START YOUR JOURNEY TO SUCCESS NOW!

Here is a brief explanation to one of my presentations while speaking to the creative students at the University of Hertforshire, Hatfield. 
The title of the event and my presentation:
"HOW DO I SUCCEED IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY?"
As I began the presentation, I gave key points on how to succeed in the creative industry and I also gave different ways to enhance creativity. 
Here are some of the points.
3 steps  to achieving success in the creative industry.
1.) Start
2.) Spend
3.) Stop

START - I gave an explanation to the above points by telling the creative students to build upon their existing skills and experiences. I said to them that it takes a courageous person to 'start' something but it also takes a determined person not to wait till he/she gets all the details of an idea before he/she can commence the project/business; afterall you might still have to adjust some of your findings along the line or remove some informations, as the project gets bigger and better. 
After you've identified an opportunity, the next stage of achieving success with that idea is to take a step towards actualizing the idea and this would only be possible when you begin to work on the idea.

SPEND - Proceeding to the next step in achieving success is to 'spend' quality time with those that believe in your idea and those that are ready to contribute positively to the success of that idea. If they value the idea, they will be willing to support you till it becomes a reality but if otherwise, they will be the first set of people to talk you out of the idea. It is wisdom not to spend time with those that belittle you because that is not what great people do... Great people make you believe that you too can become great. Like they say, birds of a feather, they flock together.

STOP - Lastly, I explained that the creative students should 'stop' limiting their imaginations. Limiting your imagination will reduce your creativity, because being creative means that you are not thinking within the confine of what your eyes can see but beyond what your visual sense can visualize. If you can only see it before you believe it, then you are not creative enough.You must be able to conceptualize it in your mind before you eventually bring it out to reality.

Below is a copy of an article that I copied from BUFFER blog, written by James Clear. In this article, he explained his experience listening to Richard Branson, while he was sharing great insights of business success in Moscow; and I could connect to his words in this article because I also read some of them from Richard Branson's book "Like a virgin: Secrets they won't teach you at Business school." and some other articles that Richard published on his virgin blogsite.

"In 1966, a dyslexic sixteen-year-old boy dropped out of school. With the help of a friend, he started a magazine for students and made money by selling advertisements to local businesses. With only a little bit of money to get started, he ran the operation out of the crypt inside a local church.
Four years later, he was looking for ways to grow his small magazine and started selling mail order records to the students who bought the magazine. The records sold well enough that he built his first record store the next year. After two years of selling records, he decided to open his own record label and recording studio.
He rented the recording studio out to local artists, including one named Mike Oldfield. In that small recording studio, Oldfield created his hit song, Tubular Bells, which became the record label’s first release. The song went on to sell over 5 million copies.
Over the next decade, the young boy grew his record label by adding bands like the Sex Pistols, Culture Club, and the Rolling Stones. Along the way, he continued starting companies: an airline business, then trains, then mobile phones, and on and on. Almost 50 years later, there were over 400 companies under his direction.
Today, that young boy who dropped out of school and kept starting things despite his inexperience and lack of knowledge is a billionaire. His name is Sir Richard Branson.

How I Met Sir Richard Branson

Two weeks ago, I walked into a conference room in Moscow, Russia and sat down ten feet from Branson. There were 100 other people around us, but it felt like we were having a conversation in my living room. He was smiling and laughing. His answers seemed unrehearsed and genuine.
At one point, he told the story of how he started Virgin Airlines, a tale that seems to capture his entire approach to business and life. Here’s the version he told us, as best I can remember it:

I was in my late twenties, so I had a business, but nobody knew who I was at the time. I was headed to the Virgin Islands and I had a very pretty girl waiting for me, so I was, umm, determined to get there on time.
At the airport, my final flight to the Virgin Islands was cancelled because of maintenance or something. It was the last flight out that night. I thought this was ridiculous, so I went and chartered a private airplane to take me to the Virgin Islands, which I did not have the money to do.
Then, I picked up a small blackboard, wrote “Virgin Airlines. $29.” on it, and went over to the group of people who had been on the flight that was cancelled. I sold tickets for the rest of the seats on the plane, used their money to pay for the chartered plane, and we all went to the Virgin Islands that night.

I took this photo right after he told that story. A few moments later I stood shoulder–to–shoulder with him (he’s about six feet tall) and thanked him for sharing some time with us.

Sir Richard Branson in Moscow, Russia. Photo by James Clear.

The Habits of Successful People: What Makes the Difference?

After speaking with our group, Branson sat on a panel with industry experts to talk about the future of business. As everyone around him was filling the air with business buzzwords and talking about complex ideas for mapping out our future, Branson was saying things like: “Screw it, just get on and do it.” Which was closely followed by: “Why can’t we mine asteroids?”
As I looked up at that panel, I realized that the person who sounded the most simplistic was also the only one who was a billionaire. Which prompted me to wonder, “What’s the difference between Branson and everyone else in the room?”
Here’s what I think makes all the difference:
Branson doesn’t merely say things like, “Screw it, just get on and do it.” He actually lives his life that way. He drops out of school and starts a business. He signs the Sex Pistols to his record label when everyone else says they are too controversial. He charters a plane when he doesn’t have the money.
When everyone else balks or comes up with a good reason for why the time isn’t right, Branson gets started.

Start Now

Branson is an extreme example, but we could all learn something from his approach.
If you want to summarize the habits of successful people into one phrase, it’s this: successful people start before they feel ready.
If there was ever someone who embodied the idea of starting before they felt ready to do so, it’s Branson. The very name of his business empire, Virgin, was chosen because when Branson and his partners started they were “virgins” when it came to business.
Branson has started so many businesses, ventures, charities, and expeditions that it’s simply not possible for him to have felt prepared, qualified, and ready to start all of them. In fact, it’s unlikely that he was qualified or prepared to start any of them. He had never flown a plane and didn’t know anything about the engineering of planes, but he started an airline company anyway.
If you’re working on something important, then you’ll never feel ready. A side effect of doing challenging work is that you’re pulled by excitement and pushed by confusion at the same time.
You’re bound to feel uncertain, unprepared, and unqualified. But let me assure you of this: what you have right now is enough. You can plan, delay, and revise all you want, but trust me, what you have now is enough to start.
It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to start a business, lose weight, write a book, or achieve any number of goals… who you are, what you have, and what you know right now is good enough to get going.
We all start in the same place: no money, no resources, no contacts, no experience. The difference is that some people — the winners — choose to start anyway.
If you’re having trouble getting started, then read this article: How to Stop Procrastinating.
No matter where you are in the world and regardless of what you’re working on, I hope you’ll start before you feel ready."
This post originally appeared on JamesClear.com