How to move from reactive to creative in 3 simple steps

To create is a verb. It is an action. It is something you do. Something new. You’re being creative.

When you’re creative you cause something to come into being, something unique that would not naturally evolve or that is not made by ordinary processes.

Being creative means something evolves from your own thought or imagination: a work of art or an invention.

It is not the same as being reactive. Notice how the letters are the same?

When you’re reactive, you react to something. Something outside of you that you usually do not control.

Is your creative C in the right place?

When you’re Creative, the creative C is in first place.
When you’re reaCtive, the creative C only comes 4th place.

Of course you need stimulation when you create. Creating is only really connecting two things that already exist. So you do need to respond to a stimulus. But that’s what reacting is, right?

Wrong.

In reactive mode we behave like machines, we do what our past conditioning has programmed us to do. Something happens, and we react to it. Usually in the same way, over and over again. Which means we are running around in circles.

The creative mode is when we don’t do the usual thing but make a conscious choice to act. When we do something new, new things start to happen. New possibilities open up.

How to move from reactive to creative?

To make it easy for you, there is an intermediate step. It’s called the perceptive mode.

1. Understand your reactive patterns:
   - how do you react to certain things?
   - why do you react like that?
   - is there a pattern in your reactions (write it down: when X happens, I do Y)?
   - how can that pattern be broken (write it down: what alternatives are there to Y?)?
2. Develop a perceptive capacity:
   - notice when you react to something
   - which of your buttons are being pushed?
   - notice how it makes you feel (is it anger, deception?)
   - don’t do anything for a while, your take note and increase your perception of your reactive mode
3. Open up to your creative potential:
   - next time you notice a reaction coming up, try to stop it (pause, breathe before you answer, ask the person if you can get back to them, leave the room…)
   - set boundaries and rules (I have decided not to accept any more requests for help at school as I need to focus on my project. My husband and I have decided never to accept an invitation on a Sunday evening. Next time I will gently tell the person that I am not the right person for his/her complaints. I will free up my Thursday evenings for ME time or for creativity (like painting etc) ….)

Of course this is not going to happen overnight. It takes observation, correction, practice, sometimes even a lot of courage and perseverance.

But the more you start moving the C forward, the faster you will move from being reactive to being creative!