Finding Voila: 10 Ways to Increase Creativity and Put More Spark in What You Do

Insights are everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  Like the road you travel daily to get to where your going, you pass by people,  buildings, and landscape that seldom take notice.  That is until you do.   Life happens, context changes and then voila, something that was already there and invisible, suddenly appears as if out of nowhere.  It now makes sense; it fits and spurs you to action. Now you call, you buy, you have a different conversation, you do something different. But this doesn’t have to be accidental. You can make this happen.  You can make Voila  become part of your everyday.

You can make Voila  become part of your everyday.

So what spurs this momentary insight and subsequent action?  Few would argue that children appear to possess more creativity and spark for the unconventional than adults.  The movie, Big plays on this as Tom Hanks’ kid character is transformed into a 30 year old adult after speaking with a fortune-telling machine called Zoltar.  He brings his child-like qualities with him to work every day and eventually transforms  the MacMillan Toy Company.

If you want a similar transformation, to get  more Voila in your life and in your organization; you have to seed the sparks. To wake up your creative spirit and put more spark in what you do, you can go ask for help from Zoltar or you can do a few things differently on Tuesday  or each and everyday.  By the way the  Zoltar photo was taken at Santa Monica Pier in California.

Here are 10 ways to increase your creativity and put more spark in what you do.

1. Modify your route to the familiar place you go, whether you are walking, busing, biking or driving.
2. Change your mode of transportation. If you walk, bike or skip or take the bus.  If you drive, hang up your keys.
3. Slow down, really slow down – walk slowly, click slower, drive slower. Savor all the words instead of skimming.  Listen to the words of a familiar song that you’ve heard 1000 times but haven’t really heard at all.  Sometimes in order to speed up you have to slow down.
4. Make conversation with a stranger. At a loss for words try one of these… what inspires you?  What do you know about your oldest living relative? What one thing would you change in the world?  What is the best toy? how would you make buyers cars better?
5. Be an artist – draw something, write a story, make a video, take a picture, write a poem and then share it.
6. Observe something – become inquisitive and intensely focused on knowing, like a child examining a bug under a freshly turned rock.
7. Play like a kid – walk like a gorilla, roar like a dinosaur, jump like a kangaroo.
8. Get lost – go someplace unplanned and forget about the script and the time you should be back.
9. Turn off your phone, your computer, your TV, and your iPod – try it for an hour, a day, a week.
10. Take a nap – naps are free and the benefits are countless. want to actually count them, then read the book by the same name.