Category Archives: Creativity

Achieving Success And Progress Through Creative Thinking

Many people believe that the goal of any society is progress, however for most of us it is not easy to get used to something new. It takes more or less time for every person to adapt to new environment, even if it is only using a new tool, cooking a new dish or finding a new bus stop. That is the reason why many people cling to the way things are and it is much easier for them to do habitual things.

Any person’s every day of life consists of many repeated activities, such as driving car, dressing, eating. People do most of these activities automatically, without much thinking. Automatic operations help brains to avoid unnecessary efforts, but many people also use this natural capability of brain in a wrong way.

They create “clich

Creativity – How To Have More

To have more creativity, follow this two-step plan:

1. Encourage creativity.

2. Train your brain to be more creative.

Start on both of these right now, and you can experience greater creativity today.

Encourage your creativity and you’ll increase your creativity. Of course, this is true of most things you want to see more of in your life. Encouragement can work wonders, but how do you encourage creativity?

Start by paying attention to it. Our subconscious minds tends to give us more of what we pay attention to. Ignore the creative aspects of your life, and you are telling your subconscious that they are unimportant. Consciously note when you’re creative, and your subconscious mind will start feeding you more creative ideas. Just look for it and you’ll find more of it.

You can encourage creativity by writing your ideas down. Start keeping an “idea journal.” Do this regularly, and you’ll notice that you often start having more ideas the moment you start to write. A so-so idea may normally be forgotten, but by writing it down, you may remember it. Then your subconscious can work on it, and may transform into something very creative.

For more creativity in your life, start putting creative ideas into practice. If you paint, paint something totally different from your usual subjects. If you sell houses, try a new approach. Even just driving a different route to work to see if it is quicker can encourage your creativity. Just get your mind working outside of its regular patterns.

Changing your surroundings can encourage creativity. For more creativity in your love life, go hike up a mountain with your partner. If you write, try sitting on a roof to write. For new ideas for your business, take a notebook to the park and sit by the duck pond. Any change of enviroment can get your brain out of it’s ruts.

Creativity Training

To dramatically increase your creativity, develop creative habits of mind. If you watch a good comedian, you’ll see that she has trained her mind to look for the “different angle” on everyday things. Why not train your mind to do the same?

Start challenging assumptions, for example, until it becomes habit. If you’re looking for ways to get more customers, stop and say, “Do I really need more customers?” It’s a question that suggests other creative solutions, like finding ways to make more money off existing customers, or ways to cut expenses. It could lead to more profitable ideas. Challenge assumptions is a great way to have more creativity in your problem solving.

While driving to work, randomly choose anything you see and ask what it can teach you about whatever problem you are working on. A helicopter might make you think about a way to track where the car goes when you loan it to your kids. Palm trees may lead to a new design for patio umbrellas.

These two techniques are called “Assumption Challenging” and “Random Presentation,” and are classic creative problem solving techniques. There are dozens more. If you train your brain to habitually use these or other techniques, and provide it with a little encouragement, you really can have more creativity.

Boost Your IQ: Techniques to Increase Your Intelligence Quotient Today

It is possible to enhance your intelligence quotient in a matter of 10 minutes. Some techniques to do so are discussed below.

Don’t you want to enhance your IQ? Of course, you can use the brain power exercises and techniques. But these are long term and you would need to regularly practice them. What if you want to boost your IQ now, when you don’t have more than 10 minutes. You would need all your IQ for any important meeting, or a test or any other major event in your life. If you really need some concrete results and not argue about intelligence, try the following techniques.

Breath To Increase Intelligence Quotient

Breath deeply through your nose. This will relax you immensely and help you remain calm and composed. Deep breathing infuses oxygen into your blood and therefore into your brain and enhances its functioning. A relaxed brain will be far more efficient. Also nose breathing uses the diaphragm more, so lungs draw more air. This is the simplest and shortest way to enhance your intelligence quotient immediately.

Another level of relaxation through breathing is meditation. Sit in whatever posture you are comfortable and concentrate on your breathing. With eyes closed, breath through your nose initially and this will truly calm and relax you. you will have thoughts interfering but just ignore them and keep your focus on your breathing. Do this for a few minutes.

Posture and exercise can improve your IQ

The posture you take while at any problem will surely affect the intelligence at your disposal. Just observe the difference when you solve a math problem slouching and sleeping while you do the same sitting upright. The latter posture will definitely be better since you can think a lot better like that.

You need to exercise, but not a very hectic regime as such. Exercise just enough to pump blood into your brain. Walking works for many but a better alternative to boost your IQ is aerobics.

Sleep also is very crucial for proper brain functioning. But the quality of sleep is also important apart from the duration of sleep.

Diet to Boost IQ

One tree whose leaves do certainly increase blood flow into brain is ginkgo biloba tree. You can use its leaves either in tea or in form of capsules. It also helps improve your memory power and concentration. The effect is immediate and it lasts long if regularly used.

Caffeine is certainly a IQ booster. It has been proved that any test taken after consuming caffeine in some form or the other does increase your scores. But do remember, that the effect is only temporary and caffeine if used longer can have adverse side effects too.

Give up sugar. Any carbohydrate if taken beyond a limit, can blur your thinking. Insulin gets injected into your blood stream after you have sugar and thus diminishes your ability to think. Avoid all carbohydrates like white flour, sugar, potatoes if you want to think clearly.

Results matter in the end

Experts will endlessly debate if the above techniques can really boost one’s IQ. But there are times when it is very crucial for you to score high in a test. The above techniques if are found to be IQ booster, why not use them rather than wasting time in thinking if IQ really gets boosted or not. What matters is the score you get in the IQ test. So if you sleep well, have coffee and think sitting straight and if all this boosts IQ, there is no harm in doing the above techniques. These will prepare you better to face any task. Hence, be wise and don’t debate any more on IQ and its definitions.

I am sure you all know Henry Ford. What was his IQ, any idea? Why bother? He was the most creative thinker of the last century and he was so because he was always in the company of intelligent people. That alone is a direct 20 point in IQ. I hope you get the point I state here.

You are concerned about results. Hence if you want to be creative resort to such techniques of finding a solution. There are techniques available to try out anything. Try your hands at speed reading and you will have double the grasp on the subject you read. What the world will see are the results or achievements you garner in your lifetime. The Monalisa, the Empire State building, etc, are what the world will remember and not your score in IQ tests.

Creative Ideas to Follow Up After a Presentation

In this day and age, it’s simply not enough to call on someone and make a presentation. If you don’t follow up at least 7 times, you are wasting your time, as well as theirs. The more time you put into getting to know your potential customers, the better your relationship will be.

Because of that, you need to follow up after a presentation, at least 7 times, and sometimes longer. Here you’ll find some creative ideas to follow up that will be sure to impress anyone.

1. Your first follow up should be a hand written note, thanking them for their time. Use a nice card, embossed with your logo, if you want, or just a simple “Thank You” card available anywhere.

2. Second, find some “Cheese Straws” at a specialty store, and send it with a note saying: “Grasping at straws to find the perfect solution to…(include a problem you can solve for them)? We can help! This is not only a cleverly worded reminder of your presentation, but something for them to taste and remember you by.

3. Rolodex cards are excellent reminders: include a note that says: “We are always at your fingertips when you need us!” Make sure your rolodex card has the little tab at the top with either your name, or the biggest benefit of using your services: this will make it stand out from the others cards in the file.

4. Next, send a bag of popcorn with a note saying: “Just popping in to remind you that we can…. ” (mention one of the benefits of using your services or products).

5. A coffee mug imprinted with your logo, and filled with some coffee packets and even a cookie could be next: this will remind them of your visit every time they enjoy their coffee.

6. A seed packet with this message: “We would love to help you grow your business” is another original idea that will leave a great impression.

7. Chocolate business cards will be a tasty reminder of your services. This one may be a little more expensive, but well worth the cost. You’ll need to pay for a plate with your logo, but it’s a one time cost that will pay you many times over. The chocolate business cards are a great conversation starter, and something that will separate you from your competition.

These are just a few ideas: there are many more ways to keep your name in front of your potential clientele.

And to keep track of what you did, create a folder for each presentation and set up your follow-ups before you even go to your presentation.

You are now on your way to success: good luck with your next presentation!

Mind Power Games

Want a fun way to tune up your brain? Why not use some classic mind games to help you increase your brainpower and get you out of your thinking “ruts.” Good mind games habituate you to using creative problem solving as a normal part of thinking about things.

One lateral thinking puzzle you can try right now involves nine dots, layed out three by three. You have to connect them all with four straight lines, and without lifting the pen or pencil from the paper. Figure this one out and you’ll appreciate the expression “thinking outside of the box.”

Mind Games For Groups

Some group mind games are especially good for long trips in a car. For example, someone looks out the window and randomly chooses an object. Everyone in the car then tries to imagine a new way to make money with it. Street signs become places to advertise, trees are sold with names, and a truck becomes a traveling grocery store.

The “change of perspective” technique can be used as a problem-solving game. Pick any topic, and see who can come up with the most unique new perspective. Could there be a world where jobs weren’t necessary? How would a virus define morality if it was conscious?

Another creative game for a group uses a specific technique, called “concept combination.” Simply combine random concepts or things in interesting ways, and see who has the best idea. A chair and a microwave? Maybe an easy-chair with a built-in cooler, microwave and television, or microwavable “couch potatoes” – a potato snack in the shape of a couch.

More Mind Games

Some lateral-thinking puzzles use a scenario, real or imagined, with a selection of things you have to use to accomplish something. Imagine a ping-pong ball in an iron pipe that’s set in cement. The pipe sticks up two-feet high, and has almost the same diameter as the ball. With only a box of frosted-flakes, and a t-shirt, how many ways can you find to get the ball out of the pipe? You could also set this up for real, to know if a proposed solution will really work.

Riddles are just mind games or lateral-thinking puzzles. You move laterally in your mind, away from your usual line of thought, to solve a riddle. What did his friends do when the canibal was late for dinner? Gave him the cold shoulder. Keeping your brain in shape doesn’t have to be a matter of serious study, does it?

Effective Problem-Solving Leads To Solutions

Problems are a part of life. They have accompanied us since birth, and will continue to do so until the twilight of our lives. But this is no reason to get upset. In fact, the thought that problems happen to absolutely everyone should come as a welcome relief.

Problems are not the result of being a bad or good person. They happen to good and bad people alike. Sometimes, even despite of our best judgments and careful planning, problems still meet us in the most unexpected circumstances.

Here are some tips to conquer your problems:

Trace the root of the problem.

The best way to start finding a solution to a problem is to try to figure out how the problem started in the first place. If you find yourself lost in the middle of the road, the chances are that you took a wrong turn somewhere along the way. This is why you need to go back, retrace your steps, and discover where you have gone wrong. This way you would be able to figure out which way you should go, which roads to avoid, and how to get there.

Don’t sweat the little things.

Little problems are best dealt with by giving them a shrug of the shoulder. Having a bad hair day or breaking a nail is not reason enough to break into fits of hysteria. Sure, it is annoying; but get over it! People will be surprised how a little change in their attitude can go a long way in solving their problems.

In fact, a lot of problems people are facing will dissolve if they only change their attitude. Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of their lives, and being so cynical, they should instead try to make the best out of every situation. If you are not satisfied with the situation you are in, you should strive to make some positive changes in your life.

Confront your problems.

Not confronting problems can lead to bigger issues. Before problems can be solved, they must first be dealt with. For example, a person pretending not to be sick when he very well knows that he is suffering from an illness will not help him solve this problem. In fact, this will only make the situation much worse, if he refuses to seek out the medical attention that he needs.

The problem with choosing to ignore problems is that they can lead to bigger problems. Some who choose to escape their problems may turn to alcohol, drugs, or other self-destructive behaviors simply because they want to avoid the problems they are encountering. This, in turn, becomes a part of the problem. Instead of finding a solution, they find bigger problems.

Ask for help.

Strength comes in numbers. One of the best ways to quickly solve a problem is to ask for help. This is where friends and family come in. Not only will they be physically able to help you, they can also be a source of emotional help as well. Not only that, they would be able to throw in some ideas that just might be the key to finding the solution to your problem!

Having some problems does not mean that it is the end of the world. It just means that you are going to have to work hard at finding the solutions to your problems. By going through this process, not only will you solve your problems, but you can gain a lot of knowledge and wisdom along the way!

Debit and Credit Card Blocking

What is Credit or Debit Card Blocking?

When you use a credit or debit card to check into a hotel or rent a car, the clerk usually contacts the company that issued your card to give an estimated total. If the transaction is approved, your available credit (credit card) or the balance in your bank account (debit card) is reduced by this amount. That’s a “block.” Some companies also call this placing a “hold” on those amounts.

Here’s how it works: Suppose you use a credit or debit card when you check into a $100-a-night hotel for five nights. At least $500 would likely be blocked. In addition, hotels and rental car companies often add anticipated charges for “incidentals” like food, beverages, or gasoline to the blocked amount. These incidental amounts can vary widely among merchants.

If you pay your bill with the same card you used when you checked in, the final charge on your credit card, or final amount on your debit card, probably will replace the block in a day or two. However, if you pay your bill with a different card, or with cash or a check, the company that issued the card you used at check-in might hold the block for up to 15 days after you’ve checked out. That’s because they weren’t notified of the final payment and didn’t know you paid another way.

Why Blocking Can Be a Problem

Blocking is used to make sure you don’t exceed your credit line (credit card) or overdraw your bank account (debit card) before checking out of a hotel or returning a rental car, leaving the merchant unpaid. Blocking is sometimes also used by restaurants for anticipated size able bills (like large groups at dinner or a party), by companies cleaning your home, and other businesses to ensure credit or account money will be available to complete payment.

If you’re nowhere near your credit limit or don’t have a low balance in your bank account, blocking probably won’t be a problem. But if you’re reaching that point, be careful. Not only can it be embarrassing to have your card declined, it also can be inconvenient, especially if you have an emergency purchase and insufficient credit or money in your bank account. On debit cards, depending on the balance in your bank account, blocking could lead to charges for insufficient funds while the block remains in place.

How to Avoid Blocking

To avoid the aggravation that blocking can cause, follow these tips:

When you check into a hotel or rent a car – or if a restaurant or other business asks for your card in advance of service – ask if the company is “blocking,” how much will be blocked, how the amount is determined, and how long the block remains in place.

Consider paying hotel, motel, rental car, or other “blocked” bills with the same credit or debit card you used at the beginning of the transaction. Ask the clerk when the prior block will be removed.

If you pay with a different card, by cash, or by check, remind the clerk you’re using a different form of payment and ask them to remove the prior block promptly.

Ask your current debit card issuer if they permit blocks, for how long, and from what types of merchants. If they do, you may want to consider getting an overdraft line of credit from your bank. Ask about a plan that always automatically covers the overdraft and does not involve a separate bank decision on whether or not to pay it each time. Although you might incur some interest on this plan if you don’t pay off the amount fairly quickly, you would not have an overdraft that is not paid. Ask your bank if they offer an overdraft line of credit, how it would work, and how much it costs.

In addition, if you are considering a credit or debit card, shop around. When you are comparing credit and debit card offers, ask issuers if they permit blocks, for how long, and from what types of merchants. You may want to consider an issuer that uses shorter blocks.

How to be More Creative and Enhance Your Creativity

Before thinking about how to be more creative, let me begin point out some real barriers that some people seem to have when wanting to enhance creativity, have a think if any of these things are applicable to you and your life;

1. Lack of time. This is not as major as you may think. Linking thoughts and ideas only takes seconds. It can happen anytime, anywhere. Provided you are in the right state and pay attention to your own experience.

Creativity in my opinion is more about the quality of the time you have and being receptive to yourself. Though this does take some time.

2. Fear of being judged. When I worked for a national newspaper and we had brainstorming sessions, individuals were often scared of expressing ideas. Creativity results in unusual ideas and perhaps even being different in some way. They can be thought of as strange, odd or challenging. Fear of being considered weird, stupid or just different often kills creativity. If I feared people thinking any of those things about me, I would not bother getting out of bed in the mornings; I love the fact that people think I am all of those things!!

3. Lack of self-esteem. When you do something creative, you go beyond the bounds of what has been safe and familiar in the past, to yourself and maybe even others. When you are not sure about yourself, being different in any way can feel risky or make you feel vulnerable. The danger is that you give up your new insight to just blend in. Smash out of those shackles!

4. Fear of failure. This inhibits us. If you are making a new connection in your brain there can be no inherent “right” or “wrong” about it. Failure can only have two meanings really; firstly, that it didn’t work in the way you wanted it to. Secondly, Someone else did not like it. But so what??!! I have to tell you all that I get many comments on how I generate so many successful projects and am often asked how I do it. I always point out that these projects are actually only about 10% of what I have imagined. The other 90% didn’t work or didn’t get out of my brain.

Creativity is not reserved for genius only. Einstein was brilliant but he is not necessarily the best model of creativity for us. You do not need specialist expertise to be creative. The fruits of your creativity may manifest in many, many differing ways, in fact I expect so.

If at any time you doubt your ability to be creative, remind yourself that several times every night you create an entirely new dream, which you script, act in and watch, which involves all your senses and has effects that can last long after they are over. This creation is so very effortless most people don’t even recognise it as such.

How to be more creative.

Ok, so how does one actually go about getting more creative. Let me give you some ideas;

1. Find the right frame of mind. Explore what states you associate with being creative. Discover properly what it is that triggers and maintains you being creative. What’s your best time of day? The best environment? Do you need to be alone or with others or alone in the midst of others? Do you need sounds or silence or background sounds? Build a profile of your creativity state, then make time and space for it on a regular basis instead of waiting for some divine intervention and for it to just happen on its own.

2. Cultivate dreaming. Pay attention to your experience of life and attention to your existing creativity rather than dismissing day-dreams and dreams. Don’t allow yourself to waste what you may already be discovering by ignoring it.

3. Ask yourself “What if?” and “What else?” and “How else?” Always go beyond what you fist thought, find more and more different ideas.

4. When and/or if you hit a problem, pretend your usual solution is not available. This can work in many different ways. If your PC crashes today, how else might you do your work? If you usually argue face to face, what would happen if you wrote your feelings down instead? Some solutions may be no better than the ones you’re used to: others may offer you brilliant new opportunities. Do something different. I wrote about that idea in an earlier article entitled Do something Different, go check it out.

5. See how many different results you can get with the same ingredients. I am sure many of you know that there is a cookbook called “Recipes 1-2-3” by Rozanne Gold, in which every recipe is made out of only three ingredients.

Some recipes use the same three ingredients but different processes or quantities come up with different results.

You can have some great fun by taking an every day object and imagine or think about how many other uses it can have, you can even think about how to combine them with other objects.

6. Think of different ways to do the familiar. Change the order in which you do things, use different things, use your less favoured hand; as soon as we break routine, we move from a state where we are on auto-pilot to one where we are alive and alert. You exercise unfamiliar brain connections and help build new links in your brain. A glorious feeling!

7. Look out for the difference that makes the difference. When you encounter something that strikes you as different, ask yourself what it is about it that is so different or new or unusual. Where does the key difference actually lie?

I want to mention a strategy that is well talked about in NLP circles and that I have used for many years and that is the Disney Creativity Strategy.

The Disney creativity strategy is for developing your dreams and giving them the best possible chance of becoming reality. It is named after Walt Disney, who often took on three different roles when his team was developing an idea; the dreamer, the realist and the critic. Robert Dilts, an NLP pioneer, modelled and developed this strategy as an NLP tools. Some of Robert’s articles that he kindly donated can be found at my website.

The strategy separates out these three vital roles involved in the process of translating creative ideas into reality so that they can be explored separately for maximum clarity and effect.

Many companies have specialists in each of the three fields and I have done consultancy work with companies myself whereby I have asked different team members to take on one of the roles. You can also play all three roles yourself as I often do in coaching or business consultancy, with your own wants, needs and goals.

However, the usual way to use it is to allocate three roles to different people (realist, dreamer and critic) to assess plans or tasks. Ask someone to act as the dreamer and tell you all the possibilities of the idea. Ask someone else to examine exactly what would be involved in putting it into practice (realist), and someone to take a hard look at it and really evaluate its strengths and weaknesses (critic). You may want to rotate the roles. If doing it on your own, be sure to keep the roles very separate and write them down. I do this with lots of my own ideas and with changes I want to make in my life.

You can even use this in a meeting broken down into three stages; Each role as a separate stage. Get everyone brainstorming and being creative first; then get them thinking about what would actually have to happen in practical terms; then get them critically evaluating the possibilities.

I suggest that you have some fun being creative and doing things differently to generate more creativity. It feels wonderful and if you have found that your progress to success or the outcomes you desire has been blocked or gone stagnant, then think about being more creative in how and what you are doing.

Adult ADHD: Are You An Idea Machine?

Chances are, if you have Adult ADHD, you’re an “idea machine”–you come up with great new ideas all the time, maybe several in a day!

Problem is, the ideas are often unrelated to what you already decided to work on, and so each new idea becomes a distraction that takes you further away from your larger goals. What can a person with Adult ADHD and too many good ideas do?

I have Adult ADHD myself, and I have 10 great ideas a day, minimum, that are “million-dollar ideas.” How do I actually implement one of them and get something done? I don’t want to just stop having great ideas. I love thinking about new ideas. It’s one of the things I’m best at doing.

I say, “Okay, when I have a great idea, it’s my job to figure out how I can take what’s really great about that idea, and apply it to what I’m working on–that is, working on ALREADY.” This is something every person with Adult ADHD needs to train themselves to do.

Here’s how it works:

Let’s say I’m working on a website about Attention-Deficit Disorder. What happens if I have a great idea about a restaurant they should open up in my local town? I know it would be a great idea. Why don’t I just go out and open a restaurant?

Well, I don’t really want to open a restaurant. I’ve worked in a lot of restaurants, and I know that I don’t want to deal with the restaurant business. For one thing, it’s boring, and boredom kills people with Adult ADHD. But still, it’s a great idea.

So what I say to myself is, “What’s so great about this idea, and how can I apply the essence of what’s so great about this idea to my Adult ADHD website?

Do you see how that works?

As people with Adult ADHD, we tend to think in an all-or-nothing, black-or-white kind of way: “Do I follow the entire idea and go open a restaurant or not?”

But what you really want to say, to make your Adult ADHD work for you, instead of against you is: “How can I apply this great new idea to the project I’m working on already?”

You train yourself to do this over time. You can even do it in conversations when you’re brainstorming with friends or business partners or whatever.

When random ideas come up, just say, “Hey, that’s a really good idea. How do we apply that to what we’re working on? What makes that idea so good? Why am I so excited about that idea?”

In the case of the restaurant idea, the original idea was, “It would be great to have a Mexican Restaurant here because there isn’t one in town and everyone wants one.”

So, when I applied that concept to my current business, it became “What does everyone with Adult ADHD want that isn’t being given to them?” If I can come up with that, then I’m all set.

The point is, if you can use your Adult ADHD to figure out how to flip your ideas up and switch them around to be focused on your bigger goals, then you’re way ahead of people without Adult ADHD–because you have about 5 great new innovative ideas a day!

Just imagine how much progress you will make if you apply them to your main project every day, instead of getting distracted…you’ll be a powerhouse!

To find out more about how to turn your Adult ADHD distractions into advantages, like how to use multi-sensory stimulation to focus in on your projects, just see below.

Personal Power Maps and Creative Ideas

At about the same time I started to think about building an Internet website, I considered my personal strengths and resources. It occurred to me that it might be a good idea to make a list of all the things I have in my life, as well as the things I have learned and skills I can use. This could help me come up with new directions for my personal development. After I’ve started writing these things down, I decided to call it “Power Maps” as they outline my sources of power, and could also show me ways to turn my strengths into more powerful actions. In this brief article I will try to demonstrate how I do this, hoping you can do the same. I use my own Power Map as an example, so you also get a chance to know me better…
I began by writing down the major categories of things I do and am related to. Here is what I came up with:

Family & Friends
Places I know
My Studies & Work
Languages
My Hobbies & Pastimes

Try to make your own list now. It doesn’t have to be similar to the one I made or even have the same logic or structure. Just try to think of the major things that make up the person that you are.
Next, I added more details to each major category – ending up with many of the things I consider to be my sources of power and knowledge. This is what it looked like by now:

Family & Friends

My wife
My children
My mother, sisters & brother
My friends

Places I know

Israel
Europe
South America

Argentina
Chile
Peru
Bolivia
Brazil

South East Asia

India
Nepal
Thailand

My Studies & Work

Human Resources
Management skills training
Thinking, Innovation & Creativity
Philosophy
Computers

Web programming
Database planning
Online & computer games

Myself as an employee

Languages

Hebrew
English
Spanish

My Hobbies and Pastimes

Capoeira
Diving
Board games

Seeing all that I have in my favor, I already started to feel stronger!
If you want to get the same feeling – take a few minutes to list many of your own sources of power.

Turning power maps into creative action

Now it was time to start thinking how I could turn all those resources into something I could make or contribute. In other words – come up with new and useful things I could do with all I have. What I came up with was consisted of things I did before and could do better or on a larger scale; things I haven’t done before but believed I could do; and some other creative ideas that just came up.
In order to distinguish these action ideas from the resources I already listed, I use an undeline for the action items. I am sharing some of these with you:

Family & Friends

My wife
Help your wife pursue her dream
My children
Write children’s books
My mother, sisters & brother
My friends

Places I know

Israel
Knowing what it’s all about
Europe
South America

Argentina
Chile
Peru
Bolivia
Brazil

South East Asia

India
Nepal
Thailand

My Studies & Work

Human Resources
Management skills training

Tools for planning
Small Business Handbook

Thinking, Innovation & Creativity

Improved Memory Techniques
Building a Personal Thinking Center

Philosophy
Computers

Web programming
Database planning
Online & computer games

Principles of development
Review best games on the web

Myself as an employee

Languages

Hebrew
English
Translation tips
Spanish
Learning tips

My Hobbies and Pastimes

Capoeira
Diving
Board games

Playing tips
Designing & Inventing

Now I had something I could work with. There were other things on the list – this is just to show you the general idea. I am sure that if you try to complete your own Power Map now – you’d have many action ideas.

Bringing it all together

With such a detailed Power Map, you can start looking for practical ways to harness all that power to interesting development possibilities. The strongest creative ideas would be those that combine as many strengths and action items as possible. Consider the creative ideas website I have built (see resource box below) – it combines my power at: English, Internet, Creativity, Management training, and more.

I truly hope this can help you become stronger, more creative, and ultimately happier. If you liked this article and the Power Map tool, you should check out the Resource Box Below for a constantly growing source of ideas and creativity tools.