Unlocking Your Creativity

hi everyone

let’s say you have a superpower and with

this power

you can see things that no one else can

with this power

everything around you makes you grow

stronger with this power

you can make something out of nothing at

all with this power

you can change the world as you know it

what if i told you that every single one

of you has that power already

creativity is our superpower it is an

expression of what it truly means to be

human

we all have it we were born with it

1992 nasa scientists dr george land and

carmen conducted a study testing the

creativity levels of 1

200 children between the ages of four

and five

98 of these children fell into the

genius category

land and german were so shocked by these

results that they decided to continue

their study

they tested the same group of children

five years later

and again five years after that by the

time that these children were 15

high school students the amount of

children that landed in the genius

category

dropped to only 12 percent

why is this every single one of us is

born with a fundamental skill to imagine

to create we are born with an

overwhelming amount of potential

so where does it all go

as author and professor sir ken robinson

said we don’t grow into creativity

we grow out of it we are growing up in a

world where imagination

inspiration and creativity are not

prioritized

we are taught that creativity isn’t

relevant we are pressured to be sensible

to be rational to fit in

we hide and ignore what excites us

because we grow up believing that it’s

not important

we are afraid to stand out to be

different from everyone else

i’m sure every one of you is familiar

with this feeling and

if you aren’t chances are you just

didn’t realize it was happening

leaving behind our creativity is so

common

so normalized our creativity is still

present inside each of us

over time it’s been buried but it hasn’t

disappeared

the most courageous most important act

we can make in defining ourselves

is unlocking that creativity

that seems difficult scary even

why is creativity important why should

we care

our generation has a wide wild future

ahead of us

innovation and technology are evolving

at a breakneck speed

and we need to be able to keep up nasa

knows it

that’s why they conducted their study to

find innovative potential in astronauts

and scientists forbes magazine recently

named creativity the number one skill

that every employee will need in an age

of artificial intelligence

contrary to what we’ve been taught then

creativity is practical

one day it will even help us get jobs

more importantly creativity gives us the

power to make even bigger changes

creativity allows us to revolutionize

ourselves

our world and our future we can shape

our future into

something of hope and beauty in a world

that is constantly rising

falling and evolving harnessing our

creativity connects us

and reminds us that we are all human

now we’re ready to unlock our creativity

awesome let’s get started

but it’s not that simple if it were i

wouldn’t be giving this talk right now

there are obstacles in our way the

dragons in our hero’s journey

they can be found in every step of every

creative journey

largely they can be traced back to fear

to doubt so how do we get past our

self-doubt how do we vanquish our

dragons

unlocking creativity might not be easy

but the steps to get there are

relatively simple

in my experience i’ve found that there

are three tools

first recognize that what you’re already

doing is creative

every single day you’re making things

even if you don’t realize it

you might make yourself a cup of coffee

every morning you might make a playlist

of some new songs you like

you might doodle in the margins of your

notes during class

these seemingly mundane things that we

do every day

are acts of creation where there was no

doodle

there is one where there was no cup of

coffee

now there is acts of creation are the

core

of creativity but you need to take it

one step further

moving from creating things to being

creative begins when you give your work

intention

and give it context drawing a doodle is

a

is an act of making something for

nothing but intention

is when you look at that doodle notice

the shapes that you made the thickness

of the lines

and what it reminds you of taking the

time to realize that there just might be

something more in this doodle

having intention in what you do takes

you from simply making

to creating creating is difficult

because especially when you’re a teen

like i am and you’re working on a tight

budget

it’s hard to have all the materials you

want the best fine art pens are the best

laptop or camera

we are forced to work under constraint

we’re forced to work with whatever might

be available to us

the value of creation comes from its

context and we might be sketching with

ballpoint pens on scrap paper alone in

our bedrooms

so how can we possibly call this

creative

the trick is to give your work its own

context and i don’t necessarily mean

physical context

it’s pretty unlikely that our first

works will end up in the world’s

greatest museums or concert halls

or headlining the news or the app store

i mean mental context

you have to build your own museum inside

your head

you need to define a space where you can

display your doodles your code

your creations on the walls take a step

back

and celebrate them allow yourself to be

proud of your work

honor the fact that you are able to make

something out of nothing at all

by doing that you define your creativity

second open your eyes to what’s around

you

often in the stories of famous artists

and innovators we hear about the moments

where they are suddenly struck with a

bolt of inspiration

their aha moment that leads to their

creation of the next biggest thing

when we make the choice to create we get

stuck

because we think that we have to wait

for that inspiration to strike us

but waiting around for inspiration

becomes another obstacle

inspiration is all around us in the food

we eat

the color of the sky the people we talk

to the music we listen to

and the things we see online especially

because of technology and

social media we are surrounded by

content

input is being thrown at us from all

sides at all times

creativity is when we take this input

and we balance it with our own output

your interests give you individuality

and that individuality fuels your

creativity

a key to unlocking your creativity is

recognizing what’s around you

what catches your eye and what inspires

you collect these things

take note of them but don’t wait for

them to find you

you are made up of everything and

everyone who has inspired you in the

past

and once you recognize that you become a

vessel that channels all of their impact

into something brand new

something that is all yours

inspiration is all around us and inside

of us too

it’s up to us to open our eyes and

notice it

third take action this step

is deceivingly simple you have all the

tools you need

but now it’s time for the scariest step

on the first day of middle school art

class my teacher gave us the most

daunting assignment

of the entire year we were each given a

small square of paper and a box of

watercolors

and then my teacher told us to paint a

dot just

one dot it seemed so easy but

when brush came to paper i hesitated

what if i didn’t like it what if i did

it wrong

it happens to creators all the time the

famous artist jackson pollock was said

to sit in front of his blank canvas for

hours before painting anything

paralyzed by its emptiness

all of a sudden it feels like something

is at stake and all of our doubts return

what if even through all of this we are

just

not good enough the only way to fight

this dragon is just

to start to put something into that

emptiness

to paint your dot to be creative is to

commit to the act

the good the bad and the ugly everything

that goes right

but also everything that goes wrong

it will be messy the final product might

not be the way you imagined it

but it’s yours you made that out of

empty space

one of the best things about creativity

is that it’s a renewable resource

you’ll never run out so even if the

first creation you make

isn’t your favorite and it probably

won’t be

you still have an infinite amount of

potential just waiting for you to use

you have as many chances as you want to

try again so use them

keep your old creations take them out

and look at them from time to time

they’ll remind you of your strength of

your capability to make something

from nothing you’ll learn from them and

before long

they’ll show you how far you’ve come

creativity is your superpower honor it

be proud of it recognize it in yourself

and recognize that everyone around you

is creating too

you don’t need to search long and hard

for creativity

but you don’t need to wait for it to

find you either

you have every tool that you need by

being able to recognize your creativity

grab hold of it and utilize it you

become

powerful you can change yourself you can

change the world you can change your

future

and build the future that you want to

live in the doodle you start with on a

scrap of paper might turn into another

sketch

and then into a masterpiece of artwork

that will strike awe in those who see it

the line of code you jot down during

class may morph into a new one later

and then become the first line for a new

app and that app

your creation will reach and inspire

hundreds of others after you

it is a gift that you can give yourself

and share with others

by unleashing your creativity you begin

a chain reaction of

inspiration and creation pablo

picasso once said inspiration exists but

it has to find you working

it’s your turn now go get to work

thank you