A growing body of research identifies creativity as the top skill individuals and organizations need to thrive through change, uncertainty and economic turmoil. From his years producing creative films, leading creativity workshops and his new work “The Book of Doing and Being,” Barnet explains how we can tap into this gift we all possess.

Earlier generations got a job, stuck with it, raised a family and retired. Nowadays, we frequently find ourselves in unpredictable chaos, moving with excitement and trepidation through various jobs, vocations and relationships. Barnet tells how creativity helps us cope and thrive.

Our educational system often fails to value creativity, as when art, drama and music classes are constantly cut to save money. Barnet tells why our schools, from kindergarten to universities, need a new focus on developing the lifelong skills of creative thinking.

“When you know your whole life is a creative act, you begin to take responsibility for every piece of it,” whether it's a paycheck, a marriage vow or your health and wellbeing, Barnet says. He explains how to begin challenging the old assumptions that hold us back.

Barnet is director and executive producer of “Milton’s Secret,” a family drama based on the book by Eckhart Tolle and Robert S. Friedman starring Donald Sutherland and coming in 2016. For more than 35 years he has explored creativity in award-winning films such as “What Dreams May Come,” “Homeless to Harvard,” and “The Celestine Prophecy.” He shares how creativity has fueled his film career. "If you offer yourself to creativity, it will seize you; shower you with wonders.”

Barnet, the father of a 27-year-old daughter, shares the “biggest, clearest message” parents can give their kids to live what he calls “a handmade life.”

Connecting to your passion is the key to harnessing a personal creativity that can touch the world. Barnet explains how.

The exercises in “The Book of Doing and Being” are designed to activate creativity by jostling the connections between the subconscious and conscious. Barnet explains how exercising creativity fires up connections in business, finances, relationships and other areas.

Barnet explains how to use a newspaper or any publication to prime the pump of creativity and get started on any project.

Barriers to intimacy come from our past experiences and conditioning. Barnet shares how to use the creative principle of Eros, which combines feminine and masculine, and being and doing, to light the fires of passion; not just in relationships but all creative endeavors.

As producer of “What Dreams May Come,” Barnet got to know its star, Robin Williams. He explains how Williams found creativity in every moment and shares a message the actor gave him that will resonate for everyone aspiring to be creative.

Tapping the power of creativity allows each of us to be “the writer and director of our own unforgettable life story,” Barnet says. He shares exercises to get started when the page is blank and the script unknown.