Building Your Idea Muscle

Ideas are the seeds of all great creations. They’re the building blocks we use to create new and innovative experiences. But just as creativity is a function of our minds that must be cultivated, so does our ability to generate ideas.

So what can we do to build the idea muscle that we’ve ignored for so long?

The solution is intuitive, but demands effort. Are you willing to put in the work?

Generating New Ideas

I’ve talked about different ways to solidify your ideas, but in order to move to a new level of creative prosperity, you will need to become an idea generating machine. And the very best way to move from novice to proficiency is to practice generating ideas.

A notebook will be the method that you’ll use to track your competency in this area. If it suits you or your creativity better, using a audio or video capture tool can also serve well in this capacity. You will need to choose the device that’s most relevant to the ideas you generate and the amount of resistance you can tolerate when recording them.

Writing down or recording your ideas not only serves as a great method to capture your vision for later use and clearing your mind, but also as a way to build the idea generation muscle that will insure that you can think on your feet when the pressure is on.

@@Make a point of producing new ideas and recording them every day.@@

This means actively searching for the next idea. This goes beyond simply waiting for inspiration to strike. This takes a very attentive and observant mind, especially if your intent is to avoid repetition.

One Idea At a Time

Start small. Make a goal to record just one idea daily. This requires very little effort and even if you feel that you don’t have any ideas at all, you’ll find this task achievable.

Don’t worry about the ideas being exceptional. Don’t worry about whether or not the idea has been done before. And don’t worry about whether or not you can actually accomplish the idea. All of these things are unimportant at this point. What’s important is forming ideas and then recording them.

Preferably, you won’t want to repeat any previous idea. And if an idea feels similar to an older one, search for and record the spin or feature that will distinguish that idea from the rest.

After you feel comfortable recording one idea a day, move to two ideas a day. Then to five and then to ten. If you’re able to record ten distinct ideas a day on a consistent basis, you’ve reached a level of proficiency that’s far beyond the average individual.

But what about the million dollar question? “How do I come up with good ideas?”

Eventually, you’ll move past the low-hanging-fruit stage, and move into ideas that are truly novel or worth pursuit. But you have to give yourself time to get there. It may take a million one dollar ideas to reach the one million dollar idea.

So don’t waste time! @@Get the bad ideas out of your system as quickly as possible!@@

Having Trouble? Keep At It!

While you want to push yourself to generate a certain quota of ideas, it’s okay if you don’t reach that objective every day. This is an exercise I do daily, but I sometimes fall short. Sometimes I fall very short. And that’s okay.

What’s important is the consistent daily effort. Armed with focused intent, you’ll build strengths that will look like magic to others who haven’t put in the work that you have.

And your next great idea will be moments away when you need it most.

What About You?

I hope you found this helpful. If so, please share it with someone who might need it!

Do you have a exercise to form new and great ideas?

Leave a comment below! I’d love to hear about your methods!