Kevin Kelly recently wrote a wondrous, thought-provoking article that suggests that 2014 is a wonderful time to begin an internet business. He theorizes that we are just at the beginning of the beginning, that people will look back and 30 years and marvel at what a great time this was. I’ve taken his thoughts one step farther, because I believe now is the best time time in history to expand your creativity – to take an active role in what’s next!

In Kelly’s long view of internet development, he’s convinced that the best is yet to come – that the next 30 years will exceed our wildest expectations:

“The internet is still at the beginning of its beginning. If we could climb into a time machine and journey 30 years into the future, and from that vantage look back to today, we’d realize that most of the greatest products running the lives of citizens in 2044 were not invented until after 2014…

“There has never been a better time in the whole history of the world to invent something. There has never been a better time with more opportunities, more openings, lower barriers, higher benefit/risk ratios, better returns, greater upside, than now. Right now, this minute. This is the time that folks in the future will look back at and say, ‘Oh to have been alive and well back then!’

“What you may not have realized is that today truly is a wide open frontier. It is the best time EVER in human history to begin.”

What does this mean to you?

My question is this:

What are YOU doing to capitalize on this “golden age” – to envision what’s possible and create tomorrow’s winning products and services?

You, with your marvelous brain, can be a creator, envisioning new solutions and possibilities. Despite popular public opinion, creativity is NOT an innate capability – it’s a skill that can be cultivated. But you have to make the decision to develop it through training, reading and practice.

Remember: Everything around you, and everything that ever will be invented, has two creations. The first is in the mind of the creator. The second is its physical manifestation in the world. Why not be a creator? The best time to do so, according to Kelly, is now. I couldn’t agree with him more. We’re now living in the Golden Age of invention that our ancestors could only dream about. You have an opportunity to be part of it!

It’s time to assemble your ideation toolbox

Here’s the best part: Tools and software to help you generate, cultivate and activate valuable ideas are all around you – if you would only look for them: brainstorming tools, information capture tools, collaboration tools, creativity books and much more. Never in human history have we had such a wide range of creative catalysts to jump-start your creativity, capture our ideas, turn them into plans and implement them.

You have access to an amazing toolbox you didn’t even realize was there, one which can supercharge your creative thinking and problem solving. Knowing how to use these creativity tools to generate, cultivate, evaluate and activate ideas gives you a significant advantage over other entrepreneurs were also trying to invent tomorrow.

As Apple fellow Alan Kay put it so memorably, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

It’s time to get to work courting your creative muse. Let’s go!