A great way to increase our creativity and improve our imagination is to rediscover some on the things we used to enjoy doing as children. However, there is a lot more than just creativity that can be rediscovered by thinking about ourselves as children and what used to give us pleasure.

Curiosity is how we all learn as we grow up. Do you remember how you acted as a child when you desperately wanted to know something? If you were anything like me, you probably pestered your parents, siblings, other relatives, neighbours, or anybody else that would listen with hundreds of questions. When you wanted to know how something worked did you pull your toys apart, or even things that belonged to other? You probably ruined some things along the way and got into some trouble, but I'll bet you learnt a lot and had great fun as well.

But curiosity is also one of the greatest teachers for adults as well as children. If you want to set up a new business, it's generally a good idea to try to find out the approach and methods of someone who is already successfully operating a similar business. Maybe that's more research than curiosity, but a boy who takes a toy car apart and puts it back together could be said to be doing research into becoming an engineer.

Excitement and enthusiasm are characteristics that most children have in abundance. Can you remember how excited you used to get leading up to your birthday, or Christmas or any other big event? I can remember being too excited to go to bed, or go to sleep, or waking up every hour until it was an acceptable time to get up. Do you remember times you were so excited you were sure you were about to explode? That type of excitement is infectious and irresistible, but we can become too mature and grown up or 'cool' to get this excited and enthusiastic, which is sad.

However, even as adults, most of us are attracted to and like to spend time with people that have those very characteristics. They are also very often the most successful people in their careers.

Children also have faith, belief and trust. They believe in Santa Claus, the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy. They usually believe that anything is possible. As we grow older and 'wiser' we may no longer believe in Santa and co, and we've no doubt all suffered our disappointments along the way. But that doesn't mean that we should become so cynical and sceptical that we lose the powers of belief, faith and trust, and we certainly must ensure we maintain our own self belief.

How much time do you take out for play? Adult leisure pursuits are generally different from things we enjoyed as children, but there is power in playing and doing things you did as a child. It can help you to rediscover your dreams and your 'inner you' and the person you wanted to be before you were perhaps told you 'couldn't do that' or 'weren't smart enough' or 'to be realistic'.

You may like to try making a list of some of the things you loved doing as a child and then take time out to work you way through them. This should be an enlightening and mentally invigorating experience. You may be amazed how much pleasure you can still get from watching classic cartoons or reruns of Get Smart or the Beverley Hillbillies, or riding a bike, or going skating, or making models, or doing whatever things you loved a child. It certainly works for me!

As we grow from children to adults we inevitably take on more responsibilities and leave behind many things that were important to us as children. It can be easy to become cynical, jaded and even disillusioned by our life experiences. But we don't have to be so grown up that we forget some of the simple pleasures life has to offer. We can still be curious, playful, and optimistic and have belief and faith, and let ourselves get excited and experience joy. Our lives will certainly be richer as a result.