Finding your own path is the boldest way to make good ideas happen. So why do so few trust their gut? This issue catches up with business owners, innovators and cultural figures creating new ways to work as they go.

No one is better placed to offer valuable advice on tricky projects and ambitious, world-changing actions than the people at the sharp end – precisely the kind of individuals giving the benefit of their hard-won experience here.

Sichuan was one of China’s poorest provinces until investment from Beijing and abroad brought boom times to its capital. Chengdu and its ‘pambassadors’ went on a global sales offensive.

His cosmopolitan background and bullish enthusiasm for the EU have made Poland’s foreign minister a key voice in European politics. Now Radek Sikorski is urging Europe to learn the hard lessons of its own history.

We get to grips with the Belgian PM's colourful sense of style. Plus a Q&A with European Commissioner Karel de Gucht and news from Lisbon and Liechtenstein.

Tourism in the Caribbean and trade links between the Middle East and Latin America.

New flights from Tokyo to Yangon, why the French are lighting up Cambodia, and Japan gets creative.

The lavish motorcade of Kenya's president, the new jet-set of Nigeria, and an old banknote for West Africa returns.

Canberra celebrates its centenary, New Zealand gets building and Tonga gets broadcasting (in Chinese).

Algeria's plans to fence off the Sahara, Poland's new arms contract and other military news.

We meet the Finnish ambassador to Italy and find out why Peru is setting up shop in the Middle East.

OK, so the Olympics were a soft-power triumph for the UK. But now what? Over the following pages we explore how Britain can harness that post-games optimism and meet some of the people who can help the country do just that.

Harumi Kurihara is an unlikely celebrity, a down-to-earth housewife at heart who has hit the big time with her cookbooks, TV shows and chain of cafés and restaurants. Meet Japan’s unassuming answer to Martha Stewart.

Wasabi, beer, olive oil, iron ore and wool: certainly the worst possible ingredients for a cocktail but, it turns out, the perfect recipe for business success. Here we profile five companies that between them have made these elements their own, from a knitwear company in Scotland to a mining start-up in Australia.

China heads to Australia on the hunt for arable land and Germany goes back to boat-building basics.

Once a gritty, working-class neighbourhood, Ostiense still has its warehouses and factories but they’re now being converted into museums and spaces for small, creative businesses.

Having seen its film business nosedive thanks to the digital onslaught, Japan’s Fujifilm has found another lucrative avenue – skincare.

Great art transforms thought with ideas and emotions. But that effortless feeling as a bold new work hits the page, store or screen, is down to some very real individuals who link inspiration to industry. Here are a few of our favourites.

Whether it be picture-laden coffee table tomes or volumes on aesthetic theory, Germany produces some of the finest art books in the world – and that’s not limited to Taschen. Monocle went to Berlin to pore over a buoyant publishing industry.

Books, films and music to make a date for.

A magazine printing concept, Jim Marshall speakers and other media and art news.

Monocle meets five creative businesses and entrepreneurs who have gone their own way, and we ask them how, and why, they did it.

2012 offered many architectural talking points, from Renzo Piano’s pointy Shard in London to K2S’s small but perfectly formed wooden Chapel of Silence in Helsinki; 2013 promises even more. Here are seven projects completing this year that will steal the headlines.

We’ve been busy transferring more than five years’ worth of magazine, film and radio content to our new website. The result: a sharper, more handsome and informative experience. Come and visit us at monocle.com.

Brands, products, designers and retailers on our radar this month.

Hidden behind discreet fences away from the downtown hubbub, chef Fernando Trocca’s home has been transformed by Alejandro Sticotti into a modernist masterpiece filled with sunshine, greenery and pine.

For business meetings in the middle of the Pacific, Monocle suggests a few looks from the US East Coast via Marunouchi.

We ask two fashion buyers what they look for when selecting brands for their shop and for their top picks for this season and beyond.

Take the rough with the smooth and add warm textured knits and bright tactile jerseys to your wardrobe. And don’t forget some bangle jangle too.

Whether it’s airlines or artisan wines, when it comes to inspiring new ventures, staying true to an idea is key. We’ve searched hotels, restaurants, business hubs and remote islands to learn lessons from those achieving success by doing things their own way.

When the owners of The Oyster Inn moved to New Zealand they never intended to open a restaurant, let alone a hotel. Two years on, they are the proprietors of a local institution and a winning brand.

The passing of the festive season for another year doesn’t mean that gifts and alcohol should be shunned until December. Make a present to yourself of, say, some unique kitchenware or organic soap, kick back with a glass of something warming and wish yourself a very merry February.

With stunning interiors and furnishings by up-and-coming Brazilian designers competing with floor-to-ceiling views of the rainforest, guests staying at Brazil’s Botanique Hotel and Spa may find it takes a while to discover the further charms São Paulo’s nature-nuzzling hideaway has to offer.

The Fijian national carrier returns to its roots this year with a change of name that harks back to its pioneering days. But the airline’s fleet upgrade shows that its focus is also very much on the future.

With its well-preserved streets and redbrick housing, the Junction is home to small shops and galleries and a new generation of residents.

An update on all things food-related, such as a kitchen garden in Melbourne and a sushi taxi in Japan.

Tom Kerridge’s seasonal, locally sourced cooking has won him two Michelin stars. Not bad for a country pub, now a mecca for foodies.

Turkish photographer Ara Güler has always found eating a bit of a distraction but he found time to sit down for a meal with Monocle.

The new year unfolds but the same problems exist for those wanting to start afresh: obstacles to immigration and barriers to business development, writes Tyler Brûlé.

Central Saint Martins is flying the flag for art and design education in the UK, despite short-sighted government policies. Monocle goes back to school.