By Steve Gillman
Author of Secrets of Lucky People

For more creative problem solving, you need to develop your creativity. Here's how:

1. Encourage it.
2. Train your brain.

Work on both of these right now, and you can experience greater creativity today.

Encouraging Creativity

Encouraging creativity will make you more creative. No big surprise there. This principle is true for many things you might want to see more of in your life. Encouragement works, but how do you encourage creativity?

Start by paying attention to it. The subconscious mind tends to give you more of what you pay attention to. If you ignore the creative aspects of your life, you're telling your subconscious mind they're unimportant. Consciously note when you're creative, and look for opportunities to be creative, and your subconscious mind will start feeding you more creative ideas.

Writing down your ideas is another good way to encourage and increase creativity. Keep an "idea journal." Do this regularly, and you'll start having more ideas while you are writing. Small ideas may normally be forgotten, but by writing them down, your subconscious may work on them, and transform them into something very creative.

Encourage greater creativity in yourself by putting creative ideas into practice. If you paint or write, for example, try anything new, just because it's new. Even driving a different route to work to see if it is quicker can help.

The point is to get you mind working outside of its regular patterns. Change your surroundings to encourage creativity. Want more creativity in your love life? Hike up a mountain with your partner. Need story ideas? Sit on a roof to write. For new ideas for your business, take a notebook to the park and sit by the duck pond. Any change of environment can get your brain out of it's ruts.

Training Your Mind For Creativity

Entrepreneurs see potential profit in a situation, because their minds are trained for that. Lawyers see potential problems, because that's how their minds are trained. Watch any good comedian and you'll notice that she has trained her mind to look for the "different angle" on everyday things. The ways in which you repeatedly think become habit, and that's how you train your mind. If you learn the techniques of creative thinking, use them until they are a habit, then creative thinking will be as natural for you as lying is for a politician. Start with these three habits:

1. Challenge assumptions. What if restaurants didn't have employees? Visitors pay a machine as they enter, feed themselves at a buffet, and everything is as automated as possible, so one owner-operator could run a large restaurant alone. Challenge all you assumptions for practice. Do you really have to go to work? Do swimming pools need water? Can education be a bad thing?

2. Change your perspective. A dog's thoughts about your busyness could clue you in to the unnecessary things you do. Considering dollars-per-day instead of per-hour could give you a plan to let employees go home when they finish a quota. Increased efficiency is likely, and you could adjust daily pay and quotas so both you and employees made more money. See everything from several perspectives.

3. Let ideas run wild. Does flying furniture seem silly? It could lead to the concept of a hover-lifter. Just slide the device under furniture and it lifts it with a cushion of air, making for easy moving. Try not to stifle your creativity. Just relax, let ideas come, and know that you can always discard them later.

For these thought-patterns to be automatic, you need to use them regularly. It takes several weeks to develop a habit, so write a few of your favorite techniques on a card and carry it with you. Look it over throughout the day and apply the techniques to anything. A little work up front, and soon you'll have almost effortless creativity.

This articles is an excerpt from Problem Solving Power, a bonus ebook which is available when you order Secrets of Lucky People by Steve Gillman.

Steve Gillman is also the author of A Book of Secrets. Read Minds, Save Money, Boost Brainpower, Get Lucky, Find Treasure, Subliminally Persuade People, Buy Real Estate With No Money Down - And More!