Lin-Manuel is a musician at heart. For 7 years he didn’t take a vacation. The quality of his ideas during this time was mediocre. He got stuck in a rut.
He finally took a holiday. When he arrived at his location he went to the hotel’s pool and ordered a margarita. He jumped on a giant inflatable lounge and lay in the sun in the middle of the pool.
Life had never felt so relaxing.
His brain could finally unplug. Only a short time later a massive idea came to him. That idea was the Hamilton Broadway Show full of bizarre people rapping every part of the story.
That idea would completely change his life. Ideas can be like that. You just have to create the right environment for ideas to come to you.
Here are a few strategies to find an idea that can change your life.
Chase the ideas that take over your brain
Some ideas are hard to stop thinking about.
A major book publisher approached me a few months ago to write a book. I wasn’t that interested. Then they started pitching me book ideas. One of them sparked my interest.
Since that moment I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that idea.
It takes up every waking moment. It’s an obsession. When my mind has time to unwind my imagination takes that idea and runs with it. Big things happen. Fake nostalgia is created.
That’s the kind of idea you want to invest your precious time into.
Stop hoarding ideas as if they’re worth $10M each
Idea hoarders annoy me.
I used to be one of them. In my 20s I’d guard my ideas with my life. I remember I had one idea to sell an all-black solar panel. I called it the Black Max.
I walked around telling everyone I had a great idea but didn’t share it. When I finally unveiled the idea to everyone a co-worker said “mate, there are already black solar panels everywhere you dumb ass.”
When I worked in banking I witnessed the problem from the other side of the fence. Startup customers would come to me for help and bring an NDA. They wanted me to sign it before they’d explain their “Airbnb of XYZ market.” As soon as someone tried this trick I ghosted them.
NDAs are a sign you’re an amateur. Ideas need action.
Stop listening to podcasts on walks
These days there is rarely a moment our headphones aren’t playing something in our ears.
Too much content consumption often overfills the mind. So your mind has no bandwidth left to generate ideas.
- Unplug.
- Allow moments of nothingness to set in.
Some of my best ideas have come from walks with no agenda, timeframe, or destination. Use walks as time for the mind to relax. Let nature do its work. Let the world around you inspire you.
Good ideas require boredom — Nat Eliason
Share ideas to make them stronger
Lots of people have great ideas.
But they lock those ideas in their brain and throw away the key. No one can access them so their power is lost. Ideas need energy. The best way to collect energy is to have more people comment on an idea.
Feedback creates momentum.
Image credit-@OzolinsJanis
Ideas happen when you start writing
Writing is one of the best habits you can adopt, even if you don’t want to be a writer or draw attention to yourself.
In the process of writing, our mind is lit on fire. Creativity is ignited and so we find ourselves coming across ideas we wouldn’t normally find.
Write down thoughts you’re having. Even more powerful, link together lots of different thoughts through writing.
Ideas melt. Save them before they do.
I think of an idea as an ice cube on a 95°F day.
As soon as the idea comes out to play, it has a minute or two before it melts in your hands and disappears forever. Write down your best ideas as soon as they come to mind.
There’s a further step. Many of you are “ideas people” but you rarely act on your ideas. Ideas perish when they sit idle.
Why?
When an idea is born it’s bursting with energy. The longer the idea isn’t acted upon the more the energy goes away. Then when you want to act on the idea it feels boring so you quit.
This happens with writing all the time for me. I’ll think of a spicy take on a recent mainstream event and file it away. Then when it comes time to write about it I’ll forget why it made me so excited.
The best ideas need to be acted on immediately.
Don’t let the energy run out.
We walk past 1000s of ideas a day and miss them
Ideas are in abundance.
The challenge is we need to train ourselves to spot them. It’s why I love certain writers like Sean Kernan. They see ideas in plain sight that others do not. Proactive observation is a superpower.
It’s good when ideas die
Execution of ideas guarantees many will die a horrible death.
That’s the whole point. Failed ideas teach you a lot until one idea comes by that changes everything. It looks like luck, but really, it’s the gift from all the previous ideas that helped shape this one. Dan Koe said:
Nothing happens, then everything happens.
Trust the idea process.
Ideas aren’t everything
Wait, what?
Everyone has ideas. By itself it’s not a competitive advantage. The real scorecard is your execution of ideas.
Level 1 — Have ideas
Level 2 — Execute on ideas
Level 3 — Consistently execute on ideas for 5 years
Ideas are easy. Execution is hard — Lex Fridman
Image credit-JustinWelsh/@golimitless
