Is This Really What You Want?

Life, Actually.

?It is a hot afternoon, and the office is in chaos. Phones ring incessantly, the deadlines are looming, and there are still three hours to go. Looking at the clock on the wall, constantly reminding you, seems to stand still. Sweat runs down your back, despite the air conditioning whine in the background and the tiny personal fan on your desk spinning its tiny blades into a fuzzy blur. The screen in front of you is staring, expectantly awaiting your next entry, the cursor flicking to remind you how far you are from finishing the project that has occupied your cortex like a vulture, consuming your will and your mind stroke by stroke.

The office is noisy, but the discipline that has brought you to this point closes it off, a mental door that deadens the senses and focuses your intent. This must be done right now. ?Almost mechanically, you dredge up an earlier project with similarity to the one you are grinding on, and almost automatically, your fingers fly across the keys, spitting out the same general concepts of your last proposal, filling the space, checking off the box, and before you know it, the work is done.

In the back of your mind, you know that the effort is far less than your potential, but you suppress that in favor of knowing you’ve accomplished the objective, and though you doubt its effectiveness, you nonetheless press the final key, save the file, and rub your eyes. The day is almost done. Maybe this version will pass muster, and the similarities will hopefully benefit the project THIS time. After all, it worked before. Sort of. It will probably work again.

You stretch your arms over your shoulders, lean back into the black web of the office chair, and a wan smile crosses your lips. The hours have passed, the project is now moved on to the next person in the chain, and you stand, pulling on your jacket, and head for the door.

Now, finally, you can get on with your life.

Is this all there is?

The above scenario sounds familiar, too familiar. You’ve no doubt seen this play out, day after day, both in your own experience and in that of your friends. The work of our existence, it seems, is somewhat of a grind. The hopes and dreams of youth are being crushed to powder by the seeming inexorable pressures of getting by, getting ahead, and getting along.

But what if you had the ability, the opportunity to discover a different course of action? What if the dreams and hopes are still there, and activating them could change all this, and get you what you need out of life before it is finally extinguished?

Allow me to introduce myself, and Imagination Nation

Who am I?

I am Jonathan Albin. I was born in Kansas, quite literally in the center of the United States. I have traveled extensively, worked industriously, and settled for quite a few different situations just like the above, where my life didn’t really start until the whistle blew and the day was over. Married for twenty-three years and the father of two kids, I lived the American Dream, working in sales, marketing, production, distribution, and delivery.

?I have been an electronics technician, air traffic controller, entrepreneur, delivery driver, middle manager, and retailer liaison… with more careers than most folks have entries on their singular resume. I have owned homes and businesses, suffered calamities I would never wish on others and have been an apologist, evangelist, and activist, pursuing dedicated objectives and expanding the wealth of every organization I ever worked for.

But I have one advantage over most, and that is precisely what I want to share with you. My son declared himself older than me when he turned 18, and so he has been ever since. In truth, I have known the secret for decades, but until recently, I could not put the processing words. But today, I am going to share with you not only the secrets of my happiness but the means of your own success in whatever field currently occupies your mind, your life, and your conditions. Let’s get started.

Imagination Nation

What I have discovered, what I want to share with you, is a concept that is not new but, for my efforts, has not been adequately explored in practice or in business literature. The concepts are somewhat reflected in the somewhat mystical ideologies of Intention, Positive Mental Attitude, and such metaphysical ideas. But those are only reflections that capture nuances.

Instead, I am proposing a complete overhaul of our mental conditioning, of reawakening and rejuvenating the innovation engine of the mind. For many, this faculty was closed off and suppressed by the necessities of living as an adult in the modern world, the current climate notwithstanding. I'm speaking of the activation of imagination.

I can almost hear your reservations triggering against this. "I have a great imagination!" you're saying. But for just the sake of this discussion, consider that statement. Do you? I propose that while you may have developed some visualization skills, perhaps even developed Vision Boards, put images of the things and conditions you want on your refrigerator or the walls of your cubicle, have you been able to project yourself into that world, that place of possession and ownership of those things? If you have, then perhaps we are already on the same page.

Yet I propose that the mechanisms that gave us all the wonder and passion that we employed actively in our childhood have fundamentally given way to the expedience of practicality. Our educators, our peers, and even our parents have done their part to suppress and shut down these wonders in favor of the practical and collectively more prudent path of proper adulthood. As a father and grandfather, I now see that the world wants workers, not dreamers. Innovation has given way to imitation, our creativity to compliance, and happiness to hopelessness.

In the coming weeks, I will attempt to provide guidance, not only to awakening to the possibilities but to the development of a different paradigm, revealing the evolutionary advancement of ideology that can return your internal innovation generator and convert your remaining scattered pieces of hope into a coherent ingenuity engine.