By Henry Ukazu

Greetings Friends,

I belong to the school of thought, which opine that originality is the beauty of life. Originality is fundamental to innovation, and the key to building sustainable businesses and brands in our contemporary world. You cannot underestimate the power of imagination and innovation. The world is moved by visionaries who have to create change with their innovations. Beauty itself is relative because it springs up from the taste and choice each individual has. Our imagination also works in same manner. We all have imaginations, but sometimes we under utilize it.

The starting point of all success is imagination. The idea is first conceived in the mind before the implementation begins. Every goal you will ever reach starts off as imagination. This is because it is really hard for one to achieve what he never desired. You just have to believe in it, work on it, chase it and it will become your reality. According To Lao Tzu, “watch your thoughts they become your words, watch your words they become your actions, watch your actions they become your habits and watch your habit they become your destiny”. This is because true success –whether it is financial, social, marital, or in finding your source of happiness and meaning, was created in the mind first.

During the declaration of America’s independence, the following words was used “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Each time I read these words it really resonates within me because it makes me to think out of the box. We live in a world where most people feel they are entitled to XYZ. In reality, the world owes you nothing. In the same vein, most third world countries look at America and wish they have all the infrastructural facilities and technology which makes their economy to flourish. They fail to understand that given every equal opportunity everybody is a potential achiever because we don’t have dull brains only brains undeveloped. It’s important to note that Americans are not extraordinary beings because they only have same brain like any other rational mind, the only difference with them is that, they were able to use their imagination to creatively develop their country and make it what it is. We all have the same level of opportunity to succeed, but what we do with our imagination is what makes the difference.

In order to appreciate this article, we shall be looking at the component part of imagination and how it can trigger success. We shall be discussing the component parts of imagination as it relates to the topic:

Visualization: Visualization is basically the process of imagining yourself having achieved your ideal life, down to the smallest details. Visualization is the most effective way to tap into the power of imagination.

Be a Visionary: According to –Albert Einstein “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” Great visionary leaders who have truly changed our world perspectives like Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mr. Tony Elumelu, Dr. Mike Adenuga and Walt Disney among others were all visionaries who tapped into the subconscious power of imagination.

Two things happen when we visualize:

1. Inwardly, we are opening up the creativity of the subconscious mind. That is why we combine affirmations with visualization in order to produce a very powerful tool.
2. Then by adding the power of emotion, we give a command to our subconscious mind to figure out how to make this image a reality.

Everything we see manifested in our lives is a reflection of what’s happening in the brain. Our brains do a couple of major things, first, they keep us alive and secondly, they make sure our outside world is an absolute mirror image of our internal world.

Our imagination is phenomenal. For instance, somebody was using phone and couldn’t go beyond a spot and thought of having a cell phone. Somebody imagined airplane, car, television, computer, interment, clock, etc. Imagination is evidence of things not seen.  Imagination was put into you by God to do something great. As a creative writer, I get inspiration to write where most people don’t get inspired.

According to Steve Harvey, when he was in High School, his teacher asked the students to write what they wanted to be in future, he wrote in a book that he wanted to be on TV. His teacher made mockery of him because he was a stutterer. He never looked at his shortcomings in life, he was even homeless for about three years, sleeping in a car, but still, he believed in himself. Today, he’s on the Television doing what he imagined. I can imagine his teacher watching him on television. There’s power in imagination if you truly believe and work towards the actualization of your dreams. You might be fired from your job, faced eviction, lose a relationship/marriage or even loose a loved one, etc., that’s not the end of life. You can still achieve success in life if you tap into the power of imagination.

The power of imagination is not taught in schools. Albert Einstein was able to think in picture. He recognized that visual thinking could strip a problem down to its essence, leading to profoundly simple conclusions that ordinary language might not be able to reach. It doesn’t matter where you are and what you are doing; sportsman, academic, politician, leader, entrepreneur, corporate organizations etc. that truly want to get to the peak of his/her career must tap into the power imagination. If you can’t imagine it, you can’t see it. According to Carl Sagan, “Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” Albert Einstein sums up imagination when he said “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

Let’s share some component part of imagination.

Socialize: The saying “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are is not a political statement” because the people around you are likely to have a significant impact on you. If you surround yourself with people of wide imagination, some of it should rub off on you.

Read: In order to spark up your imagination, you should always be asking questions like Why? Where? How? What? Who? If there are things or events that you don’t understand, ask. You might be surprised at what you find out. ,

Daydream: You can amuse yourself by speculating on these things, and it will soon become a habit. It can one day trigger an idea for a book, or for a new product that may just change your life. Personally, I never imagined writing a book until the idea was triggered by one of my mentors.

Create: Seeing something take shape even as you are contemplating your next step is inspiring, and it will drive your imagination to new heights. The problem that many people have however is, they lack belief. And with that, dreams are denied any possibility of materializing.

Think of successful people: professional athletes, business executives, and world leaders. They started off with a dream. They imagined what they wanted to become. How did they achieve it? They didn’t destroy it. They didn’t refer to it as impossible. They worked on it every day. And at some point they turned something that was once a figment of their imagination, into their reality.

When you have imagined your idea in your brain, the next step is to imagine how exactly you’re going to get it. Break it down into achievable stages. If it’s a successful career, imagine the company and the position. See yourself at the interview. Do everything you will need to do to obtain it.

Finally, build the whole story in your mind. Spend a few minutes every day just thinking about it – Only in a positive way. Tell yourself that one day you will get there. There is nothing that will stop you. The more you make this a routine, the more likely you are to act upon it. You will realize that it’s not so unachievable after all.

In conclusion, I will leave you with this nugget, Turn your intentions into actions and your dreams will become your reality.

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success. He can be reached via henrous@gmail.com