This is probably the trickiest of all the blocks in this this series so far that stop people being creative as it’s the most subjective.

For example, one person might love your writing, music or art and another may loathe it. The former will appreciate your talent and the the latter think you don’t possess an ounce of it.

So one simple way to boost your perception of your talent is just to find the people who like your stuff. When you do find them, watch out for sycophants and the perils of an ego that comes from having a fan base – remember it might be temporary.

When you get reviews, remember to thank people for them.

From an objective perspective, there’s a bunch of really practical things you can do to improve and hone your talent.

The first three might not normally be associated with the arts but they are as follows:

  1. to get regular exercise
  2. to eat the right things
  3. to breathe using your diaphragm

Each of these increases the nutrients reaching your brain which in turn facilitates increased interactivity between your neurons. By the way, the exercise doesn’t have to be strenuous, a brisk walk with diaphragmatic breathing is enough – this is why I recommend writers should be dog owners. And when you walk, if you can, look up not down – it makes a huge difference.

Now onto honing your talents themselves … here’s my top seven tips

  1. Practice … and then practice some more
  2. learn how to Mind Map (properly)
  3. create something each day
  4. have an Artist’s Date per week – see Julia Cameron’s Artist’s Way site
  5. when you read, see or hear something you like, spend a little thinking about what you like about it
  6. then plagarise, copy and emulate a style you like … making your own fusion along the way
  7. don’t hide your reviews away, pin them on your wall, post them on your web site, Tweet them

Finally remember the best way to hide your talent is not to create anything at all … and that your talent is a gift and natural endowment, not to be hidden under a bushel or suppressed by any of the fears in this series.

In any case, it should be remembered that these fears are only there to give us the indication that there’s something we need to tackle and embrace.