Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Key Takeaways

• Imagination didn’t disappear in adulthood — fear replaced it, and growth stalled as a result.
• Without imagination, leaders maintain the past; with it, they create the future.

Most adults did not lose their imagination. They handed it over willingly.

Somewhere between the first mortgage payment and the first time someone said, “that’s not realistic,” imagination got labeled as irresponsible. Immature. Optional.

That label is dead wrong. Imagination built every company you admire. Every neighborhood you want to live in. Every product that solved a problem you did not know you had.

Then adulthood came along and said, “Be practical.” Here’s the problem. Practical without imagination is just maintenance. Maintenance never changes the world.

When imagination quietly leaves the room

Kids imagine without permission.

They turn a cardboard box into a spaceship. A driveway into a racetrack. A backyard into a kingdom. No one tells them to brainstorm. They just do it. Adults wait for approval.

School trains us to color inside the lines. Corporate life reinforces it. Bills and responsibilities finish the job. You stop asking “what if” and start asking “what’s acceptable.” That shift feels subtle. It is not. It is the moment growth slows.

I see it in business all the time. Teams are stuck doing the same thing because “that’s how it’s always been done.” Leaders are afraid to pitch a bold idea because it might fail. Entrepreneurs who confuse caution with wisdom.

Imagination did not disappear. Fear just got louder.

Related: These Four Words Can Change The Way You Approach Every Impossible Task

Why entrepreneurs need imagination more than ever

Real estate taught me this lesson early. Every great deal starts as an idea before it becomes a spreadsheet.

Someone has to imagine what a broken-down property could become. Someone has to picture a neighborhood five years ahead, not five years behind. Someone has to see value before it shows up in the comps.

That someone wins. The same applies to startups, investing and leadership.

Imagination is not about fantasy. It is about possibility.

It lets you connect dots before they touch. It lets you see around corners. It lets you build something that does not exist yet. Without imagination, you react. With imagination, you create.

Creation ALWAYS beats reaction.

Imagination is a daily discipline, not a mood

Most people think imagination shows up when inspiration strikes. That is another lie.

Imagination works best when it has a routine. Athletes do not wait to feel strong before they train. Builders do not wait to feel inspired before they break ground. Entrepreneurs cannot afford to wait either.

Imagination sharpens through repetition. You show up. You think forward. You challenge assumptions. You sketch ideas that may never ship. Some days, nothing sticks.

Other days, something clicks that changes everything. The mistake adults make is assuming imagination should feel magical every time. Kids do not think that way. They imagine because it is what they do.

That consistency matters.

The leaders I respect most are not the loudest visionaries in the room. They are the ones who quietly practice thinking differently every single day. They schedule white space. They protect creative energy. They treat imagination like part of the job, not a side hobby.

Discipline keeps imagination alive when motivation fades.

Related: Every Company Is Investing in AI — But Those That Thrive Are Doubling Down on Something Else

The lie adults tell themselves

Here’s the lie I hear most.

“I’m just not creative.”

That sentence is nonsense. Creativity is not a personality trait. It is a habit. You were creative once. You just stopped practicing. Adults think imagination requires time they do not have. That it demands chaos. That it belongs in art studios and writers’ rooms.

Wrong again.

Imagination thrives inside constraints. Some of the best ideas come from tight budgets, short deadlines and real pressure. Constraints force you to get inventive. If imagination disappeared when life got busy, entrepreneurs would not exist.

Busy people do some of the most imaginative work on the planet.

What happens when you stop imagining

This part matters. When imagination goes dormant, life gets smaller.

You play defense instead of offense. You settle instead of stretching. You repeat instead of reinventing. Work turns transactional. Relationships turn predictable. Goals turn conservative.

None of that feels dangerous in the moment. Years later, it feels suffocating. I have met incredibly successful people who feel stuck. Not broke. Not failing. Just uninspired.

The common thread is always the same. They stopped dreaming out loud.

Related: Why Youngest Children Often Become the Boldest Entrepreneurs

Relearning how to imagine as an adult

Becoming a dad was the best reminder I never asked for. Becoming a girl dad sealed it.

Tea parties do not care about logic. Stuffed animals do not need ROI. Imagination runs the room, and you either join in or get left behind. Sitting on the floor playing make-believe reminded me of something simple and powerful.

Imagination never left. Adulthood just stopped making space for it. You do not need to quit your job or move to the mountains. You just need to make imagination part of your daily operating system again.

Here’s how I do it.

I ask better questions.

• What if this worked twice as well?
• What if we did the opposite?
• What would this look like if we started today?

Questions unlock imagination faster than answers. I let bad ideas exist. Most adults kill ideas before they breathe. Kids let them run wild. Some turn into gold.

You cannot edit a blank page. I build space for curiosity. That might mean a walk without headphones. A conversation without an agenda. Reading something outside my industry.

Curiosity feeds imagination the way oxygen feeds fire. I stop waiting to be invited. Imagination does not need permission. If you wait for consensus, you will always be late.

The best ideas feel slightly uncomfortable at first.

Imagination is not an optional leadership skill

Leaders without imagination manage decline. They optimize yesterday while tomorrow passes them by.

Great leaders imagine outcomes before they demand execution. They paint a picture people want to move toward. They create momentum by making others believe something better is possible. This applies at work and at home.

Your kids do not need a perfect parent. They need a curious one. Your team does not need a boss with all the answers. They need a leader brave enough to explore new ones.

Your future does not need certainty. It needs vision.

The cost of playing it safe

Safe sounds responsible. Safe sounds mature. Safe is often expensive. It costs you growth. Energy. Fulfillment.

Playing it safe keeps you busy but rarely moves you forward. Imagination introduces risk. That scares people. Not imagining is the bigger risk. Markets change. Industries shift. Life throws curveballs.

Imagination is how you adapt before you have to.

Check in with your imagination!

Ask if it is still alive or just quietly waiting for you to notice it again.

You do not have to become a different person. You just have to reconnect with the part of you that believed more was possible.

That part was right.

Growing up should add wisdom, not erase wonder. IMAGINE THAT!