What’s Your Big Idea?
A blog from the 4th November 2017
My theme for November is ‘Big Ideas’. Last month I became involved in a wonderful project called ‘Big Ideas Wales’. The project inspires and supports young people to become entrepreneurial, whether they are looking to run a business, develop a passion or learn some useful skills for life. I attended a 2 day training course to become a role model and deliver workshops for schools, colleges and youth settings where I can share my own business story in the hope to inspire young people to think entrepreneurial. To be honest I left the training feeling inspired myself by the awesome business owners with varied stories and skills, and having had the opportunity to share my own story as another way to teach young people how to take care of their happiness.
I believe we all have big ideas inside of us, we just need to create the right conditions to let them bubble to the surface. I would never have said that I was a big ideas person until I actually started running my own business, but since having the freedom to create my own work I find that often I can’t catch my ideas fast enough – they usually come to me when I can’t write them down, like when I’m driving or in the shower!
When I work with groups of young people I ask questions that gets them thinking for themselves and once they’re warmed up, my god the creativity that pours out is incredible! They come up with stuff that I couldn’t imagine in my wildest dreams and that is super exciting, as I think the next generation are going to need to be more creative than ever before. Most of the jobs that children will be doing in 10 years time haven’t even been invented yet, they will create them themselves.
So what do I mean by ‘big ideas’? Well any idea that gets you fired up when you think about it and makes a difference to someone in some way. Maybe it makes money, makes someone smile, solves a problem, entertains people, creates something, educates, saves lives, saves people time, all of the above, anything that makes a difference no matter how small or big. If you think about it you probably do some of these things on a daily basis and never give them a second thought, but they matter, they make a difference.
Most successful businesses start with a very simple idea where someone feels there is something needed in the world and they have a deep desire to make that happen. However, the idea is just the spark, what really gets the idea lit up is action and a whole bunch of personal qualities – which is what we explore with young people in the Big Ideas Wales project. Things like grit, resilience, perseverance, kindness, optimism, a willingness to learn, patience, being able to build relationships are all entrepreneurial qualities, but are so important to get through anything in life!
So do you have any big ideas burning inside of you?
I don’t care how old you are, how busy you are, or how stupid you think your idea is, somebody somewhere will love it! It’s your job to share your gifts with the world before you die (yes it may be morbid, but one day we will all be dead anyway, so what have you got to lose?)… Believe me I never thought someone would pay me to talk about ‘why we should treat our kids more like dogs’ but it turns out it’s a very much needed thing in the world!
And PLEASE, if you have young people around you, encourage their ideas, don’t dismiss them, ask them questions about them, get interested in exploring how they can make them happen because they are going to need to flex their entrepreneurial muscles if they want to be happy in this crazy world.