Olfa wrote in about the free email course, 

Hi Richard, thank you very much for your help really it is fantastic. I think that can help me in my everyday life also; you make me feel self confident too.

And then asked:

Please Richard can you tell me how can I be creative?

Thanks Olfa!

Creativity is simply taking one idea from one area and applying it in another area.  ( For example I just took the idea of pop songs getting stuck in your head all day, and mixed it with English learning where we want to get new phrases stuck in your head all day!)

Every one of us has has a million selling idea in the shower, it’s just that most of us never write it down.  This might be because we don’t have the technical skill, but usually it’s becuase we just don’t bother to record the idea in some form.  And that basically is what makes the difference between someone who is creative and someone who isn’t.

Creative people write things down.

So in order to get into this habit of recording your ideas (be it on your iPhone, paper or a tape machine), here are three of my top ninja tips!

1. Practice, practice, practice

I was having lunch with Matt from Dream English the other day and I asked him “How do you keep coming up with so many new song ideas?”  (That’s my problem recently as I’ve already done over 100 Genki English songs!)  His answer?

My degree was in Jazz Composition, so it’s just a case that I was trained to get into the habit of writing at least one new song every week.

And that really is the key,  to be really creative you just have to create lots and lots and lots and lots.  I think I throw away dozens of songs before I come up with the really killer ones.  So just keep practicing, practicing and practicing whether it’s music, poetry or art.  You’ve got to get all the junk out of your system before the diamonds pop out.

2. Watch lots of creative people

TED is fabulous for this as you can see so many world class experts giving their real insights into how all this works.  Very often they say it’s just a case of repeating step one above,  but it’s always good to know that creative people are just like everyone else, but creative people just keep writing down what they do!  (P.S.  Fingers crossed my TED talk  will be online soon!)

3.  Watch kids!

Ken Robinson does a great talk where he talks about how most kids are measured to be geniuses at age 5 and end up become less and less genius level as they go through school!

So if you’re working with kids, let’s learn from them.  As I said creativity is just taking one idea from over here and mixing it with another from over there.  And kids are just amazing at doing this.

And if you happen to be a Genki English VIP member  then the very best way to do that is with the imagination worksheets.  You will be blown away at how differently they all do these – it’s a huge source of inspiration.

Ninja Trick:  Never start with a blank page, creativity comes from seeing something and linking it elsewhere, so always have a starting point or a restraint.  In fact, the more boundaries you impose the more creative you become! 

So there you go, hope that helps and get started on step 1!

Be genki,

Richard