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Chapter
Eight
Develop Your
Imagination
We now move from the
general discussion about imagination to tapping into your imagination.
Value your imagination.
Take the time to develop its powers and feed it ideas, which
energize it. Develop a relationship with it so you can give ideas
and you can take new ways of viewing your world. Give with energy
and enthusiasm and you will take in abundance. Your imagination
must now occupy a front row seat in your life. You must get into
the habit of consulting it as regularly as you do your wrist
watch. This way you will integrate your imagination with daily
decisions. This is necessary to put your imagination to work
correctly.
It works at a basic
natural level: You use it or lose it! Just as muscles and joints
need exercise, so too does your imagination. Use it during all
your decisions, both big and small. It's not a part-time employee,
fit for only petty projects.
Imagination stretches
to meet the demands placed upon it. If there are few demands,
it shrinks. Larger demands make it grow. Feed it with the meat
and potatoes of life! Start consulting it at the beginning of
projects, not as some after-thought or pedantic little footnote
when you've completed the task. It craves challenge and it will
grow to meet it. Make imagination your full partner and you'll
be delighted with the results. It may take time for it to fully
develop, but it has to be given a chance. Work together with
your imagination and wonders will happen.
To some degree your
imagination has been butting into your life even when you didn't
want it to. It made its subtle presence felt in your dreams,
your thoughts, perhaps at home or maybe at work. But this isn't
good enough anymore. Not for you. From now on, consult it regularly.
Ask for its input on every major decision you make, early enough
in the process so you can employ it to real-world problems. It
wants to be used and is eager to unkind its muscles. The more
challenging you make it, the more it likes it.
Challenge is stimulation
for imagination. New things challenge imagination and it creates
wonderful answers and then feeds upon them. This, in part, is
why successful people are voracious readers. They read technical
publications and fiction, the great classics and poetry.
You are not wasting
time when you read Dickens, Melville, or Poe. They have much
to say about the world. Newspapers are necessary, but they tell
you about events. Stories and poems speak of life. We can view
our world through their imagination.
Reading Wells and
Hawthorne is refreshing because our imagination is being worked
and in turn we want to use it. We now know that there is not
a gulf separating such writers from us.
Their genius is our
inspiration. You wouldn't compare your golf with that of a pro,
would you? But you still enjoy a round, don't you? (If you don't
play golf just substitute the right activity.) You aren't discouraged
because you are not a world-class golfer, are you? No, you are
inspired by greatness and hit that bucket of balls with new delight
and intent.
In the domain of imagination, everyone can play. And we're not
keeping score against pros or geniuses of literature. What we
are doing is examining and enjoying the tangible results of what
other people have found in their imaginations. WE can respond
to it with or without formal training, seeking our level and
finding material which fits our taste. The message is basically
the same, "Look what the freed imagination can create!"
This is not just said about others, but about ourselves too.
You don't have to be a great writer, a fine poet, or a skilled
playwright to enjoy and benefit from them.
Their imagination
can speak directly to yours. Just let it. Their words and images
can help jump-start your own if you allow yourself to respond.
Don't think that you
have to use the elevated thoughts and verbal pictures of the
world's great masters to trigger your imagination. You can probably
get some inspiration from Bugs Bunny and "Gilligan."
The main thing is for you to be resourceful. Don't leave any
source of possible inspiration untouched. Some of the genius
shown in classic cartoons is every bit as inspired as that of
"elevated" literature and refined art. If collections
of your favorite newspaper cartoons have a great impact on you,
go for it. What matters are results. This isn't an exercise to
refine your aesthetic tastes. It means you should boost your
personal creativity. If Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck can do the
job better than Tolstoy and Shakespeare, then use them.
Cartoons are condensed
samples of imagination and really good ones can inspire. They
can be zany, yet wise. There can be wisdom and insight and imagination
in the world of "Toons". They cut through the boredom
and sameness of everyday perception and show us an unexpected
world. The rules of time, space, and causality are all gone.
Comedians such as
The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, and
the Marx Brothers have a tremendous amount to show us. Not just
the foibles of society, but they also can reveal the absurdities
of pride, the silliness of ceremony. They point to the precious
and enduring attributes of the human mind and spirit. The energy
of laughter generated by Chaplin, Fields and Burns can also generate
our imaginations.
All of this should
help you stimulate your imagination. Look to what successful
people have done. Don't copy them but respond to the stuff of
greatness. When your imagination begins to resonate, you can
begin building. Reach inside now, as far as you can, to pursue
that spark of creativity and child-like wonder. Grasp it and
hold it and cherish it. It is the most precious gift you'll ever
give yourself. Success requires imagination and creativity. You
will discover new ways of putting together new combinations of
old data, slogans and concepts. You'll have a new positive outlook
in the darkest of times. Old ways are now commonplace.
Imagination is the
power which lets you see through appearance. It has its own truths,
wisdom and utility which are not dependent on the pale reflection
of science.
Imagination doesn't have to be at odds with the practical concerns
of life. Though this is an all too common way of seeing their
relationship, an informed pragmatism makes use of imagination.
They are friends.
The informed pragmatism
is able to see value in almost everything, especially imagination.
They avoid narrow and restrictive approaches to reality, even
that of the market place where laughter can be a wonderful medicine.
A smile can be worth more than anything in a sales presentation.
Imagination isn't
at war with results. It can be a way of getting there when nothing
else will work. The new combinations that imagination can reveal
are practical effects. Some are direct and others are not. When
we discover new techniques of discovery and the flaws of previous
attempts, the direct result of imagination is at work.
A simple idea can
be the seeds for a new empire, a break-through invention, or
a world-shaking concept. This is an example of imagination directly
applied. But there are indirect effects of imagination. It helps
us to unwind after a hard day. It can recreate us when nothing
else seems to have any effect. When we uncover sources of creativity
within, it can help us to laugh and savor life again. It can
assist in getting us back on the track again. After all, we take
ourselves too seriously at times. The proper use of imagination
can prick the bubble of our foolish pride when it needs it most,
restoring a sense of perspective.
His boundaries of
imagination are located precisely where you draw them. They are
elastic, at the command of our abilities, courage, and curiosity.
The universe continues to expand, and so should our imagination.
SUMMARY
OF CHAPTER EIGHT
"Develop Your
Imagination"
1. Tap into your imagination. Develop a "relationship"
with it. You will lose it if you don't use it.
2. Challenge is stimulation
for the imagination.
3. Be a voracious
reader from the classics to the funny papers.
4. Look what the freed
imagination can create.
5. Success requires
imagination and creativity.
6. The boundaries
of imagination are located precisely where you draw them.
The
Steps to Power Up!
Planning
My Life Long Range Goals
What
goals do I want to accomplish?
Make
a list and give each goal a target date.
Then
work out a strategy. What steps do I take to reach these goals.
Chapter Nine
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