How to Improve Your Imagination

Leonardo da Vinci was probably one of the most creative persons that the world has ever seen. He was a quintessential Renaissance man, a polymath, who had more than just a passing interest in a variety of subjects. He was an accomplished painter, a sculptor, an architect, a musician, an inventor, a botanist, among several other things.

He was probably one of those few people who managed to use his power of imagination to the hilt, optimally using it in whichever way he could. Most of us cannot make claims to having the same power to use our inherent imagination, but it is possible to improve our powers of creative visualization.

How many times have you while reading a fantasy book been simply amazed by the kind of creativity that is on display? How many times have you looked at a painting and wondered how the artist imagined something as real as that as vividly?

Well, most creative works are a result of one's imagination and while it may seem like an active imagination is generally innate, the fact of the matter is using one's imagination effectively needs direction and constant improvement. There are many tips that you can use that can help you actually improve your powers of imagination

• Curiosity killed the cat, says the age-old adage. But the fact of the matter is that without an active and curious mind, it can be quite difficult to think anew. Questioning things can be on most occasions the best way to exercise your imagination.

• If you have never heard about lateral thinking, then you need to understand that thinking out of the box may be just the way to jog your imagination. Think about unique ways to deal with the smallest of problems, like even taking a new route back home.

• Another way to improve your imagination is to associate yourself with people who are more creative. Research has shown that spending time with a group of creative people can allow you to come up with more innovative ideas than you would otherwise.

• Look at existing products and try to come up with new methods that can make the objects more innovative. Making improvements on existing products is a great way of trying to improve your imagination. Make a list of things that you can work on.

• Improving one's imagination is serious business. If you have to think more creatively, then you need to ensure that you completely do everything that is needed from you, which includes better research, learning new things, and questioning things around you.

• A very simple way of exercising your imagination to give it a free rein is to imagine how things can be in the future. Take a piece of paper and imagine where you would want your life to be ten years from now, both personally and professionally. Now start detailing this image out.

Think of what you would want from every aspect of your life. Every detail that you add will exercise your imagination more.

• There are actually many games to improve creative thinking that you can play which can put your imagination to work. A simple search engine look up will allow you access to all the different games that you can play in order to jog your gray cells.

Most people suggest making small changes to not only your perspective to the things in your life but also the manner in which you assume things. It is important to challenge the assumptions that you would normally make in life. You need to understand that while creativity needs to be tamed, it is only possible to do so if the ideas are allowed free rein to explore every avenue.