<ol><li>Gather new material.At first, you learn. During this stage you focus on 1) learning specific material directly related to your task and 2) learning general material by becoming fascinated with a wide range of concepts.</li><li>Thoroughly work over the materials in your mind.During this stage, you examine what you have learned by looking at the facts from different angles and experimenting with fitting various ideas together.</li><li>Step away from the problem.Next, you put the problem completely out of your mind and go do something else that excites you and energizes you.</li><li>Let your idea return to you.At some point, but only after you have stopped thinking about it, your idea will come back to you with a flash of insight and renewed energy.</li><li>Shape and develop your idea based on feedback.For any idea to succeed, you must release it out into the world, submit it to criticism, and adapt it as needed.</li></ol>

This page pulls together my most essential information about creativity. I'll share how creativity works, how to find your hidden creative genius, and how to create meaningful work by learning how to make creative thinking a habit. I've tried to present the basics of everything you need to know to start mastering creativity, even if you don't have much time.

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How to Master Creativity and Uncover Your Creative Genius

But at the very root of the thinking, there is a very simple, though not easy, way of living. Take obstacles in your life and <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3029887/7-ways-to-turn-your-opponents-into-opportunities">turn them into your advantage </a>, control what you can and accept what you can't. In the words of <a href="http://dailystoic.com/Epictetus">Epictetus </a>: "In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control. Where will I find good and bad? In me, in my choices." Amazingly we still have access to these ideas, despite the fact that many of the greatest Stoics never wrote anything down for publication. Cato definitely didn't. Marcus Aurelius never intended for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0812968255/ryanholnet-20">Meditations </a>to be anything but personal. Seneca's letters were, well, letters and Epictetus' thoughts come to us by way of a note-taking student.

Prussian King, Frederick the Great, was said to ride with <a href="http://dailystoic.com/stoic-reading-list/">the works of the Stoics </a>in his saddlebags because they could, in his words, "sustain you in misfortune". Meanwhile, Montaigne, the politician and essayist, had a line from <a href="http://dailystoic.com/Epictetus">Epictetus </a>carved into the beam above the study in which he spent most of his time. The founding fathers were also inspired by the philosophy. George Washington was introduced to Stoicism by his neighbors at age seventeen, and afterwards, put on a play about Cato to inspire his men in that dark winter at Valley Forge. Whereas Thomas Jefferson had a copy of Seneca on his nightstand when he died.

"We must all wear out or rust out, everyone of us. My choice is to wear out". Today's leaders are no different, with many finding their inspiration from the ancient texts. Bill Clinton rereads <a href="http://www.dailystoic.com/marcus-aurelius/">Marcus Aurelius </a>every single year, while Wen Jiabao, the former prime minister of China, claims that Meditations is one of two books he travels with and has read it more than one hundred times over the course of his life.

When most people think of "philosophy," their eyes glaze over. It's the last thing they want, let alone something they need. But this, as you already know, is silly and naive. Philosophy is not just about talking or lecturing, or even reading long, dense books.

How to Master Creativity and Uncover Your Creative Genius

Stoicism: Practical Philosophy You Can Actually Use

Youness Nazli