Using Creativity to Carve Out Your Niche in Life

Creativity can be the act of bringing something new into this world. Or it can be the uniqueness of each person that sets them apart from others. In the first instance, you may be creating something with your hands like painting a picture, or with your mind like writing a book. Even though in this case to create is to bring forth, you can’t help but stamp all your creations with your uniqueness. Your picture won’t be like anyone else’s and neither will your book.

So in the act of creation, we are impressing the object with our creativity. We see this aspect of ourselves developing at a very young age. Do you remember your first creative endeavors? Did you build cities with your Lego blocks? Did you make up songs in your head? How did you express your creativity? And was it encouraged, supported, and appreciated? Or was it suppressed by ignorant teachers and critical parents?

Schools typically are set up for each student to conform to the rules and do everything the same as all the other students. I remember a girl in my 7th grade class who used pink to paint the sky, only to have the teacher say, “Skies are blue!” Well, we know paintings are interpretations of how the artist sees the world, so it’s a strong probability that girl never picked up a paint brush again.

And parents, unwittingly, may want one child to be like the others, failing to nurture their differences. “Why can’t you be more like your brother,” is a common phrase in many homes.

If you find yourself lacking in creativity, whether on the job or in your personal life, maybe it’s because you never had a safe outlet for it–either in the past or the present. At work when you come up with innovative ideas, you may have superiors who prefer the status quo. If that leaves you frustrated, you may choose to suppress your creative side and just go with the flow. But if you’re a bit of a rebel, you can continue to express your ideas and hope that someday someone will see your genius. Or you can leave the “security” of a job, and start your own business.

Entrepreneurs are most often a highly creative lot. That’s usually one of the main reasons they start a business, to express their creative ideas, to build something that is uniquely them. And here is one way you can use your creativity to carve out your niche in life. If you look at some of the great inventors, you’ll see that their creative urges propelled them forward even in the face of setbacks. Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford are all great examples.

In your personal life, you often express your creativity through hobbies and leisure activities. Whether it’s gardening, decorating, or sports, you do each in your own special way. You also carve out your niche in your personal life through your creative expression, which is visible in everything you do. How you dress, how you think, how you cook, how you talk. It’s all the little distinctions that make you who you are. Without it, you would be like everyone else and that would make for a boring world.

You are the creator of your world. You bring forth something into the world every day whether tangible or intangible. If you feel at all stuck or stifled in living a life filled with creative expression and creative pursuits, it’s time for you to take action.

Here are a few ways to tap into your latent creativity:

1. Spend some quiet time to get in touch with how you would like to carve out your unique niche
2. Take adult school classes or read biographies to get inspired
3. Have a brainstorming session with other creative friends
4. Join a special interest group
5. Talk to a life coach to help you find out where you shine

The world is waiting for you to emerge as your special self!