The power of imagination is important for business success. While I am not sure I buy into all that is said about the “Law of Attraction”, there are many reasons to believe in the power of imagination in business success. I have met many who mock the ideas of imagination has any impact on your worl. Yet there are many successful people who tell me they had to see the success in their mind before they could create it. I am not talking magical manifestation. The power of the imagination is in creating a realistic road-map.
Imagination plays an important role for entrepreneurs and other business leaders. The creative power of imagination and the mental pictures of success are the foundation of building your career.
The day to day routine of life has done a great job in limiting our creative visualization of what we are trying to achieve in our life. Self limiting beliefs seem to bubble up to the top and undermine our desired results. When things do not go our way, or we have negative results, we are cut off from our focus on the future we desire.
Make The Time For Imagination
In my work I have found that blocking off some creative time to find my curiosity it gets my imagination flowing. The power of imagination is exciting when you can suspend disbelief and play. It opens your mind to possibilities. Find the time and the place to let your imagination free.
As a young kid I had an imaginary friend. The power of imagination flowed through me. It was strong. But as I got older my family began to frown on my wild adventures that played out in my fantasy would. The places I would go and the experiences that I had with my imaginary friend became less impressive to the adults around me, and I retired from my imagination. Going to school and fitting into the structure of society became the norm.
While I had successes along my life’s journey, it was not up to the levels of my full potential. My imagination took a back seat to the practical and expected. Then one day I realized my ladder had been against the wrong wall for over twenty years. The joy and possibility that comes with the power of imagination were removed from the front page. I was like everyone else and striving for anything special was gone.
Making time to dream big and see options has been the key. It is from this that my resilience and optimism has emerged.
More Than Knowledge
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
Albert Einstein said that “imagination is more important than knowledge”. This quote stung when I read it, as I have self identified by the knowledge that I had acquired. I liked being seen as someone who was smart and experienced. Yet at my core it was the creative side of my that owned my soul.
It is not uncommon when I speak to convention audiences that people come to me afterward and ask to give me a hug. They are so tired of messages from self appointed “sages” who have some moniker of fame for being smart. Most people are over being talked “to” and prefer a discussion. When I talk about the power of imagination in my keynote about achieving potential, they feel a kinship with their own abandonment of their creativity.
The Power of Imagination in Business
Visualization
In my career I have begun to visualize. When clear in my mind about a direction I want to go, I can reverse engineer the steps ahead. The power of imagination is important to my action plan. If I clearly imagine the tastes, smells, and textures of success, then my efforts become easier. My business grows because I am working to try new things and get creative.
There is a risk to embracing the power of imagination and dream of other ways to play your game. People in many businesses want to know the guaranteed results before taking action. I once worked for a boss who would not spend marketing dollars unless she was certain of the return on investment. She called herself and entrepreneur, but was petrified of making mistakes. Those who succeed in business get past the fear of taking risks and and harness their imagination. Instead of trying new things, they run back to how they have always done things.
We admire visionaries, but roll our eyes at visualization. This is not about being a woo-woo mystic. It is about creating options and mapping out success.
What Does Imagination Look Like?
Many think creativity is about being an artist. Many people think they do not have the “right” to engage in imagining as they are not worthy of their own creativity. If they are not an experienced expert they want to hide in the corner and stay the same. Too many want to go back to the way things were, and the idea of something new is out of their comfort zone.
Success is not about large marketing budgets. I see people who succeed all the time by seeing new paths. They do not wait for permission, they create fresh ideas.
The Paradox of Potential
I work with individuals and teams about how to “Leap The Gap Between Potential and Performance”. This is not just a keynote or workshop, but it is my way of getting people to focus on where they are and where they are going. Potential is important, but it is not the answer. To do you best and achieve your most you have to be seeing your opportunities in imaginative ways. The power of imagination is your secret weapon.
Your abilities to reach your highest performance may be hiding in your imagination. You have to see what you want clearly and creatively. The imagination is not magic, but it can be magical if you learn to tap into its power.
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Thom Singer is a motivational speaker and professional master of ceremonies / EmCee. He is the host of the “Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do” podcast and the author of 12 books. He is available to speak at your next company meeting or association conference.