Unleash Your Potential
Ideas excite me, and as soon as I get excited, the adrenaline gets going and the next thing I know I'm borrowing energy from the ideas themselves. -Ray Bradbury Our confession? The TBM Creative Team is comprised of daredevils, thrillseekers, and adrenaline junkies. We can't help it. We love the challenge, the risk, the vision, the dream. Whether the project is a film, in print, web, graphic design, writing, or assisting a client in starting a new business - it all begins with an idea. That idea soon becomes a wave of energy that we ride until the idea comes to full fruition. It's addictive...finding solutions, collaborating, receiving praise for a job that has a one-of-a-kind, top-of-the-heap, head-and-shoulders, above the rest outcome. This is the electricity, the dare, the thrill that pushes us to exceed the expectations of our clients. What is your potential? How far have you been stretched? Are you a clock-in clock-out corporate drone or do you surprise people with your innovative suggestions? Are you coasting on the crowded road ahead or are you building bridges and creating new paths for others to follow? Do you have the courage to unleash your potential? If so... we have a few tips from our own experience that may help you in this process. <strong>How to "Unleash Your Potential"</strong> - Step One: DREAM BIG and Believe in Your Dream. You have the dream. You know it is brilliant. What is stopping you from pursuing your dream? If not now...when? Now is the only time you have and procrastination is simply not an option. <strong>- Step Two: Engage in Fearless Creativity</strong> Paint, draw, sculpt. Anything worth doing is worth doing badly! So what - if you can barely draw a stick figure and your painted flowers look like they belong on your grandmother's refrigerator? It is not the destination but rather the journey that releases you in every possible way. Activities like these will take you out of the "daily grind" and allow you the opportunity to expand your awareness of yourself, others, your dream, your circumstances, and the world around you... Let go. <strong>- Step Three: Always be in a State of Constant Refinement & Growth</strong> Are you preparing for your past or for your future? Unless you are moving forward, you are in a state of either regression or stagnation. Regression is like driving in LA traffic by staring in your rearview mirror. You will inevitably cause a metaphorical pile-up by trying to move forward while dwelling in the past. However; if you have stopped entirely and find yourself stuck - you are in the stagnant scenario and boy - does that stink! The only thing that can grow in a stagnant environment is bacteria and parasites ...and smells that your neighbors may have to eventually call the authorities to address. Neither option is exactly the business model you were hoping for when you started out. Right? No worries. Start your engine, move forward, and keep in mind that it is never too late for a U-Turn. Stay up on the trends, know the terminology, and try new tactics. Find your mission statement and make that your cornerstone. Then you can build with new stones in new directions. While you are at it, knock out a wall or two in the process... you will love the view! <strong>- Step Four: Be Grateful for Your Successes and Failures ... for They are Both Equally Valuable Teachers</strong> Success is great, isn't it? It is exhilarating! That feeling of being on top of the world is what can propel us to repeat those actions that brought us our first success. Failure? We would be lying if we said it was equally exhilarating. Failure carries baggage. You want to hide it. Bury it. Sweep it under the rug. You feel guilty. After all, nothing good ever came out of a mistake...well... except for the inventions of Play-Doh, the Slinky, the Match, Silly Putty, Post-It Notes, and the list goes on and on and on. Studies have found that the knowledge gained from success is often not retained while knowledge from failure lands in the long term memory bank. Failure is a common theme in the history books when you read about the the writer, the inventor, or the absolute genius. Often failure is just one or two minor adjustments away from the brilliant success you were hoping to achieve. Success or Failure... the bottom line is to never give up, adjust as necessary, and remember that your employees, coworkers, and even your boss will have both successes and failures - as we are all students to both experiences. As Winston Churchill once said “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” <strong>- Step Five: Support others in Their Quest to "Unleash Their Potential" </strong> Sometimes you may end up taking your success for granted. The easiest way to remember where you came from is to suddenly lose everything. We suggest a less dramatic way for you to strike a balance as you move forward. Give. <em>Listen.</em> When you are asked to give you may immediately think in terms of money. While investing in someone's business is clearly an option, giving is not just a financial concept. What have others given to you that contributed to your current success? Advice and assistance from others may have completely turned your circumstances around and now you have the opportunity to do the same for someone else. Simply giving your time to listen as others vent or bounce new ideas around is a priceless gift to the recepient. <em>Volunteer.</em> Giving to your community is not only a huge benefit to the organizations or individuals that your are helping but it also takes you out of your comfort zone. Getting out of your comfort zone allows you the opportunity to appreciate your circumstances, to learn to problem solve in new ways, and to identify new processes to benefit the global community. Additionally, while you are being <em>completely selfless</em> in your volunteer work, the free advertising for your company on banners, newsletters, emails, and websites cannot be overlooked. In a marketing sense, this is the gift that keeps on giving. <em>Respect</em>. Giving respect to your client, your coworker, and your employer is being open-minded and seriously considering an idea instead of immediately insisting it won't work. It is giving space for others to show their talents, explore their ideas, and try new things which will make your company a coveted place to work. By encouraging the success of others, you are also ensuring your own success. The loyalty and support you will receive <em>by giving</em> cannot be measured. <strong>WHY DO YOU HAVE TO TAKE STEPS TO UNLEASH YOUR POTENTIAL? </strong> <strong><em>UNLEASHED = UNLEARNING</em></strong> <em>“Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up” – Pablo Picasso</em> To Unleash Your Potential is to be fully immersed in the process of unlearning. As a child, you were creative. You were a talented artist, you made up games, you had imaginary friends, you had superhero powers, and you believed in magic. Somewhere along the way, you were told to act your age, think of the future, and to be practical. Dreams became frivolous luxuries you couldn't afford. So you were promptly put in a tidy box that had a tidy bow and given a shiny new wind-up mechanism to stick straight out of your back and make you work ridiculously hard. Luckily, your new corporate issued robot brain would help you stay on track. <em>Sound like the plot to a horror movie? </em> We couldn't agree more. We aren't asking you to change completely. Change takes time. Our recommendation is to stretch your legs a bit. Climb out of the box. Remove the stick. Rest. Shut down the brain ... even if it is just for a little while every day. You can even keep your pretty reflective shell but try to remember that you have a lovely gooey creative center as well. The TBM Creative logo sums up this concept quite nicely. Underneath the hard metal exterior lies many orange layers within. These layers represent the pure creativity, passion, and power required to realize your potential. Ultimately, Unleashing your potential requires that you find time to follow your bliss and begin thinking with your heart again. Believe in magic rather than the illusion. Be moved by what moves you.
