I never thought of myself as a creative person. My degree is in accounting. I am not allowed to be creative. Creative accountants get sent to prison for fraud.

The word creativity was a synonym for artistic in my mind, and I am not an artist. If you do not believe me, just look at any painting I have completed. They will be hard to find. My mom threw them out years ago. Probably sitting in a landfill somewhere.

I had a disconnect in my mind of what it meant to be creative. To use the cliché yet appropriate phrase, I was not allowing myself to "think outside the box."

I saw a barrier not an opportunity. Creative thinking was not comfortable to me.

I had accepted it as a fact. I was not a creative person because I did not allow myself to be.

What I failed to recognize was why creativity is necessary to excel in life and business. Creative thinking is integral if you want to succeed and be more than just an employee making widgets. It is the catalyst for new product ideas, new ways to reach customers, and new markets to capitalize upon.

Over the past year, I have discovered creativity is a mindset that can exist within everyone. You must choose to allow your creative energy to roam free and try new things. The alternative is internal frustration revolving around a lack of outlets for ideas.

We all have the creative spark inside just waiting to get out. Some do better jobs of letting this happen than others, but we all have the capability. We must make the choice to let it out and then follow its direction.