What is creativity?
Creativity has been defined as a thought process that leads to something new and useful. When a creative idea is implemented it is called innovation.
According to a survey conducted by IBM, where they interviewed more than 1,500 CEOs from 60 countries and 33 industries; creativity is what is needed for success. Creativity has also been defined as one of the key source for competitive advantage as well as for companies’ continued existence.
Creativity is obviously very important and the good news is that we can all be creative; sometimes we just have to consciously focus on increasing it.
Big goals & creativity
One way to increase your creativity is to think big.
I recently got back home from a trip where I took a course in sea kayaking. Absolutely a wonderful trip where the sun was shining, birds flying right above me and seals swimming next to me. The teacher told me an interesting story. He had planned to go on a very big adventure, to sea kayak from Iceland all the way to Greenland. He told me that this is a very difficult trip and the conditions need to be good so he can achieve this goal.
This trip has been his goal for some time now, but he has not yet been able to go on this adventure. Nonetheless he was very happy telling me about this because due to just this big idea of going, a new and better kayak has been developed as well as a new and better type of clothing for sea kayaking. Both something new and useful :)
I like this story because it shows us that thinking big can increase our creativity and generate great ideas.
Think BIG
Next time you want to come up with a great solution, think big. Think how you can make your goal a lot bigger, e.g. have a 100 times better life, how you can grow your business so it will earn more than Carlos Slim Helu & family (number one on Forbes list of world’s billionaires 2013) or how you can meditate like a Zen monk.
The sky is not the limit, your mind is :)
Photo credit: Sigrún Johnson
About Birna Birgisdóttir
Amazing article, it is inspiring. I like to be in your mailing list, to read more of your educative articles. Can you advise someone thinking of writing a book on entrepreneurship? Thanks.
Thank you Oyeniyi for your comment, I appreciate it :) And thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.
I would love to assist you in any way I can with writing a book on entrepreneurship. What kind of advise are you looking for? For example, this article might help you with forming and reaching your goal:
http://loromedia.com/make-dreams-come-true/
Enjoy the journey :)