The more we use them, the stronger they get. We think that it's only Einstein, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk who have creative genius. In fact, that's not true. Today, researchers are studying the heck out of creativity and much of what we think we know about the topic is just plain wrong. However, there are specific habits and traits which anyone can use to unlock their creative genius. Here are the six habits of exceptionally creative people.

我們用得越多，它們就越強大。我們認為，只有愛因斯坦、史蒂夫-喬布斯和埃隆-馬斯克才是具有創造力的天才。事實上，並非如此。如今，研究人員正在對創造力進行深入研究，而我們自以為對這一主題的瞭解大多是錯誤的。不過，任何人都可以利用一些特定的習慣和特質來釋放自己的創造天才。以下是極具創造力的人的六個習慣。

From the theoretical perspective, producing more work sounds like an easy idea. However, it's difficult in real life. The main reason is that we don't tolerate ourselves to create junk. As James Clear says, in any creative endeavor, you have to give yourself permission to create junk. There is no way around it. Sometimes you have to write four terrible pages just to discover that you wrote one good sentence in the second paragraph of the third page.

從理論上講，多勞多得聽起來很容易。然而，在現實生活中卻很難做到。主要原因是我們不允許自己製造垃圾。正如詹姆斯-克利所言，在任何創造性的工作中，你都必須允許自己製造垃圾。這是沒有辦法的事。有時，你不得不寫下四頁糟糕的文章，才發現自己在第三頁的第二段寫了一句好話。

In The War of Art, Steven Pressfield explains this as follows.

史蒂文-普雷斯菲爾德（Steven Pressfield）在《藝術的戰爭》（The War of Art）一書中對此有如下解釋。

The amateur, on the other hand, over-identifies with his advocation, his artistic aspiration.

而業餘愛好者則過度認同自己的主張和藝術追求。

He defines himself by it. He is a musician, a painter, a playwright.

他以此定義自己。他是音樂家、畫家、劇作家。

Resistance loves this. Resistance knows that the amateur composer will never write his symphony because he is overly invested in its success and over-terrified of its failure. The amateur takes it so seriously it paralyzes him. The problem is that we've been raised to think that our success and self-worth depends on our wins. For this reason, Pressfield says that we must turn from amateur to professional. Only then can we produce truly creative work.

阻力喜歡這樣。阻力知道，業餘作曲家永遠也寫不出他的交響樂，因為他對交響樂的成功過於投入，對失敗過於恐懼。業餘作曲家把它看得太重，以至於麻痺了自己。問題在於，我們從小就認為，我們的成功和自我價值取決於我們的勝利。是以，普雷斯菲爾德說，我們必須從業餘轉向專業。只有這樣，我們才能創作出真正具有創造性的作品。

Resistance wants us to stake our self-worth, our identity, our reason for being on the response of others to our work. Resistance knows we can't take this. No one can. The professional blows critics off. He doesn't even hear them. Critics, he reminds himself, are the unwitting mouthpieces of resistance. Resilience is practically a prerequisite for creative success, says psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman. Doing creative work is often described as a process of failing repeatedly until you find something that sticks, and creatives, at least the successful ones, learn not to take failure so personally. Creatives fail, and the really good ones fail often. Forbes contributor Stephen Kotler wrote in a piece on Einstein's creative genius,

阻力希望我們把自我價值、身份和存在的理由寄託在他人對我們工作的反應上。阻力知道我們不能接受這一點。沒有人可以。專業人士對批評者不屑一顧。他甚至聽不進去。他提醒自己，批評者是抵抗運動不知不覺的傳聲筒。心理學家斯科特-巴里-考夫曼（Scott Barry Kaufman）說，韌性實際上是創意成功的先決條件。從事創意工作通常被描述為一個不斷失敗的過程，直到你找到可以堅持的東西，而創意人，至少是成功的創意人，要學會不要把失敗看得太重。創意人員會失敗，而真正優秀的創意人員會經常失敗。福布斯》撰稿人斯蒂芬-科特勒（S

The way to become creative is to produce a lot, and the way to produce a lot is to give ourselves permission to create garbage. Eventually, everyone will forget the garbage we make but will remember the best works. Commit to the process and you'll become good enough soon enough. Put in a volume of work. Close the gap.

創造的方法就是大量創作，而大量創作的方法就是允許自己創作垃圾。最終，每個人都會忘記我們創作的垃圾，但會記住最好的作品。投入到這個過程中，你很快就會變得足夠優秀。投入大量工作。縮小差距。

If there's one thing that distinguishes highly creative people from others, it's the ability to see possibilities where others don't. In the words of Steve Jobs, when you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it. They just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things.

如果說極富創造力的人與其他人有什麼不同，那就是他們能夠看到別人看不到的可能性。用史蒂夫-喬布斯的話說，當你問那些有創造力的人他們是如何做到某件事的時候，他們會感到有些內疚，因為他們並沒有真正做到。他們只是看到了一些東西。過一段時間後，他們就會覺得這似乎是顯而易見的。這是因為他們能夠把自己的經驗聯繫起來，綜合出新的東西。

One must realize that creativity is to make new connections with old ideas, bringing together two pre-existing ideas in a non-existent way.

我們必須認識到，創造力就是用舊的想法建立新的聯繫，以一種不存在的方式將兩個原有的想法結合在一起。

Every new idea is just a combination of old ideas. It's why Austin Kleon writes that, when people call something original, nine out of ten times they just don't know the references or the original sources involved. Hence, his references are the same as the original.

每個新想法都是舊想法的組合。這就是為什麼奧斯汀-克萊恩寫道，當人們稱某些東西為原創時，十有八九他們只是不知道其中的參考或原始出處。是以，他的參考文獻與原文是一樣的。

Hence, his recommendation — steal like an artist.

是以，他建議--像藝術家一樣偷竊。

Creative people are always on the lookout for something to steal.

有創造力的人總是在尋找可以偷竊的東西。

To find something worth stealing, one must look in the right places.

要想找到值得偷的東西，就必須找對地方。

Always look for the things that will connect and combine.

始終尋找能夠連接和結合的事物。

The quality of the information one consumes determines the quality of work one will produce.

消費資訊的品質決定了工作的品質。

One way of finding valuable ideas is by exploring the variations of an idea.

尋找有價值創意的方法之一是探索創意的變體。

Kleon calls this branching.

克萊恩將此稱為 "分支"。

Chew on one thinker. Study everything there is to know about that thinker.

咀嚼一位思想家。研究有關這位思想家的一切。

Then find three people that thinker loved, and find out everything about them.

然後找出思想家所愛的三個人，瞭解他們的一切。

Repeat this as many times as you can. Climb up the tree as far as you can go.

儘可能多地重複這個動作。儘量往樹上爬。

That's not the only method of finding valuable ideas.

這並不是尋找有價值創意的唯一方法。

There are multiple ways. Always look for the things that will connect.

方法有多種。總是要尋找能聯繫起來的東西。

Creative people always actively seek out the best ideas from all places.

有創造力的人總是積極地從各個地方尋找最佳創意。

They're always researching and trying to find something to combine.

他們一直在研究，試圖找到可以結合的東西。

James Clear says,

James Clear 說、

No single act will uncover more creative genius than forcing yourself to create consistently.

迫使自己堅持不懈地創作，是最能發掘天才創意的行為。

Practicing your craft over and over is the only way to become decent at it.

只有反覆練習自己的技藝，才能成為一名出色的技師。

Inspiration will not come to you while you're waiting.

在等待的過程中，靈感是不會降臨到你身上的。

Do not wait for the inspiration to think creatively and to produce creative ideas.

不要等待靈感，要有創造性思維和創造性想法。

Set a schedule for your work. After working regularly for some time, something comes up.

制定工作時間表。有規律地工作一段時間後，就會遇到一些事情。

Creativity is not just about the ideas that come to your mind. It is a process.

創意不僅僅是你腦海中浮現的想法。它是一個過程。

Be patient to be creative.

要有耐心，才能有創意。

Don't just wait for that moment when you go into the bathroom and shout,

不要只等著進廁所的那一刻大喊大叫、

Eureka!

尤里卡

Creativity doesn't come easily.

創意來之不易

It's very important that we create a schedule that we can rely on.

制定一個可以信賴的時間表非常重要。

The painter, Chuck Close, was clear on this point.

畫家查克-克洛斯（Chuck Close）就清楚這一點。

Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.

靈感是給業餘愛好者的。我們其他人只需出現並開始工作。

And the belief that things will grow out of the activity itself and that you will, through work, bump into other possibilities and kick open other doors that you would never have dreamt of if you were just sitting around looking for a great art idea.

你要相信，事情會從活動本身發展出來，通過工作，你會遇到其他的可能性，踢開其他的大門，如果你只是坐在那裡尋找一個偉大的藝術創意，你做夢也不會想到這些。

If you hang in there, you will get somewhere.

只要堅持下去，就會有所收穫。

Creativity is a process. Never forget this. Decide what you want to be good at.

創意是一個過程。永遠不要忘記這一點。決定你想擅長什麼。

Set a schedule for your actions and stick to your schedule no matter how difficult it is.

為自己的行動制定一個時間表，無論有多困難，都要堅持執行。

Many of the most iconic stories and songs of all time have been inspired by gut-wrenching pain and heartbreak. And the silver lining of these challenges is that they may have been the catalyst to create great art. You have to be more creative when you have fewer resources because you have to do more with less. And it kind of spurs the creativity process.

有史以來，許多最具代表性的故事和歌曲的靈感都來自於撕心裂肺的痛苦和心碎。而這些挑戰的一線希望是，它們可能是創造偉大藝術的催化劑。在資源匱乏的情況下，你必須更有創造力，因為你必須少花錢多辦事。這也是一種激發創造力的過程。

David Berkus writes in his book,

David Berkus 在他的書中寫道、

Many of the most prolific and creative people understand how stifling a blank slate can be.

許多最多產、最有創造力的人都明白，一片空白是多麼令人窒息。

All creatives need some constraints. All artists need structure. Some of the most creative poetry comes in fixed forms, such as the Japanese haiku or the English sonnet.

所有創作者都需要一些約束。所有藝術家都需要結構。一些最具創造力的詩歌都是以固定的形式出現的，例如日本的俳句或英國的十四行詩。

According to Austin Kleon, nothing is more paralyzing than the idea of infinite possibilities.

奧斯汀-克萊恩（Austin Kleon）認為，沒有什麼比 "無限可能 "這個想法更讓人麻痺。

The best way to get over a creative block is to simply place some constraints on yourself.

克服創作障礙的最好辦法就是給自己施加一些限制。

He goes on to explain how having less helps us.

他接著解釋了 "少吃 "對我們的幫助。

1. Getting really good at creative work requires a lot of time and attention, and that means cutting a lot of fluff out of your life, so that you have that extra time and attention. And 2. Creativity in our work is often a matter of what we choose to leave out, rather than leave in. What is unspoken versus spoken, what isn't shown versus what is, etc.

1.要想真正做好創意工作，需要投入大量的時間和精力，這就意味著要從生活中減少很多瑣碎的事情，這樣你才能有更多的時間和精力。還有 2.在我們的工作中，創造力往往取決於我們選擇省略什麼，而不是保留什麼。沒有說出來的和說出來的，沒有表現出來的和表現出來的，等等。

Constraints are not the enemy. Many creatives understood that and went on to produce masterpieces because of constraints, not despite them.

限制不是敵人。許多創作者都明白這一點，他們因為制約而不是不顧制約，繼續創作出傑作。

Dr. Seuss was challenged to write a children's book with only 50 words. The result was Green

蘇斯博士曾接受挑戰，要寫一本只有 50 個單詞的兒童讀物。結果是《綠

Eggs and Ham, which went on to sell over 200 million copies. Imposing simple constraints in our own lives can lead to well-designed and more effective lives as well.

雞蛋和火腿》（Eggs and Ham），該書銷量超過 2 億冊。在我們自己的生活中施加簡單的約束，也能讓我們的生活設計更合理、更有效。

Creative thinking should be followed by creative doing.

創造性思維之後應該是創造性行動。

Give your idea, answer, or insight the opportunity to live outside of your imagination and notes.

讓你的想法、答案或見解有機會跳出你的想象和筆記。

The more often you ship your ideas, the less it bothers you when it doesn't work out as planned, and the more often you succeed. You are never more than one great idea away from achieving a major breakthrough. It's entirely possible that you have already had a breakthrough idea, but you won't see the breakthrough until you become a real artist.

你越是經常提出自己的想法，當想法未能按計劃實現時，你就越不會感到困擾，也就越能取得成功。你離實現重大突破的偉大想法永遠不會超過一個。你完全有可能已經有了一個突破性的想法，但在你成為一名真正的藝術家之前，你不會看到這種突破。

Because, as Steve Jobs reminded us, real artists ship.

因為，正如喬布斯提醒我們的那樣，真正的藝術家會發貨。

Picasso painted over 20,000 works. Bach composed at least one work a week.

畢加索畫了兩萬多幅作品。巴赫每週至少創作一部作品。

Most of these works were garbage. No one on the street would have taken a second look at it.

這些作品大多是垃圾。大街上沒有人會多看一眼。

However, when you produce so much work, that one piece will inevitably stick.

然而，當你創作出如此多的作品時，那件作品就不可避免地會留下來。

If only one idea for every ten that you come up with is good, all it means is that you should be working on a hundred ideas to come up with ten good ones.

如果每十個點子中只有一個是好點子，那就意味著你要想出十個好點子，就要想一百個點子。

The same goes for all creative endeavors. It's widely assumed that there's a trade-off between quantity and quality, but quantity breeds quality. The act of creating something, no matter how bad it is, is practice for creating a better one.

所有的創造性工作都是如此。人們普遍認為，數量和品質之間需要權衡，但數量會帶來品質。創作的行為，無論多麼糟糕，都是為了創作出更好的作品。

Just don't forget, creativity and the ability to innovate are like muscles.

別忘了，創造力和創新能力就像肌肉。

The more we use them, the stronger they get.

我們使用得越多，它們就越強大。