Daring Greatly: 5 Ways to Make Sure Your Creativity and Ideas Count at Work
Do you have a notebook stuffed with ideas on how to fix that problem at work, maximize efficiency in your team project, or how to best approach an exciting, upcoming opportunity for your company? If so, it sounds like you are passionate about your job and channel it through your creative problem-solving, which is a valuable skill to have. Having creative ideas and strategies to improve how you perform at work and help drive the success of your company is one part of the equation of implementing creativity into your career. The other part, however, is sharing those ideas with your coworkers and boss, which can seem like a rather daunting task. But, don’t fret because here are five ways you can express your creativity at your work and have your ideas embraced by everyone.
Surround yourself with people who inspire you and make you feel good
It may be hard to always be confident in your ideas, so it may be helpful to immerse yourself in creative spaces that inspire you to show off that creativity. If you work from home, like many of us, you can display quotes from inspiring women in a collage above your desk for that lightning strike of inspiration. It also never hurts to reach out to a confident coworker to discuss how they have developed their confidence, so you can apply their lessons to your work life. We will be able to safely socialize more in person in the near future, but in the meantime, utilize ways of communicating virtually and decorating your home office to surround yourself in an uplifting, inspiring community.
Help others
There’s something special about an encouraging, collaborative work environment. A great way to foster this kind of environment is by helping your coworkers with creative problem-solving. Collaborative teamwork fosters enthusiasm in one’s work which can allow you to feel comfortable to share your creative ideas with your coworkers. So, next time a coworker reaches out to you for help, lend your expertise because by doing so, you are opening a channel of trust and communication which can be used to share eachothers’s ideas.
Focus on what you have, not what you lack
In our jobs, we can all long for more experience, skills, and responsibilities from time to time, but it is important to make the most of the expertise and opportunities you already possess. Working with what you currently have at your disposal, allows you to focus on your present problems which allows you time to explore solutions which are pertinent to your current responsibilities. Shift your mindset to what is right in front of you, and watch the fruits of your labor multiply before you.
Embrace your past, live in the present, and look forward to what is yet to come
When we look to the past, we can evaluate what worked and what needs improvement when it comes to executing our creative thinking, so we can learn from our mistakes and improve upon them in the future. Now, when we look to the future, we are allowing ourselves to see what could be, and in turn, this enthusiasm can motivate us to work smarter in the present, so we can achieve those future goals.
Be the best you can be by your own standards
Lastly, it’s important to remember that you’re human, so you will mess up a ton, but that’s okay! As novelist and poet, Erica Jong, says “And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk more.” So try new things and fail because it’s better than trying nothing. In life, we really can only strive to be the best versions of ourselves each and everyday, so don’t be afraid to share your creativity because you never know where it may take you in your career.
Eleanore Roosevelt once said, “A woman is like a tea bag—you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water,” so I urge you to try. Stop selling yourself short and get comfortable taking creative risks. The tea (and biscuits) have been served!
This guest post was authored by Becca Anderson
Becca comes from a long line of preachers and teachers from Ohio and Kentucky. The teacher side of her family led Becca to become a women’s studies scholar who writes The Blog of Awesome Women. An avid collector of meditations, prayers, and blessings, she helps run a “Gratitude and Grace Circle” that meets monthly at homes, churches, and bookstores. Becca Anderson credits her spiritual practice with helping in her recovery from cancer and wants to share this with anyone who is facing difficulty in their life. She is the author of Think Happy to Stay Happy, Real Life Mindfulness, and Every Day Thankful. Becca shares her inspirational writings and suggested acts of kindness at https://thedailyinspoblog.wordpress.com/.
Be sure to pick Becca’s Badass Affirmations and The Book of Awesome Women Writers.
