We lovable, quirky, perfectly imperfect human beings are also creatures of habit. Even for people who love change, change is the habit we must be intentional about not missing opportunities to improve our lives.

It takes deliberate, focused, positive action to engage creativity and think out of the box. Journaling is a fantastic way to jumpstart your creativity and think out of assorted-color paint brush lotthe box.

“Artist types” have no problem using their favorite media to create. The medium they choose helps to express their creativity. A painter paints, a writer writes, and a sculptor uses clay to create an outward expression of an inner idea or inspiration.

So, whether you’re an artist or not, what do you do when you want to stretch and grow outside your current limits – when you want to jumpstart your creativity?

Try Journaling for Personal Creativity

Journaling is an excellent way to get your left (analytical) and right (artistic) sides of the brain talking to one another. Here are two splendid examples of using journaling to promote out of the box thinking and increased creativity:

Mind Mapping:

Mind mapping is the activity of taking ideas and creating little bubbles that represent each idea. They are their own island set aside from any other ideas. From there, an idea attached to the topic is listed below the main topic – inside another bubble.

This happens repeatedly until the isolated topic is developed in minute detail. This out of the box way of tackling and journaling a goal is great for visual people who prefer to think big rather than in a linear fashion.

Prompting Journals:

One will not have to look far – on Amazon or in their local bookstore – to find journals that are designed to get you thinking out of the box three assorted-color notebooksthrough prompting.

Are you regimented and need to cut loose? Try the book titled Wreck This Journal (the color version, or the expanded Black Edition). Either one will force you to draw outside the lines, smear things, or otherwise create chaos and get things messy.

Love to write but freeze up when it’s time to get started? Find a journal that has writing cues and see where your imagination flows.

Journaling for Business:

Businesses can use a form of journaling with their staff to get the team thinking out of the box. Sometimes employees can become complacent or underwhelmed. Getting together as a team to create solutions can be an effective way to raise morale.

Guided Journaling:

A trainer or facilitator can guide you, your staff team, or a group of people sitting on chair in front of table while holding pens during daytimelike-minded entrepreneurs through a unique exercise that stretches them out of their comfort zone. The goal is to drill down to the best solution to the biggest problems for each person.

Alternatively, the session can encourage free-flowing thoughts and suggestions for several strategic plans within the group. Once you’ve found your preferred approach to the project, continue with journaling to track progress, create learning tools, or express yourselves.

The next time you feel stuck and want to challenge yourself, your staff, or a group of like-minded people to think bigger and higher, consider journaling. It’s a wonderful opportunity to expand minds and produce out of the box ideas.

About the Author Dianne Daniels

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and currently residing in Norwich, Connecticut, Dianne M. Daniels' mission is to empower women 50+ to Amplify their Self-Confidence, Deepen their Self-Knowledge, Inspire Creativity, and Glide into the next phase of their lives with the Power of Journaling, Affirmations, and Assessments.

You can learn how to use these time-tested proven practices to create and manifest the life you want (and deserve) to live.

Dianne is an ordained Unitarian Universalist Minister and holds a Master of Divinity degree from Starr King School for the Ministry. She's an avid reader, a lover of old houses (she renovated an 1850s vintage Greek Revival home with her family) and has been journaling since the age of 9.

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