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I have a friend who has struggled with her creativity for a
long time. She’s extremely uncomfortable thinking of herself
as “creative.” We’ve been working together on it, and making
progress. One of the tools that’s really helped her has been
journaling.

From Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way to Natalie Goldberg’s
Writing Down the Bones to Linda Trichter Metcalf, Ph.D. and
Tobin Simon, Ph.D.’s Writing the Mind Alive to numerous
other publications, journaling has enjoyed a long history of
creative-nurturing along with a host of other benefits.

For my purposes, I’m defining journaling as any sort of
loose, longhand writing. Whatever thoughts come into your
head you put them down on paper. There’s no structure, no
form, nor concern about spelling or grammar or even
legibility.

Even if writing isn’t your dream, incorporating a regular
program of journaling into your life is a wonderful way to
jump-start your creativity and cultivate a constant flow of new
ideas. Here are three reasons why.

1. Helps you get rid of the junk in your head. We all have it.
Junk thoughts. Everything from self-defeating comments
(”Oh, I’ll never be good at that.” or “Who told you that you
could be a writer?”) to the “worry of the moment” to neurosis
of every type to the ever-growing, constant to-do lists.

Who can be creative with all that noise going on? For that
matter, who could even hear a creative thought over all that
racket?

Journaling is a way to quiet the mind. Writing all that junk
down transfers it from your head to the paper. Suddenly, you
find you can actually think rather than simply react.

The best part is this quiet lasts long after the journaling is
done for the day. And if you journal frequently, then the effect
is cumulative.

When I finish journaling, I find that I feel peaceful. Calm.
Able to focus. The junk is gone, leaving space to be creative.

2. Gives you a chance to try new ideas. What better way to
see if a new idea will work than to try it out on paper? You
can write out the pros and cons, describe a scenario, play
“what if” games (”What if my new business was
successful?” “What if I tried that new advertising
campaign?” “What if I contacted the editor at Money
Magazine?”). And the best part is it’s all in a private little
notebook that no one will ever have to see.

Try writing down your hopes, dreams, goals, visions. Play
around with them. You may find as you journal about them,
a strategy for making them come true suddenly presents
itself, right there in the pages of your notebook.

3. Helps you build a bridge to your muse. This one really
only kicks in after you’ve sufficiently done number one (at
least, this is the way it works for me). It seems only after I’ve
gotten most of the junk out of my head that the muse
sometimes slips out to play a bit.

How do you know the muse came to visit you? When that
brilliant idea flashes in your head. It may not happen while
you’re journaling, but instead while you’re showering,
walking, driving or something else. This is the muse talking
to you.

It’s important to remember muses have quiet voices. They
can easily be drowned out by the incessant bickering of the
other noisy chatter going on in your head. Once you can get
those other voices to shut up, you can start to listen for the
muse.

Don’t worry if this doesn’t happen right away. There have
been weeks and even months when I write nothing but junk
down. But then, one day, that great idea appears on the
paper or in my head as I’m walking my dogs.

And when that happens, I know all the time I spent
journaling about nothing has paid off.

Creativity Exercises — Journal more ideas

I would love it if you made a pact with yourself to journal
regularly for a month. If that’s too much of a commitment for
you, try it as a creativity exercise.

Write down your challenge at the top of a piece of paper.
Maybe it’s ways to increase business or promote your
products more or a new PR campaign. Now just start writing
about it.

Don’t think, just write. Fill a few pages of musing about that
particular challenge. Don’t type it either — write longhand. If
you wander away from it, try nudging yourself back.

Write for at least 20 minutes. If no answer presents itself in
that time, don’t get too hung up about it. Try it again the next
day or a few days in a row. Sometimes it just takes awhile to
jar things loose. And remember, great ideas have a
tendency to pop up in the most unexpected places, not just
when you’re doing something “creative.”

Michele Pariza Wacek is the author of “Got Ideas? Unleash
Your Creativity and Make More Money.” She offers two free
e-zines that help subscribers combine their creativity with
hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become
more successful at attracting new clients, selling products
and services and boosting business. She can be reached
at TheArtistSoul.com.

An important ingredient in pursuing your greatest aspirations is presence. I define presence as a state of being in which you are fully aware and knowledgeable about your self, others, and the world around you. With presence, you have awareness of not only your potential and purpose, but also about the development of your potential and purpose. In other words, you know what contributions are being made to who you are and what you can do as you go about your day-to-day living. With this knowing, you are in a much better position to pursue those activities and situations that are in sync with your capabilities and ultimate goals.

There are two very important components of Presence. The first is the awareness or knowing that we just spoke about. Many of us go on with our lives without much thought to where we are or where we are going. Our purpose and our knowledge of our capabilities are safely tucked away in the deep recesses of our minds never to be given a thought or consideration. When we increase our presence and our awareness of purpose and potential, we increase the effectiveness with which we pursue our goals and aspirations. The more effective we are in these pursuits, the more successful we will be.

The second component of presence is related to time. Not only must we be aware, but we must orient this awareness to the present moment. We all too often worry about our past and our future. We worry about the things that we have done or not done. We dwell on the mistakes that we have made. We focus our attention on what we will be doing on the weekend or on our next vacation. We spend so much time in the past and future that we forget to attend to the present. It is at this present moment that we are able to apply our capabilities in pursuing our purpose. A lack of focus on the now results in a lack of focus on our potential and purpose, and missed opportunities to grow and prosper.

So how do you improve your presence? First, develop a healthy curiosity about who you are and what makes you tick. In becoming curious about our selves we attend more to the events around us and how they affect us. Second, be selfish. I don’t mean the negative type of selfish where you have a total disregard for others. I mean the kind of selfish that puts the focus of your attention on your self. Remember, before you can understand others and the world, you need to understand your self. Third, stop worrying about the past and the future. The past cannot be changed and the future can only be affected by what you do in the present. Finally, relax and enjoy yourself. The mind works much more efficiently and effectively when not burdened by the stress of trying too hard.

Copyright © 2005 by Peter Cartmill, All rights reserved.

Peter Cartmill is a Personal and Career Coach and the founder of GreatAspirations.ca. To learn more about how Coaching can benefit you, visit http://www.greataspirations.ca

Effective team structure is critical when managing creativity and creative output.

It appears that many individuals are effective alone - Einstein, Marco Polo etc - however, what is usually overlooked is that these people often collaborated regularly. Also, it is very difficult to separate the idea from its influences. In any case, individuals are prone to path dependency, parochialism and reduced insight through reduced intellectual cross-pollination.

The negatives of the individual are reduced somewhat by the addition of another individual. Pairs keep each other grounded and there are no core and peripheral information flows - there are only two people. However, parochialism and path dependency are still factors. The core aim of a pair should be to encourage diversity and novelty in each individual.

As groups get larger, the quality of results increases with intellectual cross-pollination. But group negatives prevent breakout:

a) Symptoms of group think increase

b) The percentage of individual performance declines

c) Groups of three to five elicit much more conformity than just one or two

d) Evaluation apprehension increases

e) Core and peripheral information flows exclude some people

f) Political strategies increase

In conclusion, a tactical combination of team structures increases creative output.

More information about this topic can be found at http://www.managing-creativity.com/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

**********************************

You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://www.managing-creativity.com

Whatever you are doing in your life at the present moment; it’s not enough.
What do you mean it’s not enough? I’ve done all I can. I’ve a good job. I work as hard as I can. I get my tasks done. I’m really proficient in what I do. I’ve got a good standard of living. What do you mean it’s not enough?

We want more from you. Why? Because we know you are capable of so much more. We know that you are holding back on something. We know you want to achieve so much more with your life. To be the person you want to be. We know you have the skills and abilities to reach your dreams… We know you just need that extra bit of encouragement. So, whatever you are doing now is not enough.

Doing what you’ve always done is never enough.

Doing what you think others want you to do is not enough.

Doing sufficient is not enough.

Following others is never enough.

Being a success in someone else’s eyes is not enough.

Going through the motion is not enough.

Waiting for others to act before you do is not enough.

Listening to others before you commit yourself is not enough.

This is the 21st century. This is the time of authenticity. This is the confluence of different points of view. This is the coming together of different cultures. This is the time of the underdog. This is the opportunity for the unknown to become known. This is the time for unsung heroes to stand up. This is the time when the patients start to take over the asylum. Therefore it is not enough to sit on your haunches and watch the world go by.

Now is the time to put your actions where your mouth is. It’s time to show what you are really capable of. Time to stop hiding behind …….

The world is waiting for you to fill your boots. The world is waiting for you to do what you were brought in here to do. The world is waiting for you to take responsibility for yourself.

The world is waiting for you to make a start on your dream. Just one small, tiny, step. The world just wants to see your commitment.

The world is waiting for your passion….. It’s not enough to be a quiet subdued follower. The world wants to see your enthusiasm.

As Bonny Tyler says in her song:

And it’s not enough to say that you love me
It’s not enough to say that you care
And it’s not enough when you say that you need me
If I wake up and still you’re not there

You gotta do something……

Good luck

Graham and Julie
www.desktop-meditation.com

To improve your intuition, initiative and energy levels please go to:
http://www.desktop-meditation.com It’s free.

Creative imagination is more than just active imagination. To be able to actively imagine things, to see and hear things in one’s mind, is an important ability. It doesn’t have to involve much creativity, though, does it? Daydreaming, for example, is a process of imagination. It can consist of an elaborate fantasy world, but one full of all the things that many people think about.

Creative imagination, then, has to include the ability not just to imagine things, but to imagine original things. It is seeing things that others don’t see, and coming up with new ideas. So how do you cultivate this?

Creative Imagination 101

First, exercise your basic imagination. It can be as simple as thinking in pictures more, or listening to music in your mind. Play little “movies” in your mind, until you can watch them on command. This is a simple process, but for those of us that can’t easily do it naturally, it can take a lot of practice. Fortunately, it is not an unpleasant activity.

The second part of developing your creative imagination is to get more creative in your thinking and imagining. Start by paying attention to your creativity. Our subconscious minds give us more of what we pay attention to. Ignore creative aspects of your life, and you’re telling your subconscious they are unimportant. On the other hand, if you note when you’re creative, your subconscious mind will start feeding you more creative ideas.

Different surroundings can also encourage your creativity. Want more creativity in your love life? Hike up a mountain with your partner. Do you write? Try sitting on a roof to write. Want new ideas for your business? Take a notebook to the park and sit by the duck pond. A change of environment can get your thinking out of it’s ruts.

You can play games that exercise your creative imagination. One such game uses a technique called “concept combination.” Alone or with other players, you combine random concepts or things in new ways, to see who has the best idea. A thermometer and a billboard, for example, could generate an idea for a sign that checks the weather and adjusts the message accordingly (”Come in out of the heat for a cold beverage,” or “Come in out of the rain and warm up with our gourmet coffee.”).

Don’t Wait For Creative Imagination

Creative inspiration certainly can strike at any time, but it strikes more often when there is work instead of waiting. So if you want to come up with creative inventions, start mentally redesigning everything you see. Imagine a better bicycle, a faster mail service, or a better chair. Continue this for three weeks, and it will become a habit.

Of course, creative imagination goes beyond solving specific problems or inventing things. Truly creative minds are always coming up with the questions too, not just the solutions. If you want to be more creative all the time, focus on three things:

1. Changing your perspective. A child might think that working just to not work (to retire) is silly. Thinking from that perspective might give you ideas for how to make money doing things you enjoy. Seeing the world as a bear sees it might give a painter imaginative new ideas. Looking at things from a customer’s perspective is a sure way to find creative improvements for a business. See everything from several perspectives.

2. Challenging your assumptions. What if restaurants didn’t have employees? Visitors pay a machine as they enter, feed themselves at a buffet, and everything is as automated as possible, so one owner-operator could run a large restaurant alone. Challenge all your assumptions for practice. Do you really have to pay rent? Do swimming pools need water? Can exercise be a bad thing?

3. Let your ideas run wild. Does a flying bed seem silly? It could lead to the concept of a helium mattress. When you get off it in the morning, it floats out of the way, up to the ceiling. Perfect for small apartments. Don’t stifle your creativity. Relax, and let ideas come. You can always discard them later.

For these techniques to be a habitual part of your thinking, use them regularly. Since it takes several weeks to develop a habit, remind yourself to use them each day. Jot a few of your favorite techniques on a card and carry it with you. Look it over throughout the day and apply the techniques to anything. Soon, you’ll have a more creative imagination.

Steve Gillman has been exploring new ideas for decades. Visit his site for invention ideas, business ideas, story ideas, political and economic theories, deep thoughts, and more. Get a free gift too: New Ideas ( www.999ideas.com )

If you don’t get the right diagnosis for your depression, you won’t get the right treatment. I have written many times about the importance of getting care for a serious mental illness, such as major depression, from a psychiatrist. Yet according to the Wall Street Journal over half of all antidepressant and antipsychotic prescriptions are written by general practioners or primary care physicians. This static has always confounded me. Psychiatrists are specially trained in diagnosing, assessing and treating mental illnesses. Psychiatrists are up-to-date on the latest drugs to treat specific mental illnesses, while primary care physicians are kept up-to-date on the latest drugs covering a broad range of illnesses.

In the once-a-decade report funded by the National Institutes of Health( June 2005), researchers found that one-quarter of Americans had a psychiatric disorder in the year prior to the survey, and 40% of them sought treatment, up from just 25% who sought treatment in the previous report a decade ago. What researchers said was particularly troubling was that, of those who did turn to traditional medicine, just 48% of those who went to psychiatrists got the “minimally adequate care,” while only 12% of those who went to general doctors did.

About half of people who seek help for a mental illness see a general doctor, not a specialist. The survey didn’t ask people why, but mental-health experts say that people often turn first to a primary-care doctor for a variety of reasons, including a lack of qualified specialists in their vicinity, lack of insurance coverage for mental-health services or lack of confidence in someone other than their family physician.

In my opinion, if you don’t get the right diagnosis, you won’t get the right treatment. Patients suffering with a difficult mental illness must make an appointment with a qualified psychiatrist, to improve the probability of getting the correct treatment. There is a treatment just approved by the FDA for chronic or recurrent depression: vagus nerve stimulation-a ninety-minute out patient procedure.

This treatment completely changed my life. You can learn more about vagus nerve stimulation at http://wwww.VagusNerveStimulator.com

Charles Donovan was a patient in the FDA investigational trial of vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for chronic or recurrent treatment-resistant depression. He was implanted with the vagus nerve stimulator in April of 2001. He chronicles his journey from the grips of depression thanks to vagus nerve stimulation therapy in his book:

Out of the Black Hole: The Patient’s Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression

The book was exhibited at the American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Meeting, May 21st-May 26th in Atlanta, GA. This was the largest gathering of psychiatrists in the world( 25,000 attendees). The book is available at Amazon.com and 24/7 at 1-888-VAGUS-88

Six months ago you had trouble finding your keys and were late for work. At the time, you felt agitated and upset. Chances are, you don’t even remember the incident. Last year, at a business lunch, you spilled salad dressing on your shirt. You were so embarrassed when it happened but now you can just laugh at the whole episode.

Three years ago, you were on your way to the airport to leave for vacation. You got caught in a traffic jam and missed your plane. You were worried sick that your whole vacation would be ruined. However, when you finally arrived at the airport, the airline was able to get you and your family on a later flight. Your trip was wonderful and the traffic jam is a distant memory.

How often have you looked back on what seemed like misfortune at the time, and wondered how you could have been so aggravated? Has anyone ever said to you, “Remember when you were so upset about…” and you couldn’t recall the incident they were referring to? Did you ever have a fight with someone and later couldn’t remember what the conflict was about?

Undesirable or unpleasant circumstances and events are a part of living. Something breaks, you loose something, you’re late, you embarrass yourself, you forget to do something, someone laughs at you, someone doesn’t like you, you get into an argument, or your car breaks down.

Some circumstances you have control over, others you don’t. Many people constantly get tripped up by the small annoying aspects of life. They expend far more emotional energy on them then is warranted. As a result, their enthusiasm for good and positive things declines.

Most feelings fade with time. If they don’t disappear altogether, their intensity diminishes. The cliché that hindsight is 20/20 is recalled on a regular basis. So why not look forward with hindsight?

What exactly does this mean? You have already experienced the effect time has on your memory and feelings. In hindsight, you wonder why you were so upset. So view the present as if you were looking back on it from the future.

When faced with a stressful situation ask yourself, “How will I feel about this next week, next month, or next year?” Although your feelings may be very intense at the moment, will they last? Recall how time has soothed past events. Consider the big picture. In the overall scheme of things, will what you are confronting now matter as much in the future?

When faced with feelings of frustration, project yourself into the future. In the future, what you are currently facing is at best a faded memory. Next, reassess the significance of what you are now experiencing and put it into perspective.

Since memories and feelings are going to fade anyway, why not save yourself a lot of time and grief by not getting trapped initially? The main question to ask is “Will this matter to me later?” If the answer is no, why should you let it matter to you now?

That’s how to look forward with hindsight. You view the events of today as if they were already in the past. Emotions diminish and fade with the passage of time and life goes on. Don’t waste time on those things that won’t matter to you later. Spend time on what does matter.

copyright 2005 Bryan Golden

Bryan Golden is a self-development and motivational expert, author, and adjunct professor. He is the author of “Dare to Live Without Limits,” and writes a nationally syndicated newspaper column. For more information please visit:
http://www.daretolivewithoutlimits.com or
http://www.bryangolden.com

We all have our own unique constructs and beliefs and opinions about laughter and play and fun and joy and happiness. In this article, I combine play and fun as one pair and joy and happiness as another to capture nuances that single words would not.

Laughter

I love to laugh — those of you who know me personally already know that. I remember twenty or so years ago when first studying key contributors to the field of stress management, I was so pleased to learn that one good belly laugh each day does wonders for us all.

Physiologically, laughter introduces oxygen into the body in a way that few other actions can. Laughter also exercises inner muscles that are otherwise hard to exercise. Healing on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels are often attributed to the act of laughing.

For laughter to be effective, the content or stimulus is irrelevant. Dr. Norman Cousins used Candid Camera television shows and Marx Brothers movies to stimulate laughter that promoted self-healing which he wrote about in his ground-breaking publications.

I have friends I laugh with about things that are not funny to anyone but us. We laugh with tee-hees and guffaws and belly laughs. It’s deeply healing. It’s fun. We do not need a reason — we just use and appreciate the synergy of each other.

I have another friend, a health care practitioner, who has suggested that I gather a group of laughers together and make an audio tape. No content to try to get someone to laugh. Just laughing to laugh and to laugh more. He guarantees I will sell many of these tapes because the laughter will inspire others to laugh.

If we all set out to try to agree about what is funny, we would probably argue ourselves out of laughing. “Star Trek: The Next Generation” fans know Data’s difficulty with grasping what is funny to humans. My point is that it is not necessary for anything “to be funny” in order to laugh or to benefit from laughter.

Play and Fun

Placing these two words together usually generates a feeling of spontaneity that is not easy to define using a single word. Many of us “play” at our work. I once heard James Galway, one of the world’s greatest flutists, say that he has never worked a day in his life. Fun for you may feel like a chore for me and vice versa. We know instinctively if it is play or fun by how we feel — light and free and happy, for example.

Joy and Happiness

Some people like to make a distinction between joy and happiness. Defining these words differently is quite acceptable, but it is a feeling that I want to identify, so I define them interchangeably.

Joy or happiness is an energy or a feeling that transcends activities. If we are in a state of joy or happiness, we are in a state of mind and feeling that is not dependent on what we are doing, where we are, or who we are with. No matter what we do or have or do not do or do not have, if we are in a state of joy or happiness, we feel and emit a wonderful feeling that further attracts more joy and happiness. Joy and happiness come from inside us and burst from us — perhaps as a hot fire, perhaps as a warm glow. No matter how this energy may be emitted, it is more than a facade, more than a smile. It is life-giving.

Finding Our Own

Part of the fun of the human journey is finding those who resonate to a similar vibration as ours. Laughter has an undeniable vibration — and we tend to know the difference between a jeering laugh and a joyous one. I find that people often describe themselves has having a “good sense of humor.” In fact, I now find that to be such a common self-acclaimed attribute that it is meaningless. I think the discerning quality when looking for similar others is whether or not we laugh or smile at similar things.

As adults, we seek out activities and persons with similar vibrations. Sometimes for our education we may seek out very different types, often returning to “our own.” By “our own” I want to be clear that I am not referring to same skin-colored persons staying together or all Germans staying in Germany. I mean “like” below the obvious exterior, “like” spiritually, “like” vibrationally.

The Path of Joy and Happiness

We do not create joy by poking fun at or ridiculing someone or by being poked. We may learn by the “poking” that we do not want to experience more of that and learn to protect ourselves from being poked. But let us not delude ourselves into believing that poking is joy. If someone is hurt by a sharp barb, it is an act of unhappiness.

Laughter is an energy that can propel us along the Path of Joy. Joyful laughter helps to lighten the load. This is a time to lighten up with many paths and techniques and modalities. Laughter is one that is always available.

Copyright © 2005 Marshall House. All rights reserved. You may save this article, send it to a friend, or reprint it in your online publications, provided the article remains complete and this information is attached. Voice of Jeanie Marshall http://www.jmvoice.com and JMviews Empowerment http://www.jmviews.com

Who do you consider as your worst enemy? The criminals roaming
the dark streets? Your boss who’s killing you mentally and
emotionally with stress and harsh words? The people in office
who are engaging in graft and corruption, instead of helping
those in need?

We have many implications of who our enemies are; but we have
one common foe who is the main cause of our failures and
misfortunes, and we’re not even aware of this opponent.

You may not want to admit it, but our worst enemy is ourselves.

Who do you blame when something goes wrong? You blame the people
around you, the weather, maybe even God. But we are the ones who
are in control of ourselves. We can change the outcome of our
lives because we have the capacity to do that.

It is our fear, jealousy, greed, etc. that is ruining our lives.
Some people who never managed to get out of poverty blame the
government or their jobs. But they’re too afraid to try out
new ventures that may improve their lives. They half-heartedly
go to work on their 9 to 5 job. Then when the day is done, they
watch TV and go out aimlessly having fun without seriously
thinking of what great opportunity the future has in store for
them, if only they would try to do something different with their
lives.

Fear has caused many to remain frigid and to never go out
exploring the wonderful things this world has to offer.
Lots of people would rather stay where they are in an
unsatisfied state than to risk difficulties and obstacles
for the sake of attaining their dreams.

If their lives are not getting any better, they have no else
to blame but themselves.

Jealousy and envy has also caused some relationship problems.
Some people immediately jump to conclusions without first
analyzing the situation. They let their sudden emotions
control their behaviors without even thinking of the
consequences that may result.

If they’re having problems with their relationships, they
have no else to blame but themselves.

This goes to show that we decide what will happen to us. Of
course, there are circumstances that are beyond our control,
like natural calamities. But we can still utilize to our best
advantage the things that we have control of.

For instance, you got rejected by your dream girl. Some
people would just get drunk and feel miserable, thinking that
it’s the end of the world. Some will move onwards with their
lives and find the best in what remains with them. See? It’s
really up to you. You decide if you want to have a good life
or not.

You failed in your exams? So what? There’s another
opportunity. You can just sulk in sorrow or you can study
harder to get a high score in the future. It’s up to you.

There’s no use crying over spilled milk. You don’t have to
get frustrated over your misfortunes. Concentrate on how
you could get better in the future.

If we encounter problems, we can either succumb to it, or we
can treat it as an opportunity to become stronger and to
become better individuals. Winners would always treat their
dilemmas as opportunities.

Oh yes. We can be our worst enemy, but we can also be our
best friend. It’s all up to you!

Michael Lee is the author of “How To Be A Red Hot Persuasion Wizard,” an ebook designed to fully improve your relationships, multiply your profits, win negotiations, and help you attain all the desired freedom and power you could ever dream of. Go to http://www.20daypersuasion.com now and grab a sample chapter.

Here’s a really simple way to unleash your genius for creative thinking.

Let’s call it notebooking because it involves getting a notebook and jotting down the thoughts and observations that meander through your mind during the day.

Go to your local supermarket or corner store and grab yourself a handy little notebook. It should be small enough to easily slip into your coat pocket or handbag. I’ve got one that has a little elastic band attached to it that slips over the front cover and keeps it secure when I am carrying it around.

You’ll also need a pen or pencil that you can carry easily, like a Bic.

Okay. So your task is to start jotting down your observations… and your goal to get you in the habit of doing this, is to write 30-50 things down a day. You can do more, but don’t do any less - at least to begin with. Now don’t worry, although this may sound like a lot, you are really just making fleeting notes.

The fact is that great ideas pass through your head all the time, and you entertain them without really being fully conscious of them… you just don’t recognise the value of them and it is so easy to forget them and lose them forever.

With your notebook you will capture these ideas. But your focus is also upon observation.

So, you might be walking along the sidewalk and suddenly notice a dandelion that has pushed up between the cracks of the paving slabs - and you are hit by that “bright defiant splash of yellow” that contrasts so vividly against the dirty grey paving … so you whip out your notebook, and write down something like:

Dandelion, bursting through the prison walls, bright defiant splash of yellow

… or whatever your particular observation about it is.

What you are doing is:

1. Training your mind to be more observant

2. Telling your mind that these observations and thoughts are important to you (important enough for you to note them down)

3. Providing a sense of inner space for ideas to flow and an inner security that you will recognise them and acknowledge them by writing them down.

The results this practice will have on you:

The best times to practice notebooking:

Creative thinking through notebooking is a great technique for generating ideas - for art, for music, for writing, for business, for profit, for life!

About The Author:

For more creative thinking techniques and ideas on unleashing your creative genius, visit Wily Walnut at http://www.wilywalnut.com