Did you know that all of your most cherished dreams are just a good night’s sleep away?

Lucid dreamers share one of the greatest secrets of modern living. They have discovered a whole new universe-a universe within. They have learned to wake up in their dreams. They fly, explore unknown worlds, live out their deepest fantasies, have profound spiritual experiences, and gain precious insights about themselves.

With a little practice, you too can learn to lucid dream!

Here are some popular techniques people use for learning to wake up in their dreams:

1) Throughout the day, ask yourself if you are dreaming. But don’t stop there, because you may ask yourself and decide you’re awake when you’re actually dreaming. Look at some words near you, look away, then look back at the words.

Did the words change? If so, you are dreaming.

2) As you are falling asleep, stay focused on remembering that you are about to enter into a dream.

3) While awake, visualize yourself being in a dream, becoming aware that you are dreaming.

4) Wake up an hour earlier than you usually do. Stay awake for an hour, then go back to sleep. As you are falling asleep, stay focused on your intention to have a lucid dream. This technique is particularly effective, because we have more dreams at the end of our night’s sleep cycle.

5) Believe that you can learn to lucid dream!

Chris Olsen is a doctoral student at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, in Palo Alto. To learn more about Chris Olsen and lucid dreams, visit http://mindfulpassions.typepad.com/lucid_dreaming

Can creative thinking and even spontaneity come from a highly organized approach? Yes! For example, if you watch great comedians closely, you’ll see that they have certain habits of mind. Even the most spontaneous ones get better with practice, because they’re training their brains to find the humor in situations.

In the same way, you can train yourself for more creative thinking. Just start cultivating the right habits in your mind. Why not start training your brain today, with some simple techniques?

Creative Thinking Techniques

Want the mind of a creative inventor? Start redesigning everything you see. Imagine better cars, faster ways to serve food, or better light bulbs. If you do this every day for three weeks, it will become a habit.

Want to be the person who always has something interesting to say? Train yourself to look at things from other perpectives. What would the Buddha say about this? How would a Martian view it? What’s the opposite perspective? The point isn’t to ask others silly questions, but to ask yourself, to see what interesting ideas result. Do this until it is a habit, and you’ll always have something interesting to add to a conversation.

Want systematic creativity in poetry? Put a word on each of 40 cards; 10 nouns, 10 verbs, 10 adjectives, and 10 random

words. Shuffle, deal out four cards, and write a 4-line poem using one of the words in each line. My wife has had poems published that were created with this technique. Your mind will find a poetic use for any word if you use this method often.

Solve Problems Creatively

Maybe you’ve heard of problem solving techniques such as “attributes listing,” and “concept combination.” More creative thinking doesn’t come from just knowing these techniques, though. You have to use them until they become a part of your habitual thinking process.

Imagine you want to invent a new bicycle. If you’ve trained your mind in “assumption challenging,” you’ll automatically begin to ask things like, “Are wheels necessary?” “Does it have to go outside?” What if the “bike” was indoors, and pedaling it ran a video screen? You could “steer” through endless different scenes.

You won’t always have great ideas, but you’ll have enough ideas to make it more likely that you’ll find a useful one. This “spontaneous” creativity will be because of your brain training exercise. Why not start developing those habits of creative thinking?

Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower enhancement, creative problem solving, and related topics for years. Subscribe to his free Creative Problem Solving Course, and get a free gift at: http://www.ProblemSolving101.com

Can you be an artist while you’re washing the dishes?

In this article I share some of my learning and impressions from a chapter of the exceptional book, “Free Play”, by Stephen Nachmanovitch.

This subtitle of this book, “The Power of Improvisation in Life and the Arts”, speaks of bringing the improvising we do as creative artists into our daily routines and interactions. The chapter we’ll be discussing is titled, “Inspiration and Time’s Flow”.

At the end of the article I’ll provide some in-depth questions to help you explore this topic further.

In “Inspiration and Time’s Flow”, Nachmanovitch challenges us to experience free play and creativity in our “ordinary” activities. He states the ideal existence as one of nonstop flow, and he quotes Balinese philosophy that “We have no art. Everything we do is art.”

Here are 10 key points of learning from this chapter:

1. Conversation is a form of improvisation. The sentences we create may never be heard again. This is a delicious reminder that anyone is capable of improvisation in life and art.

2. In creating a work of art, there are two kinds of time – the flash of inspiration and the labour of capturing that in a form that can be shared with others. Performance introduces a third kind of time. It’s so helpful to distinguish between these times because often when someone is struggling with their art it’s with only one of these three (at a time). Artists can suffer from negative and distorted thinking which can convince us our creativity is in trouble, when really it’s just one aspect of the creative process that has us temporarily stumped.

3. Improvisation exists in ONE time and outside of time. Everything happens at once; those rare and beautiful moments of being in the flow. Virtually all of the 19 creative artists I talked with for my Creativity Interviews book mentioned this state of flow. It seems like one of the main things keeping us in this sometimes difficult world of the arts – that glimpse of “flow” that we’ve all seen, some more than others.

4. Our aim is to improvise in our common day-to-day activities, without being attached to their outcome, “because the doing is it’s own outcome”. So often we think our job is to make things turn out a certain way, to control our own fate and to keep everything together. When we let go of that job and just concentrate on doing what’s in front of us, we enjoy a freedom and enjoyment of our everyday tasks that can’t be possible when we’re focused on

the future and how things might turn out.

5. Improvisation in day-to-day life means having heightened awareness, tapping into intuition and opening yourself to fate’s will.

6. The teacher’s art is to connect the living body of knowledge with the living bodies of the students in the room.

7. Scripts (a predetermined set of actions) are appropriate sometimes, and are a part of being committed and responsible i.e. to perform a concert when you said you would.

8. Once you’ve learned techniques or craft, it’s essential to let them go and just relate to what’s in front of you. Create through your technique and not with it.

9. Improvisation entails surrendering to the unknown.

10. Each moment is precious and can’t be preserved, even though we tend to want to preserve what we create.

If you’d like to explore these ideas of “creative flow” and “everyday improvisation”, spend some time answering the following questions.

1. When have you experienced “being in the flow” in your art or in your day-to-day life?

2. What precipitated that state? What helped you stay in it? What brought you out of it?

3. How do you best learn from a teacher? What have you noticed about learning based on a syllabus versus having the learning customized to your needs?

4. Where in your life is improvising not an option? When do you find it necessary to stick with a schedule or outside structure?

5. What do you think of when you imagine “surrendering to the unknown”?

6. What’s been your experience in the different “times” of creativity? The flash of inspiration, the creation into form and the performance?

7. Which are the underlying techniques that you’re grounded in (have learned so deeply that they’re internalized), and that you need to “forget” when it’s time to improvise?

8. What creative moment in your life do you most wish you had a record of?

So, can you be an artist while you’re washing the dishes?

Watch your hands dance through the bubbles, watch the graceful movements of your arms, see the shining surfaces appear before your eyes, watch the precision as you stack your finished products, and notice how time both seems to stand still and pass effortlessly as you lose yourself in your task.

I think you can.

This article was originally published on the Muses Muse Songwriter’s Resource website (April 2005) http://www.musesmuse.com

(c) Linda Dessau, 2005. All rights reserved.

Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. Feel like your creativity is blocked? Sign-up for your complimentary copy of the popular e-course, “Roadblocks to Creativity” by visiting http://www.genuinecoaching.com

Successful companies have innovation in their blood. The single most important element in an innovative company is the creativity of their people. Creative thinkers don’t win by conforming to a given set of rules. Rather they reinvent the game by asking the 20 challenging questions and following 20 breakthrough strategies.

20 Challenging Questions to Ask:

1. What if….?
2. What do you think about….?
3. What’s the next step?
4. What can we do better?
5. How can we streamline?
6. What should we modify?
7. What should we replace?
8. What should we add?
9. What should we eliminate?
10. Can we make any new assumptions?
11. What will make it work?
12. What other ideas do you have?
13. What issues should we explore?
14. What patterns can you see?
15. How can we simplify?
16. How can we improve?
17. How will the customer benefit?
18. Have we forgotten anything?
19. What else?
20. Why?

20 Break Through Strategies to Follow:

1. Innovate for today as well as tomorrow.
2. Focus on what you can reasonably do…and stretch a bit.
3. Make innovation part of the day-to-day operations.
4. Develop a company-wide innovation process.
5. Assign responsibility to one person or team for the innovative process.
6. Provide incentives if you want your people to be creative.
7. Reward the whole team, not just individuals.
8. Train everyone in your company’s innovation process.
9. Focus innovation efforts on market needs & opportunities.
10. Target value and results instead of novelty.
11. Abandon old and

    the obsolete ways, but do so systematically.

12. Set high goals, but reward small improvements.
13. Focus on “new and different” as well as “better and more.”
14. Ask, “Is this the right opportunity?”
15. Establish specific accountabilities and targets.
16. Understand that innovation can require long lead time.
17. Accept innovation is an absolute survival skill.
18. Keep innovating; today’s success is built on yesterday’s results.
19. Remember, innovation is both hard work and fun.
20. Start small, but START.

Marcia Zidle, the ‘people smarts’ coach, works with business leaders to quickly solve their people management headaches so they can concentrate on their #1 job – to grow and increase profits. She offers free help through Leadership Briefing, a weekly e-newsletter with practical tips on leadership style, employee motivation, recruitment and retention and relationship management.

Subscribe by going to http://leadershiphooks.com and get the bonus report “61 Leadership Time Savers and Life Savers”. Marcia is the author of the What Really Works Handbooks – resources for managers on the front line and the Power-by-the-Hour programs – fast, convenient, real life, affordable courses for leadership and staff development. She is available for media interviews, conference presentations and panel discussions on the hottest issues affecting the workplace today. Contact Marcia at 800-971-7619.

There are a variety of blocks to creativity:

a) conformity and risk aversion

b) cultural dictates; appropriate behaviour

c) negatively assessing own ideas

d) scientific heritage forces logical thinking

e) ego forces rejection of inappropriate ideas

f) evaluation apprehension

g) competiton causes many people to shut down

h) negative interpretation

i) educated out of creative thinking

j) fear of being perceived as unoriginal, unintelligent

k) illusion of difficulty

l) waiting for the mood; procrastination

m) waiting for the big idea

n) lack of focus or goal

o) not trusting oneself or experiences

Various techniques assist in the overcoming of blocks:

a) Separate creative from critical thinking; write first, edit later; ignore content. Best done in different environement. The first containing much stimuli, variety, diversity, novelty etc. The second focusing on feasible, bottom line factors etc.

b) Allow atmosphere of psychological safety and freedom. Essentially, where the individual is safe and free to express him or herself without that person’s value being based on the quality of

output.

c) Acknowledge failure as a given; use it to expand competencies.

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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.

The MBA research project, 188 stage Hero’s Journey and other creativity and innovation tools can be found at http://managing-creativity.com/.

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://managing-creativity.com/.

“Your capacity to be creatively alive in virtually all life circumstances will depend in large part upon the kind of attitude you choose for yourself.”

- Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Author/Lecturer

In almost every part of daily living, there are obstacles that prevent you from accomplishing your goals. Whether the obstacles are in running a business or in handling a personal crisis, the objective is the same. You have to get above it, over it, under it, or around the obstacle.

Whenever you are faced with an obstacle, learn to see it for what it is. Think of how you can remove it, or make it harmless and not so important. By making the obstacle weaker and less important, you make yourself and your business more stronger.

FIVE WAYS YOU CAN FACE OBSTACLES AND TURN THEM INTO BLESSINGS

Never dwell on the cause of the obstacle. Rise above it and change the way you respond to it. It only has as much power as you’re willing to give it.

Check your attitude. Know that you have the ability to control the outcome, and/or to choose the answer that’s right for you.

Think of an alternative. If one answer doesn’t work, or if it doesn’t feel right, try another way to get to the best solution.

Realize that your view of the obstacle is what may determine how much impact it has on your life.

Think about what you were doing just before the obstacle happened. Don’t make excuses to yourself. Turn the obstacle into a positive motivator. Then find a way to move toward your goal.

FIVE OBSTACLES THAT CAN INFLUENCE YOUR LIFE AND BUSINESS

*** FEAR OF FAILURE. Do you think of all the reasons not to pursue your goals because you might fail? What if you make a wrong choice? What happens when something doesn’t work out? These can be mind numbing experiences. Ask yourself if your fear keeps you from doing your best, or if you might lose a client or friend because of it.

*** GUILT. No act, either big or small should make another person feel guilty. When you give your best, you have no reason to feel guilty. When you trust your feelings and are responsible for your actions, you’ll have no reason to feel guilty.

*** CRITICISM. The Golden Rule prevails here. When you do (criticize) unto others, it (criticism) will be done unto you. If you can’t

take criticism, don’t criticize others. Set boundaries between you and your critics. Try not to return criticism with criticism. You will be the better person.

*** DEFEAT. This obstacle is all in your attitude. The more stressed or overwhelmed you are with handling challenges, the more defeated you may feel. Let your faith work for you and know that with your skills you’ll get it right. At times, you may need to connect with a higher source of power. If your spirituality or belief is strong you will overcome any challenge.

*** CONFLICT. Dealing with difficult situations, and difficult people can be quite intimidating. What do you do when you find yourself in a frustrating situation? Are you passive? Aggressive? Or, assertive? After you’ve identified the specific issue, take a deep breathe, then act or speak with your honest feelings and get closure on the situation. For example: if you need to confront someone, be specific about what happened and how it made you feel. Then get your point across without hanging on to your anger. Look for a positive outcome–one that will benefit everyone involved.

Obstacles are only temporary misfortunes. The next time you experience an obstacle, whether it’s fear, guilt, defeat, criticism, or a conflict in your life or business, remember that you have a choice to turn any obstacle into a blessing. Take a look at the people you interact with. Are they fair? Positive and upbeat? Respectful? Pleasant to be around? Are you the same? If so, then your obstacles will be at a minimum.

Think of other obstacles that may hold you back from succeeding. Recognize them. When you encounter an unmovable obstacle, confront it and learn from it so that the next time you’ll be stronger and quicker to get to a favorable result. Be positive. Be respectful. Be powerful. Be pleasant. You always have a choice!

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About The Author

Gerri D Smith is publisher and host of multiple Gateways to inspiration, motivation, and information for individuals, small business owners, and entrepreneurs. Gerri’s internet business resource offers ways for you to unlock the doors to personal success. To help you reach more of your successful and financial goals, become one of the exclusive subscribers to her Free Monthly Newsletter. For details, visit: http://www.distinctivebusinesswomen.com Or, send blank email with: “Subscribe to DBW’s Newsletter-11AC” in Subject Box and mailto: gerri@distinctivebusinesswomen.com

gerri@distinctivebusinesswomen.com

In the “Roadblocks to Creativity” e-course, we look at the 7 most common things that block our creative expression. So, if we’re “blocked” when we’re facing those things, what are we like when we’re free of them?

Well, certainly we’re connected to our “Inner Artist”. This is a part of each of us that is naturally:

Joyful – our Inner Artist sees the world as a magical place, full of curious things and people. Each day is a series of fun surprises and the chance to learn, practice and master the things we most love doing.

Exuberant – like a giddy child, our Inner Artist doesn’t worry about the repercussions of expressing the joy they’re feeling. We are who we are and that’s the only person we can be, when we’re connected with our Inner Artist.

Creatively Free – Our Inner Artist has a clear channel to the muse, to spirit, to the universe and to every creative force that has been seen and unseen since time began.

Undamaged – Whatever path our lives have taken up to this point, our Inner Artist remains whole and healthy.

Unhindered – our Inner Artist is completely unaffected by the internal and external factors that block our creativity on a day-to-day basis. Our Inner Artist is only aware of what’s happening NOW and is not only untouched by any previous hurts, it’s also unconcerned with any future outcome.

As a music therapist, it’s my joy to be able to meet the “inner artist” of my clients with special needs. No matter what their disability or limitation, I look for and consistently find that joyful,

healthy and whole person to connect to – and I find it in the midst of creative play.

When we as artists are connected to this part of ourselves, we’re not only transcending our creative roadblocks (such as procrastination, negative thinking and people-pleasing), we’re in a state of consummate creative flow.

Put it into play

Just for today, approach your art as child’s play. Start your rehearsal by playing your instrument “wrong” or in two different keys. Write using only words that start with the letter “d”. Paint with your non-dominant hand. Make mistakes. Laugh.

Indulge your Inner Artist on an “artist’s date”. This popular concept from Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way” invites you to spend a couple of hours each week on an activity that feeds your creativity. Some examples:

Noodle – Play around on your instrument, with your art supplies or with new uses of words.

Doodle – On your sketchpad, on your wall or on the sidewalk.

Google – Get lost on the Internet, feeding your interests and creativity by seeing what’s “out there”. And what else is out there??

In other words, consciously spend time on creative pursuits that may not result in a product or well-defined outcome. Give yourself permission to TRY something and stay with it (or not, depending on how the mood strikes you), without knowing how it will turn out.

(c) Copyright 2005, Linda Dessau.

Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. Feel like your creativity is blocked? Sign-up for your complimentary copy of the popular e-course, “Roadblocks to Creativity” by visiting http://www.genuinecoaching.com

You may have heard of Roger von Oech’s book, A Whack on the Side of the Head: How to Unlock Your Mind for Innovation. It’s as much fun to read as its title suggests. It covers the ten common obstacles to creative thinking. It’s about ways in which you can unlock your mind for innovation, for change, for more interest, or even for a career change.

Mr. Von Oech writes about the time when his English teacher in high school put a small chalk dot on the blackboard and asked the class to tell him what it was. A few seconds passed, and then someone said, “It’s a chalk dot on the board.” The rest of the class seemed relieved that the obvious had been stated, and no one else had anything more to say.

“I’m surprised at you,” replied the teacher, “Yesterday I did the same exercise with a group of kindergartners, and they thought of fifty different things the chalk mark could be:

* a cat’s eye,

* a cigar butt,

* a star,

* a pebble,

* a squashed bug,

* a rotten egg,

* a head,

* and so on.

The lesson that I wish to share with you is the importance of looking for more than one right answer. When you look, you will be surprised to learn how many answers are available.

We have been trained in school to look only for the first right answer to every problem. The average person does this; the creative person looks for many.

Looking beyond the first solution to a problem can result in a whole new set of serendipitous solutions – solutions that can be a hundred times better than the first one.

Remember: When you maximize your potential, everyone wins. When you don’t, we all lose.

© Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in ezines, newsletters, and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required. Contact him at: executiveandgroup-consulting@yahoo.com when you use this article.

Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, Management Consultant and Trainer, conducts lectures, seminars, webinars, and writes articles on his theme: “… helping you maximize your potential.” He offers management, marketing, and parenting resources at hisMaximizing Y our Potential blog.

I recently read that Malcolm Gladwell wrote most of his book Blink while away from his desk. He wrote at coffee shops, restaurants, and other public places.

I’ve only done a little of this myself, but I’ve always found it a valuable practice. If I feel stuck in a creative rut, working in a public place is a great way to get new ideas flowing.

On Monday I spent most of the day on the Las Vegas Strip (only a 20-minute drive from my house), alternating walking around and stopping at various places to write and/or eat. I didn’t bring my laptop — just a pen and some folded up paper. Mostly I was brainstorming, so as soon as I’d get an idea, I’d stop and sit somewhere and write it down along with any others that came to mind. Usually I could find a good place to sit, like a food court area, but sometimes I’d sit and write at a slot machine. Then I’d get up and start roaming again. I started at the south end of the Strip at the Luxor Hotel and gradually worked my way up to the new Wynn Hotel and then back again. With all the wacky themed hotels, there’s an abundance of visual stimulation — a giant pyramid, a castle, a miniature New York City, the Eiffel Tower, a pirate ship, Roman statues, a volcano… plus lions, tigers, and ferocious flamingos.

I love the vibrancy of the Strip… the ching-ching-ching of the slot machines, the cheers and groans around the craps tables, the unskilled blackjack players who don’t know you should always hit a soft 17, the rowdy college kids, the happy newlyweds and their wedding parties, and of course… the buxom cocktail waitresses who look like they’re about to spill more than a tray of drinks.

Oddly it’s sometimes easier to concentrate when I’m surrounded by distractions.

I think the reason is that I know they’re distractions, so I can tune them out more easily. But in my home office, I’m surrounded by unconscious distractions — the kinds of things that seem important but aren’t. When you go out and leave your computer and internet connection behind, you can’t succumb to routine distractions as easily. If you bring only one kind of work with you, like a pen and paper for brainstorming, you can’t easily kid yourself that you’re working when you aren’t. You can’t simply claim to be working merely because you’re at the office. The line between working and not working becomes much sharper.

Try spending at least a half day away from your usual work environment. Walk around, eat at interesting places, and just sit for a while. Change your scenery often. Bring some simple work where you can carry all the materials in your pocket, like a pen and paper for brainstorming.

If you can’t take the time away from your office to do this, then do it for yourself on one of your days off. Take a list of decisions you need to make, and consider them one by one as you walk. Set some new goals. Write a personal mission statement.

Great ideas don’t always come knocking on your office door. A day outside can help scramble those stale inputs and get your creative juices flowing again.

Copyright © Steve Pavlina

Steve Pavlina

Personal Development for Smart People

http://www.stevepavlina.com

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog (blog)

http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles (articles)

Steve is intensely growth-oriented. He trained in martial arts, ran the L.A. Marathon, and graduated from college in three semesters with two degrees. He can juggle, count cards at blackjack, and make damn good guacamole. Steve is also a polyphasic sleeper, sleeping just 2-3 hours per day and only 20 minutes at a time. So chances are good that he’s awake right now.