“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun.” - May Lou Cook
Many of my clients tell me being creative comes up often in their jobs or in job interviews. What does that really mean? I’ve never considered myself to be a creative person. I can’t dance, sing, draw or play a musical instrument. Yet, I believe we all have creative abilities so, even though I couldn’t put my finger on it, I went in search of what I do that is creative.
One morning I was sitting in my kitchen, enjoying a nice cup of coffee and thinking about what I wanted to make for meals that day. Then it hit me! My creativity comes from cooking and baking. I love trying new recipes and I’m constantly scrolling for new ones on Instagram and cooking websites. When a recipe catches my eye, the first thing I do is read the ingredients to see if it looks tasty. If it does, I print out the recipe and eagerly head off to the “cooking lab”…my kitchen… to prepare it. Once the dish or baked item is done, I am excited to taste it and give it a rating. I use a scale of 1-10 and recipes that score 7-10 are keepers.
After cooking, I always feel happier, energized and experience a sense of accomplishment, even if the recipe is a dud. It allows me to take a break from work or life’s challenges, clear my head, relax and have fun. I find I’m more productive and focused when I go back to work, which is always a good thing.
I love that something I enjoy doing so much brings added benefits! In the article, ”Here’s How Creativity Actually Improves your Health” the author, Ashley Stahl says creativity “…improves brain function, mental health and physical health.” Specifically, it “increases happiness, reduces dementia, boosts our immune system and makes us smarter.”
With these added benefits of being creative, I am going to continue cooking and baking. How about you? What gets your creative juices flowing and also allows you to focus on something fun? I urge you to make time to be creative - you’ll feel better and you’ll have something to talk about with your boss and in those job interviews!
How does this apply to coaching? I believe coaching helps you tap into your creativity so you are able to think outside the box, shift your mindset from limiting to empowering or envision the desired outcome you want. So I love to help my clients get in touch with their creative side!
Please feel free to send me any of your favorite recipes. 😊