Einstein Life Hacks #5 of 10 – IMAGINATION
During the Summer Olympics, I was fascinated by the commercials that pictured the Olympic athletes doing amazing feats in unusual places, such as swimming on roads, jumping over hurdles in airports and throwing various sports objects around in their own homes. The advertiser will be dismayed to realize that I don’t remember who paid what I am sure was a handsome sum for the ad.
This image reminded me of those commercials and to me is the epitome of imagination.
In 1971 John Lennon captivated us with his hit, Imagine. And while I don’t share his view of imagining that there is no heaven, I do love his vision of the world being able to someday (soon I hope) live as one.
Clearly he didn’t live to see that, but the Imagine Peace foundation run by his widow Yoko Ono is having a significant impact. He left a legacy, based on his imagination.
Imagination is way more than just dreaming. Einstein said that “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions. Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Imagine that. Einstein elevating something above knowledge!
I would add to his statement that without imagination, you can’t connect the dots that we talked about in the first article in this series. By its very nature, connecting the dots is an exercise in seeing the unseen (aka using your imagination).
The spiritual view of imagination is faith, as faith is believing what you can’t see. And death and the existence of heaven are the ultimate step of faith.
If you can imagine it, you can figure out a way to make it happen (or at least to write a song about it or make a movie about it or write a book about it or paint a picture about it). If you aren’t achieving the kind of growth and profitability that you have dreamed of, It is time to draw on your imagination to reinvent your business.
What are you imagining?
Monday we will talk about Making Mistakes. It turns out well. I promise!
Stay tuned.