How to Unearth your Talent and Creativity

It may come so easily to you that you consider it ‘nothing at all.’

We’re going to look at two ways you can learn to unearth your talent and creativity. The first is by looking at the concept of ‘native genius‘, the second, by trying out some ‘wild writing.’

Let me explain…

What is Native Genius?

You could also describe ‘native genius’ as ‘innate intelligence.’ That’s because it’s something you do that you’re good at and which comes naturally to you. And it’s something that other people may struggle with, or certainly have to work at.

It could be, for instance, that people warm to you on meeting you for the first time or that you’re great at teaching others to do a particular sport. Maybe you are fantastic at decorating birthday cakes.

The reason it’s important to find your native genius is that once you understand what it is, you can harness this ‘gift’ so that both you and others can benefit from it more.

You can use it at work or in a volunteer capacity – anywhere, in fact, where you can make a valuable contribution.

1. How to Identify Your Native Genius

To find out what your native genius is, ask yourself the following questions:

• What do I do best?
• What do I do better than other people?
• What comes easy to me?
• What do I do just for the fun of it?
• What am I happy to do without being paid?

If you still can’t discover your native genius – probably because it comes so easy to you that you don’t even consider it a talent or skill – then ask close friends or family what they think. It may be that they all say the same thing!

2. Get involved in ‘wild writing’

Another great way to unearth your creativity (especially if its subconscious) is to try some wild writing. Natasha Carthew created a great guide to wild writing.

By this, I mean:

Write outdoors.

When you’re outside in nature you don’t have the distraction of your phone or laptop. This allows you to clear your head of everyday thoughts and open up your mind to other possibilities.

Look around.

Take inspiration from what you see around you. The colours, textures and movement of the natural world is fascinating when you really focus on it. Does it draw parallels for you? Give you a new perspective on an old theme?

Feel stimulated.

It’s not just the sights that make you feel inspired, the smells and sounds of nature are also worthy of focus and make you feel more alive.

See the bigger picture.

Being outdoors under a huge sky makes you realise that the problem you thought about indoors isn’t as big as it seems.Not when there’s a whole world of possibilities out there.

One of the best bits I personally like about writing outdoors is that it makes me want to write. I get the urge to express myself and just write freely, letting my mind wander, not bothering to dot the ‘I’s or cross the ‘t’s. Eventually your subconscious takes over and that’s when the real creativity strikes.

How about you?

Do you feel you’re exploring your talent and creativity enough?