the day, blow out the candle and take a moment to reflect on your creative achievements and future goals.

  • What would you include in your creative retreat?
Filed Under: Inspiration

Calling All Creatives: Social Entrepreneurs and Social Innovation

February 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment

In my last post, I explored the concept of using creativity as an agent of social change and highlighted a program in Cleveland that was doing just that. I also asked readers to share their own examples of creativity and community building.

One reader, Isobel, left a comment praising the organization Ashoka and the partnership between IDEO and the Gates Foundation. I decided to check out her suggestions and was thoroughly impressed.

Ashoka is a leader in the social entrepreneur movement supporting some 2,000 fellows in 60 different countries with projects ranging from sanitation to establishing schools. Ashoka has created a global network of innovation and creativity empowering regular citizens to become change makers.

Similarly, IDEO, not only has an alliance with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support projects on health but with several other well-known global foundations. At IDEO, it is not just about innovation but social innovation as defined by using design-thinking principles to better serve underprivileged areas and communities. Recent examples of projects have included the Human Centered Design Project providing a tool kit for innovation and the universal ear, an affordable hearing aid both created for developing nations.

Finally, have you heard about the Pepsi Refresh Project? I kept seeing and hearing the ads for this new idea generating initiative sponsored by Pepsi, while my mind was still percolating ideas for this post. Anyway, Pepsi is providing various sums of money to those individuals and organizations that come up with ideas that have a positive impact on a community.

Unfortunately the limited number of applications for this grant cycle has been filled, but you can still enter your idea for future funding cycles in the following categories: health, arts & culture, food & shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and educations. I’ve had fun looking through the art submissions. Vote for your favorite ideas or submit your own next month and make a change in your neighborhood!

Filed Under: Calling All Creatives

Introducing Five {5} Creative Questions

January 18, 2010 by 1 Comment

Five {5} Creative Questions is a new feature I am starting this year on the blog. Each month, I plan to highlight a different creator and have them answer the same 5 questions on creativity, their creative process and inspiration. I hope you enjoy!

Our first guest is the talented Dee Wilcox, who you may already know from the fantastic blog, Creative Perch.

Dee is a graphic designer, marketer, and writer. A little bit about Dee… she is 50% right-brained and 50% left-brained. Her interests are rather eclectic, and she believes the combination of these two qualities makes her a better writer. She loves trend-watching and all things design. She believes that public art can raise the spirit of a community and lift the individual spirit, as well. She loves the art and process of creating. Creating is in her blood. Her creative bent is her favorite thing about herself.

1. What does creativity mean to you?
I believe creativity is both an innate ability and a skill that we can develop to bring a creative approach to every aspect of our lives. In other words, creativity allows us to bring new ideas and concepts and approaches into existence that were never there before. It also allows us to tweak current ideas, develop a new perspective, and see things in new ways.

2. What is your creative process, and what tools do you use to stimulate it?
My creative process generally begins with working a problem over in my mind. I become aware of a new challenge, or that something is lacking in a particular area or project. Sometimes I “sit” with the idea for awhile – I think about it in an inactive way. For example, I might keep a particular problem in the back of my mind while I am working in my garden or walking my dog. Other times, I begin the brainstorming process right away, and then let the ideas incubate for a while. Usually either after the brainstorming or incubation process, I find what seems like might be a potential route or approach to tackling the problem or project. From there, it is usually trial and error until I come up with something that seems like a fit. Then, I test it – usually by asking people I trust for feedback. Usually, at that point the process begins again.

The tools I use to stimulate my creative process can vary quite a bit. I rely a lot on the Internet and on relationships. I am constantly reading magazines and blogs, and I use Evernote to clip ideas that inspire me. The Internet is also great for researching topics that I have absolutely no knowledge about. I rely on relationships to give me real world feedback. I also invest in experiences and resources – these often expand my creative horizons in ways I could never achieve on my own.

3. What is your most creative time of day?
I am usually most creative in the morning, before I’ve checked my email. My mind is clear, and the house is quiet. I can think with more clarity, and when I am writing, words seem to flow more easily. Occasionally I’ll have a creative burst in the afternoon or late evening, but I try to plan time in the morning to work on projects that require my best.

4. How do you infuse creativity into your daily life and tasks?
Many times, I have to intentionally make room for creativity, especially when a day’s projects or tasks feel the farthest thing from creative. I make time to read blogs by creative people, and I listen to music that inspires me throughout the day. I have a “go-to” playlist in my iTunes that really helps me get into a creative groove. Another way that I try to keep a creative atmosphere going on even my most un-creative days is by crafting my environment. I have a workspace that is full of things that inspire me, and when that isn’t working for me, I spend the day working in a stimulating environment – a coffeeshop, a bookstore, a museum.

5. What creative tip or resource would you like to share with our readers?
The difference-maker for me is always honoring the fact that we are made creative. We were never intended to shut out our creative selves in pursuit of other, perhaps more “practical” qualities. Making time for creativity refreshes the heart and can in turn influence every other aspect of life. To me, creativity isn’t something that I have time for on the weekends. It has become something I honor and make room for in my life every day.

  • THANKS Dee!
Filed Under: Five {5} Creative Questions, Inspiration

Benefits of Being Everyday Creative

December 14, 2009 by 3 Comments

One of my everyday creative habits involves checking out the magazine rack at my local library. Quite frequently, you will find me there picking up magazines that catch my eye, especially magazines I would not normally read.

This weekend, intrigued by the cover story Everyday Creative, I stumbled upon the latest issue of Psychology Today. The article begins by debunking, probably, the number one myth of creativity and that is that if you are not a creative genius then you are simply not creative and have no hope of ever being creative.

Instead, the article focuses on the fact that too many people fall for that myth and don’t even see all the creative potential and successes in their own life.

Another myth, debunked in the article, is that creativity is intrinsically linked to the arts. Not so, say these authors, who concede that true creativity begins with problem-solving skills and that we can all learn and master these in our everyday lives, whether that means coming up with a new recipe or simply another way to get the kids to go to bed!

So how do you begin being everyday creative? Well, first you have to believe that you are creative, then you have to discover your problem-solving style and use it to innovate in your own daily life. Before you know it, you’ll see some of the benefits:

  • Increased observation skills
  • A more collaborative spirit
  • Better coping skills.

For more on being everyday creative, check out my new column starting in January on Creative Perch. I’ll be following Eric Maisel’s Creativity Book to enhance my own creativity and encourage you to join me.

  • How are you everyday creative?
Filed Under: Creativity, Inspiration
Next Page »