I wanted to send a brief thank you note to all my new (and, old) contacts and friends on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter & other social media sites. It is truly amazing to be surrounded by so much greatness, so many beautiful and courageous individuals. You are all a great source of inspiration to me in these times of social networking and the Internet era. Keep on believing in yourselves people, and continue working with lots of passion and purpose in your lives. Especially for those who are entrepreneurs and/or self-employed, as I know very well how rough the road of self-employment and entrepreneurship can be. Of course, we all need encouragement and support on a regular basis, and if we cannot get that from people around us, we have to go deep within ourselves and seek inspiration from within. Although how I see things is that each one of us is a tiny part of the Universe, and we are all influenced by each other and things that happen around us. It takes great courage these days to be able of standing out from the crowd. Finding your own true path, your personal creativity and your personal voice in this “noisy” world can be quite difficult. It is a matter of selectivity and tapping into our stillness through various means, such as meditation, which is not easy for most people in a world where everything seems to become more and more hectic, unless we are capable of finding inner peace and security.
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. The science of today is the technology of tomorrow. (Edward Teller)
As an avid leadership enthusiast, curious by nature, always eager to learn and to explore the known, and, the unknown, creative, intelligent, exploring, enthusiastic, developing, evolving, analytical and deep-thinking you may have learned that leadership is no rocket science, but in fact something that every single individual can develop within herself, or within himself.
Leadership skills can be learned and developed within any individual, but it requires more than repetition to become a leader. If you already make progress in your personal life and career through developing leadership skills within yourself, the effort is worthwhile. Not everyone has to, or wants to, become the next Prime Minister of his/her country, or an exceptionally well-known, difference-making leader. But, as long as you are capable of developing leadership skills in order to improve your life, expanding your knowledge, personal development is always in place, and useful.
I have written much about general leadership skills and qualities, but instead of repeating these over and over again, I would like to emphasize some leadership qualities that are not so commonly discussed in leadership reviews/ articles/ literature.
Although leadership, and being a leader (at least in your personal life), is no rocket science, you may want to tap into your personal leadership potential keeping in mind following potential facts:
– True Leaders Dare to be Extravagant
Be brave enough to explore, create, and make use of your extravagant ideas and thoughts. Many people will probably try to convince you the opposite, but do not listen to conservatives if you personally do believe in your concept, and the thing you would like to create, manifest, and materialize. Our world is full of conservatives who never like to try out anything new, so creativity and extravagant actions are more than welcome. A very good example is the multi-talented artist Lady Gaga, probably not accepted by everyone due to her extravagant style, but yet millions and millions of people do admire her, and do love her brave, creative style. And, did Pablo Picasso ask people what they thought about his paintings? This creative, artistic genius listened to his inner voice, developed as an artist throughout his career and created some of the most magnificent paintings mankind so far, has seen.
– True Leaders do not only think out of the box. They think like there is no box.
If, and when, we spend year after year working for a salary in a neat organization, fulfilling everyone else´s dreams but the one´s we have in our minds (regarding our personal lives), we in fact look for security instead of creating ourselves the way we truly want to. If this is the way you want to lead yourself and your life, OK, but is there not much more to life than fulfilling the needs of others, and living your life according to the expectations of others, including your employer? This is especially true if you are working in poor conditions, and if your personal input is not valued by your employer. Taking ownership and leading your own life is not always simple, especially if you are used to working for others. Nevertheless, taking ownership of your own life and your personal career signifies that you will have to rethink, re-evaluate, and reorganize your professional life in a way that suits you, and gives you the opportunity to create a whole new life, without any boxes or restrictions.
– True Leaders think, and act, into the future
Every day, try to find at least one hour, or even twenty minutes to meditate in order to create an empty space within your mind. In your meditation, focus upon forgetting everything that you were, what you currently are, and what kind of society you are living in. Give yourself this empty space every day, and notice how your thoughts and feelings start shifting, allowing for you to tap into new creative potential. Emptiness is the source of new creations, and in order to innovate yourself and the society you live in, you will have to learn how to unlearn useless patterns and behaviors of your life.
– True Leaders Expand their personal horizons by learning something new every day
Promise yourself to become, or to stay, curious in your life. Do not accept things as they come to you, especially if and when you notice that this specific something is draining your energies rather than adding value to your life. Instead, do something new every day, no matter how small or how insignificant this may seem. Creativity, and personal leadership, requires the ability to tap into new possibilities and to unlearn certain patterns and behaviors in your current life.
THINK: A Forum on the Future of Leadership:
Thank you for reading, commenting, liking, sharing, and for unlearning certain behaviors and patterns that may not serve your personal growth and development as an individual and professional.
You cannot use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. (Maya Angelou)
Creativity is one of the most sought after commodity not only in business today, but also in employees. Yet, a major part of organizations fail to draw out, or inspire their employees to their fullest potential within the context of creativity. The reasons behind this vary, starting from the fact that tantalizing creativity requires actions that stretch far beyond from simply fulfilling basic human needs through employment, such as generating a secure income in order to pay for essential living costs. Many creative individuals also do value independence, freedom of expression and creativity, a possibility to live out their passions higher than just receiving a steady paycheck month in, and month out. Unfortunately, many organizational roles today leave only little, if any, space for creative expression and development.
There are many forms of creativity, not limited to traditional creative professions such as acting, music, poetry, creative art, and teaching among many other creative professions. The technological advancement has made it easier for individuals, and organizations, to express their creativity in a number of ways. Various online media and social networks are a good example of how creativity can be, and has been, made possible, accessible, and more easily expressed to majority of individuals.
How can you tap into, live out, and express, your personal creativity? As it comes to creation, and creativity, there are no simple rules or guidelines to live by, but creativity does require:
– The capability of working alone. However social human beings are, the majority of truly creative stars in history and contemporary are well-known for their capability of tireless work, often in solitude. Perhaps the most well-known example of tireless self-belief and exhaustive work in solitude is Albert Einstein who spent years working upon his relativity theory before making it public. It may be worthwhile to learn more about Albert Einstein Method.
– The need of overcoming fears, restrictions, and being willing to go the extra mile in order to reach your full potential as an evolving individual. Human beings are constantly learning, and developing, at least as long as we allow ourselves to expand and grow spiritually (in addition to developing physically). It takes courage to believe in oneself, no matter what other people may think or whatever kind of feedback one receives for creative work. Be willing to listen to, and take feedback, but also keep in mind that you are the master of your creativity, and in creative expression there are no limits, or rights or wrongs, as long as your work is morally correct, and ethical.
– Do not limit yourself. Creativity may sometimes require extravagant action/behavior. Study and learn more about creative geniuses in history and in contemporary, individuals such as Pablo Picasso and Lady Gaga, who have taken risks and lived out their extravagant characteristics. Do not other people limit you either, as long as you keep within legal frameworks, and perhaps cultural acceptance?
– Detox your life, meditate, work upon activating your pineal gland, listen to, and follow your intuition.
Listen, and watch the following video where David Kelley speaks about how to build your creative confidence:
Spend time with people, and surround yourself with people who accept and tolerate your creativity. If possible, get rid of circumstances and people who restrict you expressing, and living, your creative potential.
To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. (Joseph Chichon Pearce)
Being creative is not a hobby – it is a way of life.
Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination (creativity) will take you anywhere.
The creative adult is the child who survived.
Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.
Creativity changes the world. Use your creativity for the benefit of humanity, and the Universe.
Every person is creative. Discovering that becomes the challenge. Nurture your creativity today!
Life is a great big canvas, throw all the paint you can on it (Danny Kaye)
Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent, and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play (Henri Matisse)
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation (Herman Melville)
Listen to and watch another excellent video about creativity:
“As a magician, you must think about chaos and order. Those are the two forces that control the universe”. (Rick Riordan).
During my entire life I have had the pleasure and opportunity to encounter countless people, individuals, and professionals who have not only become my mentors, teachers, friends, business contacts, and much more than I could ever have imagined. The lessons I have learned through experiences, observation, analysis and open-mindedness expand much farther than I could ever have imagined.
My fears in the past have been huge, perhaps the most important reason why I so eagerly want to help other people in overcoming their fears, and using their fears as a stepping stone towards manifesting true greatness. I am fearful, but I am also very courageous, because it takes a lot of courage to be capable of admitting that you actually are fearful. We all have fears, but only when overcoming those fears can we truly become capable of manifesting the most magical things in life, and business.
We are all creative individuals with the ability to create, and develop, the most wonderful things and circumstances. The moment we, or you, realize your true potential, you become a magician to whom nothing is impossible.
Many times creativity is undervalued, mainly due to narrow-mindedness, legal restrictions and so forth. But true creativity, when fully expressed, knows no limits.
Children are naturally creative. Until they have to adjust to the general rules of life, being restricted and limited to express themselves in a creative, and expected to behave in a certain manner. Why is creativity so strongly being suppressed in a world that so strongly longs for increased creativity?
The world needs creativity, and creation. Just think about it for a moment. If you had no limits to what you want to create, and how you want to see planet Earth develop in the coming decades, what would you do? What would you create? How would you create it?
In your creative endeavors, forget about money. Too many individuals think in terms of money, and restrict themselves due to monetary issues. If money were no issue, what would you do? What would you create?
Individuals who are accustomed to creativity do not put money on top of their list of priorities. Needless to say, we all know that this list includes e.g. creative artists, but also entrepreneurs from all possible industries.
What I have learned from truly successful entrepreneurs is their capability of taking risks, being ready to invest their time and effort for something they believe in rather than working in a “secure” 9 to 5 job, investing in building relationships, networking, and utilizing their creativity to a full potential.
YOU, my friend, are a creative magician, blessed with many talents and capabilities of creating a future world of your dreams. Your creative ideas and actions are valuable. You may have ideas that can change the course of many people’s lives, leading to the Golden Age to which the Universe is guiding us with the help of creativity, creative expression, and creative actions.
Stop waiting for magic to happen in your life. Get out there and make it happen with your mad magician skills. (Chris Cade).
The most important thing in life is to stop saying “I wish”, and start saying, I will. (David Copperfield).
Nature is like a magician. You should watch it attentively and carefully. (statusmind.com)
Some people think it is impossible to change the future, but in reality, the future is only what you make it. (Dynamo Magician)
It’s kind of fun to do the impossible. (Walt Disney)
Yesterday ́s fairy tale is today ́s fact. The magician is only one step ahead of his audience. (Anne Morrow Lindbergh).
“Light Yourself on Fire with Passion and People Will Come From Miles to Watch You Burn” (John Wesley)
Passion is an emotion often affiliated with romance, or sexuality, but it is only half the truth. It is also a tremendously important source of motivation and desire in hobbies, sports, and occupations. Referring to my previous post from last week, where I wrote about important success factors, including productivity – since passion increases motivation and desire, it is also an important factor of productivity, and enjoyment.
Think about extremely successful people throughout history, and at present. There are examples from all spectrums of life: art, entertainment, sports, business, and politics, including names such as Picasso, Lady Gaga, Diego Maradona, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffet, Julia Roberts, and many, many others.
How have they become so successful? It is definitely not only a question of luck, or hard work, but the fact that these people have found their true passion, a desire so strong for what they do and achieve in life that makes them shine from within.
There are a number of ways of increasing passion, including:
– Overcoming fears, and working them through. Fear is a negative feeling, repressing passion and other positive emotions.
– Stepping out of your comfort zone, setting goals, and increasing the amount of work you are willing to put in to reach your goals. There is a difference between working passionately, and being a workaholic. Passionate people work out of inspiration, and since they love (or enjoy) what they do.
– Learning what makes you thrive, and tick. We are all different: some of us are excellent, outgoing sales people, while others love working in the back office. Some people love mountain climbing, while others prefer yoga or golf. Finding out what truly makes you happy will definitely increase your daily levels of passionate emotions.
– Leading a balanced and healthy life. This definitely increases your energy levels. When eating and sleeping well, to begin with, positive emotions increase.
– Increasing confidence, bravery, and focusing on positivity in life: the better you feel about yourself, the easier it gets to face less positive reactions. The more you focus on positivity, the more it increases in your life. Soon you will notice that you are surrounded by positivity, and your positivity will transform your surroundings too.
If you feel you are surrounded by too little passion, start implementing small changes into your life which increase your personal level of passion. Start a new hobby, make new friends/get to know new people, open your heart and mind, network, stay active, be confident, and if you feel that your current job is not what you are passionate about – try to find out what it is that you truly have a passion for. I am not suggesting that you should quit your job (although some people do when they no longer feel happy about what they do for work), only that you can try increasing passion through other small changes in your life. If these changes do not increase your passion for your work, you probably should start working towards something that you know will make you feel passionate.
Be brave, dare to seek until you find what truly nurtures your soul and lets you grow. Free your creativity, be even eccentric if it suits you, because very often the most creative spirits are those who in the end, enjoy the biggest of success, and fulfillment in their lives.
“When I began having a mad, passionate love affair with my own life, the rest fell perfectly into place”. (Katrina Mayer)
Anne-Maria Yritys 
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