Royane Real

By Royane Real

Author of “How You Can Be Smarter - Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative”

Some people just seem to have an exceptional talent for coming up with creative solutions to problems.  Would you like to improve your ability to solve problems in a more creative manner?

One good way to become more creative when you need to solve problems is to change the way you react when you encounter problems.  

When you encounter a problem that you need to solve, do you feel overwhelmed?  Do you feel inadequate?

Your brain will be much more likely to come up with a creative solution to your problems if you can keep in a relaxed state and avoid too much stress. If you have too much stress and if you don’t have enough time to think and relax, it will be a lot harder to discover creative answers to difficult problems.

A small amount of stress can be good for your brain and your creative problem solving performance. However, too much stress is a creativity killer.  The more stressed you are, the more likely you are to become stuck in your thinking. 

Your brain will become overwhelmed.  If you feel too much stress, your problem solving ability will decline, or maybe disappear altogether.

If you’re a person who reacts to problems with the attitude “Why do bad things always happen to me?” you won’t be in the right frame of mind to find solutions to your problems.

Train yourself to react calmly when you encounter a problem or when you face a crisis.  You need to find some calmness within yourself to find creative solutions.

Instead of thinking of problems as overwhelming and negative, decide that you will think of them as interesting challenges.  

You can also use visualization and affirmation to turn yourself into a better problem solver. 

When you encounter a challenging problem that needs a creative solution, tell yourself that you really believe that there is a solution!

Tell yourself that you will find the solution and that you will enjoy discovering it.  Really believe it!  Picture yourself successfully solving the problem in a creative way.  Create a picture in your mind where you imagine other people congratulating you on your success at solving the problem.

Most people are better at solving problems when they are relaxed and well rested. 

You may notice that sometimes you wake up in the morning with an answer to some problem that has been bothering you. While we sleep, our brain moves lots of data around, putting some information into storage, and getting rid of other information it decides it doesn’t really need to keep. Sometimes we wake up with the problem solved in our minds!

Therefore, try to be well rested when you have a problem you need to solve.  If you’re feeling overwhelmed by stress, be sure to schedule some exercise breaks for yourself.

Another way to get your brain to relax when you are problem solving is to put yourself into a light, meditative trance. Tell yourself that in the meditation you will receive an important message from your deeper mind.

And then wait for answers. 

You can also put yourself into a more creative state by simply remembering a time when you actually were creative.

Can you remember a time when you seemed to be very creative at solving problems?  Maybe it only happened once or twice, or maybe there were years when you were creative.

Try to recapture that feeling in your mind and body.  What was different then?  Was it the environment?  Was it your attitude? 

Use the power of affirmations to retrain yourself and your creative ability.

Frequently tell yourself, “I am a very creative person and I easily come up with creative solutions.”

When you’re trying to become more creative, you should always carry a notebook with you, and keep a pen and paper beside your night stand.

If any creative ideas come to you, write them down immediately!  Otherwise you may forget something important. If you have a negative mental attitude towards your problem solving ability, this negative attitude will prevent you from developing your problem solving talents. 

A negative attitude about your problem solving ability will keep you from seeing positive solutions that might be right in front of you. 

When you have a negative belief about your ability to solve problems creatively, you will be more likely to become stressed out, depressed, and paralyzed into inaction.  You will be more likely to feel hopeless, and you will be less likely to look for creative solutions to the problem.

However, you don’t have to feel this way. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and hopeless, you can learn to improve your attitude towards problem solving.

If you keep applying yourself to look consistently for creative and innovative ways to approach problems, you will gradually transform yourself into a much more creative person.

You can get more ideas for improving your creativity and your problem solving techniques in my book “How You Can Be Smarter - Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative”  It’s available at http://www.lulu.com/real   

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