Imagination – the ability of the mind to be creative and resourceful.

It also seems to be a timely and relevant asset and something we should be paying much more attention to developing. As John Muir once said,

“The power of imagination makes us infinite.”

And Albert Einstein who said,

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

While everyone has an imagination, not everyone values it as the powerful force that it is. I further suggest that it is an increasingly critical success skill for the future. Imagination quite literally makes it possible to experience a whole new reality inside your mind. It focuses us on our purest intentions. Where else can you experience vivid alternative realities in an instant, without limitations or obstructions?

The more you can free your mind and hone your imaginative capacity, the more creative you will be. It is where you can let go of all preconceived notions, beliefs, and engage in total freedom within the safety of your mind.

This is how futures are invented. This is where the seeds of a unique life’s passion are ignited and fanned to a larger fire from within. This is where we unleash the powerful motivation to be and do what you were meant to be and do.

What if we treated our imagination like we do the broad spectrum of other critical skills, like managing, goal setting, and communication? What if radical imagining gave us an unmistakable and powerful competitive advantage in life and in work? We more often just tap at the window of our imagination at times through the process of visioning, but we often fall short of a deeper exploration because we are conditioned to give vision a light pass and move on quickly to strategy. Sub-optimal future states are too often the price we pay.

In the complex and fluid times we live and work in, we have to create and perform “on the fly” far more often than is currently comfortable. Honing some of your – up until now – more secondary skills and capabilities like imagination may be just what is urgently needed. It has surely worked wonders for powerhouses like Apple and Google. Why not play with it and see what “magic” you can stir into existence?