Your personal development coach

Have Creative Insights

When you are learning – being exposed to new information and resources – you open yourself to new ideas from many directions. Some of these ideas may not relate directly to your immediate learning vision – but may be valuable or interesting enough to explore or save to pursue later.

Use your learning to spark creative insights!

Be alert for creative insights whenever they occur – on any topic, problem or opportunity – especially when you are in non-routine situations – like reading something new, in a special meeting, in a course or workshop, when someone or you have a problem

  • Creative ideas can spark at any time because your brain is constantly finding and making connections and noticing ideas that fit and don’t fit your current thinking
  • Creative ideas often occur in sleep or daydreams, and when you are resting. When you have a place to record them, you’ll be more aware when they occur.

Have a continually updating list of areas that could benefit from a creative spark.

  • Before you read, listen, go into a meeting, take a class, watch a YouTube, and more, remind yourself about areas where you would like a creative solution.
  • Think about the problem or opportunity or project for a minute or two. Then set it aside and turn back to your learning. Your nonconscious brain will continue to look for solutions.

Treat creative insights as legitimate outcomes when you are learning – even those that come while you are daydreaming.

  • As a SMART 4.0 learner, you know that rote transfer of learning from a book or a course to real life problems is seldom what you need. Be ready to find creative insights whenever you learn.
  • When you are in a learning situation you may daydream. This may be your brain’s way of making creative connections between your book, article, course, experience and life and work issues. Be open to daydreaming as part of your process.

When creative insights occur, record them in the Creative Insights section of your SMART Notes (in Tools) or in your Daily SMART Inside Journal (in Tools)

  • Make it easy and quick to capture creative ideas when they occur – be ready! Creative thoughts while you are learning are like the quarks in atoms – they appear and disappear rapidly.

Use SMART Notes (in Tools) when you are in an extended learning session: a meeting, course, a self-learning activity like reading a book, watching an educational video, or other dedicated learning activity.

  • Your notes will help you make learning your own while also reminding you that creative ideas are a legitimate learning outcome.