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Success Advice

What Childhood Creativity Can Teach You in Business

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When you were a child, did you ever watch a movie and then reenact your own version of it? Did you ever let your imagination run wild? You were King Kong and you knocked over your little sisters Barbie house? However, then you reached a certain age and it died, didn’t it? The childhood imagination and creativity faded as we learned to be adults.

What is fascinating about childhood is our imaginations are so strong that we can step in and out of vastly different worlds in just seconds. We can change worlds, change people, even change universes at a whim. We can create vastly different dimensions and creators to interact with and these creations are almost real.

As we become adults, our creativity seems to fade and we live our lives rigidly. We base our realities off of the ‘real world’ and all of it’s consequences. The only way we escape it is through what the media feeds us on TV, alcohol, and drugs. Sometimes we escape through sharing in the drama of those around us to take our mind off our mundane lives.

Now don’t stop reading, this may or may not be you, however this is not about living a mundane life and drowning out misery. What if you could bring back the childlike creativity that gave you the ability to fly, become invincible, create alternate realities, and be a completely different person?

Our creativity as a child gave us the power to see past our circumstances and build something better. It allowed us to become any one we wanted to be. Think back to when you learned to skateboard to fit in, or you learned to make fun of others to get ahead? Perhaps you learned how to fight back against the bullies. I learned how to manipulate who I was to fit in at an early age, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned just how powerful this skill would be.

If you could only apply the creativity to dream up various universes and combine it with the ability to mold who we are to get the desired end result, what would our lives be? What could be accomplished? Our abilities would be endless! You can do that, you just have to bring back your childhood wonder.

“There are five important things for living a successful and fulfilling life: never stop dreaming, never stop believing, never give up, never stop trying, and never stop learning.” – Roy Bennett

As children we were flexible and loving, however as adults we are rigid and cold. As children we were loving and compassionate, however as adults we are careless and bitter. “Life” happened right? Wrong. Just as when you learned to play video games to fit in, you learned how to be an ‘adult’ and you learned how to ‘be’. You can again learn to find the wonder in the world today.

Do you think one day Steve Jobs woke up with an entire plan on how to build his company? He started with a dream, an idea to create something totally different, his own device, his own world. Now it took a lot to get his company where it is today but it started out with that very same childhood wonder and ideals.

The best part of being a child is you haven’t been told “you cant” by the world yet.  You haven’t had any heartbreak, life changing disappointment, or you just don’t understand it yet. The main part of childlike wonder which can be used in business is courage, fearlessness, and the willingness to learn.

Think of your business as a totally different world, something that isn’t even real, something that if it didn’t work out it would be ok, now what would you do? What changes would you make? How would your business look today if you ran it knowing 100% for sure everything would work?

Take those ideas, write them down, and make them into goals for your business. I am not saying in anyway change your entire business plan and be fearless, assume all the odds are in your favor. When you put yourself in that mindset, you’ll come up with ideas you think are completely impossible, but they aren’t. Make them into goals, break the big seemingly impossible goal into smaller more manageable goals, and follow your childlike dream.

“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” – Oprah Winfrey

Ok so I know not everyone can completely change their mindset just like that, yet there is no problem in asking for help. Who could possibly help with getting you in a childlike mindset? Maybe talk to some kids, see what they would do, remember what it felt like to be a kid. Maybe take a day and just act like a kid, go to the beach, play on a playground, change your scenery, change your mindset.

Now you don’t have to be a child to keep your childlike wonder. In today’s world, it can be hard to see the good and keep a positive mindset. If we could capture just a little of that feeling and put it into our business, how much of your passion for what you do could be restored? And how much could you accomplish if the world never told you, “you can’t.” In life we can’t let doubt and fear get in the way of our dreams, and we must do the same with our business.

How do you maintain a creative outlook in such negative world? Let us know by commenting below!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

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Success Advice

How to Alter Your Business Approach With Technological Advancements

Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner.

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Technology’s evolution has impacted everything, and business is no exception. Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner. Entrepreneurs unable to do so are being wiped out of the market.

There is no doubt that AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) have taken over the business world. These technological advancements are impacting decision-making, success percentages, and other entrepreneurial aspects.

Adapting to these developments is integral to business success. Let’s explore how you can accomplish these milestones.

Embed the strength of AI and ML.

AI has modified business operations in major ways. For instance, companies have employed bots for customer support. These bots go through an effective learning process via Machine Learning before being able to answer like humans.  

Bots can also perform detailed data analytics and make business moves with high success percentages.

ML is used more for the analysis of data chunks and generating successful predictions. This simply means that business owners do not have to worry about large-scale financial losses. 

In terms of deployment and usage, a reputed company like Netflix employs machine learning for decision-making.

Blockchain is increasing the count of business opportunities

Tampering of financial transactions is quite common and causes severe monetary damage to customers. With the rise of digital payments, this risk has increased. 

Blockchain is used to elevate your experience for monetary transfers. It combats penetrating events to extract confidential customer information. 

Most business sectors are using block chain but finance and supply chain management sections have a higher count. These two corporate sections have several monetary deposits and withdrawals taking place. 

In terms of percentage, approximately 72% and 5% of finance and supply chain firms have implemented block chain successfully.

Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Learning and Individual Development

You invest in learning some of the very important skills, including digital marketing, financial management, and how to gain customers as an entrepreneur.

You need to set up your knowledge base about doing business on Coursera and Udemy with the basics that are necessary for the business, building further by networking with experts through webinars.

Besides, Agile methodology will introduce elasticity to your company: this review and feedback system with further correction regularly will allow for enhancing efficiency and promptly reacting to the market.

Developing key skills to achieve goals

Running a business successfully is not only about having niche/domain knowledge. Business owners need to have communication / soft skills as well in addition to niche information.

Here are some key technical/domain-related areas that business owners should have a strong grip on.

Data Storage on Cloud: These days, companies do not store their data on physical servers. Therefore business owners should know how data is stored/edited/removed/updated via AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other platforms.

Data Analysis/Interpretation Qualities: These days, data is as precious as gold. Business owners with data analysis abilities make correct predictions. As a result, their ventures grow in volume.

Development/Coding Knowledge

Programming knowledge gives business owners an edge whether the application is developed in-house or outsourced. It assists in getting updates deployed and handling application underperformance without getting professional support every time.

Hacking proof framework

There is no benefit of having an advanced automated system if can be penetrated. Successful business owners have above-average knowledge of cyber security and hacking attempts. They are able to choose top-notch anti-hacking software without much of an ambiguity.

Communication Abilities/Soft Skills

Here are some key communication qualities that business owners should have:

Communication/Conversation: Business owners should use to-the-point sentences in both written and oral communication.

Issue Resolution Abilities: Business owners should be able to drill down to problems and solve them. This is done successfully only if an entrepreneur has in-depth business domain knowledge.

Agile Implementations

It is mandatory for business owners to have knowledge of iterative/agile models. With such a competitive environment, it is impossible for business owners to succeed without adopting an agile framework.

Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy

A productive business venture starts with a clear vision. The first factor making a business successful is the idea behind it. It helps with endless growth and combating competition successfully. Katherine Philips once mentioned that business goals are inevitable if goals are set concretely.

  • Goals should be based on smart achievements instead of complexity. Focus on the value that each one of them adds. 
  • Business objectives should not be vague. Key indicators should be constructed to measure the success/failure of each milestone.
  • Be realistic when setting goals. Do not aim at impossible milestones since they can be demotivating.
  • Milestones/goals need to be time-bound. Set a completion deadline for each one of them. 
  • Business goals should not be alien. Owners can think out of the box but not be obsolete / unrelated.

Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy

Business owners cannot succeed without having a network. Some tips help in this case. Attend conferences and professional gatherings to connect with other entrepreneurs.
Here are some other related points business owners should pay attention to.

  • Attend meetings and conferences to stay updated with trends and meet business owners who already have well-set ventures. This helps in enhancing the learning curve of new / growing entrepreneurs.
  • Being a part of business communities/groups is very productive. When one shares opinions and discusses decision-making tactics, it helps in preventing errors and enhancing success rate.
  • Even the most experienced business owners have mentors as learning never stops. Take part in mentorship programs so there is an assurance that you are following the correct roadmap.

Conclusion

There is absolutely no doubt that business dimensions have evolved with technological advancements. Successful entrepreneurs have grabbed these changes in due course of time and continue to evolve. On the other hand, people following old paths and conventional steps fade out of competition. In a nutshell, keep an eye on the processes and practices you follow as these factors decide success rate.

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Success Advice

Understanding the Power of Yes and No: How to Create Boundaries For Success

These words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds

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Creating legal boundaries
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The two smallest yet most powerful words in life, “Yes” and “No,” have a big impact on our growth on both personal and professional levels. In addition to affecting the choices we make every day, these words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds. (more…)

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Motivation

From Couch Potato to Go-Getter: A Step-by-Step Motivation Plan for Everyone

By understanding what motivates you, you can turn your dreams into reality

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How to be motivated
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Are you tired of feeling like a couch potato? Do you want to transform your life and become a go-getter? You’re not alone! Many people struggle with motivation, but the good news is that change is possible. (more…)

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Success Advice

10 Micro Financial Habits for More Wealth and Peace of Mind

The World Economic Forum still reports that half of U.S. adults lack financial literacy

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micro financial habits
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You’ve heard about developing financial habits, but what about micro-financial habits? Micro habits are the tiny things you can do every day with minimal effort that, together, transform your future. (more…)

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