Exercising A Creative Process

Creative individuals have a tendency to pursue multiple hobbies and professions throughout their lifetimes (Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein, 2008). By doing this, one is able to get comfortable with the creative process, as one is constantly developing new skills through one’s various activities. In this way one is exercising one’s creativity. Since the creative process is generally transferable from one pursuit to another, exercising it is beneficial to many aspects of life, including professional work. By exercising one’s creativity, one refines and expands one’s skill set, which is necessary to create unique concepts (Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein, 2008).

By having many creative hobbies, one broadens one’s understanding and knowledge

To do this, one could learn a new skill. By consciously trying to be creative, one needs to pay attention to how one is learning, and not what one is learning (Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein, 2008). By purposefully being creative, creative muscle is formed. This ‘creative muscle’ will then be able to aid in the creative process, as creativity will become a natural instinct.

Various steps can be taken to enhance the creative process. The first step is to imitate. This basically consists of copying what others have achieved in the past. Step two is to be tenacious. Being tenacious will help because the synapses in the brain become more embedded when an action is repeated. By repeating the desired action, the brain becomes stronger, thus making it easier to repeat the process at a later stage. With this in mind, it is important to be disciplined, which is step three. Since the brain needs reinforcement, a disciplined routine is essential for creativity to take place (Sandu,

There are five tiers to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, namely: Physical Needs, Safety and Security, Social Needs, Self-Esteem, and finally, Self-Actualization. The concept of the “pyramid of needs” is that one cannot reach the next tier until the previous tier has been fulfilled. In this way when one moves up a tier, one has the ability to use one’s intellectual powers more, which enables one to create more. At the top of the pyramid lies ‘Self-Actualization’. This tier represents the need for information, and includes the ability to be spontaneous. When one reaches this level, one would have sufficient time to be innovative and self-aware (Dance,