Once you have learned the craft of nails and earning a living, should you continue to develop yourself and your skills to create some truly amazing work?” Working on bettering yourself and your skills is the first step to being a successful technician, start today with these six simple steps.
Step 1 - Nail Technicians are Creative People!
The next time you think "I can never come up with good ideas," remember this; there is a countless number of useful ideas and innovative thoughts in all of us. You are brilliant, yes this is a fact and it is your life that makes you brilliant. Your life is unique, full of obstacles and inspiration. Take some time to remember every situation you have encountered, every problem you have faced, and the countless solutions and creative ways you have come up with to solve them. However creativity is not only about finding solutions to problems or thinking up different ways to do things.
Step 1 - Nail Technicians are Creative People!
The next time you think "I can never come up with good ideas," remember this; there is a countless number of useful ideas and innovative thoughts in all of us. You are brilliant, yes this is a fact and it is your life that makes you brilliant. Your life is unique, full of obstacles and inspiration. Take some time to remember every situation you have encountered, every problem you have faced, and the countless solutions and creative ways you have come up with to solve them. However creativity is not only about finding solutions to problems or thinking up different ways to do things.
Step 2 - Look at things in a new perspective
I use problem solving as an example to help you realize that creative thinking requires us to look at things from new perspectives.
We all have some level of creativity within us and you can teach yourself to be more creative. Using this creativity in your work, to improve our business and enjoy the freedom it brings.
Step 3 -Positive thinking
I use problem solving as an example to help you realize that creative thinking requires us to look at things from new perspectives.
We all have some level of creativity within us and you can teach yourself to be more creative. Using this creativity in your work, to improve our business and enjoy the freedom it brings.
Step 3 -Positive thinking
Creativity is a state of mind. Telling yourself or others "I'm not very creative," or "I can never come up with new or clever ideas," destroys that state of mind. Creative thinking requires positive thinking. Don’t mistake creativity with artistic licence, these two things are very different, and you don’t need to be artistic to be creative. Remember, it is about looking at things with a new perspective and find a solution to a particular problem. If we look at designing nails, it is not about finding a design; we use ‘inspiration’ for that, but more about interpretation the design and finding a creative way to dilute it and use it.
Step 4 -Inspiration is critical to creative thought. Without sudden flashes of inspiration, we might never arrive at creative solutions to difficult problems. Without the fresh insight that intuition grants us, we might never see the bigger picture.What we see, hear, feel, taste, and touch -- influence our state of mind. A positive atmosphere contributes to a positive and creative state of mind. Surround yourself with inspirational props, use magazines, junk mail, cereal boxes, wrapping paper and birthday cards to name a few to generate ideas. Besides what we see or hear, the scents, textures, and tastes experienced during our creative thinking time contribute to our creativity. Collecting whatever materials inspire you and give you ideas is a step towards finding a creative solution.
You need to store these ideas, and the brain is not the place to do it, image it is a huge filing system, if you’re actively trying to retrieve stored inspirational memories with you’re not able to come up with new ideas. Whether it's a folder, a notebook, or an entire file cabinet, keep clippings, thumbnail sketches, junk mail, photos, and anything else that inspires you or gives you ideas. Don't just file it and forget it - go through the file get in the habit of making notes, outlines, sketches, or doodles. Jot down or record all your thoughts, no matter how bizarre or where ever you are, some of your best ideas come just before falling asleep. Keep a notebook at your bedside, in your hand bag, even in the loo so you will always be ready to write down ideas.
Step 5 -Have a goal
While positive thinking allows your mind to accept new ideas and creative thoughts, using an effective thinking method can help direct your thoughts toward specific goals. Daydreaming, relaxation, and free association allow the mind to come up with new or unusual ideas or idea fragments. Having a goal for your creative thinking will prevent those random thoughts and ideas which may not be particularly useful.
In my first class I talk about the five steps to develop your design, and how important it is to decide your topic, find a subject which you want to recreate, for example ‘seaside’, ‘wedding flowers’ or ‘hot tropics’. Once you have your title you can find inspirational images to support it, and develop your creative solution. Working more effectively will prevent your mind running away with unrelated thoughts.
Step 6 -Practise & Discipline
Science has speculated that we are using 10% of our brain capacity and expanding your brain and mind will accelerate your creative potential. Everyone has natural creative talent and this can be enhanced by stimulating the mind.
Your sensory input gets stored in memory. By giving your mind fresh inputs each day, your
memories get triggered and combined with the new input. Sometimes you will get ideas or gain new perspectives. Creativity takes practice. Your creativity is there within you, but you must make a habit of using it. Through imagination and creativity, using what we think and how we think to determine our quality of life is a powerful tool, and as Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." Sir Francis Bacon is famous for saying “knowledge is power”?
Every thought we have is a creative thought. The question isn't whether we are creative or not. The question is whether we are aware of our powers of creativity and are able to expand and use them purposefully.
Step 4 -Inspiration is critical to creative thought. Without sudden flashes of inspiration, we might never arrive at creative solutions to difficult problems. Without the fresh insight that intuition grants us, we might never see the bigger picture.What we see, hear, feel, taste, and touch -- influence our state of mind. A positive atmosphere contributes to a positive and creative state of mind. Surround yourself with inspirational props, use magazines, junk mail, cereal boxes, wrapping paper and birthday cards to name a few to generate ideas. Besides what we see or hear, the scents, textures, and tastes experienced during our creative thinking time contribute to our creativity. Collecting whatever materials inspire you and give you ideas is a step towards finding a creative solution.
You need to store these ideas, and the brain is not the place to do it, image it is a huge filing system, if you’re actively trying to retrieve stored inspirational memories with you’re not able to come up with new ideas. Whether it's a folder, a notebook, or an entire file cabinet, keep clippings, thumbnail sketches, junk mail, photos, and anything else that inspires you or gives you ideas. Don't just file it and forget it - go through the file get in the habit of making notes, outlines, sketches, or doodles. Jot down or record all your thoughts, no matter how bizarre or where ever you are, some of your best ideas come just before falling asleep. Keep a notebook at your bedside, in your hand bag, even in the loo so you will always be ready to write down ideas.
Step 5 -Have a goal
While positive thinking allows your mind to accept new ideas and creative thoughts, using an effective thinking method can help direct your thoughts toward specific goals. Daydreaming, relaxation, and free association allow the mind to come up with new or unusual ideas or idea fragments. Having a goal for your creative thinking will prevent those random thoughts and ideas which may not be particularly useful.
In my first class I talk about the five steps to develop your design, and how important it is to decide your topic, find a subject which you want to recreate, for example ‘seaside’, ‘wedding flowers’ or ‘hot tropics’. Once you have your title you can find inspirational images to support it, and develop your creative solution. Working more effectively will prevent your mind running away with unrelated thoughts.
Step 6 -Practise & Discipline
Science has speculated that we are using 10% of our brain capacity and expanding your brain and mind will accelerate your creative potential. Everyone has natural creative talent and this can be enhanced by stimulating the mind.
Your sensory input gets stored in memory. By giving your mind fresh inputs each day, your
memories get triggered and combined with the new input. Sometimes you will get ideas or gain new perspectives. Creativity takes practice. Your creativity is there within you, but you must make a habit of using it. Through imagination and creativity, using what we think and how we think to determine our quality of life is a powerful tool, and as Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." Sir Francis Bacon is famous for saying “knowledge is power”?Every thought we have is a creative thought. The question isn't whether we are creative or not. The question is whether we are aware of our powers of creativity and are able to expand and use them purposefully.
Nails & Styling by Sam Biddle; Photography - Stuart Dibben; Models - Vicki Smith & Jorden Biddle
This article was published in Scratch magazine September 2008
This article was published in Scratch magazine September 2008
