How to stay creative in a sea of corporate boredom

How to stay creative in a sea of corporate boredomHow to stay creative in a sea of corporate boredomFirst, try this, right nowThink of a person who you consider to be creative.Im willing to bet you didnt think of yourself.Very few people think they are creative. Most believe its a magical gift which is bestowed upon the smartest, wildest, or best looking*.*The fact that I am creative AND good looking is merely coincidence ??Oh, Im not creative, said my intern as she swiftly built an eCourse from scratch.I wish I welches creative said one of my friends sitting around a pile of things she sewed that morning.You, Todd, youre creative, said a cousin who is the best gift giver Ive ever met.Here are the criteria to see if you are a creative person or notCan you think of any problem in the world?Can you think of at least one solution to that problem?Congratulations Youre creative.Now lets talk about how to be mora creative- - - A) Quit trying to fit inThis disaster of a conversation happe ns every dayHey I have all these new ideasOoh, thats not really how we do things hereOh, okay.This message is passed like a virus from new hire to new hire, from department to department. Some companies have it even if they pretend they dont.I have a friend who welches hired to disrupt the organization. The company welches so proud when he came on board Look at us Were innovatorsGuess what happened when the disruption started? My friend received curse-littered emails from 4 of the 9 executives for what hed done. Cool as ever, he didnt apologize and let the results play out.The result was major mainstream media for his companys project and millions of dollars in potential revenue.You may not be in a position to bring in millions of dollars to your company, but stand your ground when you are right. Use these magic wordsLets just try it and see if it works. We can always switch back if it doesnt.B) Always be looking out for problemsAlthough its counterintuitive, this is the first step to being creative. Even traditional artists, (writers, painters, etc.) usually create in response to conflict in the world.KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT about the problems you find. At least, until youC) Bring solutions to those problemsI dont care what you think your job title is. From this point forward, you are now a full time problem solver.See an open position online and know someone who would fit it perfectly? Refer them.See something missing from your favorite bloggers website? Find them a plugin which would fix it.See a letter which fell off a sign? Put it back.Solve problems. Watch how everything falls into place. Its like magic.D) Find ways to grab peoples emotionsHere is one of my favorite storiesIn 1992, Robyn Waters started working for Target. She was given a pretty lowly job, and hated what she was working with. As a former fashion snob, she got sick of Target lagging behind the market and putting out clothing designs a year after everyone had moved on from that trend.She begge d that more money and attention be given to the womens clothing department. Nobody listened.So Target kept cranking out bland, old, boring trends.But when the fashion industry made a switch from neutral khaki to bold color, Waters realized she had to do something differently.She went to a candy store in New York, bought the brightest colored MMs she could find, placed a crystal bowl in the middle of a conference table.She waited.As people filed into the room, Waters opened a bag of MMs and poured them into the bowl. Turquoise, pink, red, and yellow candies splashed and spilled into the bowl.Then she dumped in another bag.Then another.The effect mesmerized the room. People couldnt look away.Do you see? she asked them. Do you see your reaction to color?We all know the rest of the story. Targets bullseye is one of the most recognizable icons on the planet, and they remain a real presence in the fashion world.None of that happens if Waters simply tried to explain where she thought trend s were headed.You think the world is made of rules. It isnt.The world is made of people.People are made of emotions.The more you can make people feel, the better chance of getting your ideas into reality.E) Learn everythingAbout your company. About your industry. About your craft. About your coworkers.Creativity is often simply combinations of existing ideas.F) Stay healthyAt 24, my gut was a wreck. In one year, I was carted to the emergency room twice, missed nearly a week of work for stomach issues alone, had an upper GI and a colonoscopy. My weight dropped under 130. Doctors couldnt tell me why my body was revolting.* Needless to say, when I was curled up on the bathroom floor trying not to vomit, it was difficult to come up with new ideas.No health, no creativity.If youve never been into health before, dont start some complicated diet. Do these things insteadDrink 1 glass of water before you do anything else in the morning.Eat 1 raw vegetable serving every day (not salad. Salad is the worst).Walk or Run until your heart starts beating hard 1 time per day.Do 1 mental health exercise per day.Listen to 1 health podcast per week. Start with this one.*If youve ever been told youll just have to live with this by any doctor, challenge that. The body is more powerful than you think.G) ExperimentYou know when I talked about the magic words up there - Lets just try it and see if it works?Yeah, sometimes it doesnt. Sometimes it blows up in your face. And that sucks. Im not one of those writers who will tell you failure is awesome because its not.However, the height of your creative ability is proportional to your ability to live with failure. It is the creative persons imperative to try things, even (especially) if they might not work.Experiment. Adjust. Repeat forever.H) Start micro journalingAt the start of every morning, do these things1) List the day.This will remind you, you only have one shot to live the day you are about to live. Im publishing this on June 21 , 2016. I will never have another opportunity to live June 21, 2016.2) Write 10(ish) ideas for somethingThis can be anything from what to get your spouse for Christmas to how to invest your money to why Mark Zuckerburg would make a good politician. I say 10(ish) because your whole goal gets to the point where you cant think of any more ideas.Then write 5 more ideas.3) Write one thing you are grateful forYou dont have to be particularly clever or wordy with this. Plenty of my entries just say Kate or roof. Gratitude promotes abundance thinking. When you appreciate what you have, more comes.Its the same with ideas.- - - The final secret is so simple its almost annoying.True creative people never quitThis article first appeared on Medium.