Who wouldn't like to be more creative than they already are? It's like the old saying, 'You can't be too rich or too skinny." Well, okay you CAN be too skinny, but you can't be too rich or too creative. And, good news - it's not nearly as difficult to increase your creative abilities as you might think.

It's entirely possible to increase your creativity abilities, regardless of the current level. Practices like meditation and visualization can help you develop creativeness, as can modern energy psychology practices such as emotional freedom technique (aka EFT tapping).

What is Creativity?

First, let's define creativity. Dictionary.com, an online dictionary defines creativity as "the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination." In other words, creativity is simply the ability to look at things in a new way, to develop new concepts, or to use something in a different way than it was intended.

It is true that persons may be born with a tendency towards being creative. Mozart, for example, is said to have composed music at the age of five. Undoubtedly he was born with innate creative abilities and then continued to develop them throughout his life.

However, regardless of predisposition at birth, all of us can continue to develop our own creative abilities throughout our lifespan. You are never too old to grow and develop, provided you are open to the concept.

The first step in inviting new creative ability is to examine our current beliefs. Our beliefs and our thoughts have great influence on how our brain and our subconscious mind react and perform.

What Do You Believe About Your Creative Ability?

What are the beliefs about creativity that you keep telling yourself? Do any of the following show up in your self talk?

1. You're either born creative or you were not. I wasn't and there's nothing I can do to change that.
2. Creativity is for artists and poets. It's not for people like me.
3. I'm not creative. I can't come up with original ideas
4. I'm not imaginative. I think imagination is over rated.
5. I'm not an idea person.
6. Other people come up with the ideas. I'm a doer not a thinker.
7. Other people are way more creative than me.
8. I'm too old to change anything now.
9. And so on .....

Beliefs such as these will hold you back. Our brain tends to do what we tell it to do. Therefore, if you have spent a lifetime holding these beliefs - which we call limiting beliefs.... then how can you expect your brain to produce creative thoughts when it is conditioned to believe it can not?

Beyond Positive Thinking

Replacing these limiting beliefs with positive beliefs is the obvious solution. However, this is easier said than done. If you have spent twenty, thirty, forty or more years telling yourself your creativity is limited, then your brain and your energy field have many, many deep rooted messages to that effect. Attempting to think positively about your creative ability is a good start, but unless those underlying beliefs and energies are released, positive thinking won't go far enough.

The EFT Solution

Practices like Emotional Freedom Technique take you the rest of the way. EFT is based on new discoveries regarding the connection between your body's subtle energies, your emotions and your health. Sometimes described as "acupuncture without the needles", EFT involves tapping the fingers lightly on various energy points while focusing on a condition that you want to change. It has been amazingly effective in thousands of cases and often works where nothing else will. (This definition is paraphrased from the EFT World Center web site at www.emofree.com)

With EFT, you remove the limiting beliefs from your subconscious mind, thereby becoming "clear" in your intentions. When you remove these limiting beliefs while simultaneously removing any trapped energies or emotions around those beliefs, the road is clear to create new pathways leading to enhanced creativity.

You may not become Mozart, but you'll almost certainly show improvement from where you are right now. Try it. You have nothing to lose but your self-imposed limits.