Category: Personal development

Not feeling great? Try a better question

Who are you, how are you, jim connolly creative

If we want better answers, we need to ask better questions.

How are you?

So, you’re not at your best. You don’t feel great. There’s something getting you down.

Focusing deeper and deeper on how you are, isn’t likely to help you feel better.

Who are you?

By changing the first word, in that 3 word sentence, we open up a different blend of potential answers.

We get to consider which of our personas we’ve currently adopted for ourselves. And if that version of ourselves is making us down, we can seek out a better persona.

Maybe a persona that likes us and values us. Perhaps one that is calmer. Or it could be a more positive, creative, reasonable, measured or inspired persona.

Is it worth a try?

Yes.

For relatively little effort, you could find yourself in a much better place.

Complicated people

jim connolly, people, creative

The world is full of complicated people.

  • We speak to people who smile as they talk.
  • We speak to people who sound like they’re in a dark place.
  • We speak to people who have the world at their feet.
  • We speak to people who have a heavy burden on their shoulders.

And if we pay close attention, we sometimes find that those people are THE SAME PERSON.

It just depends when we speak with them.

Creative productivity: Inputs and outputs

creative thinking, input output, creative productivity, creative sparks

Because my brain is weird, the first time I think of an answer, is often when I hear myself answering someone. It comes out of my mouth and that’s the first I know about it.

It happened moments ago. And it gave me a creative spark to share with you. Here’s what happened.

A friend told me that he’s struggling with his creativity. Both in quality and quantity. He then asked me how to improve his creative output.

I then heard myself say, ‘To improve your creative output, improve your creative inputs’.

Fresh feedback from interesting, people, surroundings, conversations, observations and such, are food for the brain. AKA bread for the head. If we make it a habit to regularly connect with different inputs, our minds get to create new points of focus. We’re then better equipped to make the connections that fuel the creative sparks we need.

The next time you’re waiting a little too long for the muse to show up, give it a try.

Creative thinking exercises

creativity, creative mind

If you work in PR or branding, and you’re looking for a new tagline, I came up with this one earlier.

‘We help businesses dress for the reputation they want’. 

This creative spark didn’t come from working on a project. It was my best answer to a creative thinking exercise I gave myself. As of Friday 17 October 2025, when I looked for it on the major search engines, in speech marks, there were zero matches.

I’ve always set creative challenges like this for myself. I tend to do it when I’m early for something.

  • Too little time for me to create meaningful work.
  • But enough time to respond to a creative challenge.

If you’re trying to spend less time doom scrolling, why not use some of that time sharpening your creativity?

Draw something.

Write something.

It’s the process of creating that matters. Not whatever you happen to draw or write.

Give it a try and see what happens.

Making big decisions, the easy way

The reason so many people avoid making big decisions, is that they’re in a perpetual feedback loop. This leaves them increasingly confused.

If they ask enough people for advice, all that feedback just cancels down into nothing.

Some people tell them this, other people tell them that, and others tell them something different. With every additional piece of advice, making the right decision becomes harder. So, they get some more advice.

Stop.

Try this

Get trusted advice from a select number of experts. Do the numbers.

  • If it stacks-up, move forward with the decision. And back your decision with the action and enthusiasm required.
  • If things don’t stack-up, decide to drop it. And move onto your next big decision.

It works.

Not every time.

But enough times to improve your quality of life, for the rest of your life.