I have a friend who is always grabbing flyers for weekend writing classes, art classes and just yesterday she picked up a leaflet for african bongo lessons. Jenny loves finding ways to be more creative, she wants to do it all but then… my friend never does any of it. Not a single class.

Don’t get her wrong, she has every intention of doing them. Every flyer is lovingly put on her desk, pride of place on top of her in-tray. After a few days of dreaming about those classes, she gets hit with the next swamp of work, the next demanding client. She focuses on delivering and producing and she feels too guilty to take time away from her business and her clients, so she puts off booking, hoping there will be a break in workload. But there never is, and voila, no creative outlet for Jenny.

Does this feel like you, too?

Is your need to be creative getting lost in that
never ending pile of paperwork called life?

That sucks. It sucks for you. It sucks for your business.

So let’s go back to busy Jenny. How is this ‘all work and no play’ thing going to hurt?

Firstly Jenny, a lovely creative soul, isn’t quite so lovely anymore (sorry Jen, it’s the truth). Since she’s become so focussed on the business of doing business she’s become grumpier, she’s more set in her ways. She meets her deadlines, she delivers the goods but she ‘doesn’t have time’ to create fresh solutions for her clients. Admittedly she’s a little workhorse so her business is still doing well, but she’s simply not as happy as she used to be, and it shows.

But if her business is still pulling in the dollars, a bit of personal angst won’t hurt anyone. Or… will it?

Do you think her clients will notice her drop in happiness and everything that comes along with that? Do you think they’ll stop looking forward to their dealings with her? Do you think that might lead to a sense of dissatisfaction? A dissatisfaction that could maybe, just maybe, set them up to be ripe pickings for a competitor?

You betcha.

People want to work with positive people
buzzing with creative energy.

They want positive vibes, but they also want what they hired you for: solutions. The best solutions are often ones that need out of the box thinking. Something that Jenny has been seriously lacking recently.

And since Jenny’s sense of play and fun has been cut down, just how innovative do you think she will be as her industry evolves and as fresh competitors enter the field? I doubt she’ll be in the entrepreneurial state of mind to see opportunity, rather, she’ll see hardship and difficulty.

What do you think that’s going to do for the future of her business? What do you think it’s going to do for yours?

So let’s drill down on why creativity is so important

The reason my friend is still seeking creative experiences is because on some level she knows the truth. We are born to be creative (I wrote a blog about that which you can read here). We are hardwired for change. Life is not supposed to be unidimensional.

Sure, the industrial age was all about specialising and assembly line production for maximum efficiency, and that worked for a long time, but that’s not really how people work best. There is a better way.

Thanks to the efforts of some highly creative technology entrepreneurs we now live in the information age. It’s the time of the creative class. It’s the time of the entrepreneur. That’s you, my friend, or at least it will be once you fully embrace your inner creative.

Creative people see opportunity everywhere. They think and react at the speed of light. They give themselves the creative freedom to throw ideas out there and see what sticks. They take calculated risks. They create, they act, they adapt and they succeed (mostly).

#1 Creative entrepreneurs are bullet-proof.

When a non-creative is experiencing tough times they dig in, they fortify their walls and build trenches. They become risk adverse. They think working harder is the answer, so they put themselves head down and ass up in the shit.

On the other hand, a creative entrepreneur steps over the shit, they leave the trenches to take flight. They get an aerial view of the terrain, they study all the angles until a solution comes up, because it always does.

#2 Creative entrepreneurs rule the world

People who tap into their creative side are the people who change the world. They’re the successful people who strike it rich. They’re the geeks who devise new technology that changes the way we work. They’re the scientists who come up with amazing ideas that change our whole world. And they’re the business owners who innovate and create completely new ways to offer value to their clients.

Still resisting the fun because business?

I understand. The drive to succeed (and the need to pay the bills) can make doing something ‘fun’ feel like a guilty pleasure, a pleasure you might not think you can afford. But here’s the thing, if you don’t give yourself permission to be creative and have a little bit of fun occasionally your brain is not going to thank you.

You might be amazing at what you do, your business might be going well, but for how long?

I can guarantee that if you only focus on the doing and not the creating, eventually your business will stop. Dead.

Business will ground to a halt because the world will change around you, it always does. Without nurturing your creativity and your change radar you’ll never see disaster looming. Worse, if you haven’t been training your brain to be adaptive then your business will go the way of the dodo.

Your business is DYING for you to get more creative.

Change is the one constant in business, right? Sometimes you find yourself in an industry that becomes obsolete because of innovations. So the one thing you can guarantee is that, eventually, someone will invent something, or something will change to make whatever you currently do obsolete. Which leads me to reason number three why creativity is so important.

#3 Businesses can fail but creative entrepreneurs last forever.

Working hard is important, but without the power of creativity you’re going to struggle. Without that creative edge you’ll only have two tools at your disposal, ‘harder’ or ‘faster’. Seriously, that is the way of stress, exhaustion and going out of business sales.

Don’t take it personally, obsolescence happens even to the giants of industry. Think Kodak, think Blockbuster. Innovation happens, and some businesses roll with it and others fight it and lose.

Don’t be left behind scratching your head as you survey the crumbling ruins that was once a thriving business. Don’t be trapped by your old thinking. Project yourself into the future so you can remain relevant and profitable.

Resistance is futile. Change is inevitable. And creative people thrive on it.  So although it might seem counter intuitive when you’re so busy and stressed, anything that boosts your creative side is going to benefit your business.

So play, create and have fun.

And if you need your accountant to sign off on some kooky creative retreat in the back end of beyond, just tell him to sign the frickin’ cheque because it’s going to be the best return on investment you ever make in yourself.