16 Qualities That Creative Thinkers Have

There’s an old saying – “the more you do of what you are doing, the more you will get of what you’ve got.”  When it comes to creative thinking, you must keep on digging deeper inside of yourself to come up with bigger and better ideas to improve your life.  Creative thinkers tend to possess 16 qualities and when you use at least one, preferably more, of those qualities, you start to think of yourself as a genius. Those 16 qualities are:

●     They keep asking questions

Creative thinkers tend to be highly curious people and will constantly be asking questions – why, why not, why can’t we do it that way?  So what if we’ve never done it that way before, we can try it now can’t we?  Because of the question, it makes other people look at things differently as well.

●     They practice zero-based thinking

What is zero-based thinking? The easiest way to answer that is in a question.   And, guess what, if the answer is no, they simply stop what they are doing. Ask yourself the same question next time you are doing something – you might be surprised at what the answer is. It’s astonishing how many people continue doing something even though they know, deep down, that they should not have even started the job. And then they wonder why they aren’t getting very far!

●     They are prepared to change their minds

Creative thinkers are very willing to change their minds about something. In this day and age, a willingness to change is a death knell and creative thinkers would rather have their destiny in their own hands, rather than in someone else’s. And they prefer to make the decision on when to change, rather than get caught up in a flood when change is inevitable. That way, they are prepared and they stay one step ahead.  A truly creative thinker, a flexible thinker will say just four words – “I changed my mind.” It’s as simple as that.  Research has shown that an alarming 70% of the decisions that we make turn out to be wrong and a willingness to change your mind is vital for the good of your life in the long run.  To be successful in today’s world you must be mentally flexible.

●     They can admit when they are wrong

Being able to admit when you are wrong about something is not a sign of weakness.  Look at it this way – when you know that you have made a wrong decision but don’t want to admit it, do you find yourself getting exhausted? Suffering from brain fog? But you persist anyway. Did you know that, by not admitting that you are wrong, by continuing to push on despite that fact, you will burn up virtually all of your emotional and mental energy? Creative thinkers are open-minded, they are flexible and fluid. As well as being able to change their minds easily, they can also admit that they made a mistake.

●     They continue to learn

People who are very creative can easily say, “I don’t know.” They know that we can’t possibly know everything there is to know about everything and that it’s highly likely they could be wrong about something.  If they are asked a question and they really don’t know the answer, they will say so. They won’t waffle or spout some rubbish to try and hide their ignorance. Instead, they will go off and find the answer.  Think about this important point – if you are struggling with something, there is an extremely high chance that, somewhere in the world, somewhere in time, someone else has had the same problem and they will have solved it.  The most creative thing you can do is to find that person or that answer and use it.  The person who is the smartest isn’t necessarily the person who came up with the solution – that could have been just pure luck. The smartest people are those who go find that answer and then use it.

●     They are goal-oriented

Creative thinkers always have a goal in mind. They know what they want, have probably even written it down, very clearly, step by step. They see it in their minds eye every day. They like to imagine their goal, to see it as if it were a reality. And, the more they do this, the more creative they get and the more likely they are to achieve that goal.

●     Their egos are not so involved

When a creative thinker is proved right, there is no real involvement of the ego. They don’t care who is right, they care what is right and they will willingly accept ideas and help from anyone or any source to achieve their goals.

●     They always change the things around them

Creative thinkers are the kind of people who always like to keep things different. They rarely get satisfied with something so much as to keep them the same way for a very long period of time. More than that, creative thinkers are aware that if they stay focused or become stagnant on one thing for far too long, they might lose their creative spark – something they would never risk doing.

●     They are in a never-ending hunt for new experiences

While other people accept opportunities when they come knocking at their doors, creative thinkers go out, look for those opportunities, and chase them. They are the kind of people who are always looking for new experiences because they need something to trigger or stimulate their creativity. They need new and exciting experiences that can give them a certain adrenaline rush or a “Eureka!” moment. Otherwise, their creativity will be unused and will stagnate. Getting out there and having new experiences is a perfect way to broaden one’s horizons and acquire creative inspiration.

●     They are very keen observers

Creative thinkers observe people as well as situations. Creative thinkers are people who are naturally curious. At any given place and time, various things are happening all around them, and creative thinkers always make use of this opportunity to observe everything of anything – from the smallest details to the biggest ones. They also make sure to people-watch and spend time observing the different kinds of people around them. This quality allows creative thinkers to expand their horizons as well and discover something new. They put the observations they experience aside for later use as these could also enable them to gain a better appreciation of the things and the people around them – something creative thinkers could use so as to come up with an idea that possibly takes in the perspective of others or an idea which could help those they have observed. In this way, they are empathetic.

●     They look at life in a very positive way

Creative thinkers view life in two levels: (1) a continuous journey of self-expression; and (2) a big roller coaster ride with so many challenges they can build on and learn from. Creative thinkers, you could say, are optimists. They look at life and see a huge arena for them to express themselves. They fully believe that life should be referred to as a piece of art wherein all people would have to do is to let their creativity flow and do things that would show the entire world who they really are. More than that, creative thinkers do not get knocked down by the challenges that life brings. They understand that everyone goes through life and experiences all kinds of pain, but they know that how people respond to these pains is completely up to them. Creative thinkers respond to these hardships by turning all the negative emotions and feelings into something beautiful that people can relate to.

●     They “get in the zone”

Have you ever experienced writing, singing, dancing, painting or doing any creative activity of some sort and completely drown out the world around you? Creative thinkers are always prone to this. When they begin doing something that tickles the creative part of their brains, they eventually get lost in it and “get in the zone.” It’s like nothing else matters and it’s just them and their paintbrush or microphone, pen or music. They just become so invested and so focused on the activity because they do it with so much passion and with every fiber of their being. This goes well with the theory that multi-taskers are actually doing themselves a disservice because they cannot give everything that they have to multiple tasks at a time

●     They are big on daydreaming

  While most people see daydreaming as a way for people to relax and slack off, creative thinkers know that there’s more to daydreaming than that. Daydreaming, for them, is one of the greatest tools they can use to nurture and develop their ideas. They let their minds run free and imagine all kinds of things that they can make happen in real life. Daydreaming in itself is also a big booster of creativity because it triggers our brains to become imaginative and exhaust our creative potentials.

●     They know how and when to make the most of their time

Creative thinkers know exactly when they are most productive and make the most of that time. Whether it’s in the morning, evening, or somewhere in the middle, creative thinkers are aware that it’s essential for them to make use of their productive period to come up with a brand new creative idea and work on it.

●     They are risk-takers

Creative thinking alone already involves numerous risks. The mere idea of being unsure whether the product will be finished or if it will be of good quality the moment it’s finished but doing them anyway are risks that creative thinkers take every day. Taking risks will enable creative thinkers to gain more ideas as well as to grow their own creativity. Taking risks of any kind gives people the chance to discover and try something they’ve never tried before – which is heaven for their creative juices.

●     They give themselves an “alone time”

Although creative thinkers like to be with people in general, they also know when they need to have time to themselves and “let the dust settle” so to speak. This alone time allows creative thinkers to let their minds wander off away from any form of distraction that could impede their creativity. They also use this time to work and get things done.

Upon knowing these 16 qualities that more often than not describe creative thinkers, it’s now time for you to check yourself in the mirror to see whether you’re up to the creative challenge.