Creative Thinking Hub

Creative thinking expert Jim Connolly, shares tips & resources to help you think more creatively.

Ignite your creativity: Work until you’re proud!

Updated March 2016

The most prolific creative professionals understand that there’s no guarantee their work will be successful. So, instead of shooting for success, they work until they are proud.

be creative

Working until you’re proud makes total sense. Think about it.

  • It gives us the freedom to do our best work. We decide when we’re proud. It’s 100% our decision.
  • It allows us to work without the fear of failure. So long as we’re proud, our work is a success.
  • Working without fear massively increases our creative output. We produce more art / work. Andy Warhol is an excellent example of this.

Working until we are proud allows us to access our maximum creative potential. That’s because it removes the barriers that stop us producing our best work. It allows us to reconnect with the child we once were. The creative mind that still dwells within us, just waiting to be reignited.

Consider for a moment that look of pride and joy on a child’s face, when they show you their latest painting. “Here, I did this!”. That’s the way we should feel when we create.

Once you commit to working until you are proud, what you will be left with is a portfolio. A significant body of work… all of which you’re proud of. And the work you are proud of is always your best work.

Why your ideas are more valuable to you today, than ever before

Updated January 2016

Today, a great idea is worth more to you than at any time in recorded history.

Why? Because you no longer need lots of money or anyone’s permission, for your idea to become massively successful!

Thanks to the Internet, the financial cost of sharing an idea is close to zero. If your idea is useful enough it can spread and reach hundreds, thousands or millions of people. The key is to have an idea worth sharing, which a section of the population will want to know about and talk about.

You don’t need permission any more

Your idea can be a book, a product, a start-up business, a music track or anything else. Gone are the days when you needed a publisher, recording contract or a huge pre-launch advertising budget. Today, you just need to create a compelling idea. Previously, you needed an editor, producer or media owner etc, to believe in you and back you. Your idea needed their permission, in order to fly.

That barrier is not there any more.

You don’t need to be well-connected, when you have an idea that’s spreading like crazy. With that kind of momentum, you not only attract people who want to share your idea, you also attract the attention of people who want to get involved and give you their backing.

The rewards for developing your creative thinking skills have never been greater. Right now, there are hundreds of millions of people, eagerly waiting for you to give them something, which is worth sharing and talking about.

Make your product, service, company or blog etc, worth sharing and that’s exactly what people will do: Share it!

Average ideas inspire no one

The vast majority of your competitors don’t get it.

They waste their time with average ideas that people show little interest in. They want the short cut, the dummies guide, the trick. They wonder why few new people read their work, share their ideas or talk about them… and assume it must be some tactic they are missing. They remain blind to the fact that it’s their idea that’s broken.

This site is for people like you, who are smarter than that.

So, do great work. Tell your friends. Put it where people can see it. Make it easy to share. Then, watch what happens.

How to do the impossible!

Updated February 2017

creative thinking

You need to be really careful about the limitations you place on yourself. This brief article explains why.

I’d like to start by asking you a question:

When was the last time you consciously thought about, what’s really possible for you?

One of the reasons children are so creative, is that they are open to all possibilities. We all start off that way. Then, as we grow up, we apply various filters to our thinking, as we determine what is and is not possible for us. The challenge, is that we often get it wrong. This causes us to wrongly remove possibilities from our decision making and creative thinking, which unnecessarily restricts us.

Understanding what is and is not possible for you

Imagine Bob tried to play the guitar when he was 12 and found it extremely hard, then quit. He then decides he can’t play the guitar and being a guitarist gets added to the list of things that are not possible for him. Now, Bob also discovered as a kid, that he couldn’t fly like superman, after he tried to take flight, Superman style, when jumping from a tree.

Bob’s flying like Superman experience was filtered as not possible, based on fact. His guitar experience was filtered as not possible, based on fiction. If Bob really wanted to play guitar, with the right tuition and a tuned guitar, he would get there and play to a lesser or greater degree. With enough practice, he could then become very good.

Just like Bob, we too make similar, incorrect decisions on what is and is not possible for us.

Rethinking my possibilities

In 2002, I decided to rethink what was and was not possible for me. I had a successful, traditional marketing business in London, England. My challenge was that I was passionate about working in marketing, but wanted to move with my wife, to live in the countryside, where there were few potential clients. My initial thought was this isn’t possible, I need to be where my clients are. As I didn’t want to waste hours each day travelling, it seemed I was destined to stay in London and put my dream of a home in the countryside on ice for 30 years, until I retired. UNLESS I found another way.

So, my challenge was to find an alternative way to deliver my services and run a viable business. I decided to embrace the best technology available in 2002 and deliver my services remotely. It worked. Beautifully. Instead of working with people in my local area, I had clients worldwide and still do today. Within 12 months, I was living in my dream home, running an extremely successful international marketing business and earning more than I used to when I was in London.

Still today, I know people who say they would love to relocate as I did, but that it’s just not possible.

Rethinking your possibilities

Take time out today to rethink your own possibilities.

In particular, examine the stories you have told yourself, which may have wrongly removed possibilities from your treasure chest of options.

Mindset: The hidden essential for problem solving

Updated December 2025

Mindset, problem solving, get answers

A lot has said over the years, regarding the keys to creative problem solving. The majority of which focuses on techniques. Far less attention has been given to the enormous importance of your mindset.

Mindset is the essential foundation of problem solving. It’s the very base that will support, or collapse any technique you use. In short, if your mindset isn’t right, strategies and tactics are pointless.

Allow me to explain.

Mindset presupposition

Part of building the most effective problem solving mindset, is to presuppose there’s an answer.

Not only an answer, but a wonderful answer.

However, people will often only try a problem solving technique, after failing to swiftly find the answer the need. This can lead to doubt. Especially if it’s a major problem. And doubt tends to lead to circular, negative thinking. It places you in a toxic mindset, making it extremely hard to find the solution.

Here’s an example of circular, negative thinking. Imagine John has just learned he’s about to be laid-off from his job. His thinking may look something like this.

  • If I don’t quickly find a new job, I’ll end up broke.
  • What will happen if we can’t pay the rent?
  • Well, I have some savings. That will last for a while. Maybe long enough for me to find a job.
  • But what if I don’t find a new job quickly enough? (Circling back to the first point).

No matter how good John’s problem solving technique is, that mindset will massively reduce the likelihood of a great outcome. It will simply heap increasing levels of unhelpful stress on him. This, in turn, makes it even harder for him to focus optimally on the answer he needs.

Clearly, a more effective and efficient mindset is required.

Improving your mindset for problem solving

If you’ve ever tried telling yourself to think positive, you’ll know it seldom, if ever, works. Particularly if your mindset is already in a negative or stressful state. The mind is complex. It knows when you’re bullshitting yourself.

Well, it would, wouldn’t it!?!

The answer? Drop the bullshit and let the facts of your situation inspire your thinking and improve your mindset.

To demonstrate this, I’ll use John’s example again. Here are just a few real-world facts he could focus on, which would massively improve his mindset.

  • Every minute of every day, people in his situation are being hired.
  • There are countless examples of people like John, whose lives were enriched beyond recognition, after being forced to find a new job or career.
  • We live in the era of free, global communications. This means it’s the best time ever to connect with people, who can hire him or help him get hired.
  • People who’ve overcome the same problem as John, have shared their experiences. So, he’ll be able to learn from them.
  • And John will never be more than one call, one email or one meeting away from the person or company who will hire him.

You get the idea.

That type of real-world thinking is easier for your mind to accept, because it’s based on facts. This shifts your mindset into a highly effective state.

Now, you have the mindset foundation in place, to find and implement a problem solving strategy, successfully.

How I got a lot more creative. Could this work for you?

Updated December 2016

Today, I’d like to share some feedback, from a creative experiment I have been running for the past 3 weeks.

If you’re looking to improve your creative thinking or your creativity in general, you’ll find this really useful.

It’s about working from a very different kind of environment. Allow me to explain.

As I’ve said before, it’s possible to significantly enhance your creative output, by changing your creative environment. I know from reader emails that many of you embrace this idea and find it highly effective.

A new creative space

As regular readers will know, I usually work from either a studio where I live, a coffee shop or an outdoor space.

Well, over the past few weeks, I have experimented with something new. I have worked most days, for several hours or more, from a new creative space. It’s comprised of 2 largish studio spaces and a series of smaller rooms, which are used for meetings and video conferencing, etc. A recording studio is also under construction.

The space is currently used by a number of creative professionals, so there’s always something creative happening around me. This gives it a very different vibe to what I experience, working from the solitude of my wonderful home studio. It’s also nothing like working outdoors or working from a coffee shop, [what Andy Ihnatko brilliantly refers to as a field office].

It’s the change in vibe or atmosphere, which has been most interesting. As the vibe changed, so did my creative output.

A new creative dynamic

I discovered that there is a very different dynamic in play, when creative people share the same space. It has had a direct impact on my work. Whilst I’ve found it challenging to write there because of the activity around me, it has worked wonders for my creativity. I’ve found that ideas and answers come to me very easily. And that’s exactly what I wanted.

For instance, I came up with an idea to brand the images used on my marketing blog. I not only came up with the abstract idea, I also created the design template myself. This quickly attracted lots of positive feedback from my readers and has massively improved the look and feel of the whole site.

What creates the dynamic?

It isn’t that the people at Helm collaborate on projects. They don’t. They do, however, chat over a coffee. They also shoot a few hoops or play football at lunchtime. And if you want to share ideas over lunch, there’s always someone who’d appreciate the opportunity.

The dynamic comes from a group of creative people, working in close proximity. Think of it as a  microcosm of what we see, with artists in Greenwich Village and Internet entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.

When like-minded people share a space, something special can happen. That’s what I have experienced.

Ideal for everyone?

Will everyone find this type of creative environment to be equally valuable? No. We are all different and I know many would find this kind of space too distracting.

However, if you tend to work alone or from a field office, and there’s a similar type of creative space available in your area, it could be worth checking out.

Free your mind and your art will follow

Updated March 2015

freedom

In a 1963 speech, President John F Kennedy made a powerful statement regarding the importance of artistic freedom.

“If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him. […]”

It’s natural to think of oppressive regimes when we consider freedoms being suppressed. However, just as “society must set the artist free” to follow their vision, the artist also needs to liberate themselves. They need to break free from the barriers that stop them from producing their best work. Principally, this means overcoming the fear of criticism, which stops millions of people from creating and sharing their art.

As Andy Warhol famously said: “Don’t think about making art. Just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they’re deciding, make even more art.”

That’s worth considering, the next time you think you’re suffering from a creative block.

Photo credit: ARTwear.ch