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Young Geniuses and Old Masters: Two Life Cycles Of Creativity

One thing that's pretty hard to miss if you spend any time in the web/tech world is that many of the superstars/geniuses are on the youngish side, oftentimes still in their 20's.

These guys are inventing groundbreaking products, creating jobs for themselves that have never been in existence in the world before, and living lives filled with freedom, creativity and invention.

I don't think I need to give ya a detailed list of young upstarts and their accomplishments--you know who they are. Just think of the twenty-somethings Ben and Mena Trott (creators Six Apart), David Heinemeier Hansson (creator of Ruby On Rails), Larry Page and Sergey Brin (creators of Google), to name a few.

Seeing the amazing accomplishments of these younguns is enough to make anyone over the age of 21 who has not already created their history making product/site/language feel like an underachiever, but even if you're in your later 20's, 30's, 50's, or 70's don't start panicking yet.

The Top 7 Ways Mister Rogers Changed The World

  Mr Rogers 
  Originally uploaded by TJ 34

Most of the time when we think of creative visionaries, the image of a rebel genius a la  Albert Einstein or Leonardo da Vinci pops into our minds, but it's helpful to remember that there are some special visionaries who actually managed to walk the cutting edge by giving the world a huge bear hug, rather than the finger.

Mister Rogers was definitely one of these gentle, creative souls.

He is one of my favorite creative visionaries because his dream was powered by an endless supply of hope and an unshakable belief in the goodness of human beings.

Consequently, some might say miraculously, the world seemed to morph itself to manifest his vision.   

No depressed, struggling artist here--Mister Rogers just seemed to be so in tune with humanity that even when things did not go his way, his attitude and his acceptance of life turned people and circumstances around.

There is much we creative souls can learn from Mister Rogers--in particular how to use love, understanding and hope to mold the world into our vision.

Mangesh has a wonderful post about his favorite Mister Rogers facts, and I've chosen a few items on his list to illustrate the most wonderful things about the gentle, forward thinking being that was Mister Rogers:

HowTo Take A Spontaneous Day Off & Still Keep Your Business Running Smoothly

Entrepreneurs have to be the hardest working folks on the planet.

We usually carry much or all of the work load for our businesses, and that makes it difficult to take days off. We are human, however, and there will be days when for one reason or another we're just not feeling up to par.

While it may be tempting to "gut it out" and just work through the pain, I think a healthier and more productive strategy is to take the day off, rest and pamper ourselves so that we can recuperate our strength and bounce back fast.

Taking a spontaneous day off is sooo much easier if, during healthier times, you've put a safety net system in place for those pesky unforeseen sick, mental health, or family emergency days.