You have heard about the "Blocks of Creativity" and "Keys of Creativity". But have you heard of the "G.N.A.T.S. of Creativity"?

As their namesakes, GNATS, G.N.A.T.S. of Creativity are little things that can irritate and cause pain when we least expect it or simply distract us long enough to stop or stifle our creativeness or creative energy.

GNATS is an acronym that stands for Generally Natural Actions (Activities or Attitudes) that Threaten and Stop or Stifle Creativity. Because each of us is susceptible to varying GNATS I have developed a list of 26 of them, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet.

They may be caused by ourselves, by people who work with us, by people who we work for, by our clients, by total stangers. They can be real or imagined--true or simply believed to be true, either by ourselves or by others we deal with. GNATS can be physical, mental, emotional or social.

First lets look over a basic list of GNATS. Then we will take a look at a sample of them to explore how they can be prevented or dealt with when they come "buzzing" around our heads, externally or internally.

A

age--fearing that you are too young, too old, not young or old enough or were not born in the right age (too soon or too late)
 

B

background--you don't have the background to work on the problem or to generate ideas for the topic area
 

C

culture--you live in the wrong culture, a dull culture or you are not cultured enough to be creative
 

D

dull--you are feeling dull or are in a dull environment.
 

E

education--you don't have enough or the wrong education to be creative (no degrees, too many degrees, wrong degree-right school or wrong school)
 

F

foolish--you are too foolish to be creative or not foolish enough
 

G

gamble--people see your ideas as too much of a gamble before you work out the pitfalls and turn them into viable solutions and workable plans.
 

H

hard work--you don't want to accept that creative problem solving is hard work or that you don't want to work hard enough
 

I

intelligence--creative thinking requires more or less intelligence than you possess
 

J

jealousy--you are always jealous of creative people or you fear others will be jealous of you if you are creative
 

K

killed--your ideas are always being killed by others
 

L

laughter--other people just laugh at you when you are creative and they never take you seriously
 

M

money--you don't have the money to be creative or you have too much money and don't need to be creative.
 

N

narrow--others are too narrow-minded to accept your creative ideas
 

O

opportunities--you never have any great opportunities--these can be limited by your location, profession, age, etc.
 

P

paradigms--yours, mine and ours always get in the way of creativeness
 

Q

quitters--you are surrounded by people who quit trying too soon, once they have a workable, acceptable solution they stop trying.
 

R

radical--your ideas are constantly being called "too radical" and because you prefer to be creative most of the time you are labelled as a "radical".
 

S

stress--you are under too much stress to be creative
 

T

time--you don't have the time to spend on being creative you must get your work done now.
 

U

unappreciated--you always feel unappreciated therefore you have quit trying to be creative for others
 

V

vultures--you are surrounded by "vultures", people who steal your ideas and take credit for your ideas as their.
 

W

wisecracks--people respond to your creative ideas with wisecracks, put-downs and put-offs.
 

X

xerographic--people are always copying your ideas without giving you credit--similar to "vultures"
 

Y

yield--you stop or yield to others criticisms too easily and too often.
 

Z

zipped out--you have no energy to be creative.

Now we will look at a half dozen of these 26 and examine how we may deal with them physically, mentally, emotionally (psychologically) or socially.

Let's start in reverse order with the letter Z or "zipped out".

• Physically
  check you recent sleep habits, add vitamin rich foods into your diet, get into an exercise program or go out for a walk, take a nap, have a piece of fruit, do some stretching exercises.
• Mentally
  take a few minutes to write in your journal to examine the potential cause for you low energy read some motivational material listen to or watch a motivational tape
• Emotionally
  list positive things about yourself list your recent successes call a positive friend and ask for a boost
• Socially
  stop and go out to lunch with a friend or loved one attend an upbeat meeting or hold one

Wisecracks from others.

• Physically
  imagine yourself karate chopping them, look at funny photographs and consider the source walk away from them
• Mentally
  go read support letters from friends or past clients, read an upbeat story jot down the wisecracks and make a "dumb" story out of them
• Emotionally
  tell the person that you do not appreciate their comments, say: perhaps that is true, but help me by using your creative imagination and share with me how my idea might work
• Socially
  seek out a supportive friend to relieve the built up stress, unwind with a friend share the wisecracks with a friend and ask for support

Opportunities

• Physically
  take a walk around the block, take a walk around a mall and ask yourself what reminds you of an opportunity or what opportunities the store owners have taken advantage of
• Mentally
  list 12 separate potential opportunities that you see around you, ask yourself what opportunities you might have if you were somewhere else, if there were no limitations on you.
• Emotionally
  recall 6 to 12 opportunities you have had since childhood, take one at a time and write down what was good about them
• Socially
  ask 12 people what opportunities they see for you, call some friends and ask them, especially friends you haven't talked with for a long time

Killed

• Physically
  put up a NO IDEA KILLING ZONE sign in your work area, hold up a STOP sign when you hear idea killing blow a whistle when someone starts to kill
• Mentally
  remind yourself that K.I.L.L. can stand for Kind Ideas Live through Love breathe deeply and slowly and tune them out
• Emotionally
  think positive thoughts - look at the beautiful photographs you have posted around you just for this time sit relaxed, untighten your muscles
• Socially
  walk away from the "killers"--stay away from the "killers" tell them how you feel and ask for their support

Foolish

• Physically
  remove foolish images from your workspace, examine your actions and revise some of the "foolish" seeming ones you might stop holding "food fights" in the executive lunch room
• Mentally
  examine yourself for foolish behaviors, examine yourself for how your actions may be seen as foolish find true value and meaning in your foolish seeming behaviors and actions and share them
• Emotionally
  be foolish inside find a place to be foolish alone or with support friends take foolish breaks alone during the day go play with a kindergarten class once every two weeks
• Socially
  ask those who seem to think/feel you are foolish what is it that makes you seem foolish ask them how you might change and yet be a free spirit explain why you do what you do to them

Culture

• Physically
  travel to other cultures and look for the negatives and the positives. Once you collect the negatives look for the positives in your own.see the same types of positives in your own culture
• Mentally
  read about other cultures interview people from other cultures: physical, social, locational, professional, etc.
• Emotionally
  make a list of the strong points about your culture seek out examples of the most creative people in your culture (living or dead) and study them or interview them if you can reach them
• Socially
  ask people from other cultures what they think is positive or enviable about your culture ask a lawyer, doctor, indian chief, famous person

To deal and or prevent GNATS of Creativity from Stopping, Slowing down, or Stifling your Creativeness you need to take time to examine which one might it be. Then ask which ways they are (physically, mentally, emotionally or socially). Then develop a list of strategies to choose from and start with the one that has fun and power built into it.

As the quote "your life is always your choice", so is your creativeness and your ability to be creative when you want to be or need to be. It is your choice.

Become aware of the various GNATS of your Creativity, whether on this list or your own, that bother you and begin to develop strategies and strengths to ward them off or simply avoid them and walk away.

We are all creative. Being creative is always OUR choice.

Go choose to be creative today and to help others to be creative too!