Gather lots of information about your subject matter. Study it diligently¹. Work hard. Follow Vincent Van Gogh’s advice: “If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well,one has at the same time insight into and understanding of many things.” Look at your topic from many different perspectives. How would a mystic approach this idea? How would a rocket scientist look at this? What would a child do? What would a very old person do?

Meditate². Let your thoughts simmer as you go for a long walk. Get back to work. Create a hypothesis. Test your hypothesis. Relax. Inspiration won’t strike if you’re tense. Hang around with creative people. Go to a café frequented by artists and eavesdrop³ on their conversation. Be comfortable with uncertainty⁴ and ambiguity⁵. Create a mind map of your subject matter.

Remember that practice makes perfect. Sit down to create even when you don’t feel like it. Gather more information. Think abundantly: there are many ideas out there, numerous alternatives, several solutions, and endless ways to make things better. Know that there’s an unlimited⁶ supply of ideas. Buy a goldfish. Watch it swim around in its tank. Ignore people who try to dissuade⁷ you from following through on your idea.

Remember that inspiration requires perspiration⁸. Ask yourself: is there another way to look at this? What assumptions are you making? Challenge those assumptions. Read books on creativity.

Apply the techniques taught in those books. Visualize⁹. Listen to Baroque music. Put in the hours. What are you failing to see that is staring you right in the face? Read poetry. Be passionate¹⁰. Sort through Rorschach ink-blots; what do you see? Break the rules.

(The “Full Spectrum¹¹” photograph is courtesy of mdezemery).

Jolts¹² to your routine will lead to new ideas. Simplify: what can you edit out of your current idea to make it better? Exercise.

Exaggerate. What if you were a thousand times smarter? What if you were two inches tall? Make the colors brighter. Now see it in black and white. Take risks. Get over the fear of being wrong.Believe in magic. Set a time constraint¹³. Learn to juggle¹⁴. Remember to feed your goldfish. Laugh until your stomach hurts.

What common elements could you combine in a new way?Conduct experiments. Take note of what works and what doesn’t. Make small tweaks and try again. Take time off and put together a jigsaw¹⁵ puzzle. What if this problem had to be solved in the next half-hour? Set a quantity quota¹⁶: what if you had to come up with twenty different ways of solving this? Discuss your idea with a friend who is very different from you. Follow Einstein’s advice: take a nap. What does your intuition tell you?

What does your logic¹⁷ tell you? Are there any analogies you can draw from nature? Trust yourself. Give yourself permission to make something really special. Put on the judge’s robe and criticize your own work. Decide what works and what doesn’t. Keep molding your idea, adding a little bit here, and taking away a little bit there. Come up with a unique plan for getting your work out there. Now take your idea and implement¹⁸ it in the real world.

Watch your idea take its first breath; its first steps . . . Do a little dance and thank the gods of creativity for their inspiration.

收集一些关于你自己事情的资料、信息。勤奋、努力地学习它。文森特.梵高的建议：“如果一个人能掌握一件事，并能非常好地理解它，那么他同时也能洞察和了解其他很多事情。”从不同角度审视你所选的话题。神学家怎么想这个观点呢？研究火箭的科学家怎么看呢？孩子会怎么样做呢？老人又会怎么呢？

沉思中。那就散步久一些，让你的思维好好酝酿一下吧。回到工作上。做一个假设。测试一下这个假设。放松。人至紧则无智。多和那些有创造性的人在一起。多和艺术家一起去咖啡馆，听听他们的谈话。轻松面对您所不确定和不清楚的事情。在脑子里构建一个图，是关于您之前收集关于自己事情的资料。

请记住：熟能生巧。即使你不喜欢它，还是得要坐下来做一做它。收集更多的信息。想得再多一些。其实有很多种想法，无数种选择，一些解决办法和无数种让事情做得更好的方式。要知道想法的出现是无穷的。不必理会那些劝止你按照自己意愿做事情的人。

问一下自己：对于这件事情就没有其他方法了吗？你做了什么设想呢？试一试那些设想吧。读一些关于创造性方面的书。

运用书上所教你的方法。形象化一些就是：听听巴洛克音乐。听它几个小时。你所没有看见的就是你现在面对开始的。读读诗。要充满热情地去读它。好好斟酌一下你的日常事物。

可能会有新的想法、思路。简言之，你能用什么办法把现在的想法做得更好？试一试。

夸张一些：如果你是现在的千分之一那么小，你会怎样做？抑或是两英尺那么高？把事情弄明了一些。那么现在换个角度来看看。冒一下险，克服一下因犯错而产生的恐惧。相信魔力。设置一个时间限定。学习一下玩戏法。记得喂你得金鱼。如果笑，要笑到你胃痛。

怎样可以将普通元素以一种新的方式组合呢？做一些实验。将哪一些有效，哪一些无效记录下来。进行小的调整，然后再试一次。花一些时间玩玩七巧板智力拼图。在接下来的半小时里，如果这个问题必须解决，你会怎样做？设定配额数量：如果有20种解决这件事情的不同办法，你会怎样做？和与你持不同意见的朋友讨论一下你的想法。接受爱因斯坦的意见吧：打个小打盹儿。

你的直觉告诉你什么？你的逻辑怎么样告诉你呢？从性质上可以得出什么类推法吗?相信你自己。允许你自己做一些真正不一样的事情。站在法官的角度来批评一下自己的事情。评判一下哪一些有用，哪一些无用。在你思想慢慢成型的过程中，在这里加一点，去掉那里一些。为自己的事情做一个独特的计划。那么现在就将你的想法在现实世界中实践吧。

关注你的第一次尝试，第一步… …小跳一段舞蹈，感谢上帝的创造性，因为他们有如此的灵感。