REFRESH YOUR CREATIVITY: Three Excellent Exercises

Feed Your Mind

Ray Bradbury is the author of more than 500 published works—short stories, novels, stage plays, screenplays, TV scripts, poetry.

Exploring become his oxygen and the secret of his prolific creativity. Bradbury told Jack Foster that he had read a short story, an essay and a poem every day since childhood.

"If you stuff yourself full of poems, essays, plays, stories, novels, films, comic strips, magazines and music," Bradbury said, "you will automatically explode every morning like Old Faithful. I have never had a dry period in my life because I feed myself well."

Make an exploration list for your life. Fill it with readings, films, music.

Become a Sponge

Ian Schrager and Philippe Stark collaborated on designing boutique hotels like the Clift in San Francisco and the Hudson in New York City.

"Whenever we start a project, we're both voyeurs," Shrager says. "We take in information like a sponge."

Exploring is about asking questions and absorbing insights.

Make a list of 50 questions for a project you're about to begin.

Anticipate

Several years ago, Rodney Dangerfield was phoning me from time to time about a product idea. I didn't see much potential, so after three or four calls, I said, "I gotta tell you, Rodney, there's little hope or money in this product. Why are you so interested?"

A pause followed, and I could visualize him tugging his collar, as in his comedy routines. After a moment, he said, "It's not the money, Sam, it's the anticipation. Anticipation is the greatest thing in life."

I don't totally agree—there's much to be said for the pleasures of in-the-now moments—but anticipation does provide a powerful zing.

List three projects or activities you're looking forward to.


Excerpted from "zing! Five steps and 101 tips for creativity on command" by Sam Harrison, MacHillock Publishing/IPG Distributors. Harrison is a speaker and seminar leader and also an instructor at Portfolio Center in Atlanta. "Zing!" is available at bookstores, by calling (800)888-4741, or by visiting www.zingzone.com.