Don’t Think You’re Creative? Here’s How to Unearth Your Creative Side to Thrive at Work.

NimblyWise Team
June 9, 2022

Many people equate creativity to something that only an artist holds. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, the most successful business leaders are typically the most creative! Richard Branson actively attributes his multi-billion-dollar empire to his family, allowing him to pursue his outlandish ideas. Google’s CEO & Co-Founder Larry Page is spearheading an initiative to deliver wi-fi to remote destinations with specially designed balloons. The list goes on and on when it comes to business leaders and creative thinking.

Now, if you’ve caught yourself saying, “Well, I can’t do that. I’m not creative enough,” it’s time to reframe what you think creativity truly means so you can lead someday, too. Steve Jobs is praised as one of the most innovative tech pioneers of our time, yet he shared, “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.”

It seems so simple when you think of it that way, doesn’t it?

Creativity doesn’t have to be some grand pursuit or total career shift. Here are a few things you can do to draw your inner creativity out, and use it to help you earn that promotion, snag that dream job, and generally thrive in your career!

Try New Hobbies

Creativity is often born from inspiration! If you’re simply waking up, eating breakfast, going to work, and coming home and vegging out, you’re not going to have many opportunities to feel inspired. Start journaling in the morning with intentional journal prompts, put together a Top Chef-style dinner party where you compete to make the best dish out of random ingredients, try an art class or community sports league you’ve been eyeing, listen to new music, go on a trip, the list goes on and on.

When you try new things, you’ll start seeing the world in an entirely new way!

Accept Difficult Projects

Typically, risk-averse people aren’t going to be very creative. They’re comfortable doing things the same way they’ve always done. Challenge yourself to take a risk and lead a complex project at work. Through research, time to review and disconnect, team brainstorming sessions, and resources, it’s likely that your creativity will emerge to problem solve in a new, innovative way!

Change Up Your Workspace

Sitting under fluorescent lights in a windowless room isn’t going to inspire many. Jazz up your workspace with items that inspire you! That could mean a desk plant or daily motivation cards to read when you sit down each morning. Whatever lights your fire, surround yourself with it!

Tame Your Inner Critic

Often, our self-doubt clogs our creative energy and keeps it from flowing! Stop the negative self-talk, work on confidence building, and try to adopt a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset. Psychology Today has shared in the past that “a fixed mindset inhibits, quashes, and crushes the creative process.” See every day and moment as an opportunity to learn something new, give yourself grace, and see the sparks that ignite! Once you get out of your own way, it’ll get easier to make those connections that fuel creativity, as Steve Jobs duly noted. We’re all innately creative, but we need to get out of our own way to let it loose.

Cultivate Your Creativity with Personalized Coaching for Ultimate Career Growth

The World Economic Forum reported that one of the top 10 skills for career growth now through 2025 is creativity. Each and every day, we’re faced with challenges that require creative thinking and problem-solving to take the helm and overcome. If you’re not able to do that, you may never find yourself in that leadership position you’ve been seeking. But, with personalized coaching, you can get to the root of your mental blocks, gain the push to step outside your comfort zone, and cultivate a creative side you never realized possible for yourself. NimblyWise can help you do just that. Let’s chat!