Be A Kid Again

Today's Marketing Cookie is encouraging us to take some time and be like kids again. Does being a kid mean acting silly? If so, most of us have that covered. If it means that we should start acting irresistibly cute, I may struggle to pull it off. If it means that we should act a lot shorter, that may be a tall order. (bah-dumb, dumb, chah.) Either way, I'd like to focus on one of the most admirable characteristics of a kid: being fearless.

Kids are wonderfully naive, curious, and inquisitive. They are willing to try anything and eager to figure out how things work. As we grow older and "wiser," we build a collection of our favorite thoughts and think we know all we need to know. We stop learning. Adults can become thought hoarders. They keep those old songs, old movies, old ways of doing things, and outdated truths stacked up to the ceiling of their brains. They get to the point where there's so much old memory stowed away there's no room left for new thinking. If they don't clean house, they can become paralyzed and irrelevant.

I can most assuredly promise you that while your current wisdom feels safe, trusted, and adequate, there's so much more yet to learn, especially in marketing. Are you keeping up with all the exciting new stuff that's being invented for social networking, content marketing, marketing automation, and mobile? I'm telling you right now, if there's anything I wish we could retain from our childhood, it would be our fearless nature to dive in and try new things.

Every day, new untapped opportunities are being created that you have yet to discover. I realize that it feels better to go with what you know, but what you know today may not get you there tomorrow. I realize that it takes time because your thinker may be dusty and your imagination may be rusty. You really have to do it, because the alternative is unacceptable. I urge you—even in the midst of a busy life, take some time to be a kid again.