This one is really simple and fairly obvious but you know I hadn't thought about it in a long time and it is a hard concept to grasp when you do think about it.
So here we go. I am organising a creativity session for part of my job and wanted to get the point across that one of the reasons for doing it is that we can't stand still. In this case due to competitors continually trying for the same business we are.
I know the Earth moves, well we all do, so I thought that would be a good analogy. So my point was that even if you wanted to stand still you can't (so you might as well get on with it). I wanted some facts and figures though so I went to Google and did a quick search and that was the mind blowing bit. As I said before we all know the Earth moves so we all grasp the concept "The Big Idea" but it isn't until you look at the figures that the full impact of that fact hits you.
STOP look at your watch - now just look at it for the next 5 seconds - you have just moved 150km (just under 100 miles). That is how far the Earth has travelled through space in 5 seconds.
We are currently travelling at 1670km/hr which is the speed at which the Earth rotates. To put that in perspective the last time I was on a plane travelling to the USA it travelled at 820 km/hr so the earth spins at a speed over twice as fast as a jet plane.
Finally and this is the big one. In a year the Earth travels 924,000,000km, or 577,500,000 miles, through space.
Those facts in themselves are mind blowing but it got me thinking about clients. If I had a £ for every time I have been told by a client they want a big idea I wouldn't need to work. Sometimes however the real WOW factor isn't in the big idea it is in the detail. So the next time somebody starts to tell you something and you think "Heard it before!" just stop and get into the detail because you may just be surprised

What got me thinking about this is the great weather we have had the last week in the UK. Everyone is happier, more positive, more up beat when you talk to them. Which raised the question of Why? I am not someone who needs convincing that sunshine is good for the soul but it did get me thinking is it just sunshine or could we cultivate that feeling.
You know what it is like in the middle of November when you get out of bed at 6am (or not if you don't have kids or a hellish commute to work) and it is dark, generally wet, definitely cold and you know it won't get light until about 9am. You feel lethargic, sleepy and stumble out the door to get on with your day. Or as in my case, as I like to run, I have arguments with myself in bed as I can hear the rain beating on the bedroom window. You wouldn't believe the reasons my brain can come up with for not needing a run in the winter.
Come summer I generally bounce out of bed and hit the track and after my body warms up I am loving it. It is like I get to share a secret part of the day most people don't get as I run along with the sun coming up.
Anyway back to state of mind. I was thinking if you get a sunny morning when you feel great and everything just clicks into place why should that not be you predominant state? So hear is what I am going to try the next great morning I have. I am going to stop and really internalise how it feels and be able to feel it and visualise it with my eyes closed. Then every morning after that I am going to take 5 minutes to go through that memory and see if I can positively alter my state everyday.
Just remember it takes about 30 days of doing something consistently to create a habit and it works better if you can create triggers for that actions. ie. you get out of bed, feet hit the ground - BANG! - visualise your memory or you take your first sip of coffee/tea for the day - BANG - visualise your memory.
Let me know how you get on and I'll do the same

One of the questions I always have about being creative is "Does routine kill creativity?"
For most of us our lives are routine. We get up around the same time, we drive, walk, cycle, commute the same way to work each day. When we get to work we also follow the same routine - make coffee, start computer, scan e mail etc.
Seriously take a moment and think about your day and work out how much of it is the same every week.
Here is the flip side of that though to become proficient at anything we do we need to practice and practice means repetition and to successfully repeatedly do something a routine establishes a space for that practice and in time makes it a habit.
Routine also provides us with a sense of security and security gives us space in which to relax and personally I come up with more ideas when I feel relaxed.
Also having read and listened to a lot of creative people talk about how they come up with ideas. They all seem to have a formula that initiates creative thinking for them. Whether that is a particular room, activity, music, book etc.
And here is the interesting part of that. Their routine starts a mental process that kicks off ideas.
So from this it isn't routine that enslaves us it is when we let that routine stop us from thinking and we just become followers in our own life.
There are a lot of positives to routine it provides structure, a sense of security,a can actually provide time to think because we are not focused on the thing we do as routine. When routine becomes a rut is when we stop thinking and questioning what we are doing and why we are doing it, or when we start to use routine as an excuse for not doing something else or differently.In those situations we empower our routine to control us.
Isn't that true of all life? people are more discontent and frustrated when they have empowered somebody or something to be in control of them.