When I ask seminar participants what inspires their creativity, oceans and nature often top the list. While inspiration triggers are highly unique to each of us, beautiful spots in nature certainly make a big contribution.
For many of us, such encounters are infrequent or irregular. If we want to keep generating a flow of good ideas—and bringing them to life—there’s another big resource that needs our attention.
That’s been on my mind ever since I read about a survey that Edward Glassman recently conducted. His study was done with employees, not entrepreneurs, but there’s no reason to think it doesn’t apply to us as well.
Here’s what he found. Overall, the majority of people perceive that the biggest boost to their creativity comes from interacting with other people.
What else stimulates on-the-job creativity? In addition to other people, factors cited by survey respondents included:
• More time
• More freedom
• Less red tape, paperwork and routine jobs
• Better resources
• An atmosphere that encourages originality
• Fewer meetings
• Better teamwork
• Fewer penalties for failure
• Fewer interruptions
• A more supportive atmosphere.
What strikes me about the list is that it includes the sorts of things the Joyfully Jobless seem to naturally incorporate into their enterprises.
On the other hand, solo startups frequently suffer from a lack of the kind of interaction that stimulates ideas. If we want to create the life of our dreams, we need to be proactive in connecting with other self-bossers who share our enthusiasm for the power of ideas.
There are some obvious ways to bring more of those encounters into our lives, of course. Consider one of the messages I got after last week’s Inspired Livelihood seminar in Sedona:
“I wanted to touch base with you and tell you how important the Inspired Livelihood Workshop was to me. The timing couldn’t have been better. Being in the same room with others of a similar mindset was amazing for me. I left there totally inspired. This morning when I got to my desk in my home office, I felt like I left the training wheels off of my bicycle and will be able to ride confidently knowing that I have lots of tools to help me and a tribe who will support me if I start weaving.”
We’re going to take a look at some ways you can close that people gap this week.
In the meantime, think about this advice from the wise Jim Rohn: “My suggestion is to walk away from the 90% who don’t and join the 10% who do.”
Nice reminder that I need to get out of my house and mingle face to face with like minded others! Thanks again Barbara for your words of wisdom.
So agree that as individual entrepreneurs we need interaction with other people for creativity and more! Isolation is real–we need the seminars, workshops, masterminds, co-ops, etc. where we can network and form supportive communities! Enjoyed your post!