37 Times Creative People Had An Idea And Just Ran With It (New Pics)

It's never too late to pick up a new hobby or go back to one you've already tried. With time, the importance of having a creative outlet usually only grows.

A survey of 2,000 U.S. adults revealed that at the end of their lives, almost one-third (31%) would rather leave their mark through creativity than through traits like intelligence (20%), wealth (14%), or humanitarian efforts (10%).

Interestingly, 79% of Americans surveyed consider themselves creative, with only 5% saying they aren't. Yet nearly three-quarters (72%) still wish they engaged in creative activities more often.

This may be because Americans also use writing (14%), painting (12%), and drawing or doodling (10%) to alleviate stress.

In fact, along with bonding with friends and family (24%) and sharing their creativity with others (27%), people find relaxing or relieving stress (22%) as one of their top three motivators for engaging in creative activities.

Regardless of how respondents categorized themselves, 77% admitted they'd be more likely to explore their creativity if they were more confident in their abilities.

The aforementioned survey also asked people to define "creative," and the top responses varied. Two-thirds (65%) said it means either "expressing yourself" or "coming up with new ideas," while a little less than half (43%) still associate creativity with artistic ability.

This is probably why respondents said they're looking for encouragement to be creative from people they care about (44%), more practice (43%), and products that support their creativity (36%).

The survey results also revealed that young people are perhaps the most immersed in their creative side. Two in five Gen Zers (41%) said they participate in creative activities every day.

This might be at least partially explained by the fact that 90% of Gen Z respondents believe they are in their "creativity era" and feel most creative at their current age. However, 94% of the cohort also think that their creativity is a reflection of their personal brand.

In the beginning, there might be challenges and setbacks, but the key is to focus on the process instead of the result.

Anthony D. Fredericks, Ed.D., is Professor Emeritus of Education at York College of Pennsylvania. He is also the author of Two-Minute Habits: Small Habits, Dynamic Creativity: An Easy and Enjoyable Way to Ignite Your Imagination and Fire Up Your Creativity and says that people who embrace a growth mindset realize that their basic qualities can be improved and expanded—not just for a single project, but rather over the entire course of their lives.

"One of the elements of the creative process is our ability to dislodge or remove absolutes from our mind," says Fredericks. "In other words, to mentally let go of the 'status quo' and free our mind to examine things with fresh new eyes."

"I'll admit, that's sometimes difficult. We get used to doing things in certain ways, thinking about things in certain ways, and processing information in certain ways. We get into a 'mental comfort zone'—it's reliable and it's predictable. We know what we should be getting and we're O.K. with that."

"[But] those who believe that creativity can be learned also embrace the concept that looking for ideas is considerably more important and more productive than believing you'll never get the idea in the first place. In essence, creativity is a continual process of growth and discovery as opposed to a stationary and immovable belief that 'I'm just not creative.'"