doug smith training

Do you have a secret creative project lounging around in your imagination? I always have at least five projects floating around, just waiting to begin. We get busy and put those projects off though, don't we? What if you didn't put it off? What if you got started on the biggest of big projects? What if you launched the project to complete your masterpiece? You aren't limited to just one creative masterpiece, but your next masterpiece is there, ready and waiting for you to begin. Get creative. Get motivated. Get busy. What if you started now? -- doug smith

It's In The Water One of my favorite creative outlets is making collages. I've been doing it for as long as I can remember. Most of them are done on 8 1/2 by 11" notebook paper, frequently as a page in a journal. This one, for instance, is page 199 of my journal #39, Creative Play (2006-2007). You can spark your own creativity by making a collage. All you need is a healthy supply of magazines, paper, and your favorite glue (I use good old-fashioned white Elmer's glue.) Allow plenty of time -- it's not unusual for me to take all day on one collage. I find it meditative, relaxing, and inspiring. Many ideas float to the surface once you've smoothed the waters in a calm search for interesting combinations of images. Give it try. -- doug smith

Are you in charge of your creativity? Do you play with new ideas, new textures, new techniques? Your creativity is yours to manage and it's also in your hands, literally. From another angle: your hands create. Think about a sculptor at work, her hands carefully forming her art. Her mind is completely engaged, maybe even in a flow, and her hands instinctively, creatively, know what to do. That only comes after hours of practice. Think about a concert pianist: the mind is involved, the heart is involved, and the hands are doing far more than running thru the paces of mechanical memory. The hands are creating tone, inflection, articulation, emphasis, texture, stylization, and yes even emotion. The hands add what the brain hasn't even imagined until it hears it coming straight from the hands. That level of synthesis only comes after many hours of practice. Name the format and the hands are there -- not just as a set of useful tools but also as generators of inspired cre

What is your most powerful tool for change? Planet Energy 6 How do you break the constraints that stand in your way when you're looking for improvement? Creativity, your power to "bring into existence" (Merriam Webster online) is your own personal engine of growth. Movement in the direction of something new, expansion, birth, novelty, change -- are all variations of your ability to create and are all critical to the optimal state of balance and health. Got a problem? Use creative thinking to explore possible solutions. Launching a business? Discover creative ways to reach markets and satisfy customers. Getting in shape? Keep it interesting and customized to your individual needs creatively. Make it new, make it fresh, make it cool. Starting a relationship? Crete ways to interest the other person and listen and watch for what is distinctive and creative about the other person. Try new things, go new places, eat new foods, create new connections. Creativit

Creativity evaporates fear. -- Doug Smith

When you make videos with your mobile device, how do you hold the device? Vertical (portrait) or horizontal (landscape). Here's my thought on that: I know the production values on this video are sketchy but that's not the point. It's part of a series of quick creative musings designed to get you going creatively. Now. Enjoy one wonderful creative and inspirational day! -- Doug Smith

Do you find it easy to judge? We are taught in so many ways to judge things, to judge people, to judge circumstances...to judge. From some imaginary position of perfection we assess others as if they were lacking some essential ingredient. Or, in some cases, we let judgment of our own skills keep us from trying something new, from forging new ground, from creating. That's a mistake. We need creativity. We need to try new things. We need to explore territory where we won't be instantly criticized, by ourselves or others. High performance leaders value creativity so much that they suspend their sense of judgment often enough to allow creativity to flourish. How about you? Can you allow creativity to flourish? To grow? To blossom? We are more creative when we are less judgmental. Send your inner judge out for milk and cookies. It will make her happy and you'll be free. -- Doug Smith

What have you done lately to encourage someone else' creativity? Is that up to you? Maybe. What if there were someone in your life who was stuck and needed just enough encouragement to get creative enough to become unstuck? I'm sure that person exists. Someone, somewhere, needs just a little nudge from you to be more creative. Maybe it's seeing you draw. Maybe it's hearing about a creative project you're working on. Maybe you could sing together. Supporting someone else's creativity will boost your own. When we share creatively, our creativity grows. And that's a wonderful thing. Who do you know who needs some positive feedback on staying creative? Why not elevate their day? -- Doug Smith