If you have never heard of James Altucher, I encourage you to visit his site. He is a unique individual with interesting views. I would not tell anyone to adopt every one, but he does provide perspectives that you won’t find every day. From him, I borrowed the “idea muscle.”
The premise is that generating ideas, quality ideas, is not easy. It does not come naturally to most people. Therefore, you need to exercise the process of generating ideas daily. Mr. Altucher picks a topic, any topic really, and writes 10 ideas related to that topic. It could be new business venture, book ideas, or jokes for a comedy routine.
Some will suck. In fact, many will probably suck. But that is the point. Get the ideas out there and get in the habit of generating ideas.
I have done this for almost a year now with a few missed days here and there. I am not certain if I am any better or worse at idea generation, but I do appreciate the exercise. And when I have something meaningful to dwell on, this provides an outlet.
Perhaps one of my favorite uses has come about recently. On Saturdays, my idea muscle is consistently around recording wins from the previous week. While this is not creating new ideas, it does provide a moment for reflection and to feel a sense of accomplishment.
Alternatively, I use Sunday for goal setting for the next week. Some would say that 10 goals is a lot for a week, but they don’t have to be huge. And hey, if you miss a goal doesn’t happen, maybe it was bad idea for a goal?
World of MOwens 