Many creative people, those who are recognised as having creative or artistic careers - actors, painters and authors for instance - wear their creativity openly like a big shiny badge proclaiming that yes they are someone for whom creativity is a central part in their life, and a major part of their identity... Then there are others, for whom creativity and expressing themselves creatively is equally important, but for whatever reason, don't talk about it openly.

Instead of looking at the things we could add to our lives to enable us to be the creative people we want to be, consider what we could take away, the things that stop us from being creative. Put simply, what are the enemies of your creativity?

Taking care of ourselves, doing all we can to maintain our creative environments and abilities, is often the key to greater creativity.

Why is it that when the lives of two friends or colleagues of similar backgrounds, education, age, and ability are compared, we often see that one has achieved great things in all aspects of their lives with seemingly very little effort or restriction, whilst the other has struggled and fumbled through, been easily discouraged and de-motivated and looked up to their colleague other with increasing envy and frustration? The difference that makes the difference between these two individuals often simply comes down their level of self-confidence.

Being someone who is highly creative and consistently brave enough to seek new ways of tapping into that creativity can sometimes feel like a lonely venture.