Focus and Creativity – Why You Need Both to Start a Business

Starting a Business From Home

Maybe you are contemplating starting a business from home.  This requires you to think a little more creatively than maybe you're used to.  Starting a business and being your own boss has lots of benefits and challenges too. Having your own business requires creative thinking and creative problem solving.  You no longer have someone telling you what to do.  The good news; you make the rules ~  the bad news; you make the rules.

Habits Can Get in the Way of Creative Thinking

Starting your own business takes a lot of creativity and planning. Road blocks can appear and you might really have to dig to find the right tools to solve a problem.  Know there are usually many solutions to the same problem.  And so it begins!  Creative thinking and creative problem solving can sometimes be held back by our traditional ways of seeing the world. This is where old habits can get in the way and block our creativity.

We Can Learn from Yahoo and Google

Not too long ago people thought the internet was a big, virtual encyclopedia and therefore required an index to find information. Google broke away from habitual thinking and adopted the “search” method of finding information.  We all know what happened. Yahoo became restricted by habitual ways of thinking. Author and blogger Jeremy Dean speaks about how Yahoo had talented people, just like Google. The difference Yahoo fell into the rut where traditional habits inhibited creativity whereas Google broke free and discovered an innovative leading edge solution.

How Habits Can Inhibit Creativity

So when it comes to creative thinking, we can do the same things the same way, over and over again and get the same results.  Don’t get me wrong, in order to think creatively you do need some knowledge as a foundation. 

Let’s say you are thinking you would like to venture into the digital world, but you don’t believe you have the technical skills.  We encourage you to take the leap anyway.  We did.  To build our knowledge we took time to learn before we went to market . This journey is one of continuous learning. Like you, we continue every day to work on our skills and our habits.

Remember: Habit change isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon ~ Jeremy Dean

Make One Small Change at a Time

Change can be scary and maybe that’s why lots of us try to avoid it.  “Wake up tomorrow - almost exactly the same person, except for one small change - a small change you can replicate every day until you don’t notice it anymore, at which point it’s time to make another small change……" ~ Jeremy Dean

Change is a lot less scary this way, we can ease into change instead of jumping in head first.

Creative Thinking and Focus Go Hand-in-Hand

If you are contemplating starting your own business, imagine your ideal day.  This will require you to think abstractly instead of analytically.  This is where your mind has freedom to wander to see a world of possibilities. 

The best example of this from Jeremy Dean’s book - Making Habits ~ Breaking Habits. Imagine you are taking a trip tomorrow, your mind will focus in on whether you’ve packed your bags, got your tickets, and worked out the route.  On the other hand if you are planning a trip in six months, the mind is encouraged to roam across more abstract concepts , like the history, culture and cuisine of your destination.  Distance in time tends to open up your thought processes to more wide-ranging possibilities”.

Focus and Creativity Together Create Momentum

So if you are stuck trying to figure out a creative problem give yourself some space for your thoughts to wander.  Creative thought requires breathing room. While unfocused attention is important for creativity, controlling your attention is equally important.  It’s being able to switch between the two that has impact. 

Thomas Edison once said: “Genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration”. So we need both, the ability to dream and the ability to focus.  A dream is just a dream without the hard work, commitment and dedication that it takes to turn a dream into reality.

This business opportunity with Six Figure Mentors, like any business requires imagination, the ability to dream and a belief in what's possible.  It also requires persistence and courage to break through barriers when the learning curve is steep. We encourage you to imagine what your ideal life can be and then do what it takes to get there.

We look forward to joining you on your online journey.