Are you asking the wrong questions

You look at the people around you, more importantly you compare yourself them. You feel like they always have more ideas, better ideas, and create better work. Products seem to be flying out of their etsy shop , they do amazing sales at craft shows, and their work has a clear voice and vision running throughout. You put them on a pedestal and think that they must have been born as a creative genius, and well you’re  “not that creative” and that’s where it ends. You feeling bad.

The good news is, you’re not alone. As a culture we’ve made creativity out to be the elusive muse that talks to some and ignores others. It appears that the gift of creativity is only bestowed among a select few, and if you weren’t one of them there’s nothing that you can do about it. But that’s not true. We all have the capacity to be creative, but as with anything it takes intention and practice.

With the right tools, you can be the one with endless ideas, the go to problem solver, and you can have a clear connected voice through all of your work.

But you need to start with throwing out the phrase, ” I’m not creative” You need acknowledge that you have the ability to become creative, you just need to learn how to turn your creative brain on, and how to tune into the steady flow of ideas. Trust me, they’re there, you’re just listening to the wrong station.

” Creativity is close to 80 percent learned and acquired. ” – Hal Gregersen, professor at INSEAD Business school.

Becoming creative starts with asking questions, and then learning to ask the right questions.

Practice

Step one: come up with a question or problem. Example: How do I sell more online?

Step two: take that question, and develop 10 -15 questions. EX:

1. How do I get more people to my online shop?

2. Why do people have no problem buying my scarves in person, but don’t make many purchases online?

3. Who are people buying scarves from online?

4. How can I make my shop more interactive?

5. How can I make my shop the go to place for scarves?

6. Why do people want to buy a scarf?

7. Who buys scarves online?

8. How do people end up at my shop?

9. What does an online shopper want and how can I create that experience through my shop?

10. What is the best price range to have in an online shop?

The point of this exercise, is that creativity starts with asking the right questions. Sometimes you may have trouble solving a problem because you’re simply asking the wrong  question, so breaking one question down into 10-15 more starts to give you a new perspective, and a new problem to solve.

Leave a comment sharing your list of questions.

PS: If you found this helpful and interesting, you want to be a part of Changing Minds class. Registration closes Nov 4th, so grab your spot.

PPS: Wishing that you had gotten onboard during the early bird pricing? Share the class on your facebook page, pinterest, or twitter, show me that you did, and you’ll get the discount!

I created the image below, so that you can print it, or add it to your pinterest board.