The 3 Pillars of Creativity (2024)

Written by Marc Chernoff // 8 Comments

Creativity is not just for artists and poets. Everybody has the potential to exercise creativity, to innovate new ways of accomplishing things that will ultimately make life easier and more gratifying. Creativity magnifies the quality and effectiveness of your natural talents, creating an elevated rate of success by injecting a greater sense of passion and fortitude into whatever you do.

Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.
– Franklin D. Roosevelt

Acts of creativity can be found in every facet of life. We are surrounded by the byproducts of creative ideas, both big and small. And the small acts of creativity are no less important than the big ones. In fact, the more creative you are with the small things in your life, the more creative you will likely be with the big things.

Remember, creativity is a mindset, not an accomplishment. The creative mindset is basically an everlasting devotion to approaching various problems and circ*mstances in innovative ways. Three core traits sit at the foundation of creativity: awareness, confidence and enthusiasm. I consider these to be the three pillars of creativity.

Awareness

Awareness is an absolute necessity. Creativity cannot be practically applied until a certain level of fundamental knowledge is gathered about the current situation or problem at hand. Creativity actually relies on both sides of the brain, the creative right side and the logical left side. The first steps the brain takes when tackling a creative venture are actually governed by logic, not creativity. The logical left side of your brain analyzes the situation and all the known facts, defines the problem that must be solved and then hands the data over to the creative right side of your brain. Without this logical information review process, creativity will drown in misdirection.

Confidence

Creative ventures step into the unknown, slowly movingin directions no one has gone before. Any journey into the unknown holds a certain level of inherent risk. Most people are scared to accept this risk, which effectively squashes all their creative ideas before they have a chance to develop them. Creativity can also be hindered by the frustration of initial failure or third-party ridicule. Confidence is the key. If you have confidence in yourself and your ideas, you will be far more willing to accept calculated risks, take creative chances and thwart off all the other stress factors attempting to restrain your creative edge.

Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is the lifeblood of creativity. It is vital because creativity only blossoms when you are passionate and enthusiastic about what you are doing. It’s nearly impossible to pioneer creative solutions for something you have absolutely no interest in. However, when your mind is stimulated by a fundamental curiosity and interest in the subject matter, your creativity will run rampant and your motivation will skyrocket.

Conclusion: When the mind is aware of the circ*mstances, confident in its abilities and enthusiastic about the material, creative ideas may flourish into ground-breaking, sensible solutions.