Creativity is part of every business. Some jobs, like software engineers, use the creativity daily to reinvent their code while others, like tailors, sometimes are hiding these skills. But all of them show their creativity in their product or service – and customers support it by purchasing it. So, how can we improve our ability to be creative?
Entrepreneurship plays an important role in fostering economic growth, job creation and innovation to a nation. For entrepreneurship to happen, opportunity recognition must first happen. Opportunity recognition means proactively brainstorming a new business venture or expanding an idea. Entrepreneurial opportunity is difficult to define as it can mean different things to different people. In essence, it is a discovery of an idea to create new businesses and the search for information regarding market and technological possibilities. Opportunity is a deviation between current expectations and a potentially better situation; a favorable or advantageous circumstance or combination of circumstances.
World’s highest achievers have one thing in common: it isn’t a high IQ, nor is it an incredible lucky streak, but their appreciation for constant learning through reading and practising. Education is the single best investment of our time that we can make. As Benjamin Franklin said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” This insight is fundamental to succeeding in our knowledge economy, yet few people realise it. Luckily, once you understand the value of knowledge, it’s simple to get more of it. Just dedicate yourself to constant learning.
“Meaning is essential to human beings. We continually need to make sense of our outer and inner worlds, find meaning in our environment and in our relationships with other human beings, and act according to that meaning” —Fritjof Capra, The systems View of Life
Fear of failure is the feeling of being afraid to carry out an activity to avoid any disappointment, anger, frustration or shame from not achieving a goal. People that usually have a fear of failure refuse to try new things, they procrastinate and talk in a non-respectful way to their own selves, and often they are also perfectionists.
One out of four startups fails because of the fear of failure. What is the one thing that the world’s greatest entrepreneurs all have in common? They aren’t afraid of failure. In fact, they embrace it! They are willing to fail and fail often. Successful entrepreneurs don’t crush it their first time up to bat…on average they fail almost 4 times before hitting one out of the park! (e.g. angry bird example).
Creative imagination and goal visualisation is where it all begins if you want to increase the probability of reaching your goals. All top performers, regardless of profession, know the importance of picturing themselves succeeding in their minds before they actually do it in reality. Boxing legend Muhammad Ali was always stressing the importance of seeing himself victorious long before the actual fight. As a struggling young actor, Jim Carrey used to picture himself being the greatest actor in the world. These top performers, among many others, have mastered the technique of positive visualisation and openly credit it as a success tactic.