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Welcome to Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass. Jon is the founder and CEO of image group international, an award-winning image consulting and personal branding pioneer established in 1989. This podcast will bring you old-school wisdom, inspiring ideas, strategies and hacks for the new tech world. Here you will learn everything about personal branding: the system, the techniques and the right mindset to have a successful personal brand, image and reputation.

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Hello, everybody, and it's great to be back with you here today. I'd like to invite you to connect with me on social media. My Twitter is Jon_Michail, my LinkedIn is Jon Michail, and you can find me as Image Group International on Facebook. 

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Today's conversation is going to be around creativity, and why it's essential for entrepreneurs. But I'm also going to throw in the word creating as well, to give you a distinction between the two and see how we can marry the two up and use them as partners moving forward. So now let's get started. Creativity and creating... the simplest example I can give you about creativity is the ability to create and transform; okay, that's the simple version. And creating is the ability to create something beyond a product, service and so on. It's about really your life, your destiny, your whole career, your business, or your personal, even if you think you're not creative. So that's a two distinctions, you know, so what we're saying is creating is a being and creative is the doing, for instance, creative people can formulate theories, you know, invent products, produce engaging content, and find solutions. And of course, develop actions that captivate others to sort of be attracted to them. In the entrepreneurial world. It's a fundamental characteristic. And also, it's designed, of course, to ensure the long term success of the business. And what that means is, if you're not creative, as an entrepreneur, of course, that originates from being creating your own life, hopefully not too confusing. You're not going to stand out. And over time, you're going to become a "me too" two type of product or service, we're really there's no cut through in the marketplace, especially today, in the online world, where differentiation is key, so you can get noticed, you're going to find that very difficult. So being you know, being creative, is, I believe, a natural way of being for human means. It just, you know, when you're born, I believe this, you're created. And of course, as a creative spirit that comes with that, I think at times through the education system, through society, challenges along the way, that sort of creating creative energy at times might disappear type and sort of its it gets ground out of you. So the opportunity, I believe exists because we all have to reengage in the concept of creating and creative and basically do what you can, even if it means working with somebody along the way to bring out that creative spirit. So you can then start creating things, products yourself to a position or where you want to be. So the fact is that entrepreneurs in today's world, especially in today's world, that do not invest in being creative in all aspects. As I noted before, to go unnoticed in the marketplace, so they fall behind competitors, who are of course creative, and innovative. And of course, there's a lot of products in a marketplace. That proves that the evidence is clear for all to see. So let me give you a practical example from a historical perspective, and why being creative is essential for us to evolve. Can you imagine some point in history, a person or persons had thought that it was not important to invest time, energy, etc, to create objects that we use on a daily basis, for example, the lamp, you know, that gives us light. It wouldn't be much simpler to continue using candles other than of course, thinking about a new solution. But thanks to Thomas Edison, of course one of the greatest inventors and entrepreneurs in history, people's lives were completely changed when you can simply to switch on today, the light whenever you want now imagine life today. Without that, yes, it would be fairly dark, and not what I would call progressive. So you can use many different examples that everything from, you know, the automobile, and where it's going into the future, to airplanes, to all forms of mode of transport and even technology in recent times, and you can even throw in social media, the positives of social media is there is a lot of negatives of social media, the positives of how, of course, we stay connected. And we get to communicate worldwide, especially with friends, family clients, where, let's say 20 years ago, that might have been difficult or virtually non existent. So creativity is not just linked specifically to products or services. But it's about solutions to simple problems. You know, because if you're not being creative, then you're stuck. You know, it's a bit like stuck in mud, right? It's not a positive feeling. So you can even utilize creativity, of course, to create new formulas, including for everyday situations in the workplace. Because if you're not going to be creative with challenges that are constant, and will constantly be constant, then you're going to be left behind. And of course, the best example of that is COVID. In the last two and a half years there, if you haven't been obviously recreating yourself with what's happened in the last two and a half years, then obviously, you'd be stuck and tension in serious trouble. So let me share with you some advantages of creativity with you. First of all, creative people, creative organizations, increase productivity. So creativity allows entrepreneurs, you know, and I'm talking about entrepreneurs, specifically today, you know, as opposed to artists, you know, of any description, I'm talking about entrepreneurs, because I believe entrepreneurs, at some level are artists, anyway, again, but as a distinction, entrepreneurs to disconnect from the accustom, you know, and you move into unchartered territories to discern unique and useful solutions. And why is this important? Well, how can you innovate, improve and evolve? If you don't do that? Is it risky? Of course it is. Everything is risky, waking up in the morning and getting out of bed, to face the world is a risk, but it's all about, you know, asking the question, what if I don't do that now, if you're stuck again, and if you've been stuck for a while, remember, I'm a coach. So you know, I deal with people that are successful, that are stuck, I deal with people that have been successful, and whatever happened in life, got themselves stuck, but you can also unstack yourself, that's my point. And creating creative spirit will help you big time in getting yourself back on track. Because what creating before going to more about creativity in the second what creating is people that create and I'm gonna lend some of my learnings over the years with Robert Fritz that's creating is about going into action as opposed to avoiding a problem or trying to overpower a problem, okay, we're creating is actually just create whatever is going on, forget about avoiding it, because that's only going to get worse. Forget about overpowering it, you know, trying to think that just because you're talking to yourself about it, then it's all gonna go away. Rarely does if ever, but at the moment, you're going to creating mode that of course supports you then to become creative, then miracles happen. So creating is the active part. Okay, on the other conversation here. So another advantage of creativity is that encourages critical thinking, you know, what that means is if you come up with some sort of idea, concept, product and so on by being, you know, creative, you can always remould it. If it's not working, you can reposition it as opposed to thinking this is the way it is and nothing is going to change. By being creative. You get the opportunity to utilize also an employee's potential your work your workmates, or get to make something bigger and better than before. A smart entrepreneur in my experience encourages creativity in the workplace, and this can result definitely in improved financial strategies. increased profitability, and quick decision making. Creativity creates a culture that also enables an enterprise to stay ahead of the curve, as I sort of alluded to earlier. So, you know, we're in times, where if you're not one step ahead, and of course, technology's made the biggest difference regarding that, then you're gonna get left behind. Okay, there's, you know, this is not designed to create fear. It's all designed actually to inspire you to get into your natural human desire to create that you have innate in you. So remember what I said earlier, if you're not creating or being creative, it's not like you haven't got it, something's happened at a stop that happening. Again, I don't know what that is, that's up to you to work out or working out with a professional, but something is stopping again, that is not a positive, okay? Because life is designed to be constantly evolving, okay. And creating, and creative is part of that aspect of that life journey. So I know, it's not easy to be creative. Also, in a world where it's more common by copying other people, of course, online, that's happening every day in the millions. And of course, people think, Oh, that's really smart, I'm going to copy that idea. You know, I can sort of try to maximize that success from somebody else's efforts. That's short term thinking, long term, you've got it, what I'm saying yourself, it just has to be an earth again, you know, and brought to the surface, because at the moment, it might be a little bit buried. So everyone can and has the personal power bottom line to be creative. So discard this idea that not all people can be creative, as I showed you, in this episode, leaders, and entrepreneurs cannot think like that, and expect to be at the top of their game. And remember, you know, taking risks, making mistakes, and learning is part of the development of being creative. And creativity is built through personal experiences. And of course, in a professional environment, you also get the opportunity, with all the problems that we face, you get to learn how to manage and overcome them. What we observe and action can be used to compose references when creating and developing solutions. Okay, and of course, developing solutions is another form of seen being creative. So the two, in my opinion, live together, they live together, they work together. And you know, the the idea here is to marry the two together and keep them at the top of mind. So So anytime you're not being creative, start thinking about how to start being creating as initial. And I hope that distinction makes sense for you, because it's the key here, because creation utilizing different meanings available, of course online is it's the act of creating or causing something to exist. So what that means is you can create something from nothing, as long as you can, you know, imagine it again. And of course, your imagination is thrown into here as part of the creating process. So please remember to reach out if I can help you in this journey. This particular episode is one of my favorites, because creating is, in my opinion, naturally innate in us and something that we all have. And of course, in my own background, originally, as a designer, I thought and most people think, oh, you know, you, it's easy for you to say that, John, you've come from that background, you're creative by nature and so on. But in my experience with our clients, everyone's got it just because you decided to become for instance, a lawyer or an accountant or a doctor example. Or a plumber doesn't mean that you have not got creating in you and you're not creative. Okay, so it's about really, rien gauging with aspects of you that might have become dormant for whatever reason. So just send me an email, and we can chat. And of course, the email is on the description of the episode. If you liked this episode, please rate it on Apple podcast. Once you've done that, just send us an email confirmation, and we will send you our free-ebook, The Real World guide to authentic personal branding. I thank you all for your time, and I look forward to seeing you next week. Cheers.

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Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass" Podcast is sponsored by Image Group International, a global team of practical, digitally savvy personal brand and image strategists, based in Australia, committed to maximizing your impact, influence and authority in the business world. To learn more and apply for your personal coaching, seminars and group workshops please visit imagegroup.com.au or call 1800 631 311.