You have a powerful imagination even if you don’t realize it. Your brain is able to generate some great ideas.

While your imagination is always available, it’s not always at its best. It’s important to use it and feed it to keep it sharp. With a little work, your imagination will serve you well.

Who couldn’t use a great idea or two?

Try these techniques to release your creative genius:

1. Spend more time alone. The most creative people also tend to be those who spend the most time alone. Your imagination can run free when you’re alone. People are distracting.
   
   
2. Set aside time to be creative. Creativity and your imagination go hand in hand. Set aside some time each day to be creative. Your imagination will benefit, too.
   
   
   • The more you grow your creativity, the more your imagination will grow, and vice-versa.
     
     
3. Set aside time to visualize. Practice visualizing each day. Visualize things you know. Visualize things that don’t exist. Really stretch your ability to see things in your mind. Here are two exercises to get you started:
   
   
   • Close your eyes and imagine a piece of fruit in your hand. Describe in detail what it looks like, how it feels in your hand, and how it smells. Now, take a bite and describe the taste.
     
     
   • Visualize yourself in a pleasant environment, perhaps the beach. Fully experience being in that place. What do you see, hear, smell, and feel? How real does it feel to you?
     
     
4. Allow yourself to daydream every day. Allow your creativity to run wild. Daydream for at least a few minutes each day. Just see where your imagination takes you.
   
   
   • Avoid the temptation to steer your daydream in a particular direction.
     
     
5. Create something from your imagination. Use your imagination to build something.
   
   
   • Suppose you wanted to build a birdhouse. Imagine every aspect of it in your mind. Decide on the dimensions without using a ruler. Plan out every aspect of it and then actually build it. Use only your memory and the necessary tools when it comes time to build. Evaluate how you did.
     
     

6. Explore various creative avenues. If you love to draw, draw. But you’ll become better at drawing if you try your hand at painting, sculpture, or music. Branch out a little bit and your ability to imagine new things will grow.
   
   
7. Withhold judgement. Judgment blocks creativity. If you fear being judged, your ability to imagine and create is greatly stifled. The surest way to worry about other people judging you is to be judgmental of others.
   
   
   • Also, avoid judging the ideas of your imagination. Allow them to take their final form before you critique them.
     
     

8. Travel. New places lead to new thoughts and creations. The number and quality of ideas you generate is limited if you spend all of your time in the same 50-mile radius. Expand your horizons and get out of town, or better yet, out of the country.
   
   
9. Spend time with new people. The same goes for spending time with a wide variety of people. Meeting new people will lead to new thoughts and ideas.

Provide your imagination with the fuel it needs to expand. Give it a workout each day. These two simple ideas are all you need to get a lot more from your imagination. New people, places, and creative experiences will give your imagination more to work with.

Using your imagination regularly will improve its performance and ability to communicate with you. Your imagination is a tool that’s too powerful to waste. Start using it today!