Tips on being creative

Talk to strangers.

Seek out conversations with interesting, inspiring, creative, passionate, and/or successful people. Ask questions, you'll be surprised at the willingness of others to chat with you!

Look for new experiences and take risks.

There’s something to be gained for trying new things, even if you don’t think you’ll like it. Treat every day as an opportunity to gain some new experience. Start small—learn a new craft technique on the internet, go to a new restaurant in your home town. As you get comfortable with trying new things, jump on larger opportunities to travel or meet an entirely new group of people.

Embrace technology!

Explore new technology, read about new technology, and embrace new technology. Don’t ever be intimidated, there are always people out there who can help you understand things a little better. It seems like almost every day there's new technology you can use to promote yourself, share your work, explore your field, find new inspiration, or just make your day-to-day tasks a little easier—and there's nothing wrong with that!

Read everything.

Creative people are naturally interested in... well, everything; and that helps them to broaden their base of inspiration, improve their perspective, and effectively communicate to their audiences. Read magazines, blogs, different genres of books, etc. Read things that you aren’t really interested in if only to try and understand why others are! Creative people need to know the people and cultures around them, what makes them tick, what interests them, and most of all why. Digest ideas, new and old, so that you will have a well-rounded base from which to draw inspiration.

Stay positive.

Being creative is actually quite a team effort. You will often find yourself sharing ideas with others, and they'll naturally share ideas with you. Just remember, no idea is a bad idea. Do not get discouraged, but keep an eye forward and constantly strive to better yourself and to help those around you do the same. 

Do not skimp on the details.

If ever you have an idea to make something a little better, do it! It is so easy to not do the extra work because it'll take a little more of your time than you're wanting to give and you think no one will know the difference—but in the end, it's worth it. The truth is, people do notice the small things and it makes a big difference.