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Creativity and talent are essential elements to what makes us unique.

Despite what you may believe, every person has the ability to generate creative thoughts and to build new skills and talents.

In my view, it is one of the signature failings of our school system and our modern work environment that students and employees are not asked to dedicate time each day strictly to be creative, unleash new ideas or examine their personal and professional goals.

Here are two things I do everyday as part of my creative thinking and talent building:

I spend about 20 minutes looking at new jobs. That’s right! Everyday! If I find something interesting, I copy and paste the skills required that I do not have and add them to a list. During the day I refer to the list to see if there is an opportunity for me to add a new skill. For example, one list is entitled “Advertising” and includes online and print advertising. Though I have done both in my professional life – there are still skills I want to gain and experience to earn.

I spend 15 to 20 minutes reading about new companies. If I like the concept of a new company, I add them to a spreadsheet I created. As time has gone on, my list has emerged into this very cool layout of new business models, the challenges they seek to solve and the technology they are using. As I brainstorm business ideas that I want to pursue, this list helps provide a lot of perspective on what is being done, as well as what is working and what is not working.