One trap that many entrepreneurs fall into is the trap of “more” – we seek to achieve, introduce and envision more. We live in a world where more is always better, and if we can’t come up with something new and exciting, we’re considered obsolete. This is why there’s such a great need to find a niche for an aspiring business to succeed.

Thankfully, there’s a solution – it’s called creativity. While this may scare you at first, the truth is everyone can be creative and find creative solutions. Here are a few ways to do just that:

1. Read More Books

Books are arguably the best way to get new ideas. It doesn’t matter if they’re self-help business books or fictional work. Books offer a new way to look at the world.

Take, for instance, billionaire Oprah Winfrey. Back in her talk show days, Winfrey launched a segment on her show called Oprah’s Book Club so that her viewers could find fresh reads that would inspire them to consume more literature.

It’s worth noting that the books featured in Oprah’s Book Club were often novels. Winfrey saw the value in using literature as a way to generate more ideas and inspire creativity. Through her recommendations, authors featured on Oprah’s Book Club managed to sell over 55 million copies!

Books are an important source of knowledge, and no matter what people say, they will never go out of style. Even if you can’t go through entire books, there are so many apps available to help you keep reading even if you’re on the go. Apps like Blinkist allow you to save time by reading summaries of books. There’s also Audible if you prefer consuming books through the audio medium.

Pick up a read every so often, take note of the points or subject matter that strike you, and before you know it, you’ll be churning out many creative ideas.

2. Do What You Actually Love

The best way to find solutions to problems, especially the problem of establishing your niche, is to do what you actually love. The best businessmen are the ones who know their company inside out. They are the people who have firm and distinct company values, ones with which people immediately associate their products.

Consider billionaire Elon Musk, who founded his business empire on things he loved. While Musk started his fortune through PayPal, as his wealth increased, he started spending his money on things that meant more to him personally – things like SpaceX and Tesla, which spoke to Musk’s personal values and priorities.

Like Musk, sometimes creativity isn’t about finding something completely new. Think about it, it’s not like he was the first person to start a car company. Instead, it’s often about finding a new way of looking at something you love, like the way Musk used his desire for clean technology and user experience to dictate how Tesla made its cars. If you start with your personal passions, then creativity comes more easily.

3. Embrace New Perspectives

Creativity stems from multiple sources – all you have to do is to look around you and take in as much as you can.

Being creative means seeing things in different ways. As a person, you’re inclined to view things from your perspective and from where your ideas are rooted. That’s great, and you should hold onto that. However, to be creative, you need to be open to multiple perspectives.

This is where other people come in. If you’re open to learning from others and listening to their ideas, you start absorbing new perspectives. You’re better able to build more holistic views of issues and problems that in turn lead to varied and better solutions.

4. Kill Your Darlings

Sometimes the best way to develop creativity is to give yourself limits, and hence, the term “kill your darlings.” It’s often used by writers who suffer writer’s block, where they take out their favourite parts (or “kill their darlings”) in order to progress.

It’s not uncommon to hear of people so blinded by their passion or by what they think they want to do that they detach themselves from everything else. There are times when you’re so set on something, that you painstakingly work around it and very little progress is achieved.

There’s a precedent for killing your darlings in the real world. Sportswriter Bill Simmons famously called this the Ewing Theory – the idea that sports teams get better when their best player gets injured. This might sound funny, but there’s a lot of truth to it. Sometimes your best ideas are the ones stopping the rest of your ideas from flowing properly.

If you learn to let go of some ideas and work on a smaller scale, that’s when your creativity can truly show itself. Because while your creativity might stop booming, it will start flowing. And more often than not, that’s the important part – learning to control your creativity and turn it into something magical.

To your success,

Mario

[Visit www.mariosingh.com now to enjoy a FREE e-book of my latest “37 Essential Principles for Massive Success” when you subscribe!]