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Creativity is a way the mind develops new ideas or concepts, or how it puts a new spin on existing ideas or concepts. Some people think that creativity is like a thunderbolt and you can’t control or predict when it will happen. Here’s a way to ensure that the lightning strikes and your light bulb comes on.
Creative Exercise 12: Create your Creative Trigger
One way to access your creative mind is to utilise state-dependent memory. For a creative trigger we recall a vivid past event where we had a great insight or intuition - we can call this the aha experience. In recalling the event we revisit the same feelings and mood that were present in the original event. This is the aha state. The creative muse is readily summoned by this simple technique.
The easiest way to summon a particular state is to devise a personal trigger that when activated will immediately evoke these identical feelings.
To set up your trigger, you first of all need to choose what it will be. Putting your index finger and thumb together, or touching your forehead, or placing your hand over your heart, etc are all physical ways of initialising the recall. The trigger needs to be something you can remember and do, even in a public place.The trigger is then associated solely with this specific state as follows:
- Sit back, close your eyes, relax and vividly remember a time when you had a difficult problem to solve.
- Remember the room you were in, the time of day, the exact surroundings and what the problem was that you needed to resolve.
- Then remember the moment the solution came to you. As you remember this exact moment of revelation, concentrate on the feeling. Be very clear that you are immersed in the feeling of elation and relief you felt when the insight appeared and the problem was solved - the actual aha experience.
- At the same time use the personal trigger. For example, as soon as you vividly remember the moment of resolve, touch your forehead and hold that feeling.
- Repeat this a few times to set up your trigger. (In NLP triggers are called anchors – see 2009 tip 35 for more help in setting these up.)
- You will soon find that the act of touching your forehead will elicit the aha state of resolved insight that you can use whenever you want.
So what’s going on here?
The concept is simple. As most of our thought patterns are very conditioned or redundant, if we try to solve a problem or get a creative solution in the midst of conditioned thinking we come up with a blank.
When you use the trigger, the aha state is immediately recalled, setting the stage for a repeat performance from your subconscious mind. You have also placed yourself in the present moment and conditioned thought is temporarily halted. In this clear and present moment the trigger transports you to a feeling of intuition and insight. It takes you out of any circular thought patterns and past any blocks. This is the ideal mental state for creativity.
Why does it work?
It relies on two processes:
- Biofeedback is the complete awareness of a bodily function and the conscious regulation of that function. It is a proven technique in solving many problems, which Medical science has been using for over a decade to help relieve pain, lower blood pressure, alter brain waves etc. This technique is similar in that you become completely familiar with the state of mind you associate with creative insight.
- State-dependent memory is described by Psychologists as the occurrence of physical or emotional symptoms associated with a strong memory. This can occur on both the subconscious and conscious level. These memories can be used to overcome phobias and addictions. Memory of a meaningful and powerful event can reintroduce the same physical, emotional and mental conditions that were present during the initial event. By recalling this exact event and the feelings present, you can change your current relationship to those feelings.
Combining these two processes of biofeedback via your trigger, with the potent state-dependent memory of the aha experience, places you in the perfect state of mind for creative thought. This works particularly well in the workplace where creative solutions are needed immediately.
The amount of time for each person to solidify his own personal trigger will vary. A powerful intent is the greatest ingredient for success and repeating this exercise daily for a couple of weeks will strongly embed the aha state. Then pressing your own creative triggers becomes easy and is always available. No matter where you are or what your problem is, you can evoke your own personal genius and insight can become a daily tool - literally at your fingertips.
Creativity coaching can help you with your thinking, enabling you to find different ways to consider your challenges.
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