Mindful in 5 Podcast

Unlock Your Creative Genius

• Spiwe Jefferson • Season 5 • Episode 151

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What if the secret to unlocking your creative genius lies in embracing childlike qualities and playful techniques? Imagine transforming workplace challenges into opportunities for growth and innovation through the power of mindfulness. Join me, Spiwa Jefferson, on Mindful in 5, as we explore how reverse brainstorming can help reignite your innovative spirit in a fast-paced work environment. By channeling childlike trust, authenticity, and optimism, you can approach obstacles with a fresh perspective and a cheerful sense of mischief, turning them into pathways for success.

In this engaging episode, we'll guide you through the steps of reverse brainstorming—a playful yet insightful method that turns problems on their heads to uncover peaceful and supportive solutions. From fostering a collaborative team culture to implementing weekly appreciation circles and mentorship programs, discover how these strategies can elevate your professional life and leadership skills. Whether you're a seasoned leader or just starting out, these mindfulness techniques are designed to empower your team and create a thriving work environment. Join your fellow Mindful Ninjas and embark on a journey to transform challenges into joyful growth opportunities.


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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Mindful in 5, where busy professionals find your peaceful oasis to thrive in complex work environments. I am Spiwa Jefferson attorney, certified mindfulness practitioner and author of the Mindful in 5 book series. Here to guide you to a clearer, softer and more supported life. Join me and your fellow Mindful Ninjas as we explore science-backed mindfulness strategies for successful leaders that you can implement, starting with just five minutes a day. Elevate your work, empower your life, work higher, live stronger. Let's go. Do you find your creative spark dimmed at work, struggling to generate fresh ideas in a clouded mental environment? A lack of creativity can leave you feeling unsupported in your professional growth, disconnected from the joyful process of innovation and problem solving. Our topic today is Unlock your Creative Genius. Let's find a way to bring a clearer, more cheerful approach to your work challenges. And if you're wondering about the cute kids in imagery this season, we are embracing the beginner's mind by channeling childlike qualities trust, authenticity, creativity, resilience and optimism to transform your mindfulness practice and daily lives. Let our playful cover art inspire you to approach each day with fresh eyes and an open heart. Okay, back to our topic. Imagine tapping into a wellspring of creativity on demand, approaching every task with peaceful curiosity and innovative spirit. By nurturing your creative potential, you can transform challenges into opportunities for joyful growth. Let's explore a calming technique called reverse brainstorming. Here's how it works Instead of solving a problem, playfully, ask how to cause it. That's the first thing. Second step list the ways to make the issues worse. Embracing a cheerful sense of mischief, softly reverse these ideas. Uncovering potential solutions with joyful surprise. Uncovering potential solutions with joyful surprise. Choose the most peaceful and supportive solution to implement.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you're thinking, hmm, that sounds weird, let's create an example so you can see how this might work. Let's suppose that you, at your job, are struggling with trying to figure out how to increase income team morale. So the issue is low team morale. Now, step one how do we cause the problem right? So the question that you would ask is how can we absolutely destroy team morale? And then, step two list the ways that we could make this issue worse. And so let's think about this. How about we never acknowledge good work or achievements? We constantly criticize team members in public.

Speaker 1:

I assign tasks without clear instructions or deadlines. I implement sudden changes without explanation. I encourage competition and distrust among my team members. I ignore all the suggestions and feedback from the team. I create an uncomfortable work environment, I overwork my employees without compensation, I show clear favoritism towards certain team members. So now you have all these examples for how you can make this problem worse.

Speaker 1:

Then step three is to softly reverse these ideas and we uncover potential solutions with joyful surprise. For example, if I'm going to reverse these ideas, then maybe I regularly recognize and celebrate team achievements. I provide constructive feedback privately and praise publicly. I give clear instructions and reasonable deadlines for all tasks. I communicate changes in advance and explain the reasons. One of the things that I like to do at work is I try really hard to protect the meetings the one-on-one meetings I have with my team members. If I have to move that meeting, I will generally provide a reason so that they understand what the driver is and I'm not just being arbitrary.

Speaker 1:

So other ways that I can softly reverse the ideas that we came up with I can foster a collaborative and supportive team culture. I can actively seek and implement valuable team suggestions. You may decide that you can ensure a comfortable and pleasant work environment. You can respect work-life balance and compensate fairly for extra effort. You can treat all team members equally and appreciate diverse contributions, and you can choose the most peaceful and supportive solutions, contributions, and you can choose the most peaceful and supportive solutions. So now that takes us to the step four that I walked into there, where we're choosing the most peaceful and supportive solutions, and maybe, after this process, we might decide to focus on three things. We're going to implement a weekly appreciation circle where team members can recognize each other's contributions. We are going to create a suggestion box, physical or digital and dedicate time in team meetings to discuss and act on feasible ideas. Or maybe we're going to develop a mentorship program to foster collaboration and skill sharing among team members. So those are examples for how you can then choose the most peaceful and supportive solutions. Studies show that this unconventional method can significantly boost creative output, bringing more clarity and joy to professional problem solving.

Speaker 1:

I try to bring a thought-provoking perspective to each topic that we unpack here. So here's the idea for today. Your creative genius is not a distant muse. It's a peaceful wellspring within waiting for a clear opportunity for innovation to flow. So, in other words, creativity isn't something magically that you are born with. It is something that you can cultivate. Are you ready to fully awaken your creative potential and bring more joy to your work.

Speaker 1:

If so, I have prepared a growing set of downloadables that you can find in the link for this podcast or by visiting the downloadables section at spewyjeffersoncom.

Speaker 1:

If you hover over the shop, you will see the downloadables. These are typically 21 to 30 day techniques I call them blueprints that allow you to journal and listen to podcast episodes specific to a topic and read about and practice specific tactics and techniques each day to get you to a different, habitual way of behaving that gets a particular outcome. You can download free overviews of each blueprint to learn what's in it and what it will get you and there are. I will be sharing more blueprints throughout this particular season, so go check out what's there today and come back next week, because there's probably going to be a new blueprint next week, because there's probably going to be a new blueprint next week. Ultimately, remember that creativity thrives in a peaceful, supportive environment. By cultivating a joyful approach to innovation, you are not just solving problems. You are transforming your entire work experience. You are transforming your entire work experience. So, going forward this week, may your work be infused with creative clarity and joyful discovery Until next week.

Speaker 2:

This is PY saying be mindful and be well. Thank you for listening to Mindful in 5. If you enjoyed it, share it with a friend, follow and rate it on your favorite podcast platform. Pick up your signed copy of the book and journal from spewayjeffersoncom, or unsigned copies from Amazon, barnes, noble or wherever you get your books. Visit spewayjeffersoncom to download sample chapters of the book, watch videos and become a mindful ninja. Join us on the LinkedIn Mindful in 5 group and share your thoughts. Until next time, be mindful and be well.