Deliberate Creativity
It has been suggested that the sheer will to improve one’s creativity will actually improve one’s creativity (Michalko, 2006; Reisman, 2010, Runco, 2014); this is a primary assumption of this study.
Daily affirmations that create a belief that one is improving their creativity will increase creativity is the practice associated with this notion. Metacognition is defined to be the thinking of one’s thinking, basically, the cognition of one’s cognition (Runco, 2014). When we step outside of autopilot and begin to deliberately take responsibility for our will and our thinking, we may see how we can turn our mind into an ally. Michael Michalko says it in his book Thinkertoys:
“If one acts like a monk, one will become a monk. If one goes through the motions of being a priest, sooner or later, one will become emotionally involved in religion…if you act like an idea person, you will become one. It is the intention and going through the motions of being creative that counts” (Michalko, 2006).
“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” -Sun Tzu
Dr. Freddie Reisman says it perfectly, “If you don’t believe you are creative, don’t realize that you need to put aside time to create, or don’t believe you can have any great ideas, then that will be your reality (Reisman, 2010).”
This idea of choosing creativity as a decision process or ’deliberate creativity’ is vital to improving one’s creativity. This intentionality is a core value of this study - the belief in our own creative potential is exactly how much creative performance or creative achievement we will witness or manifest.