You are an innovator

- I'm going to ask you a series of questions, and as you reflect on each one, you can consider both personal and/or professional examples. Have you ever created a new future? Have you ever changed what is to the what could be? Have you ever said no to the present and yes to a new tomorrow you created? Did you answer yes to any of these questions? If so, congratulations, my friend, you have innovated. Yes! High fives all around. And if you said, no, not to worry, because from this day forward, you can create a new future. I'm going to show you how. Here's what I want you to take away from this. Everyone can be an innovator, and, yes, that means you. You can be an innovator. Now, you might be thinking: Really, Leo? Don't just take my word for it. I want to introduce you to my friend Sidney. Sidney is someone I met while I was facilitating an innovation workshop. She was one of those participants in the session, and I could tell she had so much innovative potential. And after the session, I approached her and I asked her if we could chat. I told Sydney I was running a program that transformed people into confident innovators, and I invited her to join. She was ecstatic. When I welcomed Sidney officially into the community, she was extremely vocal about how happy she was to join. She kept saying: I feel seen. I feel heard. I'm finally with my people. I'm no longer a unicorn. And I was so curious to learn more about what was happening because she was so excited. Now, I had trained other people to become innovators before, but Sidney was so articulate about her feelings; I just had to get more details from her. So when we met, she shared with me two Venn diagrams: One was of herself. It had her skills, her passions, her dreams, and the other was over here. It was her work, and they were always separated. She told me all her life, she was hoping that these two diagrams would just collide; they would just bump into each other. But then when I told her about innovation and I told her she was an innovator, she finally realized that she could finally bring her full self to work. That her passions, her skills, and creativity could be applied to her job. I was blown away. What I want you to take away from the story is this: When you realize you can innovate and learn how to do it, there is so much power. And when you align your passions and your skills to your work, there's both fulfillment and meaning. And when you know you can innovate, be ready to be amazed. You'll do things you never thought possible. You'll create impact in ways that you can't even imagine. Sidney's story is similar to my own. Before I knew I was an innovator, I was innovating without even realizing it. I innovated in my job and at home. I was always looking for different ways to do things, to make things more efficient, to make it better. Is this resonating with you? I sure hope so. You have the capacity to become an innovator. It's within you.