The world is becoming more and more competitive every day. It seems that everyone has high hopes of starting their own business, or becoming a celebrity. My generation, for example, has delusions of grandeur. We all think that we’re going to be world famous millionaires. And we just have not gotten used to the concept of having a “normal” job for the rest of our lives. We want to control our destinies. We want to be entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs…
Everyone is trying to be an entrepreneur. They’re everywhere. There’s no secret about why magazine such as Entrepreneur are doing so well nowadays. It’s because everyone wants to be one! For whatever reason, we’re sick and tired of working for the man. We want to be our own boss. This involves being more than an employee, and actually taking responsibility for our lives, which is a scary thought in itself. Having to figure out how to do this can be even more scary.
But what is an entrepreneur? An entrepreneur is synonymous with “founder”. To be an entrepreneur means that you start projects. To me, an entrepreneur is a way of life. You’re either a follower or a leader. If you’re an entrepreneur, then you are a leader. If you believe that the smartest use of your time is to trade it for a paycheck, then you are a follower. If you’re a follower, then you are not going to benefit from this article. You’re going to continue to always follow the path of least resistance, and approach things as safely as possible.
This is directed to all entrepreneurs. You need to think outside the box. In this day and age, the spoils go to those who are able to do innovative things.
What Is “The Box”?
Now the question is, “What is the box?” Simply put, the box is where conventional thinking resides. The box is a symbol of your comfort level, and you ability to try new things. A lot of times, you’re greatest deterrent to success will be your inability to see the best way to tackle a problem. The phrase, “outside the box” most likely came from an old brain teaser called the “nine dots puzzle”.
The idea is to figure out how to connect all nine dots with 4 straight lines. When the viewer looks at the nine dots, they perceive an invisible box. This is their own lack of imagination holding them back, for when they decide to “think outside the box” they are able to see the solution to this puzzle.
Now as an entrepreneur, your business is never going to amount to much if you’re holding yourself back by thinking “inside the box”. Your project is never going to get off the ground if it doesn’t stand out in some way. Don’t keep thinking in the typical fashion. Get out there and try new things. You never know what’s going to catch on. Maybe you can try an unorthodox marketing solution? Perhaps you can approach your business in such a way that the average entrepreneur wouldn’t think of?
Examples:
Think like Alex Tew, who was able to finance his college education with “The Million Dollar Webpage”. He simply sold pixels on his website as advertising space. He could have thought from “inside the box” and decided that he would pay his student loans by working for years after graduating college. However, he sat down and came up with an unorthodox idea, which single handedly paid for his entire college education.
Think like Christian Lander, who hit it big with his blog “Stuff White People Like”. Instead of doing the traditional thing, and blogging about something that was unlikely to offend, Lander went all out and wrote about a subject that just about everyone has a strong opinion on. Whether or not what Lander is doing is “right” or “wrong” isn’t relevant, because he got a $300,000 book deal off of the strength of his blog! Since he is, himself, a white man, he’s not the type of person you would expect to write satire on the subject of white people. But he thought “outside of the box” and successfully connected all nine dots with his writing.
It’s Up To You!
How are you thinking outside the box? Ask yourself that. Nothing ever became successful by blending in with its competition. In order to take your project to new heights, you are going to need to step outside of the imaginary box that you have drawn around yourself. This box represents your comfort zone, and your way of thinking. Within the confides of these lines that you have trapped yourself in, you won’t be able to connect all of the dots in your project. So step back, think outside of this box, and do what you need to truly stand out with your work.
images taken from Wikipedia
I like how you pull no punches. Just get out there and do it! I hear Trey- thanks for the motivation this morning!
Jay’s most recent blog post..The Sunday Ponder
I loved your two examples “Stuff White People Like” made me laugh. And just when I was thinking about getting a tattoo. I was amazed at how many comments he gets.
I think is seems easier to stay with the status quo. But is deffinately not as much fun as “Thinking Outside of the Box” Stuff White People Like” proves that.
This made my day.
Sheila
Sheila’s most recent blog post..Finding A Hungry Niche You Can Market To
@ Jay
Thanks for your kind words. Pulling punches isn’t really my thing. I’ve been known to be painfully blunt, and while I don’t want to offend anyone per se, I’m not in the business of telling people what they want to hear (or read), if it’s not going to help them. Thanks for commenting!
@ Sheila
“Stuff White People Like” has got to be one of the funniest websites I’ve ever visited. It touches on a lot of nerves, because a lot of it is so true, or almost true in some cases. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I try to only link to sites that are worthy of taking attention away from mine. *lol* Thanks for coming by!
I definitely agree with getting outside your box. With the Internet there are even more people attempting to entrepreneurship as it’s relatively inexpensive to do it. If you have an interesting idea, go with it. Nobody could have predicted that “Stuff White People Like” would have taken off the way it did. Too funny.
Gennaro’s most recent blog post..San Marcos La Laguna: A Peaceful Retreat
@ Gennaro
That is true. Now is the time when great things are in store for the human race, because so many people are vying to make our day to day lives better. The cream of the crop will rise, and the question is, who is going to rise along with it? Those who are able to think outside the box, that’s who. Thanks for commenting.
They say you grow when you are uncomfortable and that little box can get too cozy if we don’t toss the pillow out once and awhile! Thanks for yanking the sheets and turning on the light.
ed’s most recent blog post..Happily Ever Before
@ ed
I certainly agree that we grow when we are uncomfortable. Thanks for providing another look at this advice!
How to tell that your thinking outside the box:
If you are thinking outside the box the idea is new. There is no way to determine before hand whether the idea will work or not.
Yet,
People tell you it won’t work.
If people’s gut reaction to your idea is that it will not work then that is a good indication that you are thinking outside the box. If people’s gut reaction is that it will work then you are doing what has worked for somebody else.
Roman’s most recent blog post..Are Long Domain Names Cool?
@ Roman
I can agree with your idea. Not every bold idea will work, but very few “normal” ideas will work either. And usually, the ideas that take off were considered to be too “out there” when they first got going.