Most businesses have a lifespan of 75 years, which is the expected lifetime of a human. Why is that? Because people get a good idea for a business, and they start creating from it. Then they decide they’ve got the right idea, and they don’t change anything.

 Most people keep everything exactly the same, thinking that they’re going to continue to get the same results they’ve been getting. But that’s not how it works. If you wish to create a business that continues to grow and expand, you’ve got to keep your business on the creative edge by being willing to change things at all times.

So, are you willing to create business beyond the status quo? It’s time to get excited about the idea of keeping your business on the creative edge,

Four steps to keep your business on the creative edge

1. Let go of every conclusion that you have about how to do business

If you decide, “this is the way we are doing business”, you stagnate because you come out of the question. You stop doing what’s new; you stop creating. You eventually devolve into death.

This often happens in large companies. IBM, for example, used to be the big guy in the computer industry, and then all kinds of smaller companies that were more innovative came in and took huge parts of their market share. IBM went into a big decline. One day they finally said, “Hmm, we’ve got a choice here: change or die.” They brought in people to see what they could do differently.

Now their corporate culture is completely different, and in every area where they’ve become innovative, they’ve started growing again. Today they function more like Google than like the big, old, conservative IBM.

One way to let go of conclusions is to use the Access Consciousness tool of ‘Interesting point of view’. Here’s how it works. You notice that you have the point of view that you know how to do business and that you are going to continue to do it the same way. Stop and say to yourself, “Interesting point of view. I have that point of view”. Keep saying it until you notice a shift. What occurs is that you get out of your head and let go of what is stopping you.

2. Ask more questions

When it comes to creating business, most of us immediately use our logical, linear way of thinking to try to come up with what will work. We look at research that has been done. We choose which direction to go based on logic. While there is nothing wrong with research and logic, they can only take you so far. Questions on the other hand, take you beyond your logical, thinking mind and open the door to possibilities you have never considered.

Rather than jumping to the “how” of staying on the creative edge of business, start asking questions. Asking questions with your business helps you to make the changes that will keep it vital and generative. A helpful question is, “What can I change that will generate more business today and tomorrow and every day after that?”

3. Take action

‘Create’ is an action word and to stay on the creative edge of your business, doing is required. What if you woke up every morning and asked, “What action is required today to create the business, the revenue, the future I desire right away?”

When you ask questions, don’t look for an answer. When you ask questions, look for awareness. What is awareness? You know those times when you just know something? Some people call it intuition. Regardless of your name for it, it’s the place where you know something so strongly even if you don’t have all of the facts and information. Awareness is one of your greatest strengths.

4. Create the future

If you truly wish to generate a business that is successful now and remains on the creative edge, you need to look at what you are going to generate today and in the future. Generating is being the charge or the battery that keeps everything running. If the battery runs down on your phone, it suddenly cuts off on you. It’s as if you are the electrical system for your business. You are the generator; you are the one that keeps everything running. There is a sense of ongoing creation.

When making choices for your business ask, “Will this also generate something in the future?” It doesn’t occur to many people to ask a question like this. They are only doing things for today. They aren’t focused on generating in the future. People believe the future will take care of itself. That’s the difference between starting and maintaining a company versus creating it to continuously thrive. If you are going to be on the creative edge, you’ve got to be willing to generate for today as well as in the future. Ask “If I do this today, what will it create for me today and in the future?”.

There are many businesses throughout the years that started off strong but were unable to sustain. Take Kodak for example. Kodak was the film company of the universe and then digital cameras came along. Kodak’s point of view was that digital would never replace film. Can digital replace film? Not really because film does something unique. But, because digital was so popular and so valuable and people liked it so much, Kodak went out of business. You don’t have to make the same mistake.

Let go of any conclusion you have about your business or about how business should be conducted. Ask questions, always. Don’t ask looking for answers. Rather, looking for awareness. Take action, not just for today, but with an awareness of what your actions will create for the future. Use these tools and remain on the creative edge of business, of life and of living… where all things are possible.

This article first appeared on flyingsolo.com.au and has been republished here with permission.