I work with people who believe creativity is meant for artists, magicians, and mystics. What they miss is that creativity is a natural and human behavior.

Examples of creativity:

• Creating an outfit;

• Adding a bit more salt to your cookie recipe;

• Seeing what happens when you keep the lasagna in a bit longer;

• Pushing the limits with your boss;

• Trying another tactic to get your kids to eat their vegetables; or

• Experimenting with a different performance technique.

Creativity, simply, is the act of combining ideas. Whatever the ideas may be, the act of mixing them together is a creative act.  

You are creative.  

You have ideas that spur around in your brain. You mix and match your thoughts together to create stories about the people and the world around you. You are doing that now as you read this post.  

Want to get better at being creative?  

Start now.

As you move through your day, be aware of how many different stories you tell yourself. Stories about your kids, the car in front of you, the retail clerk, or literally anything. When you become aware of the stories, start telling yourself a different.  

Perhaps the car in front of you cut you off? Initially, you might think the driver is a jerk. But what if that driver just discovered a close relative was murdered?  

Let's say you're staring at your computer screen and trying to solve a work problem. You might have tried everything within your capabilities to solve the problem. But what if you were capable of and could do anything? How might you solve the problem then? The more unrealistic your answer, the better ;-)

You are creative. And you can choose to leverage your creativity to make meaningful works.  

If you choose to do that, you become an artist.