Your Creative Well (How to Unlock Your Creativity and Reach Your True Potential)

Discovering Your Creative Superpowers

We all have a superpower. It's not the kind of superpower that superman or the daredevil has (though, if you do have this kind of power, let me know. I'd love to meet you). It's the ability to create new things.

Creativity is one of the defining features of what it means to be human. We use creativity to unlock the universe's secrets. We use creativity to solve problems by engineering solutions. We use creativity to express ourselves through art.

But you don't need to be a scientist, an engineer, or an artist by occupation to use creativity. You use this ability every day, often without realizing what you're doing.

The challenge is to discover how you best use creativity.

So, how do you discover what your creative superpowers are?

Giving Yourself Credit Where Credit's Due

You may have already identified a few of the things that you're great at. But one of the most common self-deprecations I hear is this:

"I'm not creative enough to [insert passion here]"

I most often respond with: "Of course you are."

Perhaps this comes from the fear of failure. Or perhaps this comes from the want to remain humble. But it's most often a lie. Because what most people don't realize is that they have developed creative skills all their life, but haven't yet put it to work for themselves.

Spend time taking note when you've done something creative.

Did you find a new way to arrange your room to make more space?

Did you create a new system for keeping your pantry organized?

Did find a new route to the office that enabled you to both get to work on time andmake sure that your daughter didn't skip school and go to her boyfriend's?

You've just done some creative leg work there. And you did it because you're good at creating solutions. Take note of these things and remember them when you're experiencing self-doubt.

You've already developed creativity. But it's up to you to take the next step.

Your Flaws Are Your Superpowers

Our teachers have been commenting on our most unbecoming characteristics from a very young age. You remember them, don't you?

"Brett has trouble staying on task during class."

"Madison doodles when she should be following along."

"Andy's mind wanders."

I remember bringing comments like this home to show my mother. I'd be a nervous wreck. I was unsure how my mom would react. I'd wonder if there was something wrong with me. I'd pray a little harder that I could be a better person, but many of my bad habits never improved. I was flawed. Doomed to live a life of failure.

But what our teachers didn't write on our progress reports is what's most important:

"Brett's short attention span will enable him to seamlessly move from task to task without resistance."

"Madison's insistence on improving her sketching abilities will pay off if she pursues a career in illustration."

"Andy's ability to fall into worlds painted by his imagination will be key in his future if he ever wants to become an author or design video games."

We're often taught that our personalities are "flawed." That we've been cursed with inabilities rather than blessed with diversity. We carry this with us for the rest of our lives. We decide that we're unworthy to exist or don't deserve success or can't be creative because of flaws #1, #2, and #3. In order to become our most creative, we must shed the dead skin of self-deprecation and embrace ourselves.

Be mindful not to fix what isn't broken.

A Quick Method to Identify Your Superpowers

Not everyone believes personality tests are worth the time, but I believe that they work very well for many people. It's important to take everything with a grain and not to let yourself be placed into a box, but if you can be honest with yourself, this may work for you.

I'm a fan of the website 16personalities.com and how it uses the Myers-Briggs personality assessment to help people identify their creative superpowers. When you complete the questionnaire, the website will give you a result of 1 out of the 16 personalities in the Myers-Briggs system.

Don't worry. You're still a special flower (remember how I said it's important not to be placed in a box?). But this can give you a starting point to discover your natural skills and abilities.

This test really helped me learn more about myself (I'm INFP, by the way, and I found it very accurate to my personality). It can do the same for you if you find that the description of your personality to be spot on. I believe that people are in flux. No one truly fits cleanly in one box or another, but everyone has a baseline.

One of the sections in your assessment will note the common strengths and weaknesses for your personality type. If you find that these attributes fit you, look deeper to see if you can identify how to use these strengths and weaknesses to your advantage.