Last week I looked at one question any creative person (which is really anybody) should ask themselves when they get down on their work: Can it get any better? The answer is yes, of course, because anything can get better. So just how do you accomplish that? By asking the next question:

If It Didn’t Look Like This, What Would It Look Like?

Someone once suggested this to me. She used it in reference to her children, who would get restless while waiting for the bus. Just asking the question brought a few new activities to mind, and voilà! The kids were restless no more. This question is like sugar to your mind. It gives your mind permission to create alternatives. Instead of thinking about how horrible your piece of art is, your mind is suddenly creating ideas to make it different, and hopefully you’ll find an idea in there that makes it better (in your eyes, of course).