What has happened for most of us is that our minds are now trained to think in limited, restricted, compartmentalized ways, and we want to change that. What you want to do is become a critical thinker and ask yourself what is a problem that you're facing, and I want you to deeply think about what it would take to solve that problem. But in imagination, with no limits on time, energy, money, you may say, well, Jay, that's stupid because I won't be able to do that because I'm not limitless in time, energy, money.

What has happened for most of us is that our minds are now trained to think in limited, restricted, compartmentalized ways, and we want to change that. What you want to do is become a critical thinker and ask yourself what is a problem that you're facing, and I want you to deeply think about what it would take to solve that problem. But in imagination, with no limits on time, energy, money, you may say, well, Jay, that's stupid because I won't be able to do that because I'm not limitless in time, energy, money.

But what you're doing is you're training your mind to think that way.

But what you're doing is you're training your mind to think that way.

Hey, everyone, welcome back to On Purpose. I'm your host, Jay Sheddy, and I am so grateful that you've decided to tune in again. I'm so deeply moved by your commitment, your consistency, your dedication to growing and bettering yourself because we as humans are wired to keep progressing, to keep moving, to keep evolving, and when we used to do it intentionally, life can become phenomenal.

Hey, everyone, welcome back to On Purpose. I'm your host, Jay Sheddy, and I am so grateful that you've decided to tune in again. I'm so deeply moved by your commitment, your consistency, your dedication to growing and bettering yourself because we as humans are wired to keep progressing, to keep moving, to keep evolving, and when we used to do it intentionally, life can become phenomenal.

I want to thank you all for being here, for trusting me. I appreciate you.

I want to thank you all for being here, for trusting me. I appreciate you.

I've loved seeing all your reviews of late keep those coming on Spotify and Apple.

I've loved seeing all your reviews of late keep those coming on Spotify and Apple.

They helped the podcast so much.

They helped the podcast so much.

Please subscribe on YouTube and now a lot of you been watching this show as well, and we've had segments that are only there. Thank you so much again for being a part of this growing community. I am so grateful for you, and I couldn't do this without you. And today I want to dive into something because I find that creativity is such an important part of life. Yet we were never taught in school how to be more creative. If you think about how school worked, it was learning to know the answer to something, and the answer is either right or wrong. Now, this makes sense in subjects like math, but it doesn't necessarily make sense in subjects like English. Like if you were reflecting or you were introspecting about a paragram that you read, and you were doing a comprehension exercise where you had to write about how you felt about it or what you thought about it, there was still a finite number of answers, Whereas in life it's so important to have that freedom to be creative, to be curious, and so everything in school was pushing us towards having a right answer, having a final answer, having a conclusive answer, and creativity is anything but being conclusive or final. The point of creativity is that it's open, that it's abundant, that it's seeking, discovering, revealing itself. But we've been trained to think the opposite. We've been trained to believe that it's either yes or no, when in fact it could be well, why is it yes? Or why is it no? That's a far more interesting question. We've been told it's either there or it's there, it's either this or it's that, But it's like, well, why is it this?

Please subscribe on YouTube and now a lot of you been watching this show as well, and we've had segments that are only there. Thank you so much again for being a part of this growing community. I am so grateful for you, and I couldn't do this without you. And today I want to dive into something because I find that creativity is such an important part of life. Yet we were never taught in school how to be more creative. If you think about how school worked, it was learning to know the answer to something, and the answer is either right or wrong. Now, this makes sense in subjects like math, but it doesn't necessarily make sense in subjects like English. Like if you were reflecting or you were introspecting about a paragram that you read, and you were doing a comprehension exercise where you had to write about how you felt about it or what you thought about it, there was still a finite number of answers, Whereas in life it's so important to have that freedom to be creative, to be curious, and so everything in school was pushing us towards having a right answer, having a final answer, having a conclusive answer, and creativity is anything but being conclusive or final. The point of creativity is that it's open, that it's abundant, that it's seeking, discovering, revealing itself. But we've been trained to think the opposite. We've been trained to believe that it's either yes or no, when in fact it could be well, why is it yes? Or why is it no? That's a far more interesting question. We've been told it's either there or it's there, it's either this or it's that, But it's like, well, why is it this?

And why is it that? Is a far more in questions.

And why is it that? Is a far more in questions.

So our creative proclivities have been limited from our education, and therefore we ask less questions. Therefore we feel stupid when we ask questions. How many times have you ever said stupid question? But I had to ask right or you're saying it in your head? And so often we feel scared or judged. And how many of us push to judge and assume? How many of us is judging and assuming our first reaction to something as opposed to curiosity and questioning, as opposed to being creatively thinking about an idea that's put in front of us. How many of you hear an idea from one of your friends about a business or a podcast or an app, and straight away your mind goes, no, that's not possible, instead of being creative and thinking how could that be possible?

So our creative proclivities have been limited from our education, and therefore we ask less questions. Therefore we feel stupid when we ask questions. How many times have you ever said stupid question? But I had to ask right or you're saying it in your head? And so often we feel scared or judged. And how many of us push to judge and assume? How many of us is judging and assuming our first reaction to something as opposed to curiosity and questioning, as opposed to being creatively thinking about an idea that's put in front of us. How many of you hear an idea from one of your friends about a business or a podcast or an app, and straight away your mind goes, no, that's not possible, instead of being creative and thinking how could that be possible?

When and where.

When and where.

Could it be possible? What could we do to make that a reality? And what I find is that just as we shut down other people's creativity, we often shut down our own. How many times have you said in your own mind, oh, that's a stupid idea. Where does that voice come from? How many times were you told growing up that your idea was a stupid idea, or it was a bad idea, or that it would never work, or that it was guaranteed to fail. How many times did you hear that? I remember when I was starting this podcast, I remember people saying to me, Jay, people like listening to you for four minutes. People don't want to listen to you and a guest or a friend, or whoever it was, for an hour. People don't want to hear that. And the reason I'm sharing that with you is just to help us recognize that if you're limited in your creativity, if you've been restricted in your creativity internally or by others around you, you're not alone Sir Ken Robinson and his TED talk, which is called How Schools Kill Creativity, talks about how we need to reconstitute our conception of the richness of human capacity and says that creativity is now now as important in education as literacy. And he talks about this idea of how we shouldn't be making people feel they're wrong just because they're thinking differently. And if you think about all the things that we love, all the things that we admire, all the things that we think are incredible in the world, are usually fresh, they're new, they're enlivening, they're abundant. They've come from a place of someone being creative. Right, when you look at a building and it looks different to all the other buildings, we're like, Wow, that's special, that's amazing. Right, there was creativity there. When you see a book cover that's different, it's like, oh, there's creativity there. When you are looking for furniture for your home or a color that's different, there's creativity there. Creativity is so much of what we notice as being special or beautiful or admirable, yet we often restrict our own creative capabilities. Now there's an incredible book by Keith Sawyer called Zigzag the Surprising Path to Greater Creativity, and if you really want to dive into this subject, I highly recommend it. Keith Sawyer is a research psychologist and an author, and I think some of his advice in this book is fantastic. So I want to start off with what is one way that you can start to get that creative spark going, that creative juice flowing. And I want to start really small because I think sometimes when we think of being creative, we think I've got to build something big or I've got to come up with something unique, and that can feel quite intimidating. I feel like me, it can definitely feel intimidating. And I love the idea of watching Ted Talks. I love the idea of listening to podcasts. I love the idea of learning as a form of creativity. But I want to try and give you something specific. One of my favorite things to do is to walk into a bookshop. I love being in a bookshop because I feel like the titles, the covers, the amount of research. If you just think about what you're doing when you're walking into a bookshop, you're actually walking into decades of research.

Could it be possible? What could we do to make that a reality? And what I find is that just as we shut down other people's creativity, we often shut down our own. How many times have you said in your own mind, oh, that's a stupid idea. Where does that voice come from? How many times were you told growing up that your idea was a stupid idea, or it was a bad idea, or that it would never work, or that it was guaranteed to fail. How many times did you hear that? I remember when I was starting this podcast, I remember people saying to me, Jay, people like listening to you for four minutes. People don't want to listen to you and a guest or a friend, or whoever it was, for an hour. People don't want to hear that. And the reason I'm sharing that with you is just to help us recognize that if you're limited in your creativity, if you've been restricted in your creativity internally or by others around you, you're not alone Sir Ken Robinson and his TED talk, which is called How Schools Kill Creativity, talks about how we need to reconstitute our conception of the richness of human capacity and says that creativity is now now as important in education as literacy. And he talks about this idea of how we shouldn't be making people feel they're wrong just because they're thinking differently. And if you think about all the things that we love, all the things that we admire, all the things that we think are incredible in the world, are usually fresh, they're new, they're enlivening, they're abundant. They've come from a place of someone being creative. Right, when you look at a building and it looks different to all the other buildings, we're like, Wow, that's special, that's amazing. Right, there was creativity there. When you see a book cover that's different, it's like, oh, there's creativity there. When you are looking for furniture for your home or a color that's different, there's creativity there. Creativity is so much of what we notice as being special or beautiful or admirable, yet we often restrict our own creative capabilities. Now there's an incredible book by Keith Sawyer called Zigzag the Surprising Path to Greater Creativity, and if you really want to dive into this subject, I highly recommend it. Keith Sawyer is a research psychologist and an author, and I think some of his advice in this book is fantastic. So I want to start off with what is one way that you can start to get that creative spark going, that creative juice flowing. And I want to start really small because I think sometimes when we think of being creative, we think I've got to build something big or I've got to come up with something unique, and that can feel quite intimidating. I feel like me, it can definitely feel intimidating. And I love the idea of watching Ted Talks. I love the idea of listening to podcasts. I love the idea of learning as a form of creativity. But I want to try and give you something specific. One of my favorite things to do is to walk into a bookshop. I love being in a bookshop because I feel like the titles, the covers, the amount of research. If you just think about what you're doing when you're walking into a bookshop, you're actually walking into decades of research.

Learning and art.

Learning and art.

That's literally what it is. Like, let's really think about that. And I know bookshops are getting less and less popular, but hey, I love going to a good bookshop. And finding a good bookshop is really really awesome because, like I said, the covers, the titles, the work that's gone behind them. Even though people say, don't judge your book by its cover, one of the reasons I love bookshops is because you feel you're surrounded by some mu's thought and intelligence. Now, if you think about it, a bookshop is marketing you ideas. When you're on the streets, you're being marketed products. Think about that for a second, Right, when you're walking down the streets and you see a billboard, or you see a bus stand, or you see an advert on the train or of course on your phone, you're being marketed products. In a bookstore, you're being marketed ideas. Now, products improve your life in a certain way, for sure, but ideas define your life. Ideas teach you how to navigate life. Ideas teach you how to make decisions on even the products that you'll use. Right, it's the idea that's almost like a compass to your life. And so while products do improve our lives, and buying products is a part of our day to day life. We all need to eat, drink, and live and everything else. The ideas are what helps us make better decisions in our life and for the products and everything else. And so I love the idea of being marketed ideas. When I'm in a bookshop, and one of my favorite things to do inside a bookshop is to try to pick two random books, and what I'll do is I'll flick to a chapter in one book that seems exciting. I'll go down the contents page. I'll be like, Okay, which chapter is something I'm struggling with, something I'm working on. Let me go to that chapter. Let me do the same in another book that maybe on a completely different topic. But what am I fascinated by? And I'll try and find what is similar about those two chapters or how are they connected? How do they agree or disagree? How can I reflect on them both together? Maybe there's context that crosses over, Maybe there isn't. Maybe I've just learned about two new ideas that are completely disconnected. But the point being that what you're doing is you're actually pushing your brain. You're pushing your mind to connect dots where otherwise there is no connection. And Steve Jobs famously said creativity is just connecting things. If you look at what Steve Jobs did with Apple, he combined calligraphy with technology. He wanted shape things like calligraphy. He wanted the type font to be beautiful. He wanted everything to feel like art and calligraphy, even though it was technology. He wanted it to feel that fluid and that beautiful. When you think about the rise of Pokemon Go, if you remember Pokemon Go, I'm sure some of you played it. I'm sure you forced your parents to play it with you. If you don't know what it was, it was an augmented reality game where you could go out under the streets and augmented reality would help you catch pokemon on the streets. What's really interesting about this game is that the founder talked about why he created it, and the reason he created it is that he said that when he was young, his father would take him out and observe wildlife, insects, animals, and they would talk about them and he would learn about them, and he said that he missed the fact that parents were no longer going out with their children. So he wanted to find a way that technology could make people more interested in going outdoors and being outside. So it's really interesting that when you're connecting two ideas that seem opposite, Like at that time, people said kids just want to stay indoors and play video games. That was what society was saying, and he said, well, no, maybe we can find a way of getting them outdoors through a video game. Right, maybe that is a possibility, And that's creativity. So when you go into a bookshop and you pick two random books and you see how they can relate, that's what you're doing. You're pushing your mind in a very small way. Next time you hear two opposing arguments, try and see if you can find the similarities by and see if you can find the connection as opposed to the opposition. Because it's not hard to tell the difference between something, right, it's not complicated to be like, that's different from that.

That's literally what it is. Like, let's really think about that. And I know bookshops are getting less and less popular, but hey, I love going to a good bookshop. And finding a good bookshop is really really awesome because, like I said, the covers, the titles, the work that's gone behind them. Even though people say, don't judge your book by its cover, one of the reasons I love bookshops is because you feel you're surrounded by some mu's thought and intelligence. Now, if you think about it, a bookshop is marketing you ideas. When you're on the streets, you're being marketed products. Think about that for a second, Right, when you're walking down the streets and you see a billboard, or you see a bus stand, or you see an advert on the train or of course on your phone, you're being marketed products. In a bookstore, you're being marketed ideas. Now, products improve your life in a certain way, for sure, but ideas define your life. Ideas teach you how to navigate life. Ideas teach you how to make decisions on even the products that you'll use. Right, it's the idea that's almost like a compass to your life. And so while products do improve our lives, and buying products is a part of our day to day life. We all need to eat, drink, and live and everything else. The ideas are what helps us make better decisions in our life and for the products and everything else. And so I love the idea of being marketed ideas. When I'm in a bookshop, and one of my favorite things to do inside a bookshop is to try to pick two random books, and what I'll do is I'll flick to a chapter in one book that seems exciting. I'll go down the contents page. I'll be like, Okay, which chapter is something I'm struggling with, something I'm working on. Let me go to that chapter. Let me do the same in another book that maybe on a completely different topic. But what am I fascinated by? And I'll try and find what is similar about those two chapters or how are they connected? How do they agree or disagree? How can I reflect on them both together? Maybe there's context that crosses over, Maybe there isn't. Maybe I've just learned about two new ideas that are completely disconnected. But the point being that what you're doing is you're actually pushing your brain. You're pushing your mind to connect dots where otherwise there is no connection. And Steve Jobs famously said creativity is just connecting things. If you look at what Steve Jobs did with Apple, he combined calligraphy with technology. He wanted shape things like calligraphy. He wanted the type font to be beautiful. He wanted everything to feel like art and calligraphy, even though it was technology. He wanted it to feel that fluid and that beautiful. When you think about the rise of Pokemon Go, if you remember Pokemon Go, I'm sure some of you played it. I'm sure you forced your parents to play it with you. If you don't know what it was, it was an augmented reality game where you could go out under the streets and augmented reality would help you catch pokemon on the streets. What's really interesting about this game is that the founder talked about why he created it, and the reason he created it is that he said that when he was young, his father would take him out and observe wildlife, insects, animals, and they would talk about them and he would learn about them, and he said that he missed the fact that parents were no longer going out with their children. So he wanted to find a way that technology could make people more interested in going outdoors and being outside. So it's really interesting that when you're connecting two ideas that seem opposite, Like at that time, people said kids just want to stay indoors and play video games. That was what society was saying, and he said, well, no, maybe we can find a way of getting them outdoors through a video game. Right, maybe that is a possibility, And that's creativity. So when you go into a bookshop and you pick two random books and you see how they can relate, that's what you're doing. You're pushing your mind in a very small way. Next time you hear two opposing arguments, try and see if you can find the similarities by and see if you can find the connection as opposed to the opposition. Because it's not hard to tell the difference between something, right, it's not complicated to be like, that's different from that.

That makes sense.

That makes sense.

But to find the correlation where other people see anomalies is a real art and a real skill. People may not have seen art and technology together. People may not have seen the digital world and nature through the same lens, but that's what creativity is about. So this is a really sharp, smart, small way that you can start to do that. Now number two is really really interesting for me, and Sawyer talks about it in the book quite heavily. And what I want to talk about or address here is this idea of asking better questions of yourself and of others. The reason why we struggle with creativity is because we ask the wrong questions. And I actually want to take that back. You're never asking the wrong question. We just need to ask more questions. We need to ask deeper questions, and we just need to ask more questions. Right, We often just limit it to what do you do? How do you like it? Do you enjoy what you do? Notice how all those questions are very very basic. We don't necessarily ask, well, what do you enjoy about it? Or on a scale of one to ten, how enjoyable it is? What could make it more enjoyable, what could make it more fun? What is it that makes it so complicated or difficult? Notice how all those questions are different. Now Sawyer talks about the beginning of Starbucks. Now, this is really really interesting because the first question that they were trying to answer was how can I recreate the Italian espresso bar in the United States. That was the original goal, That was the original target of Starbucks. Now, think about what question you have. Maybe your question is, how do I start a huge podcast, how do I build my YouTube following, how do I launch my own brand, how do I get a promotion, how do I move to this city, or.

But to find the correlation where other people see anomalies is a real art and a real skill. People may not have seen art and technology together. People may not have seen the digital world and nature through the same lens, but that's what creativity is about. So this is a really sharp, smart, small way that you can start to do that. Now number two is really really interesting for me, and Sawyer talks about it in the book quite heavily. And what I want to talk about or address here is this idea of asking better questions of yourself and of others. The reason why we struggle with creativity is because we ask the wrong questions. And I actually want to take that back. You're never asking the wrong question. We just need to ask more questions. We need to ask deeper questions, and we just need to ask more questions. Right, We often just limit it to what do you do? How do you like it? Do you enjoy what you do? Notice how all those questions are very very basic. We don't necessarily ask, well, what do you enjoy about it? Or on a scale of one to ten, how enjoyable it is? What could make it more enjoyable, what could make it more fun? What is it that makes it so complicated or difficult? Notice how all those questions are different. Now Sawyer talks about the beginning of Starbucks. Now, this is really really interesting because the first question that they were trying to answer was how can I recreate the Italian espresso bar in the United States. That was the original goal, That was the original target of Starbucks. Now, think about what question you have. Maybe your question is, how do I start a huge podcast, how do I build my YouTube following, how do I launch my own brand, how do I get a promotion, how do I move to this city, or.

How do I live in this place? Right?

How do I live in this place? Right?

Maybe that's your question, and maybe you've just been banging your head against the wall. Maybe you've just said, you know what, I can't figure this out. It's just not working for me because every time I ask that question, I get stuck. How many of you have ever felt that way that whenever you ask the question you've been asking, You've been asking the same question for a long time, and you keep getting stuck. I have a friend who really really wants to launch a YouTube channel, and he's always getting stuck because he's thinking, well, how do I do it? When do I start? When's the right time? That's the question he's asking, when is the right time? Now, if he was listening to this episode, what I would say to him is, well, instead of asking when is the right time, what's a better question. How do I make now the right time? What does the perfect time look like? Right? What am I waiting for? What is good timing?

Maybe that's your question, and maybe you've just been banging your head against the wall. Maybe you've just said, you know what, I can't figure this out. It's just not working for me because every time I ask that question, I get stuck. How many of you have ever felt that way that whenever you ask the question you've been asking, You've been asking the same question for a long time, and you keep getting stuck. I have a friend who really really wants to launch a YouTube channel, and he's always getting stuck because he's thinking, well, how do I do it? When do I start? When's the right time? That's the question he's asking, when is the right time? Now, if he was listening to this episode, what I would say to him is, well, instead of asking when is the right time, what's a better question. How do I make now the right time? What does the perfect time look like? Right? What am I waiting for? What is good timing?

In my eyes?

In my eyes?

Let me talk to people about whether the time is the right thing that matters when it comes to social media at all. Right, So what ended up happening with Howard Shortz is the question changed from how can I recreate the Italian espresso bar in the United States? To how can I create a comfortable relaxing environment to enjoy great coffee? Think about the difference in that question, how can I create a comfortable relaxing environment to enjoy great coffee?

Let me talk to people about whether the time is the right thing that matters when it comes to social media at all. Right, So what ended up happening with Howard Shortz is the question changed from how can I recreate the Italian espresso bar in the United States? To how can I create a comfortable relaxing environment to enjoy great coffee? Think about the difference in that question, how can I create a comfortable relaxing environment to enjoy great coffee?

Now?

Now?

Kevin's sistrom also did the same with Instagram, where initially he just wanted to create a better location sharing app, but the question turned into how can we create a simple photo sharing app? And that slight change made all the difference. So what problem are you trying to solve? What are you trying to create? What are you trying to build? What is it that has been blocking you because you're asking the wrong question?

Kevin's sistrom also did the same with Instagram, where initially he just wanted to create a better location sharing app, but the question turned into how can we create a simple photo sharing app? And that slight change made all the difference. So what problem are you trying to solve? What are you trying to create? What are you trying to build? What is it that has been blocking you because you're asking the wrong question?

Now?

Now?

Number three, A great way to get creative, to get your creative mind working, is to solve the real problem in your life, but in your imagination, so you don't need to go raise money. You don't need to go in build a website or an app, But how would you solve it? So what you want to do is become a critical thinker and ask yourself, what is a problem that I'm really truly struggling with. Maybe it is to come up with podcast episode ideas, right, Maybe that's something you're struggling with. Maybe something you're struggling with is I don't know how to communicate with my toxic family members. Maybe that's what you're struggling with. Maybe what you're struggling with is I want to be more focused at work, but I keep getting distracted. Right, what is a problem that you're facing? And I want you to deeply think about what it would take to solve that problem. But in imagination right, with no limits on time, energy, money. Now you may say, well, Jay, that's stupid because I won't be able to do that because I'm not limitless in time, energy, money. But what you're doing is you're training your mind to think that way. See what has happened for most of us is that are my are now trained to think in limited, restricted, compartmentalized ways, and we want to change that for our minds to think in limitless, unrestricted, infinite ways. Right. I had a mentor called Thomas Power, who's a good friend, and when I first met him, he presented this idea to me about how a lot of people are what he called CSC closed, selective, and controlling. They're closed, They're thinking is very very closed into what's possible. They're very selective. They selective about who they spend time with, them who they don't spend time with, and that often leads them to miss out on incredible possibilities. And finally they're controlling. Right, there's a sense of a know it all or they know what's going on. And then on the other side, he said, there are people that are open, random and supportive. They're open to new ideas, They're open to their ways of thinking being changed. Really important part of being creative that how open are you to saying I know my values, i know what's important to me, but I'm still open to new ideas. And I find this to be one of the most fascinating things in life is that you can have a philosophy, you can have a set of principles and guidelines that you agree with, yet you can be open to better ones. Random. He talked about this idea of being random, like, how many times have you just bumped into someone in a random way? How many times have you come across an idea because of something random? Some of my best ideas are random and then supportive. How many of us actually come up with great ideas because we're helping someone else. While we're supporting others. While we're helping others, we may create something phenomenal. So solve a real problem in your life to expand your thinking. Again, you're not going to solve it. You may not create the products. You may end up creating the product, but you're gearing and guiding and training your mind to think limitlessly about a problem that makes you feel limited. Now, question number four, think about the next place you're traveling. Where are you going to next? Maybe you've booked a vacation to Ballei. Maybe you've booked a vacation to Australia. Maybe you've booked a local weekend get away right like a staycation. Almost what's the next place you're traveling. Here's a couple of things I want you to think about. Learn some of the language of your local area to ask for basic things, just the local language, so you could get about in the local language, maybe to order your favorite food, maybe to ask where the bus stop or the train station is, maybe to ask to get to the restroom. Learn some of the basic language that can help you operate. This gets your creative juices flowing. The second thing is learn about the history. Maybe there's something you can learn about a building, the area, something that is a bit random, right, something that you may not even care to learn about. I remember when I first moved to La I was being told about so much history, so many events that happened there. And when you think of La you think of Hollywood and you think of movies, but you forget the history of entertainment. There's so much history of Hollywood there. I remember when I watched this movie Babylon maybe you saw it with Margot, Robbie and Brad Pitt. They show what bel Air was like before it became bel Air. You see what Hollywood movie sets look like before they look like they do now, And that idea is incredible to look into the past, right. And the third thing is read a local paper or listen to a local radio station. What this does is it disrupts your pattern.

Number three, A great way to get creative, to get your creative mind working, is to solve the real problem in your life, but in your imagination, so you don't need to go raise money. You don't need to go in build a website or an app, But how would you solve it? So what you want to do is become a critical thinker and ask yourself, what is a problem that I'm really truly struggling with. Maybe it is to come up with podcast episode ideas, right, Maybe that's something you're struggling with. Maybe something you're struggling with is I don't know how to communicate with my toxic family members. Maybe that's what you're struggling with. Maybe what you're struggling with is I want to be more focused at work, but I keep getting distracted. Right, what is a problem that you're facing? And I want you to deeply think about what it would take to solve that problem. But in imagination right, with no limits on time, energy, money. Now you may say, well, Jay, that's stupid because I won't be able to do that because I'm not limitless in time, energy, money. But what you're doing is you're training your mind to think that way. See what has happened for most of us is that are my are now trained to think in limited, restricted, compartmentalized ways, and we want to change that for our minds to think in limitless, unrestricted, infinite ways. Right. I had a mentor called Thomas Power, who's a good friend, and when I first met him, he presented this idea to me about how a lot of people are what he called CSC closed, selective, and controlling. They're closed, They're thinking is very very closed into what's possible. They're very selective. They selective about who they spend time with, them who they don't spend time with, and that often leads them to miss out on incredible possibilities. And finally they're controlling. Right, there's a sense of a know it all or they know what's going on. And then on the other side, he said, there are people that are open, random and supportive. They're open to new ideas, They're open to their ways of thinking being changed. Really important part of being creative that how open are you to saying I know my values, i know what's important to me, but I'm still open to new ideas. And I find this to be one of the most fascinating things in life is that you can have a philosophy, you can have a set of principles and guidelines that you agree with, yet you can be open to better ones. Random. He talked about this idea of being random, like, how many times have you just bumped into someone in a random way? How many times have you come across an idea because of something random? Some of my best ideas are random and then supportive. How many of us actually come up with great ideas because we're helping someone else. While we're supporting others. While we're helping others, we may create something phenomenal. So solve a real problem in your life to expand your thinking. Again, you're not going to solve it. You may not create the products. You may end up creating the product, but you're gearing and guiding and training your mind to think limitlessly about a problem that makes you feel limited. Now, question number four, think about the next place you're traveling. Where are you going to next? Maybe you've booked a vacation to Ballei. Maybe you've booked a vacation to Australia. Maybe you've booked a local weekend get away right like a staycation. Almost what's the next place you're traveling. Here's a couple of things I want you to think about. Learn some of the language of your local area to ask for basic things, just the local language, so you could get about in the local language, maybe to order your favorite food, maybe to ask where the bus stop or the train station is, maybe to ask to get to the restroom. Learn some of the basic language that can help you operate. This gets your creative juices flowing. The second thing is learn about the history. Maybe there's something you can learn about a building, the area, something that is a bit random, right, something that you may not even care to learn about. I remember when I first moved to La I was being told about so much history, so many events that happened there. And when you think of La you think of Hollywood and you think of movies, but you forget the history of entertainment. There's so much history of Hollywood there. I remember when I watched this movie Babylon maybe you saw it with Margot, Robbie and Brad Pitt. They show what bel Air was like before it became bel Air. You see what Hollywood movie sets look like before they look like they do now, And that idea is incredible to look into the past, right. And the third thing is read a local paper or listen to a local radio station. What this does is it disrupts your pattern.

Right.

Right.

The way we live our life currently is you get into your car to go to work, you listen to the same radio station, you walk in the same direction, you take the same train, you take the same route to work, or you walk down your stairs, or you sit at the laptop at your bedroom. Right, we have a very routine life that doesn't get disrupted often. And allowing yourself to disrupt it by reading a local paper or listening to a local radio staf to discover some local music of a place you're about to visit, or a place that you're going to visit, or maybe the last place you went to, it disrupts that pattern. It starts allowing creativitis seeds to be planted. That's a really powerful one. As you can tell. I'm giving a really practical, simple things that you can all do. That doesn't mean learning a new skill or trying something crazy.

The way we live our life currently is you get into your car to go to work, you listen to the same radio station, you walk in the same direction, you take the same train, you take the same route to work, or you walk down your stairs, or you sit at the laptop at your bedroom. Right, we have a very routine life that doesn't get disrupted often. And allowing yourself to disrupt it by reading a local paper or listening to a local radio staf to discover some local music of a place you're about to visit, or a place that you're going to visit, or maybe the last place you went to, it disrupts that pattern. It starts allowing creativitis seeds to be planted. That's a really powerful one. As you can tell. I'm giving a really practical, simple things that you can all do. That doesn't mean learning a new skill or trying something crazy.

Now.

Now.

Number five playing with toys. George Bernard Shawce famously said, we don't stop playing because we get old. We get old because we stop playing. I found that when I try and play with legos, when I'm playing with my niece and nephew, or I'm playing with one of my friend's children and we're playing with their toys, We're building a tower, we're building a car, whatever it is. All of a sudden, the tangible physicality of that is so powerful if you think about it. Right now, we don't really build anything with our hands anymore. We don't do a lot of If you're not doing pottery, or if you're not doing painting, we're not actually engaging that part of our brain. When we were at school, you were handwriting, right, We're not really using that much anymore. So if you can do pottery and painting, great, But at the very minimal, helping your niece or nephew, and if you have children, helping them build something, create something can be a great way of getting your creative juices flowing. And watching how they look at things, right, I think that's what's really fascinating, is observing how they observe things. This is something that I actually happened to me this weekend. So number six is ask your friends what do you think I should do?

Number five playing with toys. George Bernard Shawce famously said, we don't stop playing because we get old. We get old because we stop playing. I found that when I try and play with legos, when I'm playing with my niece and nephew, or I'm playing with one of my friend's children and we're playing with their toys, We're building a tower, we're building a car, whatever it is. All of a sudden, the tangible physicality of that is so powerful if you think about it. Right now, we don't really build anything with our hands anymore. We don't do a lot of If you're not doing pottery, or if you're not doing painting, we're not actually engaging that part of our brain. When we were at school, you were handwriting, right, We're not really using that much anymore. So if you can do pottery and painting, great, But at the very minimal, helping your niece or nephew, and if you have children, helping them build something, create something can be a great way of getting your creative juices flowing. And watching how they look at things, right, I think that's what's really fascinating, is observing how they observe things. This is something that I actually happened to me this weekend. So number six is ask your friends what do you think I should do?

Now?

Now?

I say this not because they're going to have the best ideas, but you're going to be thrown a lot of different ideas that help you connect dots. So I didn't ask this of my friend. I didn't say, what do you think I should do? But one of my friends this weekend was like, Jay, I can't wait for you to start a school one day.

I say this not because they're going to have the best ideas, but you're going to be thrown a lot of different ideas that help you connect dots. So I didn't ask this of my friend. I didn't say, what do you think I should do? But one of my friends this weekend was like, Jay, I can't wait for you to start a school one day.

And I was like, what way do you think of that?

And I was like, what way do you think of that?

I've never thought about that, and by the way, I really have not thought about that. I was like, that's not something that I envision doing. I think schools are very difficult to I think we need to do a lot of research around child psychology to get it right. I think there's a lot of a lot of work that needs to go into that and so much to be improved. And so that was my reaction. I was like, I'm not qualified to start a school. And that's fascinating though, I was like, that's really exciting. And then I thought, wait a minute, maybe that's what I want to study. Maybe I'm really fascinated by how our education system has developed our brains and why it's made us so limited. And maybe even though I don't have the answers to build a school, maybe that's what I want to do. Maybe I want to go and study schools. Maybe I want to go and spend time with children who are a part of alternative schools. Maybe I want to map people's trajectories when they're taught about mindfulness, creativity, abundance from an early age. Maybe that's what I'm really passionate about. And so it wasn't that his idea was the idea I thought I should do. It was actually completely the opposite that instead of building something, I was like, that's what I want to study. And so sitting down and asking your friends what do you think I should do? Is a really great way of then reworking it. Right, So your friend says to you, you should start a restaurant. You're amazing. You may think, oh, you know, I do really enjoy food. Maybe I should go and take a culinary course. Maybe one of your friends says to you, oh, you should start a YouTube channel where you talk about football, because that's all you do is talk about football on the weekends. And you go, well, maybe I should find a friend and maybe we will start recording something together, just because we have so much of.

I've never thought about that, and by the way, I really have not thought about that. I was like, that's not something that I envision doing. I think schools are very difficult to I think we need to do a lot of research around child psychology to get it right. I think there's a lot of a lot of work that needs to go into that and so much to be improved. And so that was my reaction. I was like, I'm not qualified to start a school. And that's fascinating though, I was like, that's really exciting. And then I thought, wait a minute, maybe that's what I want to study. Maybe I'm really fascinated by how our education system has developed our brains and why it's made us so limited. And maybe even though I don't have the answers to build a school, maybe that's what I want to do. Maybe I want to go and study schools. Maybe I want to go and spend time with children who are a part of alternative schools. Maybe I want to map people's trajectories when they're taught about mindfulness, creativity, abundance from an early age. Maybe that's what I'm really passionate about. And so it wasn't that his idea was the idea I thought I should do. It was actually completely the opposite that instead of building something, I was like, that's what I want to study. And so sitting down and asking your friends what do you think I should do? Is a really great way of then reworking it. Right, So your friend says to you, you should start a restaurant. You're amazing. You may think, oh, you know, I do really enjoy food. Maybe I should go and take a culinary course. Maybe one of your friends says to you, oh, you should start a YouTube channel where you talk about football, because that's all you do is talk about football on the weekends. And you go, well, maybe I should find a friend and maybe we will start recording something together, just because we have so much of.

A passion around it.

A passion around it.

Right, what is that idea that sometimes you don't see in yourself that your friends might do. So today I want you to ask your friends, if I could do anything in the world, what do you think I should do. What is it that I do well for you that you think I could do for the world. And like I said, it may not be the exact answer, but when you flip it you might discover something. Number seven is redecorate. And what I mean by this is I'm not telling you to go spend tons of money and do a full home makeover. I'm saying, how can you place things strategically. So one of my favorite things to do is I found a few years ago that when I was tired and coming back from work, I wanted to sit in front the TV and switch it on. And I wanted to stop doing that because I never felt fulfilled after watching TV. That's a personal thing.

Right, what is that idea that sometimes you don't see in yourself that your friends might do. So today I want you to ask your friends, if I could do anything in the world, what do you think I should do. What is it that I do well for you that you think I could do for the world. And like I said, it may not be the exact answer, but when you flip it you might discover something. Number seven is redecorate. And what I mean by this is I'm not telling you to go spend tons of money and do a full home makeover. I'm saying, how can you place things strategically. So one of my favorite things to do is I found a few years ago that when I was tired and coming back from work, I wanted to sit in front the TV and switch it on. And I wanted to stop doing that because I never felt fulfilled after watching TV. That's a personal thing.

It's me.

It's me.

I kind of felt dissatisfied. I felt like a wasted time. I didn't feel like I gained anything from it, whether it be rest, refuel or whatever it may be. And so for me, what I started to do was, first of all, I've removed TVs from every room where I would spend time after my work days over and we only have a TV in one room. And on top of that, I placed books strategically in places where I would want to often do something else. So I put a book open next to my work table. I have a book by my bedside table. I have a book open by my living room area, and so naturally I'm being pushed to pick up a book and read a page as opposed to something else.

I kind of felt dissatisfied. I felt like a wasted time. I didn't feel like I gained anything from it, whether it be rest, refuel or whatever it may be. And so for me, what I started to do was, first of all, I've removed TVs from every room where I would spend time after my work days over and we only have a TV in one room. And on top of that, I placed books strategically in places where I would want to often do something else. So I put a book open next to my work table. I have a book by my bedside table. I have a book open by my living room area, and so naturally I'm being pushed to pick up a book and read a page as opposed to something else.

So read.

So read.

Decorating doesn't mean changing your wallpaper. It means repositioning things so you feel differently. You may find you want to see a piece of art when you wake up. Maybe you want to smell a certain candle and light it when you slide down on the couch. Right, whatever that may be, how can you redecorate more intentionally? And that starts creativity as well, because you're now again disrupting the pattern. That's the key to creativity is disrupting patterns that have become machine like. Right, So we start off as humans, we then become machines, and then it's about becoming human again. Now, there is something to be said for machine like discipline, which is really powerful in your life. But at the same time you need these disruptions of creativity. And that's why point number eight is find random friends. We need friends who have different backgrounds, different languages, different walks of life, different cultures. I realized as I started to do that. As I started to expand my friend network. I recognize what cultures I'd missed out on, what foods had missed out, and what music and movies had missed out on. As I grew up in my own bubble, It's time to burst that bubble as we get older, not just for creativity, but for community. I want to thank you so much for listening to this episode. This segment about inspiring creativity is brought to you by AT and T. AT and T believes connecting changes everything. I'm always looking for new ways to get my creativity going. With technology. It's like an ongoing adventure where each day brings a chance to find something fresh, whether I'm calling a friend to chat about cool book ideas or sharing interesting videos. I've noticed that my creative energy peaks the more I bounce ideas off people in my life. I want to share with you a few quick methods that are going to help you be creative with other people connecting via technology. I love taking calls from different settings because you see, creativity can hit you anywhere. If you keep taking a call from the same place, you're gonna have the same ideas. But if you choose to take it outside, maybe while you're on a treadmill or actually walking back and forth or taking a walk in the park. Changing your atmosphere and connecting changes the ideas that flow to you. One of my other favorite ways to be creative through technology is I'm always writing notes, and I'm always searching for things. So I write notes about ideas that come to my mind, and then I'll search them. I'll literally just put it in and say where's that? Maybe I'll search it into chat GPT right to be like, what does this look like? Or what research have I not read on this? I find asking questions and jotting down, copying and pasting answers into my notes is a great way to document that.

Decorating doesn't mean changing your wallpaper. It means repositioning things so you feel differently. You may find you want to see a piece of art when you wake up. Maybe you want to smell a certain candle and light it when you slide down on the couch. Right, whatever that may be, how can you redecorate more intentionally? And that starts creativity as well, because you're now again disrupting the pattern. That's the key to creativity is disrupting patterns that have become machine like. Right, So we start off as humans, we then become machines, and then it's about becoming human again. Now, there is something to be said for machine like discipline, which is really powerful in your life. But at the same time you need these disruptions of creativity. And that's why point number eight is find random friends. We need friends who have different backgrounds, different languages, different walks of life, different cultures. I realized as I started to do that. As I started to expand my friend network. I recognize what cultures I'd missed out on, what foods had missed out, and what music and movies had missed out on. As I grew up in my own bubble, It's time to burst that bubble as we get older, not just for creativity, but for community. I want to thank you so much for listening to this episode. This segment about inspiring creativity is brought to you by AT and T. AT and T believes connecting changes everything. I'm always looking for new ways to get my creativity going. With technology. It's like an ongoing adventure where each day brings a chance to find something fresh, whether I'm calling a friend to chat about cool book ideas or sharing interesting videos. I've noticed that my creative energy peaks the more I bounce ideas off people in my life. I want to share with you a few quick methods that are going to help you be creative with other people connecting via technology. I love taking calls from different settings because you see, creativity can hit you anywhere. If you keep taking a call from the same place, you're gonna have the same ideas. But if you choose to take it outside, maybe while you're on a treadmill or actually walking back and forth or taking a walk in the park. Changing your atmosphere and connecting changes the ideas that flow to you. One of my other favorite ways to be creative through technology is I'm always writing notes, and I'm always searching for things. So I write notes about ideas that come to my mind, and then I'll search them. I'll literally just put it in and say where's that? Maybe I'll search it into chat GPT right to be like, what does this look like? Or what research have I not read on this? I find asking questions and jotting down, copying and pasting answers into my notes is a great way to document that.

And here's one last one.

And here's one last one.

Try and learn an idea and then teach it to a group of friends over a zoom call and get feedback. The more you share the ideas you're learning, even the ones on this podcast, the more likely you are to remember them and practice them in your own life. Remember it's not just about learning. The more you share and teach them as well, the better you'll practice them. This has been brought to you by AT and T. AT and T believes connecting in spires unites, heals, and helps us grow. Connecting changes how we live our lives for the better

Try and learn an idea and then teach it to a group of friends over a zoom call and get feedback. The more you share the ideas you're learning, even the ones on this podcast, the more likely you are to remember them and practice them in your own life. Remember it's not just about learning. The more you share and teach them as well, the better you'll practice them. This has been brought to you by AT and T. AT and T believes connecting in spires unites, heals, and helps us grow. Connecting changes how we live our lives for the better