by Danika Deva, NACWE Education Coordinator

Creativity–Is it really part of Intellectual Wellness?

It is indeed!

Let’s walk through 3 Steps to Cultivating Creativity in our Business through Intellectual Wellness

Cultivating Creativity – What is Intellectual Wellness?

Most of us think intellectual wellness involves only learning from books or taking a class. That is part of it; however, there is so much more!  Through reading the book Wellness: The Awareness of the Whole Individual, I found that intellectual wellness includes other components that I never even considered. For access to the book, click here “Wellness: The Awareness of the Whole Individual” – https://amzn.to/2Llx43D.

As you read, think about which aspects come natural to you and which you may need to reflect on and cultivate with intention.

Intellectual wellness includes:

• Keeping an active mind through mental activity and stimulation.
• A demonstrated commitment to lifelong learning.
•  Lifelong learning through formal education and informal life experiences.
•  Openness to new ideas.
•  A capacity to question and think critically.
•  Maintaining a sense of creativity and curiosity.
• Being motivated to master new skills and seek out new challenges.
• Challenging the mind with intellectual and creative pursuits.
•  Not being self-satisfied and unproductive.
• Being focused on the achievement of a more satisfying existence.
• A continuous sense of humor, creativity, and curiosity.
• Reaching your own correct decisions when there is a choice or a problem which is a daily event.
• Making sure the decisions you make are consistent with the scriptures.

As you can see, there are a lot of components to intellectual wellness.  Who knew, right?

Cultivating Creativity – 3 Steps to Cultivating Creativity in our Business through Intellectual Wellness

What piqued my interest when I read the list was creativity.   How do we make sure that we have creativity in our business?  Here are three specific steps to build your creativity.  It starts with building creativity in your life.

1.  Instructive Play: Playing games, doing puzzles, drawing, doodling, or creatively writing are unique ways to stimulate the creative side of our minds.  Brain stimulation like listening to a podcast or doing a crossword will help as well.  Even physical exercise like dancing or workouts will open up our creativity. When we explore these activities, we will have increased creativity in our entrepreneurial endeavors.

2.  Ask the Lord for Creativity.  This may sound simple, but sometimes we forget to ask God to help us have a creative company or idea for our business. If you look in scripture, you will see our creative God doing creative deeds (parting the Red Sea in Exodus 14), asking people to do creative actions (marching around the city of Jericho 7 times in Joshua 6:2-17), and telling creative parables (using a hyperbole of 70 x 7 to forgive boundlessly in Matt. 18:22).   Even “creation” is an example of His creativity.  We can’t look at a sunset or rainbow and not see it; so take time to ask God to get your creative juices flowing. Since “broadening our horizons” is one aspect of intellectual wellness, go watch a sunset and invite God to give you the ideas you need to enhance your business.

3.  Be Curious. Curiosity did not kill the cat, btw. In fact, it made the cat more curious and exploratory.  Searching out new ideas, finding fresh ways of doing something, looking at current and creative trends, or just experiencing something new stimulates the creative side of our minds and provides new ideas to bounce out for use in our companies. Thinking critically and curiously challenges us and invigorates our brains and businesses.

Cultivate Creativity

In summary, using these three action steps to cultivate creativity will move us out of the “same ole, same ole” and move us forward to a revived awareness in our entrepreneurial endeavors!

1.  Instructive Play
2.  Ask the Lord for Creativity.
3.  Be curious

Lindwall-Bourg, Karen,Edoho-ukwa, Grace,Blackwell Gueta, Courtenay,Stein, Daniel,Parton, Julie A.,Burns, Bill,Hargrave, Rickey,Werner, Audrey. Wellness: The Awareness of the Whole Individual (Kindle Locations 678-679). Heritage Press Publications. Kindle Edition. 

Danika Deva

NACWE Education Coordinator

DanikaDeva.com

Danika Deva is a life and hope coach, writer, speaker and educator.  You can find her at DanikaDeva.com.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13