Here’s a quick and easy way to increase your creativity: once a week go to the book store or magazine stand and skim through a magazine or book on a topic that you are unfamiliar with. Read the table of contents. Read the quotes at the beginning of each section. Just exposing yourself to these new concepts will open you to new ideas.

I was reminded of this saying at a recent Time Management seminar I attended. I’ve been digesting this phrase for the past few days, and something finally clicked for me: Teachers are always teaching their lessons, though we are not always ready or willing to learn. So, it’s not that the teacher magically appears when you are ready to learn, it’s that you finally see the teacher and the lesson when you are ready to learn.

Now, how do you work at seeing the teachers? Well, Mike, the teacher of the Time Management seminar, had a superb suggestion: write down what it is you want to learn and put it on your calendar (or anywhere you would see it at least once a day) for one month; seeing what you want to learn every day virtually guaranteesthat you’ll start looking for those lessons.