Creative Capital is great, it does not necessarily have monetary value, it’s just something that has a tremendous impact on your life. Creative industries are employing more and more people, and it’s simply not enough to be the boring accountant type. There is a desperate need for ideas and creative approaches towards problems, start today and increase your value by building Creative Capital.

33 Powerful Strategies to build your Creative Capital

1. Start to develop concepts that are out of the box.
   Concepts that have never been done before are great capital, or maybe they just suck, but at least it’s fun to make up things and go for them. Knowledge is limited, creativity not.

2. Build a cool blog, not one about making money.
   Start to write a blog about what floats your boat. Hobby, Sport, self improvement, ramblings… whatever you have your own perspective on. Just don’t bore people, make it entertaining or deliver useful information.

3. Take photos.
   Taking pictures is one of the easiest ways to start being creative. Do whatever you want to do, take snapshots, arrange something, whatever it is you do, it will open your eyes for small things and details that are usually lost.



4. Take those photos like you have never took pictures before.
   Once you start to take pictures look at them, you probably have a certain style. Try to do something new, get yourself a book, or copy the work of others and see what you can learn. It’s important to change the perspective every once in a while to not get stuck with what you are doing.

5. Write Short Stories or a Novel.
   Having a good imagination is a gift, no matter if you are selling something or telling you children a good night story. You don’t have to depend upon other to give you stories, learn to make them up! You might like it and start writing a real book.

6. Create mind-maps.
   Whenever you have a problem, don’t just think about it, learn to create mind maps that will help you to solve your problems.

7. Work with alliterations and images.
   Language is powerful, just think of Joseph Kosuth One and Three Chairs and you will either think, I could have done this, or you will think another time and see how powerful his works are. It’s amazing what language does.

Build Creative Capital, it’s a smart investment

8. Share your experiences on a non profit basis.
   Everyone is successful in something, just share your fountain of information! Be the best at something and start building a community around your services. It’s amazing how much you can get out of giving.

9. Join a theatre group.
   There are plenty of things that you can learn when you start to be in a theatre, speaking and acting in front of the masses, changing the perspective, finding new friends, acting is a wonderful thing, but it’s not for everyone.

10. Learn to Shoot Movies.
    Video editing is a cool skill to pick up, you can spice up presentations, create family films, independent movies or viral nonsense. Remember to have fun.

11. Develop skills in Computer Graphics
    No matter if you are going to learn to build 3D Models, how to manipulate in photoshop or digital painting. There are plenty of things you can do, which are easy to pick up and will help to build the creative network in your brain.

12. Pick up design skills.
    Design is actually a craft, there are plenty of books about it and after all it comes down to usability and style. It’s not like art, it’s a craftsmanship.

13. Read, read & read books
    Reading, we have to do it and we do it a lot! Most people just read useful stuff day in and out, pretty boring if you ask me! Get funky and go overboard, start reading something really useless, a funny book, a thriller, whatever just make sure it’s something you can enjoy. Reading stimulates the mind

14. Get a library card
    Few things are as powerful as cheap and free education. Even if you are a baller on a budget, you can be a smart baller on a budget

15. Develop new skills
    Coming nicely along with the previous two posts, combine reading with the do it yourself area of your library and you can read books about building whatever, self-improvement, Sports, Games, Finance. To make a long story short, pick what you are interested in and build your knowledge base, it’s the foundation for Creative Capital.



16. Doodle!
    Doodling is great. It does not have to be perfect, loosens up the mind and helps to unwind. You can do it everywhere…in conferences, at the phone, in a bar, on a napkin, toilet walls… get those creative juices flowing! doodlage and skineart are great places to share your pieces or to draw inspiration.

17. Learn a new language, brush up your grammar skills
    Languages are a challenge and you should probably join a class or team up with someone from another country to pick up his language. You will train different parts of your brain, and as usual the greater the network, the higher the possible output.

18. Become a coach in your favorite ballgame.
    Enough of sitting in front of the couch and whining about how your team lost. Get a trainer license and start coaching a team! It’s a great experience and improving your social and leadership skills will come naturally.

19. Take part in a subculture
    Join a subculture that you never thought of joining before. Interact with people who are out of your regular surrounding. Finding new ideas and trends is easier when you see that there are different lifestyles than your own.

20. Engage in a new sport
    Surfing the waves looks cool or not? Why not book a flight and have a great surfing vacation and pick up that sport? You can’t swim? Then get some inliners or a skateboard, start dancing just find a sport that has style and kicks ass. As we grow up we tend to forget that we are allowed to have fun and enjoy life. That’s why most adults fancy some kind of boring sport, that’s actually just social interaction to find potential mates, but no fun.

21. Plan a big party on a low budget
    Planning a party is the small style event management, but everyone can do it if he has enough money to spend and could even hire someone to manage it. Make planning a party a challenge. You have to set a budget, get a place, invite people,… plenty of stuff to do and it will sure hell work on a lot of different skills such as social interaction, business sense and the ability to enjoy life.

22. Found a charity
    Founding a charity can be done by almost anyone, you just need willpower and motivation. There is a lot of stuff to do, and only few people are willing to put in hours for this fulfilling work unless they have made it.

23. Start meditation
    Meditation does not have to be meditation in a common sense meaning, it can be running, reading a book or doing whatever relaxes your mind. Today’s society forces people to go on overdrive for most of their life, learn to appreciate the small moments in your life and get out of the rat race every once in a while.

24. Believe in yourself and your ideas
    The biggest investment you can make is to believe in yourself. You should trust yourself, and do everything you can do to be what you want to be! Self confidence is the best way to get rid of a lot of problems that smart people can have, be proud of yourself.



25. Do something stupid every once in a while.
    Yep, allow yourself to make mistake and useless things. Just do whatever you want to do, forget about all this things that society expects you to do and simply enjoy your life. Don’t harm yourself or other with those things though.

26. Invent new rules for a game
    Playing games sounds like a child activity, but it’s fun for every age. Just pick up a game, play it and invent new rules. Bending and breaking the old rules helps to develop new skills and offers another perspective on possible problems.

27. Learn some magic tricks
    Magic seems to be outdated, but it’s fun to do some coin or card tricks and does not miss to impress. Learn to appreciate that magic is the sugar and spice of life and that we don’t want to know how everything works and simply be entertained.

28. Become an inventor and make up some useful tool
    Just think about a problem and how you would solve it. I hear you saying that you are no engineer, but that does not matter, just think about it, write it down and learn to develop scenarios for things where you don’t know jack. It’s fun, entertaining and maybe you can sell your idea or find the right people to get it clicking with you.

29. Imagine to be CEO of a popular company
    A real fun article could be found at the netsetter, where Collis was the imaginary head of twitter and thought about how he’d run it. Working out how things work for others is the best solution to understand your competitors and the business world. Just learn from other and pick up what you like and ditch the rest.

30. Adapt strategies from other disciplines
    Interlinking what you are learning when you do any of those things recommended in this list is crucial. There is nothing more worthless than a specialised creative who does not know how to unleash his full potential. Learn from life for your life.

31. Take a vacation
    Meet new people and visit another country. In Germany we have the saying “Reisen bildet den Charakter”, which translates to Travelling builds Character. See new things, enjoy life and be ready for challenges that come along. We have the freedom to be world citizens right now, enjoy it for as long as it lasts.

32. Life on the streets for a few days
    This is one for all the people who think those bums living on the street should simply get some work. Appreciate your life, do what you want and respect others, especially people who had bad luck and lost what they have. The fisher King is a good way to remind us how bad things can happen.

33. Flirt
    The last point should not have brought you down. Flirt with life! Dance in the morning sun, … life is beautiful, that’s why you should enjoy it and you should simply flirt with it. Enjoy what you do, have some fun and spontaneous interaction and smile at the world. There is no reason to frown and be unfriendly day in and day out, everybody wants to have a little fun.

That’s it, there is probably a lot more to build your Creative Capital, and I’d love to hear if you have other ways to build your Creative Foundation and Resources.