You May Be a Creative Genius:

How Many of These 10 Personality Traits Do You Have?

Renowned author and one of the wittiest people to ever live, Oscar Wilde drew creative inspiration from others and loved being the center of attention. Conversely, novelist Franz Kafka preferred solitude and considered his privacy essential to his work. Both men were creative geniuses in their own right, yet their personalities differ entirely down to the very core. No one personality type defines creative genius, but several personality traits are consistent in this elite group of innovative thinkers.

Despite many creative geniuses being stereotyped as mad, unusual, or eccentric, creative geniuses tend to display complex personalities that seemingly stand out from an early age. Across the board, creative geniuses show characteristics that reveal an underlying level of depth, self-awareness, and, most importantly, contradictory extremes. Most people choose a lane and stick with it. They may seem competitive or cooperative by others. However, creative geniuses are commonly prone to contradictory extremes, which helps explain why many creative geniuses are perceived as overtly eccentric.

For some, contradictory extremes may be a source of internal conflict. For others, it is a way of freeing up the mind to live more authentically. Taking a look at the various contradictory personality traits of creative genius may help you to facilitate more creative thinking in your everyday life.

1. Naively Intelligent

Creative geniuses are often intelligent, though they do not necessarily need to have the IQ of a certifiable genius. Many creative thinkers, as smart as they may be, understand that their intelligence has certain limitations. So, while creative geniuses may believe themselves to be experts in some fields, they also admit to the naivety of their knowledge in other fields. However, by understanding these limitations, creative geniuses are better able to maintain their natural curiosity for the world around them. Creative geniuses are more open to what they don’t know which allows them to maintain their childlike curiosity and continue to learn.

2. Responsibly Irresponsible

Creative geniuses are professionals at walking that fine line between discipline and playfulness. They are able to perfectly balance keeping a playful, light attitude towards their work, while also remaining hard-working and dedicated. The act of being responsibly irresponsible lets creative geniuses approach their creative projects with a certain degree of freedom. They do not try to rigorously force themselves into creating. Instead, their carefree discipline allows them to explore the free flow of their creativity without falling into the rigidity of a creative block.

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3. Energetically Disciplined

Often painted as hyperactive, many creative geniuses are fueled by passion which leads them to work on creative projects for hours on end without feeling overworked or exhausted. Creative geniuses indeed exhibit high amounts of energy however, they can also channel their energy into activities that will benefit them and their work. Creative geniuses are disciplined about how they spend their energy and not all of their energy is spent on creating. The same amount of energy spent by creative geniuses creating is also often spent thinking, meditating, and reflecting on their ideas. This time spent seemingly doing nothing, but thinking is equally as important to the creative process. Creative geniuses must balance their energy between thinking and creating to help their creativity persevere.

4. Connecting the Unconnectable

True creativity is born when seemingly unrelated ideas are somehow connected. This can only happen when a person is able to utilize the two major opposite ways of thinking: divergent and convergent thinking. While convergent thinking involves logic and rationality, divergent thinking focuses on imagination and innovation. Creative geniuses have mastered the ability to combine their divergent and convergent thinking skills to continually produce innovative and novel ideas. A true creative genius is marked not only by their critical thinking skills but also by their ability to ideate and create.

5. Extroverted Introverts / Introverted Extroverts

If extroversion and introversion were a scale, most people would fall somewhere on either end. The average person harbors a tendency to gravitate towards the qualities of being either an extrovert or an introvert. However, creative geniuses continually exhibit tendencies and qualities of extroversion and introversion at an equal level. The overlap in traits is better explained by the lifestyle of creative geniuses. Most creative endeavors, like writing, painting, or sculpting, require time spent alone and without distractions. However, these same creative endeavors can also at times be fueled by interactions with the outside world whether it be a person, conversation, or social observation. In short, creative geniuses benefit from these contradictory qualities as they help to fuel both sides of their creative needs.

6. Humbly Proud

Creative geniuses are not ones to shy away from their achievements. They are proud of what they create, however creative geniuses also somehow manage to remain humble and down to earth. In a way, creative geniuses understand that they are special without feeling special. They know that they have innovated and impacted society in unimaginable ways. They, however, also understand that what they have achieved was only made possible because of the achievements, both small and large, of all those that came before them. Creative geniuses understand that they owe their success not only to their hard work but to the work of those that came before them. This self-awareness allows for highly creative geniuses to be proud of their work without letting the positive feedback eclipse their future work.

7. Non-Conforming Rule-Followers

Creative geniuses spend years honing the skills necessary to be successful at their craft. This time spent learning is fundamentally important as it introduces these creative thinkers to the basic rules along with exposure to the body of work already conducted within each particular domain. It is only by learning this foundation that creative geniuses are then able to manipulate these rules for their innovation and success. Every creative genius is, to some extent, a traditionalist. However, these same creative geniuses also understand that true creativity and innovation is only made possible by going against the status quo to achieve the unimaginable.

8. Objectively Passionate

Passion is at the heart of every creative project that a creative genius has ever produced. However, left to its own fruition, passion alone cannot guide a creative project to success. A creative genius cannot only focus on the passion in their work. They must also be able to look upon their work with unattached objectivity. This unattached objectivity is responsible for helping creative geniuses continually improve their creative instincts and subsequently, the perceived value of their work. Without objectivity, a creative genius would be too passionate to put their work in the public eye and would fail to gain any credibility. Successful creative geniuses understand that they must fuel their work with passion, but not blind themselves from criticism with it.

9. Painfully Sensitive

Maintaining an open mindset leaves many creative geniuses vulnerable to the world around them. However, this same open mindset also helps creative geniuses experience deeper connections with others and the world. Many creative geniuses are prone to being sensitive. Sensitivity may lead to vulnerability and suffering however, it also leads many creative geniuses into reflecting on the root causes of their own emotions. This deeper sense of sensitivity helps creative geniuses nurture their empathy and encourage their creativity in the face of both sadness and joy.

10. Perfect Imperfectionist

While most people focus on being perfect from the start, creative geniuses are open to seeing where failing takes them. Creative geniuses understand that sometimes failure can result in the most innovative of solutions. The willingness to take risks, despite not knowing the outcome, stops many people from working on their creative projects. However, creative geniuses maneuver past this fear to see the value in failure. By focusing on learning from their failure, creative geniuses can better exercise their creativity and allow for the conception of innovative ideas to flourish.