Draw with Your Purple Crayon
Now that we just confirmed that you have a Purple Crayon inside of you, how do you tap into the power of your Purple Crayon?
Start by reconnecting with the playfulness within you. Then … begin to draw like a kid. A kid doesn’t walk around with preconceived notions about how things are. A kid explores, stays curious, tries new things, and embraces each moment with joy, excitement, and wonder. A kid doesn’t worry about how the drawing will look when he’s finished. A kid can take his Crayon in hand and draw whatever his heart desires.
Unfortunately, this is usually not true for adults. An adult usually hasn’t picked up his Crayon in years, often decades. He has forgotten that his Crayon is the gateway to manifesting his dreams and building a better business.
He no longer spends much time thinking about what to draw and consequently, he rarely attempts to design anything spectacular. As a result, the world suffers. Pablo Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist after growing up.”
But here’s the good news: Your Purple Crayon is still there. Perhaps dormant for a while, yet your creative faculties are waiting patiently to come out and playfully craft once again. Sometimes you need only acknowledge its presence to open your artistic floodgates.
That’s right—business folks can draw too. In fact, the future of your business depends on it. Without creative capital produced through Purple-Crayon thinking, how do you expect to thrive in a crowded marketplace?
Your Crayon’s power increases with use—the more you draw, the greater your influence for designing the extraordinary. Clarify what you want, pick up your Purple Crayon and draw the unthinkable.
And please remember, this is your life we’re talking about. Draw outside the lines!
Related posts:
Thanks for bringing appropriate context to this book! My daughter is starting college this Fall and the way I introduced the concept of the Purple Crayon to her was in the following admonition; “Become what you were meant to become.” I will now give her this book as one of her “leaving home” gifts and watch her begin her own Hero’s Quest.
That’s awesome, Todd. The Purple Crayon can definitely be a powerful metaphor for your daughter entering college. It’s easy to lose sight of our creative potential when we feel the pressure to conform to social groups as well as the stress of figuring out what you want to do with the rest of your life. (Last time I checked, most post-graduates are still trying to crack that code