This is the fun stuff. You’re designing a new product, or organising a party, or decorating a house, reorganising your workload, planning a holiday, or producing a piece of music. You’re waiting for your muse to appear … However, while you’re waiting for inspiration to strike, you could actually think your way there instead. As Thomas Edison said, ‘Genius is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration.’ You don’t need my help with the inspiration, but I can point you in the right direction for the other 99 per cent.
I’ve watched some brilliant creative thinkers at work, I’ve talked to them, I’ve seen how they operate at first hand. And over the years I’ve come to understand the unspoken Rules they follow to free up their minds so that the 1 per cent of inspiration can find its way in. Indeed, I’ve learnt to use the Rules myself. Because while creative thinking comes naturally to a few lucky people, the rest of us aren’t excluded. We simply have to train our minds. Once you’ve established the right thinking habits, you’ll find they come naturally to you, too.
Creative thinking is all about seeing where your thoughts take you. You might know where you’re starting from, but you have no idea where your destination is. So you need to think in a way that opens you up to possibilities, or plays with ideas, that you might not have considered. If you use your brain in the best way, and open enough doors, you make it so much easier for your muse to get in.