Focus on Creativity in Your New Year's Resolutions

When the calendar flips to January, it's hard to escape the annual ritual of making New Year's resolutions. Exercise more. Eat better. Save money. Finally clean out that closet that's been quietly judging you since you changed jobs and sizes a few years ago.

Those are all worthwhile goals. But what if one of your resolutions was simply to make more things?

Creativity isn't reserved for people who call themselves artists. You don't need a studio, a degree in fine arts, or a shelf full of fancy supplies. Creativity shows up whenever we make something, try something new, solve a problem in an unexpected way, or look at an old idea from a different angle.

You might paint, write, play music, garden, build something, take photographs, learn to code, cook without a recipe, or finally try that project you've been thinking about for months. There are plenty of ways to bring more creativity into your year—and plenty of good reasons to do it.

1. Make Room for Self-Expression and Discovery

One of the best things about being creative is that you don't always know where it's going to take you.

Try something you've never done before. Pick up a paintbrush. Learn a few chords on a guitar. Take a photography walk. Write a terrible first draft. (That's what first drafts are for.)

Creative activities give us a chance to experiment and discover what interests us. You may uncover a talent you didn't know you had—or discover that you absolutely love doing something you're not particularly good at. Both are useful discoveries.

Creativity gives you permission to explore simply because you're curious.

2. Give Your Brain a Break

Life can get pretty noisy. Work, errands, emails, deadlines, notifications—the list seems to reproduce when we're not looking.

Creative activities can provide a welcome change of pace. When you're absorbed in drawing, gardening, writing, crafting, playing music, or working on a project, your attention shifts away from the usual daily clutter.

You don't have to create a masterpiece. Sometimes the point is simply to spend an hour doing something that doesn't involve checking your inbox.

And if you happen to end up with something you're proud of at the end, that's a nice bonus.

3. Get Better at Solving Problems

Creativity isn't just about making pretty things. It's also about figuring things out.

What happens when something doesn't work the way you expected? You try another approach. What if you don't have the right materials? You improvise. What if your original idea turns out to be a dud? You start poking around for another one.

That's creative thinking.

The more comfortable we become with experimenting and trying different approaches, the easier it can be to tackle problems in other parts of our lives. There isn't always one right answer—and sometimes the interesting answer is the one nobody thought of yet.

4. Learn to Live With the Messy Parts

Creative projects don't always go according to plan. Paint gets spilled. Stories get stuck. Ideas fizzle. That brilliant project you imagined in your head turns out to look...well, considerably less brilliant on paper.

That's part of the deal.

Creative work gives us lots of opportunities to practice dealing with mistakes, setbacks, and uncertainty. We try something, learn from it, make adjustments, and try again.

Those experiences can build resilience and make it easier to keep going when things don't work out the first time.

Besides, some of the best ideas show up after the original idea goes completely off the rails.

5. Make Something That Matters to You

There's something satisfying about making something with your own hands—or your own words, ideas, photographs, music, or code—and being able to say, "I made that."

Maybe it's a painting hanging on your wall. Maybe it's a song, a garden, a handmade gift, a short story, a website, or a ridiculously ambitious woodworking project that took three times longer than expected.

Creative projects give us something tangible to point to. More importantly, they give us time to follow our own interests and make room for the things that matter to us.

That's a pretty good reason to make creativity part of your year.

Make Creativity One of Your Resolutions

New Year's resolutions don't have to be all about fixing ourselves. They can also be about exploring ourselves.

So this year, consider adding a creative resolution to the list.

Make something. Learn something. Experiment. Take a class. Pick up an old hobby. Start a project you've been putting off. Give yourself permission to be a beginner.

And don't worry too much about whether the result is "good."

The goal isn't to become the next great artist, musician, writer, inventor, or whatever else. The goal is to make room for creativity in your life and see where it takes you.

You might surprise yourself.