Tag: creativity

“Intangible assets differ from tangible assets, which have physical forms such as buildings or office furniture. For businesses, an intangible asset includes patents, goodwill, and intellectual property. (…) Even though intangible assets can’t be seen and held, they provide value for companies (…). Intangible assets can be difficult to value.” Source: Investopedia.com

Now, I do not intend to tell you about your personal brand, your logo or a consistent message on your social media of choice – although since I have listened to Bozoma Saint John, I would agree these to belong to your personal list and would beg you ask yourself “How do you want to make others feel?”. And I also have to disclaim straight away – I feel this article is not yet complete and in its final version, it’s work in progress, which may be refined and optimised slowly over time.

And yet I want to talk to you about becoming an investor in the following unlikely list of intangible assets:

• Your mortality
• Your awe & wonder
• Your imagination & creativity
• Your worthiness

I have two important messages to share around these.

First, at the initial investment stage most important to know is you have these assets ready and waiting for your investment. Investing is fully within your control.

The currency required to invest in these? Space and attention. As they are intangible you do not see them when you walk in the door, they do ask for your attention but often in unlikely ways. And the big one mortality will only look you straight in the face when you get very close to meeting it, yet you can invest in it before a crisis moment comes along.

What makes me apply this business term? To capture your attention. To remind you of the importance of these assets. And as I do see some similarities to the business term. For one, these non-physical assets are long-term and it is difficult to value them, as their value will change depending on the use and awareness for them. As with business no one else can really generate value from them, actually I would argue the external world likes to downplay the value of these intangible assets to get your attention and business. Because when you do not give them your attention – when you forget your mortality, when you are distracted from noticing the delights and glimmers that are always surrounding you, when your creativity is inhibited by anxiety and your inherent worthiness- you are more likely to abide by an external-reward system (performance, consumerism, control).

The second message I want to use this opportunity to share with you, is that you can learn to cultivate and invest in these intangible assets. There are many different ways and curiosity can be a helpful guide.

Mortality

Many philosophies invite us to keep our mortality in sight, this must not come as a surprise to us, that looking death in the face (to remind us right now of the obvious we are all in the process of moving closer to our death in any given moment) to understand the value of what we have.

Most recently poet Andrea Gibson wrote:

„But I did not meet this life until I met its brevity. 

Did not meet my voice until I knew every word 

could be my last. I did not know what prayer was 

until I started praying for what I already have.” 

There are many places to start reading into what mortality teaches us. Besides the work by Andrea Gibson, which I love. There is the recent publication Kokoro by Beth Kempton. There is the work by Rachel Naomi Remen such as her Kitchen Table Wisdom. There are religious and philiosophical texts to turn to. Let me know where you find your inspiration on this one.

Awe & wonder

Did you know that Charles Darwin himself, known for his scientific analysis and logic, expressed late in life a regret about how he chose to use his attention/intellect and not given space to activities linked with awe? “if I had to live my life again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week; for perhaps the parts of my brain now atrophied would thus have been kept active through use“. You can read a wonderful article by Maria Popova in the marginalian on this here.

Similarly, I will not forget the words echoed by author David Steindl-Rast, who with 97 years of age, when asked what has changed most around him in our societies – he voices the decrease in awe (German: Ehrfurcht) experienced by those around him.

Need a little kick-starter to what may trigger awe? Start here and see if you can collect goosebumps again: Andrea Gibson – listen her read her poem “Acceptance speech after receiving the World Record in Goosebumps”. Or I can highly recommend turning to the work by Katherine May – start with her book Enchantment and see where it leads you.

Imagination & creativity

And your imagination and creativity? Here’s the thing the imagination can be applied to be with anxiety and regret or it can be applied for creativity. Author and life coach Martha Beck has been researching this and her new book coming out 2025 (Beyond Anxiety) talks about how the antidote to anxiety is creativity. Similarly, the work ‘Your brain on art’ explores this and how a simple 20min doodle a day can impact your wellbeing.

I certainly still belonged to the cohort during university times where you were either an arts or a science person. They were clearly separated. And even though I was at a forward-looking university, which recognised it makes sense to invite you to do some short module in the arts as a scientist. The overall message in society stuck. Still today, I get surprised reactions when I share a little more of my creative side. Yet here’s the thing – doing scientific research requires significant creativity! How else does the hypothesis forming, the experiment design, and so on happen? I say all this to invite you – try it, you are creative. We are all creative geniuses.

Worthiness

Of my list of mentioned intangible assets ‘Worthiness’ may be the most fragile, the one the most under attack in a society, which benefits from our immense need for worthiness as an indicator to belong amongst a community and be in connection. As long as we keep being told there are things that we have to do or own, ways to be, how to look or number of followers to be deemed worthy – we will stay on the wheel to do, own, be, look those things. Yet what – if we were reminded that our worthiness is always inherently ours. You are enough. As Maya Angelou said

“You only are free when you realize you belong no place – you belong every place – no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great.”

I find myself wondering what to recommend as a starting place for your curiosity on this topic. Maybe it is here at the end as tapping into the intangible assets above is a way to remind us of our inner worthiness and our joy. Also the work by Brené Brown – in particular the books The Gifts of Imperfection and Braving the Wilderness are wonderful starting points to look at how to refind your inner worth and your wholeheartedness.

Please do go explore – let me know what you find out and further recommendations for me to add.