03 Dec What Comprises The Innovators Mindset?

All of us owe a debt to those who innovate. The ability to wash our laundry using a simple machine, the ease in which we can access tap water, the ability to read online content through the use of coding and the machines that host that coding, alongside all of the modern conveniences that we have become accustomed to were once the hair-brained idea of someone who thought ‘what-if?’

It might be that you’re trying to bottle some of this magic for yourself. We couldn’t blame you. Innovating is the best way to success, to making a positive mark on this world, and potentially helping people in more ways that one. Just imagine how many lives Jonas Edward Salk has saved since creating the polio vaccine. Sometimes, your creations can get ahead of you, and do more good in the world than you ever could.

To tap into this innovator mindset, consider the following:

Failure Is Normal

Failure is something that any successful person is well acquainted with. In order to be self-made and try ideas that might not have been tried before, you have to fall flat on your face time and time again. Before Edison managed to finally create the light bulb, he reportedly failed around 10,000 times. When asked about this, he said “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”

This is the core of the innovators mind. In order to push forward and develop something that will work, you need to know what won’t. To throw another quote at you (an article about success is best when referring to successful people,) Michael Jordan, one of the most internationally famous basketballers in his day, had this to say – “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Don’t fear failure. It’s normal.

You Need To Be Inspired

You need to be inspired by other innovation. It could be that learning through Fircroft how a startup owned by Bill Gates has recently become the first nuclear reactor to create its own fuel, drastically decreasing toxic waste. You might think that Bill Gates is someone who has everything. Why does he continue to stay involved in projects that require deep allotments of his schedule? Because he’s inspired. He’s committed to lifelong learning and action. Most of all – he cares. These are essential qualities to have from the beginning if you hope to be an innovator. Then you realize that this is the truth that sustains you, not gaining much more money after you have what you need and want.

With these very simple ideas, you could find yourself sporting the innovator’s mindset also.