Sasha, my first child, had a "dream book" written quietly in her room. Yesterday, I gained the privilege of reading his dream book. And I was quite surprised by what my child wrote. The contents are terrible. Starting from the name of the favorite junior high school (with the big writing below: Accepted!), The grade you want to reach elementary school later, with whom she wants to get married (yes, even though she is only 11 years old), the desire to have his own airplane, home in Hollywood and Italy , even listed also has money of $ 96 trillion. Yes, she wrote in dollars and zero twelve. The father just didn't dare to dream that hard. I almost laughed: "Who are you? Paris Hilton? "
I was reminded of the story of Indonesia's internet marketing icon, Anne Ahira, while attending her internet marketing seminar some time ago. Little Ahira is also a great fantasy. I was so eager to travel around the world, he had attached a photo of himself on a calendar containing pictures of the city of the world. So when he was a child Ahira already had a "picture" of himself in front of world tourism objects, such as in front of the Golden Gate, the Eiffel Tower, etc. The pictures were copied and pasted on the wall. Ahira was insistent, even though her mother tried to make sure that around the world was only a dream for the child of a factory worker and a hodgepodge seller.
And later, Ahira and her mother cried with tears after seeing a photo of Ahira loaded in Kompas which depicted her in front of the Golden Gate. The pose is exactly the same as Ahira's imaginary photo as a child. Extraordinary. Thoughts become Things.
Children's minds are very clear. I am sure as a child we all dare to dream with all our innocence. Without any fears whether our dreams will become real or not. Perhaps concepts such as: positive thinking, law of attractions, etc. actually has been installed by God in the brains of all of us since we were born. Only slowly did the clear mind disappear. Until when we are adults, it is often very difficult to reinstall.
Children think in a way that is different from us. There is a story, a consultant who is helping to solve a problem in a company that has been listed on the stock exchange once attended a management meeting to solve a problem. The consultant makes a point on the board. And ask: "What picture is this?" All members of the management are compact with answers: "a black dot on a white board". The consultant repeated the same question three times, and got the same answer. The consultant shook his head. "Yesterday I asked the same question in a kindergarten, and got 50 different answers ..." Yes, for children, the black dot can be the eyes of a bird, an ant ball, a fly sticking , etc. The creativity of the top leaders of the company was far behind the kindergarten children. Though creativity is needed in solving problems.
No wonder Picasso has ever said: "Every child is an artist. The challenge is to remain an artist after you grow up." Yes, slowly we turn into adults by eliminating the greatness of the super creative children's thinking.
According to my observations, children have always applied 3B which we have often forgotten:
• Imagine
Children are a storehouse of imagination. Today they can become teachers, tomorrow they become nurses, tomorrow they become drivers, etc. Today can be war in the middle of the forest, tomorrow can be in a space shuttle. Imagination turns out to be very important in the world of marketing. I remembered the story of one of my friends who was a marketer. Before formulating a marketing strategy. Even when the new product is being formulated, their team imagines. For example by imagining that the product is a human figure. How old is he, what is his hobby, what is his job, where to "hang-out", what to drink, what to eat, etc. This then becomes material for developing advertising materials. Because you already have the imagination about the "character" of the product, then the preparation of a marketing program becomes easier.
For children, nothing is impossible. Their imagination is spontaneous and does not think too much about the "how". Because for children everything is possible. It is precisely adults who often "sabotage" their clear minds with the words: "ah, where is it possible". Imagine that the way we imagine these children is applied in setting our vision forward. We will not be disturbed by the negative "ah where possible" thoughts.
• Play
For children everything is just a game. Thus there is no "problem" for children. All things can be seen from the pleasant side. Just look, when the flood disaster in Jakarta recently, children who were actually cheerful played in the flood. Children are better at seeing the fun side of every "problem". Try if we apply it in everyday life. How "problems" will be easier for us to face. Everything becomes a fun game.
I used to have a friend who was almost desperate because I had a lot of debt. I'm also confused about what to say. When I say the words: "its just a game man ...", it turns out that he immediately rose again. He got inspiration that the business he lived in was just a game. That the suspension is currently minus, only suspended, and from now on he can play better to get a bigger suspension. Its just a game. And its fun!
• Learn
Who says children are lazy to learn. Instead they learn every time. I've read the news of a study at MIT that concluded that the way kids study is like scientists. They are very interested in causality. What if I do this, what is the reaction. This is the basis of the experiment. And many of the experiments they did. What if these cars are dislodged? What if Barbie's doll hair is cut, etc. This great curiosity can actually be an extraordinary driver of success if we maintain it to adulthood.
Children learn naturally to be better. A baby who learns to walk, each time he falls will rise again. How many times has a child fallen off a bicycle? Will he stop and wail. No, he will laugh, get up again, and bike better. This is an extraordinary learning process. Dare to try, dare to fall and dare to evaluate themselves, this is unfortunately often lost when we become adults.
So, if you are now a child, who do you want to be? Become a Spiderman? Batman? Donald Trump? Or want to be Paris Hilton? Happy imagination.