THE WHAT IF, GUITAR GUY BLOG
The Official Blog of Mike Rayburn
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Implosion! The Key To Innovation, Creativity, and Intentional Change
We ALL Need A Good Implosion Every Now And Then!
The Setting…
I smiled as I watched last night’s implosion of Debbie Reynolds’ Hollywood Hotel (Greek Isles, Clarion) in Las Vegas. It’s “Star Theater” was the quintessential, old-style Vegas showroom. Over the years it’s been home to countless shows including my “Mike Rayburn and Friends” show five years ago. I have the distinction of having the last sold out show that theater ever saw! (Sniff, smile).
Watching forty years of untold history disintegrate in twelve seconds was surprisingly cathartic for me. My brief show there precipitated the final crumbling of a fifteen year relationship with my former agent, show producer and friend.
It was a good show but we had challenges promoting it. Interestingly, when I gave two-week’s notice that I was done with the show (internal challenges) and the old promotions, which were not working ceased, it freed us up to try a new promotional idea suggested by one of our staff members.
It worked! A show that hadn’t made a penny in three months sold out almost every night those last two weeks. Here is the front of the line to get in the second night…
What’s Good About Implosion…
Marilyn Monroe said, “Sometimes something good has to die for something better to take it’s place.” Ah, ’tis true indeed.
An amazing new Vegas resort or attraction will be built on the site of the imploded the Greek Isles. The promotions which weren’t working had to stop so that we could try something which did. And I could never have found Christa Haberstock and See Agency, nor realized the level of success I have today as a motivational keynote speaker with my former management.
This principle – implosion, or clearing out the old – is key to fostering innovation and creating change.
Everything is full. Our closets are full. Our lives are full. Our budgets are full. Our brains are full. Our marriages are full. Company’s and organization’s employments and capacities are full. The question is, what is everything full of?
Just a guess, here, but I’ll bet a lot of whatever our lives are full of is not… optimum.
Therefore, for something better to appear or occur, for innovation and intentional change to happen we need to create room for it. And remember this: Intentional implosion or letting go is not easy because it means purposely giving up something that’s been of value to you.
The willingness to let go of something good to create the possibility of something better is one of the traits of Virtuosos, high achievers.
Action Steps…
1. Clean out your closet, throw out or give away anything you haven’t worn in the past year.
2. Ask yourself, what am I doing that just doesn’t need to be done? Too much TV? Wasting time on Facebook? Begin to drop your unnecessary habits and pastimes. Create blocks of open time and fill them with things you love, desire and move your life forward.
3. Create and work from a budget. This gives most people an immediate raise in money saved. Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” is a great resource.
4. As my friend, Joe Calloway once asked, “What is it that makes you good, but keeps you from being great?” Look at your career, or anything you love doing and do well, consider the elements involved and ask yourself, “What if I didn’t or couldn’t do this thing or use this one tool, what would or could I do instead?”
5. What do you just know you need to let go of? As you’ve read this I’ll bet something came to mind.
The Coolest Thing Will Happen…
If you do this, create time and space in your life, relationships and career, implode the no longer useful, the coolest thing will happen: Creativity will take over. Free time, extra money and/or more space are like a blank canvas for our souls. Your innate creativity, often dormant, will be reborn. You’ll try things, read more, get new clothes, move your relationship to a new level, and stimulate unused areas of your brain.
Creativity comes through you, not from you. That flow can’t happen when there’s no outlet. Creating space on the other side – be it time or resources – opens the floodgate of new ideas, possibilities, and solutions.
So, what do you need to implode, drop or give away? Implosion, intentionally creating space and time is how we open the flow of innovation and build a launch pad for what’s next.
