Each January the world celebrates creativity -- "a month to remind individuals and organizations around the globe to capitalize on the power of creativity," says motivational speaker Randall Munson, who founded International Creativity Month to refocus attention to creatively improve business and personal activities. "Unleashing creativity is vital for personal and business success in this age of accelerating change."

January, the first month of the year, provides an opportunity to take a fresh approach to problem-solving and renew confidence in our creative capabilities.

Fifty-two percent of Americans consider themselves creative, but only 39 percent of Americans feel they're living up to their creative potential. That's one finding from a survey of 5,000 adults in the United States, the U.K., France, Germany and Japan (1,000 participants each), conducted by the research firm Strategy One. Other findings include:

-- 85 percent of Americans feel that creativity is the key to driving economic growth.

-- 82 percent feel that the United States isn't living up to its creative potential.

-- 62 percent believe that our nation's creativity is being stifled by our education system.

-- 88 percent agree that everyone has the potential to be creative.

Overall, Japan is seen as the most creative country (according to 36 percent of the survey's participants), with the U.S. in second place, named by 26 percent.

Time and money are the biggest obstacles, say Americans: 54 percent say lack of money prevents them from being creative, and 52 percent cite a lack of time.

We start out as pretty creative beings -- children let their imaginations take them to places they've never seen and do things that seem impossible. We encourage it as fun and playtime, but we should celebrate it as the potential for great discovery and accomplishment.

As Pablo Picasso, arguably one of the most creative artists who ever lived, said, "Every child is an artist; the problem is staying an artist when you grow up."

Or maybe you can be inspired by another notable thinker, Dr. Seuss (aka Theodore Geisel): "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try."

Why do we begin to take fewer chances as "real life" sets in? You don't have to give up on your creativity as you grow older. You just need to take better care of your brain. Here are some tips for staying mentally fit no matter what your age is:

-- Limit exposure to stress. You may not be able to eliminate stress from your life entirely, but try to keep it in perspective. Stress can narrow your mental vision and decrease your ability to think differently. Learning how to relax and remain calm as you confront problems will help you find solutions more efficiently.

-- Don't multitask. Distractions and lack of focus are the enemies of creative thought. Train yourself to work on one task or problem at a time so you can think deeply about what you're doing and use your whole brain.

-- Rest your brain. Be careful not to focus your mind like a laser all the time. You need to give it some rest so it can refresh and recharge. Often, you'll find the solution to a puzzle when you step back and allow your mind to work on it without the pressure of conscious thought.

-- Exchange problems. At your next staff meeting, have people write down their toughest problem, and drop them all in a hat. Then have everyone pick a problem from the hat and try to solve it. This can encourage people from different areas to get together and learn something about each other's problems and skills.

Surrounding yourself with creative, imaginative people is a good strategy for success, whether you're an entrepreneur seeking innovation or an artist looking for inspiration. Watch for these vital traits:

-- Curiosity. Question how things work and why they work that way. Creative people always want to know more.

-- Open-mindedness. Spend time with people who don't reject new ideas just because they're unfamiliar. They should always be up for trying something different.

-- Flexibility. A lot of "new" ideas are actually combinations of existing concepts. Partner with colleagues who show a talent for putting things together in unexpected and unique ways.

-- Confidence. Connect with people who are sure enough of their abilities to risk failure or embarrassment, but they're ready to try again because they believe in themselves.

Mackay's Moral: Start every day/year with a healthy dose of Vitamin C -- Creativity.

Recently, my fifth trip to India brought me face-to-face with nonstop contradictions. How could a land, primitive in large areas, elbow its way ahead to being the world's fourth largest economy?

At the Camel Fair in Pushkar, 50,000 camels, along with their owners and traders, congregate for a colorful 17-day festival. That's down considerably from what I saw on my first Pushkar pilgrimage 30 years ago. Motorized options -- India now ranks second in two-wheelers and third in small cars -- are nudging the beasts aside. Still, the aroma that 50,000 camels can muster is unforgettable.

Check this juxtaposition: My wife and I were in a cart being pulled by a camel and led by a native driver. He had a very long rope guiding the camel in one hand, while he was talking on his cellphone with the other. That's India today!

The average camel stands 7 feet 1 inch at the hump. That's exactly as tall as Shaquille O'Neal. Sound pretty big? Depends on your vantage point. Indians shrewdly adjust expectations versus results. An old Hindu adage holds: "When a camel is at the foot of a mountain, then judge his height."

The Indian economy has advanced at 9 to 10 percent in recent years. Now it's slowed to between 5 and 6 percent. Indians think they're in trouble, measuring that growth "camel" against the recent past. Hey, wouldn't we in the United States love to be in that sort of trouble?

The Young Presidents' Organization/World Presidents' Organization -- 390 strong -- journeyed to New Delhi for a recent university event. Indian executives, professionals and academics dazzled my colleagues and me with mind-blowing insights. Take Amity University -- which I also visited. Its huge 20,000-student campus has another large campus snuggled close to it. The most stunning number is the 1 million avid learners Amity has enrolled in 240 programs on 40 campuses and six countries, including online.

When I revisited the Gandhi Memorial Museum in Madurai, I was even more taken by this tribute to modern India's founding father than I was decades earlier. Emblazoned on the wall are Mahatma Gandhi's immortal words: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

Priceless wisdom for a continuous-learning fanatic like me. India will need each one of those lessons as its population surpasses China's in the near future.

Awesome challenges foster incredible creativity. One of the smartest lessons in the Indian playbook is known as trickle-up or reverse innovation, described by Dartmouth professors Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble.

Under CEO Jeff Immelt, GE has explored reverse innovation too. Here's how it works: Places like India develop inexpensive versions of high-cost technology and processes. These brainstorms are then remarketed back to "advanced" economies as low-cost options.

Does evidence support the success of this ultimate switcheroo?

According to a Harvard Business Review piece, a new wave of Indian hospitals emphasizes "world-class health care at ultralow cost," often through selective specialization done at high volumes.

Throughout India, the electric grid is not efficient, hamstringing high-power electro-technology. Battery-powered medical instruments often do the job.

In 2001, a massive earthquake struck India's state of Gujarat, killing over 20,000 and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. In response, CNN reported, "one young entrepreneur, Mansukhbhai Prajapati ... designed a low-cost clay refrigerator which required no electricity and continued to function in the event of major catastrophes."

Would the challenges of poverty eject India from the continuing global space race? In November, India launched MOM -- the Mars Orbiter Mission. Forbes reports the venture will "make India the first Asian country, and the fourth in the world, to get to the planet." While richer nations book billions lost in space, India rigged up its Mars mission on a $75 million shoestring. Getting to "Mars on a budget" included carefully limited testing, low-cost rocket fuel technologies and acquiring older engine options.

With 70 percent of its population rural, India has been at the forefront of solar cooking solutions. These practical technologies are now drawing international attention.

Having once served as a Miss America pageant judge, I was fascinated to watch Nina Davuluri crowned as the first Miss America of Indian descent in September. Nina, who aspires to be a cardiologist, is a pragmatist. Winning an earlier pageant competition landed her a scholarship enabling her "debt-free" college graduation.

Much is made of India being the world's largest democracy. While wonderful and true, another powerful bond binds America and India. It's one we Americans would all do well to relearn: India's passion for practical resourcefulness.

Mackay's Moral: Trickle-down economics? India's trickling up ... all the way to the bank!

The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will land.

A lot of humans are like this. They are afraid to take a risk. Not me. I understood at an early age that in order to triple your success ratio, you might have to triple your failure rate.

Thomas J. Watson, the founder and first president of IBM said: "Failure is a teacher -- a harsh one, perhaps, but the best ... That's what I have to do when an idea backfires or a sales program fails. You've got to put failure to work for you ... you can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because that's where you will find success. On the far side of failure."

Failure can be one more step on your road to success -- you just have to turn it around in a positive direction. Failure can push you harder to succeed. Failure can strengthen your determination to overcome obstacles. Failure can make you braver in the face of opposition. Failure can help you learn what you need to do in order to succeed. Failure can teach you what your limitations are -- and your strengths. Failure can encourage you to change your strategy.

"Failure is not an option" became a popular catchphrase after the release of the movie "Apollo 13." Failure happens, but when you're responsible for the people working for you, you have to do everything you can to guard against it. As a leader, devote yourself to avoiding these crucial failures in leadership.

-- Disconnecting from people. Don't get so caught up in strategy and planning that you forget to talk to the people who work for you. Most of the time, they know more than you about how things work at the ground level, and their insights can be invaluable.

-- Doing too much. Delegate appropriately so you don't get overwhelmed and lose sight of the big picture. When you hire, look for people who can perform aspects of your job as well as or better than you can. Your role is complicated enough without adding tasks that your team should be able to handle.

-- Avoiding risk. Play it safe, and your organization will never grow. That doesn't mean being foolhardy with your organization's assets. Seek opportunities everywhere, and be willing to commit resources wherever you've got a reasonable chance of success.

-- Exhaustion. Take care of yourself, physically and mentally. Eat well, exercise and take time off so you can stay fresh as you confront the day's challenges. Pushing yourself to the brink will only increase everyone's anxiety.

-- Falling in love with authority. You're the boss, not a monarch ruling by birthright. Don't rely on your title, or the volume of your voice, to get employees to do what you want. Base your decisions on your experience and judgment, and be willing to listen to other points of view instead of assuming that only you know what's right.

BrightlyStreet.com has a wonderful illustration of bouncing back after failing: "When J.K. Rowling, author of the phenomenally successful 'Harry Potter' series, had been out of college for seven years, she found herself at a dark juncture in her life. At that time, she says, she had failed in life on an epic scale: 'An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded. I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless.'

"In short, Rowling says she was the biggest failure she knew. And while she says there is nothing ennobling about being poor, she believes she reaped benefits from her failures. Failure, she says, stripped away all the inessential aspects of her life. She stopped pretending to be anything other than herself, and it was then that she began to earnestly pursue the only work that mattered to her. It was not, she says, the fairy-tale transformation to success so often written about her in the media."

It never is, by the way. "Overnight sensations" are rare indeed -- most of us have to plug away, pay our dues and have a few failures before we can begin to imagine real success.

Mackay's Moral: Failure isn't final unless you say it is.