We talked about the neural pathways in your brain. Here’s the fascinating thing about that: You have tens of thousands of thoughts a day. Unfortunately if you’re like most people, it is the same thoughts, day after day. Scientists have discovered that many of these frequent thoughts you have over and over actually create ruts in the neural pathways of your brain.

The more creative you are, and the more diverse the stimuli you expose yourself to, the less ruts you will have. And when you do specific things to foster the communication between the two hemispheres of your brain, this cultivates whole brain synchronicity that geniuses like Mozart, Edison and Einstein demonstrated so well.

Here’s a list of some fun, fascinating, and interesting ways to develop your creativity. There is no particular order here, but a plethora of great ideas that help promote whole brain functioning and stimulate your creative powers.

Start wearing your watch on the other wrist.

Move your ring, keys, wallet, pager, and pen to a new place every day for a week.

Brainstorm 25 alternate uses for a toothpick.

Take a different route home every day for a week.

Count to 100 by 2s and 3s at the same time: 2/3, 4/6, 6/9, etc.

Count backward from 100 by 4’s.

Check the dictionary and learn five new words every day for a week. (Or a lifetime.)

Do all the scrabble, jumble, Sudoku and puzzlers in the day’s paper.

Take a common object like a pencil, watch, or spoon and examine it in detail using all your senses. Think how a five year old would view it. And remember, there is no spoon.

Identify all the geometric shapes that you can see from where you are right now.

Sit in a new place for meals, meetings, church, or temple.

Strike up a conversation with someone you don’t know or would normally avoid.

Sleep on the other side of the bed. Note what happens when you wake up.

Use your non-dominant hand to eat, brush your teeth, dial phone calls, etc.

Listen to and try to appreciate a different style of music then you normally do. If you like country, try opera. If you love classical, try hip hop.

Take regular “disengagement breaks” when you’re working on a project.

Journal and mind map using colored pen or pencils.

Buy a tie or scarf in a color you would never normally wear.

Decide what your drag name or porno name would be. (No, I won’t be telling you mine.)

Write a limerick.

Go out to a restaurant and order a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a chocolate milk.

Invent some unimaginable or impossible thing today!

Do these things and you’ll be creating many new neural pathways in your brain and spark up your creative juices.