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Issue 00606 |
March 6 - 12, 2010 |
issn 0856 - 9135 |
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Society |
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Creative Business Thinking Ordinary People, Extraordinary Results
Life is really about results, concrete measurable results without which mere ambitions may soon become real frustrations. You don’t want that to be your lot. So, what to do? You have to do your part by using all your creative talents and God will surely do His own part in your life. The world around you is always waiting for new ideas, new concepts, new insights, new books, new technology, new procedures, new inventions, and so on. So many people have been robbed of their creative talents due to a pattern of self-destructive indulgence. Michalko made a comparison between trees and men in this regard. With the trees, it is the wind, rain, roots and erosion that form either creative or destructive patterns; with people, it is a common body of human behaviours from which patterns blend together to create the person. A positive self-image is like the pattern of the trees and wind, causing the trees to bend in concert and making it self-maintaining and creative; while a poor self-image is like the pattern of the gullies and rain and is self-destructive. Ordinary people who are intent on becoming extraordinary will unleash all their creative talents to become self-maintaining and creative. Have you ever wondered why the majority of us often feel an emptiness and incoherence in our lives, wondering why you even woke up this morning? Many a times, you know intuitively the genius you’re capable of becoming and what you wanted to do with your life and business but, in some way, your sense of self made you feel unworthy, and so you rationalized why you settled for the second-best or nothing. We carry with us our excuse baggages that daily rob us of our creative talents and abilities. May be, the circumstances of our birth and our countries have forced us to belief that we exist and just are the way we are. Even leading scholars argue that all people are true to their genes, environment, and nature. Michalko called this a ‘conditioning to be objects and taught to be “me,” instead of “I.”’ An inferior thinking of yourself as “me,” makes you limited. The “me” is always limited because it is a passive object, often an object of pity, rather than an active subject. In other words, the “me” doesn’t act but it is acted upon by outside forces. That is why you often believe how others (parents, teachers, colleagues, peers, etc.) describe you. No wonder then many of us have been robbed of our creative talents and turned out according to their prescriptions. Friends, you, and you alone, control your destiny. You have to become the subject of your life, and your choice to be wonderfully alive and creative. If you like to sing, you better sing aloud. If you want to be an artist, pursue your desire. If you see yourself as a doctor, let no man stop you until you achieve your dream. If you’ve read up to this point, I guess you get a vague feeling that you ought to be something more. You already know this feeling. You often get this kind of feeling when you recognize the thing in others that you long to be. I dare you to become more alive from today and creative in your business and personal lives. However, you have some work in your hands to do. We all can identify a few ordinary successful folks in our villages and towns, and when you look at the behaviours of these folks, you will find that, like the patterns of the trees, the form and contents of their behaviours are inextricably connected and can’t be separated. Most of these extraordinary folks are joyful and positive. They often look at “what is” and “what can be” instead of “what is not.” They don’t exclude possibilities but include all possibilities, real and imagined. They don’t allow others unnecessarily at the front seat of their lives. And most importantly, creative people are creative because they believe they are creative. The YES, WE CAN, spirit rules. History is replete with the feat of ordinary people with extraordinary results. The world would have been a dull place without their creativities. Can you imagine “a Vincent van Gogh bemoaning his failure to sell his paintings as evidence of his lack of talent? A Thomas Edison giving up on his idea for a light bulb when he failed over 3,000 times? A Leonardo da Vinci who is too embarrassed to attempt much of anything because of his lack of learning? An Albert Einstein who is fearful of looking stupid for presenting theories about the universe as a patent clerk? A Michelangelo refusing to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel because he had never painted fresco? A weeping and wailing Mozart blaming an unfair world for his poverty? A Walt Disney giving up on his fantasies after being fired from his first job as a newspaper editor because he lacked imagination? A Henry Ford giving up his dreams after the experts explained that he didn’t have the capital to compete in the automobile industry? A depressed Pablo Picasso shuffling down the street with his head don, hoping no one notices him? Or a frustrated Nelson Mandela, blaming God why he was born in apartheid South Africa? My challenge to you this week. Next week, pretend to have a positive attitude and go through the motions exhibiting a life of purpose, joy, hope, humour, and a positive outlook, sense of pride, inspiration, honour, significance and creative. You may have to visit, date, and attend a wedding, birthday party or any social event. Just pretend to be happy and have fun. Your creativity is decided by your choices and decisions and it is impossible to be creative if you are negative. Relax!
GEORGE, an executive business Coach, author and speaker is based in
Arusha. |
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By
George GBENGA OLOWOYE