Revolutionary ideas are worth their weight in gold, especially in this day and age, when creativity is expected and used not only by a select few artists, writers, and poets, but by everyone, in whatever path they pursue in life. “Work smarter, not harder” is simply telling you to be creative, and look for creative means to maximise your efficiency.

A difference between society nowadays, where creativity is an everyday occurrence, and between, say, a century ago, is that inspiration came from different sources.

If you look at artists a few decades ago, they would have said their muse was a person. Or nature. Or perhaps a particularly riveting moment. All abstract concepts that they creatively interpreted or took inspiration from.

Our problem? We live in the digital age, where muses are not needed. Instead, ideas get delivered right to your doorstep (or your device screen) without any hassle whatsoever. You need only search “creative ideas for <insert requirement here>” for Google to become your unlikely muse. This results in two things:

• Difficulty in coming up with something entirely unique. If you get an idea, it’s probably been done before.
• Where to draw the line between being inspired and being a copycat?

Sadly, the second point seems to be where everyone is struggling. We see this everywhere, whether it’s writing (why is Young Adult writing all about dystopian romance? I feel like I’ve read The Hunger Games several times with minor changes), entrepreneurship ideas (just look at how many digital marketing services we have, if you don’t believe me), or even events! (it’s become a not-so-rare occurrence to see webinars being copied. If you pay attention, you know).

While some writing, or startup experience, or events would look good on anyone’s CV, it’s important to know that what people look for nowadays is creativity, aka how differently you can look at something everyone else is staring at.

So if you have 50 events under your belt, or 50 published novels, all ‘inspired’ to a large part from things you’ve seen or read, and you are hailed as a top performer, you will eventually end up being stressed and letting yourself and everyone else down. Why? Because you will be expected to function with a level of creativity, a level of unique and transformational ideas, quite different to what you’ve been doing all this time.

Not to mention, if anyone catches on that your work isn’t quite as inspired as it looks at first glance, it could severely hurt your professional reputation.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It’s not. It is quite frankly irksome and unprofessional to have your ideas borderline stolen, without due credit being given. Just ask any digital artist across the world. Every single artist has this problem.

So how can you be truly creative in these times where ideas are abundant and attempts are many?
For me, personally, the less is more approach works well. Instead of relying on a device and search engine, I find a good old-fashioned notebook (yes, pen and paper, what a scandal) to be the best way to coax ideas out of my own mind and not somewhere else. Once I have a few solid ideas to work with, then I will turn to google and see what has been done before. If all my ideas have been, then back to the drawing board book I go.

Another is brainstorming. Group inputs are surprisingly effective at filling in blanks in ideas, and the atmosphere of productivity can be heady and push your brain into a creative flow.

The best method by far, however, is to let the ideas come to you. The craziest, most ridiculous, but most creative and most unique ideas come not when you’re sitting in one place trying to channel the wisdom of the universe, but when you’re experiencing life on its own, whether by yourself or with others.

All these methods may work for you, or none. However, it’s up to you to figure out what works best for you to unleash your inner creativity, the part that truly comes from you, and not anyone and anywhere else.

In a world full of copycats, be a unicorn.

by Paramie Jayakody