I’ve been around awhile. I was born in the 1960s and I’ve had my own struggles with being creative.
Many times it just seemed like my creativity was completely blocked.
No matter how hard I tried, new fresh ideas didn’t come.
I had to work diligently to heal and open the flow of this natural and powerful energy that all human beings have before I could actually become a ‘functionally’ creative person.
Since, I’ve come to understand that I am an artist. Not just a creative person, but someone who wants to ‘make up stuff’ – preferably – for a living.
Now I do.
From observation, I believe there are 7 Main Reasons Why People Are Not More Creative.
I also think I’m not alone in this thinking.
1. Negative Emotions and Stress:
Creative projects are most successful when our life force is flowing, which usually means when we’re feeling happy and carefree.
Of course, you can’t always dictate your creativity with your mood.
However, learning how to keep negative emotions out of your energy system really helps with staying connected to your creative thought process.
Probably one of the biggest killers of creativity and innovation is a feeling of being overwhelmed.
The mind starts to shut down as it is flooded with too many thoughts at once.
This creates a very stressful mindset which creates blockages in our life force system and prevents one from generating new ideas.
Why is this? It becomes impossible to prioritize and focus.
2. Fear of Imperfection:
Many creative people consider themselves perfectionists, which can lead to creative blocks.
This is a double edged sword. People who consider themselves perfectionists tend to always excel at the projects they take on.
At the same time, these same people often find themselves in a state of overwhelm quickly for the very same reasons they complete projects well. Hence, the creative blockages are brought on.
Fear in general keeps human beings in a state of contraction.
Creativity is always about expanding yourself – even if you must create within severe limitations. Eg. lack of art materials, wrong tools, unclear expectations etc.
3. Intolerance of Uncertainty:
People may miss creative ideas because they have a mindset which is marked by an intolerance for uncertainty and a fear of making mistakes.
The attitude of intolerance toward uncertainty is becoming all too common in our modern day society.
It’s not healthy and will lead to many more problems besides the lack of creativity. In fact, it can be argued that the lack of creativity leads to most common psychological maladies.
4. No Time for Goal-less Activities:
People may not feel creative because they’re not allowing themselves enough time for goal-less activities.
It’s so important to have some time to just play and explore with whatever creative endeavor you choose. Schedule it in if you have to. Your spirit will thank you.
5. A Lack of Challenge:
It seems to be more creative people must challenge themselves more. This makes sense when you look back in history. Human beings were not surrounded with as much luxury, convenience and comfort as we have now.
The lack of a challenge can prevent people from engaging their creative mind consistently.
6. Comparison to Others:
When we compare ourselves to others we create an internal environment where our thoughts and feelings are out of alignment. Comparison is an external process that is brought inward.
If you’re going to do that you’ll want to make sure you do it with a healthy dose of self esteem and confidence so that you can stay detached from the comparison itself.
When done in this light, one can actually gain a tremendous amount of insight on how they can improve when comparing ourselves with others.
7. Lack of Resources:
While money doesn’t necessarily stop people from being creative, a restriction of resources can dampen creativity. I have experienced this myself.
It’s very difficult to be ‘free’ in the act of creation when you’re grasping for the proper tool or material to do what you really want to do.
Sometimes you have to just “make do” which means your creativity is going to be stunted.
Overall, there are many factors that can impact creativity however, by allowing time for effortless activities, challenging oneself, and adopting a growth mindset, people can work to overcome these barriers and engage their creative muscle more consistently.
Graham Wallas wrote about the Creative Thought Process and This Happened…
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