The Internet and the way people do business and communicate with each other has immensely shattered the traditional notions of employment and how information and knowledge is disseminated, shared and absorbed.
Not much more than 10 years ago it was a universally accepted truth for most people that if you wanted to get anywhere in life you would need to get some sort of education and then find a nice job (preferably close to home with a relatively easy commute).
Alternatively those who were a bit more ambitious and courageous sought to build offline businesses in which they were masters of their own destinies even if this form of living does usually involve a huge financial risk and perpetually long hours.
All of the above situations are perfectly OK and are still a legitimate way to make a living, but the point is that now, like never before, there is another dimension in the form of the Internet which just about everyone has access to and from which people can pursue businesses or some means of income generation which simply was not possible a few decades ago.
And this leaves us with a nice segue to the point we want to make – you now have options available to you which are only limited by your imagination, creativity and willingness to have a go.
So it would seem that if you could only come up with some good creative ideas, there’s no telling where you can take them when you apply them on the Internet. This is very true and what people should realize is that you don’t have to come up with the best thing since sliced bread in order to make some inroads on the Internet.
Hence the motivation for this article is to point out some elementary things you can do to get yourself in the correct frame of mind to be more creative, driven and productive because these are really the things which will determine whether you will succeed or not (online or offline).
Because unlike the way it was for our parents and grandparents, succeeding on the Internet doesn’t require permission from your boss or hundreds of thousands of dollars or an Ivy League diploma hanging from your wall. Essentially it is all up to you and whether you’re willing to become a little creative, innovative and driven.
So below we have listed some points and tips which will hopefully help you attain the right attitude and spark some enthusiasm and give you a starting point on how to increase your creativity so you can have the confidence to pursue your online goals.
Don’t make excuses – plan on doing something and then do it!
This is the fundamental attitude which seems to be a common trait which runs through most successful people. The financial and other obstacles you may have faced in the traditional sense have now evaporated because of the opportunities the Internet has manifested for all of us and thus there is really no more reason to hide behind excuses such as “I can’t afford to open a business†or “University educations is way too expensiveâ€â€¦. etc.
So get yourself in the mode of setting a goal and then doing whatever it takes to make it happen.
Creativity can be learned and is not necessarily a god-given talent
A famous comedian, writer and actor called John Cleese once explained how he would spend hours trying to come up with an original idea and he almost always succeeded.
He said that this was because the way he did things and not some genetic creative prowess which enabled him to come up with creative ideas.
He actually defines a handful of ingredients which help him become more creative:
1) Time and space: you need to give yourself both time and some space where you can be free of the stresses and demands of other things in your life in order to do your learning, investigating, problem solving etc
Your mind needs sufficient time to digest things you may have just learned so it can have the opportunity to come up with new ideas.
Also having a space where you can work which is quiet and conducive to learning and productivity helps greatly.
2) Have the confidence to try things: Eliminating your fears of making mistakes makes it much easier for your mind to become more free to indulge in creative thought.
After all, as stated previously, you’re usually not risking millions when you try out some business idea on the web. (there are of course always exceptions but in general this is case)
3) Be less serious and have a sense of humor: This point is not surprising considering John Cleese is a comedian, but it should apply to all of us anyway. Being serious about things all the time allows fear to creep in and we lose confidence to try new things.
Be engaged in what you are doing
When you’re learning new things or trying out ideas you should be totally engaged in the task at hand and not thinking about unrelated matters or distractions.
This should actually apply to everything you do – even washing the dishes or cleaning up around the house.
When we are fully immersed in what we are doing we tend to persist more at solving problems and become more likely to find solutions.
Even when we aren’t necessarily trying to solve anything, by being fully engaged when performing a task results in better outcomes and higher quality of work.
Buddhist monks call this mindfulness but you don’t have to be a monk to get the benefits. Psychologists have also done studies which show that the concept of “flow” or being “in the flow” is more likely to occur when we are mindfully engaged in our task.
Attain some new skills to open creative opportunities
We’ve already mentioned how the Internet has completely changed the way people learn and do things.
For a couple of hundred dollars a year you can actually teach yourself new skills which you can turn into a valuable asset in the comfort of your own home and at your own pace.
Educational institutions are quickly becoming redundant because of the Internet revolution and the sky’s the limit for all of us.
Acquiring a new skill often opens up different opportunities and gives you a new way of looking at something.
There are now many quality online- learning websites where you can learn anything you want for a fraction of the cost of an equivalent course you might get at a traditional learning institution.
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