Creative Mindset or A Better Way To Tie Your Shoes

There's an interesting (or maybe not so interesting) thing that happens as we age. Our toolbox for solving life's problems fills up and more and more of the challenges we face become "yet another one of those." I know it's a cliché at this point but we get comfortable and complacent.

It's not that our tools are bad, many of them are probably Good Enough and some might even be perfect. However, there's always room for improvement and cultivating a habit of looking at the world with a creative mindset will lead to it.

But what if you don't consider yourself creative? How do you build that mindset? Start really small.

Tying Your Shoes

Most people either don't tie their shoes at all and just force those suckers onto their feet (heathens) or they use one of two techniques... single loop or bunny ears. I was a single loop guy for the first 33ish years of my life then I stumbled across Ian's Knot.

Ian's Knot feels like a magic trick. It's fast, efficient and produces a perfectly symmetrical knot every time.

Straight from Ian himself, if you like pictures and text, check this tutorial out. If you like video, this might be your jam:

I get it, this is dorky and kinda pointless. That it's "faster" is debatable and a perfectly symmetrical knot ain't gonna make your life any better.

However, isn't it kinda cool that something so ubiquitous, something you may never question, could be done in a way that might be better?? Taken to it's logical conclusion, I think that's a pretty powerful idea.

One more thing...

Variations On Normal

I want to introduce you to Variations On Normal from Dominic Wilcox. His bread and butter seems to be rethinking the every day stuff we take for granted in hilarious and exciting ways. The guy is a monster creative and I find a lot of inspiration in his approach to life.

If you've got 8 minutes to spare check this out:

This is all to say, each of us has the power to be creative. If you think you don't, your muscles are just atrophied. Get 'em warmed up a bit with something small.

Learn a new way to tie your shoes.