Do you ever get into a creative rut? When that happens to a normally inventive person, it can feel like your feet are stuck in quick sand. Time slows down, and not even that looming deadline can get you unstuck. It happens to all of us. Here’s some expert advice on how to get back on the creative track.

As radio host Julie Burstein says in this TedTalk video, “Being open to that experience that might change you is the first thing to embrace.”

How about coming up with some really bad ideas? Just like the concept of having to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet a handsome prince, creatives often need to dream up a lot of bad ideas before they arrive at a great one. Organization psychologist Adam Grant talks about “originals”–thinkers who dream up new ideas and take action to put them into the world.

Everyone has limitations… embrace yours and get beyond them. Taking a cue from his own artistic journey, Phil Hansen challenges us to spark our creativity by thinking INSIDE the box.