5 Bold Challenges to Push your Creativity Beyond the Comfort Zone
Stretching your Creative Muscles to Improve your Practice
Hello creative souls
I often hear people say that creativity flourishes outside of comfort zones, but what does this actually mean in practice on those days when you’re feeling stale and none of your ideas are hitting the mark.
I hear you, I’ve been there multiple times and it always helps to challenge myself.
So, today I’m going to share five challenges to help stretch your creative muscles in unexpected ways. After all, creativity is just like taking your body off for some exercise - it improves your fitness levels. If you stretch those creative muscles, you’ll improve your creative fitness too.
So, take a look and pick the one that resonates most to try out today and let’s all give our creative muscles a workout.
1. The Cross Pollination Challenge
Time Needed: 20 minutes for 1 week.
Have you ever tried merging two seemingly unrelated creative activities? Well, this challenge is the one for you if you’re feeling stale, unmotivated and unexcited.
The idea is that you choose some other creative pursuit and try fulfilling what you need to get done in that alternative medium. This will give you a different perspective and force your brain to come up with new ways to fulfil a challenge.
If you’re a writer try sketching scenes, characters or methodologies.
If you’re a photographer try writing poetry to go with your photographs.
If you’re a business owner try drawing your brand strategy visually rather than writing it.
Magic can happen during these times of unusual combinations of mediums. This can sometimes feel impossible at first but in actuality can be a fantastic way to expand your creative process and can spark ideas for new things.
The idea here is not to create something publishable, printable or customer worthy, it’s to expand your mind so you can then create those publisher worthy works with your new ideas and imaginative problem solving skills. This can then revolutionise your primary practice. Set aside 20 minutes every day for one week to devote to this experimental fusion and see what happens.
2. The Dawn Creator’s Ritual
Time Needed:15-20 minutes for 5 Days
There’s a special kind of magic in creating before the world wakes. With this one your challenge is to rise 30 minutes before your usual time and immediately dive into your toughest creative project before doing anything else.
This means no email, no social media, just reaching for the things you need to get stuck into that challenge the moment you wake. This is really important for this one to work.
Why?
Because in the quiet hours of the morning when you’re not quite awake fully, your inner critic is still snoozing happily, which means your creative mind has full control of the playground to deliver your absolute best work.
I’ve heard lots of good things from people who’ve tried this one and if this sounds like your thing set your alarm tomorrow and get stuck in. Set aside 15-20 minutes each morning for this task and see what it does for you.
3. The Constraint Liberation
Time needed: 15 minutes for 3 days
It sounds completely backside first but limitations can be incredibly freeing.
Hear me out.
This challenge focuses on your ability to concentrate on one limitation and allow your mind free rein to work out innovative solutions.
You start by choosing one constraint and working with it solely, an example of this might be:
Writers tell a story in 50 words or less
Artists try working with only 3 colours
Business owners - create a marketing campaign with only one line
Musicians - compose a sound with only three notes
The beauty of this technique is that you are forced to work within these limitations and come up with exciting new solutions. When we can’t rely on the usual tools and techniques, we learn to discover new ways of expressing creativity that we might never have considered before.
Try this for 15 minutes every day for 3 days and see what happens.
4. Creative Cross Training
Time needed: 1 hour for 2 weeks
Athletes often cross train to become stronger and more rounded overall, and this works for creatives too.
This challenge works by you committing to learning the absolute basics of a creative skill that’s completely different from your usual practice. An example of this might be:
A novelist might try pottery
An artist might try creative writing
A graphic designer might try PR
A marketing manager might try customer relations
The goal here isn’t to master this skill, it’s about gaining new perspectives and understanding different creative processes and motivations that you can take back to improve and enhance your primary practice.
This new knowledge can lead to unexpected innovations in your main practice area and it’s a great way to meet new people and expand your network. Take an hour a day or every few days for a couple of weeks and see what happens.
5. Documentation Deep Dive
Time needed - 1 week
Transform your creative process into content by documenting everything you do - your struggles, breakthroughs, daily progress, etc. Share these insights on your favourite platform and you’re all set.
This challenge serves multiple purposes - it helps you reflect deeply on your creative process, creates valuable content for your audience and builds authentic connections with fellow creatives who might be experiencing the same challenges.
You simply take every step, every setback and every win and document this journey for your audience.
Making these challenges work for you
The key to success with these challenges isn’t to be perfect - it’s curiosity and commitment that will give you ideas and insights to take back to your primary practice. Choose one that excites and slightly intimidates you - that’s often the best way to find your growth.
Plus, remember to
Start small, you don’t need to do all five at once
Be consistent and set aside specific times for your challenge
Keep notes on what works and doesn’t work
Share your experiences- community support can be really motivating
Your creative journey is unique to you and these challenges are supposed to be adapted to your individual needs. The goal isn’t to create masterpieces but to expand your creative energy and skills, to discover new aspects of your creative self.
Your next steps
Choose one challenge that appeals
Set a start day - the next few days is ideal
Share your chosen challenge in the comments or by dropping me a message
Gather all the materials you’ll need to do it
Start your creative adventure
Remember - creativity isn’t about the end product, it’s about having the courage to explore, experiment, and sometimes gloriously fail on that path to discovery.
With creative spirit,
Sara
P.S. if you’re stuck choosing a challenge or need support, I have 1-1 creative sessions where we can explore these challenges together and tailor them to your journey on a personal level. Drop over to my website to explore the options.
Read my blog articles on Creativity Coaching, or on the life of an author on my websites
Link with me on social media
Read my historical fiction mystery books
Find out about creativity coaching