Getting ideas

I was able to come up with several ideas this morning. As a result, I am ahead of schedule on creating blog posts for the day. I think I am experiencing the benefits of practicing. You see that just like any skill, when you practice, you get better at it. Thus the more ideas you get, the better you get at getting ideas. It is a positive feedback loop. The more ideas you come up with, the more will loop back to you. So if you want to start getting more and more ideas, just keep working at coming up with more and more ideas. Keep practicing and you will keep getting better.

What do you think?

Is diversity a good thing?

I think diversity is a good thing because it creates more possibilities for ideas. When everything is the same, then you just get the same ideas. But when there is diversity, it creates diverse ideas. Obviously this applies to people, but it also applies to books, music, art, media, and a host of many other things. So seek to diversify in as many parts of your life as possible. Meet and get to know as many different people as possible. Read from a diversity of sources. Change the music you listen to on occasion. watch something different on TV. Visit a new web site instead of the ones you always go to. Change things up and diversify as much as possible and you will be amazed at all the new ideas you will get.

What do you think?

Taking a break

No, I am not taking a break from writing in my blog. What I would like to write about today is taking a break so that you can get more ideas. Our brains have a curious function. Sometimes when we work very hard at trying to find an idea, our brains can't do it. But, if we take a break and go do something else, magically our brains come up with an idea. So, if you find yourself stuck without being able to move forward, take a break. Go do something else. Go do a little bit of cleaning, go wash the dishes, take a short walk, call a friend and have a nice discussion about something else. Take a break and go do something else and you will see that your brain will come up with an idea. That always works well for me. In fact that is how I came up with this blog post.

What do you think?

Leap year

Today is a unique day. Today is February 29 which we don't get to see but every four years. Sure it is going to be just like any other day, but at least it is something unique. The best aspect of having something unique like this is that it moves you out of your comfort zone, if at least for just a little bit. When something unique happens it is also a great way to get new ideas. Why? Because it at least makes you think differently. It is when we think differently that new ideas appear. So for this leap year day may you at least have a few more new ideas.

What do you think?

Ideas - write them down

Ideas are all around us. All you have to do is keep looking for them and you will find them. Ideas are also fleeting. They come in an instant and then there are gone. So, if you want to make sure you have them at your disposal, you have to write them down some how. I have used several methods over the past few years to help me do that. One thing I try to do is to make sure I have something to write on and to write with at all times. Currently I like carrying index cards and a pen with me and I use them to jot down the ideas I get. I also use my iPhone. I have a document in my notes application which is dedicated just to ideas. So when I get an idea, I just open up the document and write down what is crossing my mind. Actually, since I discovered the dictation function on my iPhone, I just talk to my iPhone. That is actually working well for me at the moment. In fact, that is where the idea for this blog post came from. I had the idea a couple of days ago, so I wrote it down. Then today I just looked through my list of ideas, and this one popped out as one I wanted to use. Then I wrote this post. Ideas are always there if you go looking for them, but you also have to write them down or they disappear.

What do you think?

You find what you seek

No matter what you think of him, you have to admit that in some things he was right. Jesus said "seek and you will find". I have come to believe he was exactly right. You always find what you look for. If you go looking for trouble, you will find it. If you go looking for love, you will find it. If you go looking for a "few good men" you will find them (and possibly the movie as well). If you go looking for ideas, you will find them. I read recently that the number one reason bloggers fail is because they run out of idea. I have come to believe that the only time you run out of ideas is when you stop looking for them. If you keep seeking ideas, you will always find them (and sometimes they will find you.

What do you think?

Become and Idea Machine

I read a book today called "Become an Idea Machine". The whole point of the book was to come up with 10 ideas a day, every day for the next 180 days (six months). Why? Because after that point coming up with ideas will become a habit. But why do it in the first place? Because ideas are what create value and wealth. It is ideas that create "currency". It is ideas that make your life amazing. Just think of anything in your life that is positive and at the root, there is an idea. for example, I am using a Chromebook at this moment. The Chromebook came about because a software programmer at Google needed something that booted quickly in order to see if the changes he was making were working. So he decided to boot an operating system (Linux) from ram instead of a hard drive. In doing so he developed the seeds of having a computer that booted from ram and worked only in a browser. Google ran with the idea and developed the Chrome OS. Thus I have my Chromebook and an inexpensive way to do all I do on a computer. It all came from an idea.

Ideas rule the world!

Now, what ideas to I have that I can use to make the lives of others and myself better?