Every idea starts in the mind. With your imagination you can see what you want to create. You may not always start with all the tools you need to complete your project but you have just enough to get started. Even if you begin with your creativity which is the thoughts that you have combined with the skills that you were born with, you have a great starting place to launch your next idea. What happens with many people is they get so caught up in having to reach the biggest goals first that they forget how much fun it is to simply build in layers.
Taking some lessons from my six year old son, I learned that play is not only fun but it is satisfying. In observing other women business owners I have watched how they give up far too soon because they don’t have the right this or the proper that. That is what takes the air out of the balloon (so to speak). In other words, you start to limit what you can build because of what you do not readily have in your possession. As my son put it, "You have to keep building with what you have and then when the time comes you can always go out and get the rest of the pieces."
Being a grown up doesn’t mean that you have to lose your childhood imagination. What are the things that you enjoy working with most? For me, I enjoy working with my mind, reading, writing, and synthesizing things. I have always loved playing games like “I Spy” and “Hide-N-Go-Seek” because they allow me to investigate and put the pieces of a puzzle together with the clues that I already have. Even in my younger years I enjoyed asking questions, solving riddles, and in general, just figuring mysteries out. Putting this together with my love for math and business has lead me to create the company that is the perfect fit for me. My ideal venture is now giving me the chance to enjoy work that is challenging. It also stretches my imagination as I think about different ways to help clients come up with financial solutions. What's even better is that my work is fun to do.
One writer wrote that if you need an alarm clock to wake you up every morning then the goals that you have aren’t exciting enough. Are your goals keeping you motivated? Are you still committed and passionate about the work that you do each day?
If your work isn't as fun as playing with legos then I challenge you to find the fun in business again. In what ways can you use what you have to create something that you enjoy looking at and being a part of?
