The Imagination: How Important Is It? How Do You Make It a Force for Good?

“All successful men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.” — Brian Tracy

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” — Michelangelo

“Imagination and fiction make up more than three quarters of our real life.” — Simone Weil

Consider the quote above from Simone Weil: three-quarters of our life is spent on imagination and fiction! That’s extraordinary!

Now think about this question: How important is imagination to the solopreneur life? Sam Lyons writes:

The popular concept of a business person espoused by the media is someone who is rather dull and linear in their thinking. They are referred to more often as “hard-nosed” and “practical.” In fact, many business people themselves buy into this erroneous stereotype.

Yet imagination is the heart of business success. While corporations themselves may appear to be based on buttoned-down rules and regulations, the entrepreneurs who started them have all, without exception, been highly creative and imaginative.

When you launched your solo business, you had a vision of the future; your decision to start your business was based on what you could imagine. The fruit of your imagination was an idea — a vision for carrying out your life’s work.

If you are an aspiring solopreneur, your imagination right now is busy envisioning what your future will look like — the work you will do, the people you will help, the things you will achieve, the future world you will live in.

The Dark Side of the Imagination

We typically think of imagination as a force for good. But the power of the imagination can be extremely destructive. Laurence G. Boldt writes:

If imagination is not set to the task of building a creative life, it busies itself with weaving a web of inner fears and doubts, blame, and excuse.

Boldt’s right, isn’t he? When my imagination is put to good use, I imagine new products, new writing, and new ways to do business. When I lack an outlet for my imagination, my mind is occupied with fear of the future, with visions of failure and loss: What if I lose this client? What if I miss that deadline? What if my Web site gets hacked?

How Do You Make Imagination a Positive Force?

So this begs several questions: How do you engage your imagination to enable positive thoughts? How do you get your imagination working on good things? How do you get into a state where your river of ideas is strong and your fears are overwhelmed?

I’d love to get your advice on this! Please share your imagination secrets below.