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