Creative thinkers change the world around them and most cases even the whole world. Think Steve Job and the iPhone, Jeff Bezos with Amazon, and Mark Zuckerberg with Facebook. These are just a few individuals not to count the founders of electricity, medicine and cars among other modern discoveries. It doesn’t take geniuses alone to create new things but instead, it takes creative minds.

Creative thinkers have unique characteristics that make them the way they are. There are no secrets to being innovative but there are qualities that you must possess to become so. When you unfailingly master these assets, you too can discover significant inventions. In this article, I am going to reveal to you the assets you need to pay attention to and it will pay back with modern-day innovations.

1.They pay attention

Creative thinkers do not rush through things, but they pay attention to details. This ensures they don’t miss any aspect of a piece of information. Think of a police officer who solves a mystery crime by paying minute attention to even the most trivial information they have. Paying attention also saves time because you won’t have to do the thing multiple times since you paid attention the first few times and it also means you don’t make costly mistakes.

2.They tolerate ambiguity

People who think creatively are not scared by ambiguous things, but instead, they embrace them to learn. Instead of walking away from a frightening situation, they engage it and learn something new. A creative thinker remains open-minded and shows creativity and the desire and ability to take on the world. By thinking creatively, you never know what you can discover and learn from that which others consider scary and tedious.

3. They are flexible

Creative thinkers are flexible people who are willing to try and do things differently. They are open to new and weird ideas and open to criticism. This enables them to learn new things and explore new angles to doing something. They shun tradition and conventional ways and look at innovative ways to do a job or solve a problem. They have room for change, and new developments do not catch them by surprise.

4. They take risks
Creative people are risk-takers, and they dare to face head-on the distress of uncertainty. These people, therefore, have a higher probability of achieving their goals and moving forward. When you take a risk you become a performer because you are not afraid of getting negative results. They are also open to trying new things or old things in a new way. They are willing to invest their time and resources where no one else wants to try thus learning new solutions to a problem.

5.They delay gratification
Creative thinkers do not go after quick results and satisfaction and can hold on for long to see great results. This enables them to take time to get an answer to a puzzle ensuring success at the end. They endure unfavorable conditions to get better pleasures eventually. This means they can wait to see results of something they are trying to do without getting impatient and giving up.

6.They are curious
Creative thinkers are also curious and inquisitive, making them learn a lot along the way. They are interested in learning more about every single thing and they ask relevant questions. This way, they gather a lot of information about a subject and the next time they have to deal with it, they combine their know-how with what they have learned from other people which gives them superior results.

7.They break rules

When you are a creative person, you don’t follow the rules because the rules are restrictive and constricting. Rules close off all other possibilities and force you to do things only in a certain way. Creative thinkers, therefore, don’t pay attention to rules but break them to try out new methods of doing something. By so doing, they establish their own rules and come up with new ways of doing a thing. Such people will not wait for the D-day of an occasion to celebrate it but will do it ahead of time or later. For example, they may send birthday wishes for their girlfriend, friend or parent days earlier.

8. They are dreamers
Creative people dream a lot and come up with many possibilities of doing things. They take their creativity to new levels by dreaming of better jobs and better ways of doing the current stuff. These people also believe anything is achievable and they do not hesitate to go after their dreams. Their dreaming translates to discoveries and new ways of doing things resulting from their creative thinking.

The bottom line

Creative thinkers look at things in unconventional and new ways and create fresh solutions not discovered before. You can become a creative thinker and drive invention and progress. You can achieve this by paying attention to things, tolerating ambiguity, being flexible, taking risks, being curious, breaking the rules, delaying gratification and being dreamers.

If you keep at it and make these assets a part of your life, you will become a creative thinker and come up with ways of doing stuff differently and more easily. Come on now and start on these assets and it will payback. Start with the easiest for you and see the great results you get.