Fortune favours the bold. Maybe.
If you want to hone in your imaginative abilities, these tips are gonna need you to be brave and humble. Cos we’re throwing down a mission that, if you choose to accept, will need you to put down what you think you know and start with the spirit of a complete beginner. You can try this for a week, a month, or every day for 2017. You won’t become an ideas wizard overnight but the longer you keep it up, the more likely you’ll experience changes. Ready? Here goes.
1. 
First thing in the morning, declare a war on the unimaginative! Out loud (so as not to scare other residents, screaming into a pillow is completely acceptable). Visualise yourself as someone full of weird and wonderful ideas walking through a day where anything can happen.
2.
Find one friend who is crazy talented (or discover what your closest friends are obsessed with mastering). It could be at anything: reciting the alphabet backwards, flame throwing or writing code. Catch their enthusiasm. Slowly build up a circle of talented individuals and hang out with them. You are, as they say, the sum of five people you spend most time with.
3.
Learn something new, especially if it makes you feel creative. Don’t be a passive consumer, either – make sure you get to use your hands, get involved and be exposed to new people and new experiences. The less comfortable the better (exiting the comfort zone is always a little, uh, uncomfortable at the start).
4.
Start an ideas and questions book. Hardcover, if possible. Write down every idea you have, and every question you hear (or doodle them). Use crayons, stickers, or go monochrome. Mind you, glitter is nearly always a good idea.
5.
Look at things differently. Literally turn your head upside down, see from just one eye, or look at the problem graphically – change the font, splash it in colour or spell it out on the wall in post-it notes.
6.
Believe in six impossible things before breakfast.
Or at least one. Every day.
7.
Develop a flair for collaboration. Put yourself up for adoption in a team that’s working on something that interests you. In return, offer some of your skills, ability or network. Find people who are good at what they do and seek ways or create opportunities to work/play together.
8.
Go back and watch a movie you enjoyed as a kid, or pick up that book you used to read. Make a list of the things the movie or book inspired in you – the places you wanted to go to, the things you wanted to do. And then start checking things off the list. You don’t have to sing in front of an audience, but you can sign up for classes. If you wanted to fly to the moon, book a ticket to visit the planetarium. The possibilities are yours for the making.