Does creativity have any bearing on your success? Can creative thinking help you earn more money, get you a promotion or empower you to promote a new business?

Often people make fleeting statements about it. In a recent WhatsApp chat someone posted: Creativity will make you prosper, help you live a happy life...and many such things. I felt amused. If it was so, why are so many artists and writers not super-rich? Just making a living? Some of them, maybe many of them even poor.

I am a creativity coach, so the responsibility is pronounced for me to clear the misunderstanding around this.

Let me make it bold and clear:
Creativity won't, or can't make you rich!

Don't get shocked. That's the plain truth without putting any conditions or the modifiers.

Creativity is a way of life.

A creative life is surely exciting. You will enjoy the sunrises and sunsets. More shades into life all around you. You might write a great poem which will put a smile on readers' faces.  

Now, will that smile convert into prosperity for you is another matter. Depends on your approach and desires. There are people who simply don't want anything in exchange for it. They will be happy with the compliments. That's well and good.

On the other hand, some people will create an Instagram story out of it, promote it, distribute it organically, even create paid campaigns. They will make it a point to reach a wider audience. Their books will be published. They will go on a tour and make money. Hopefully.

The point is, creativity and ideas won't make you money or make you famous. You must do something with it. That something, in business parlance, is called: Adding value!

Success is a matter of adding value.

You add value to people. And in exchange you receive things.

Again that thing could be a plain compliment, appreciation, or money.

You can be plain happy with the generous likes and comments.

Or, if you wish, build a relationship with these people, create a community and do bigger things. Make a name for yourself and help others grow.  

If you want money from your ideas and creative outputs, you must showcase them, have a business model. Have a mindset of an entrepreneur who creates so much value, and the kind of value, that people want to give you money from their pockets.

Many entrepreneurs have made it big this way.

Now, it was not the idea alone that gave them the prosperity. Many startups begin with the same kind of idea and the value delivery. Only a few succeed. Because they can execute those ideas well. Because they could go through the grind of those early stage business turmoil.

And even then, many of them fail because they were ahead of times. Or, the technology they rode on lost to other technologies. Or, because the money they were promised to scale up never happened.

So, don't get into this trap that creativity alone will get you prosperity.

No sir. Sorry, madam.

Creativity will show you new ways of looking at things. It will help you see beauty where others see dirt. It will help you find the multi-billion idea which can disrupt the marketplace.

But still, that's just the beginning. You must work. And work hard to be successful and prosperous.

What you say?