Principle 14: Creative Vision

Introduction

The fourteenth principle of Napoleon Hill's 17 principles of success is the Creative Vision. This principle of success is responsible for the building of our plans and goals. Imagination is the workshop wherein we fashion the brain’s purposes and the ideals of the soul. Overall there are two main forms of imagination:
1. Synthetic Imagination: In this, the ideas are organised and recognised ideas are put together & the concepts and facts are all arranged in a new combination. Someone very rarely creates an absolutely new idea. Almost everything which known to the civilisation, is a combination of an old thing.
2. Creative imagination: It operates through the sixth sense of a person and it has its base in the subconscious section of the brain. New Ideas or facts are revealed through the creative imagination which serves as the exclusive medium for them.

Examples of Synthetic Imagination

1. The Incandescent Electric Lamp: As this Edison’s invention was created by putting together two old and well-known principles in a new combination, it was the creation of synthetic imagination.
2. The Piggly Wiggly Store System: The idea of Clarence Saunders on which this system was based was just the self-help cafeteria plan which was borrowed and introduced into the grocery store business. But despite the plan was so simple, it yielded four million dollars to its organiser during the first four years after it was implemented. It was the result of synthetic imagination.
3. Henry Ford’s First Automobile: Synthetic imagination was used to create it by bringing together the horse and buggy method of transportation, and the steam-propelled flashing machine. Both ideas were old and popular, but Henry Ford brought them together which came out as a new method of use and became one of the most distinguished industrialists of his era with his fabulous fortune.
4. ‘Eskimo pie’: The founder used synthetic imagination by dipping a hunk of ice cream in chocolate and to handle it, he placed a stick in it. He started a new industry with this idea, which has widespread outlets and grosses a huge sum annually.
5. F. W. Woolworth: Using Synthetic Imagination, he simply came up with the idea of setting up a retail store in which he offered a large variety of merchandise retailing at five and ten cents per item to the public. His merchandising innovation started a chain of similar retail stores, which grossed millions of dollars in sales.

Examples of Creative Imagination

1. Phonograph: Edison’s this invention was the result of his creative imagination because every part of his invention was new and none of it had ever been known to anyone or used previously by anyone.
2. Wireless Communication by Marconi: This invention was the outcome of creative imagination as it was based on new ideas which were never used previously. In Transmission of sound, he discovered how the ether can be made to take the place of wires.
3. Radium: Madam Curie discovered radium using her creative imagination. Before her, no one knew about the actual existence of radium or the method of its recovery, or how it could be refined.
4. Aeroplane: Wilbur and Orville Wright's invention of the modern aeroplane was to a huge extent the outgrowth of creative imagination, and to some extent the outcome of synthetic imagination because some of the ideas which they used successfully were discovered by others earlier. But those ideas worked because Wright Brothers were the first to coordinate those ideas.
5. Robert G. Laternal: He made use of creative imagination, by inventing machinery to remove heavy dirt. It involved new ideas which were never used before. He made all the designs entirely upon the faculty of creative imagination as he was unskilled in engineering. Some people sometimes make a great fortune by coming up with ideas benefitting a great number of people when they use their creative imagination.

Summary

We should be inspired to use our Creative Imagination. There are so many ideas that are yet to be revealed, and some of them are going to be the best ones of all time. These ideas are to be implemented and put into the service of mankind. The trait of imagination becomes alert only when we constantly act based upon the Principles of Success. It’s we who must supply this action.