My Idea Collection

Sometimes you get ideas at the craziest times, don't you? I know a lot of people who say they have their best thoughts in the shower or during long runs. I get a lot while I'm driving.

Wherever I am when I get an idea - even if its just a little one - I write it down as soon as I get to a place where that's possible. It might just be an unfinished thought, or something I plan to get to later, but I write it down all the same. I try to carry paper with me wherever I go, but I've also got ideas on napkins and backs of receipts. I put all these scraps in one place. I call it my Idea Collection.

When I need some fresh inspiration, I can pull out my Idea Collection and read through it.

More ideas, step two

Stop killing other people's ideas

Because some of the best ideas come from other people, the next thing I had to do was make them feel safe to have ideas. I hate when other people kill my ideas, so I make a concerted effort not to do it to them.

It sounds simple enough, but it can be hard to break the "yes, but" habit. This is what many of us say when we hear a new idea. We acknowledge the person with a "yes," but then we throw in that "but" followed by all the reasons it won't work.

When you start, getting more ideas is like unclogging a pipe. The more gunk you can get out of there, the easier ideas will flow. Idea killing is the gunk clogging your pipe. Get rid of it, and watch more and more ideas come through.

More ideas, step one (yes again)

Stop killing your own ideas

I know its the same step over again, but it bears repeating because it really takes work. A lot of work. I didn't want to be the guy that had bad ideas, and it felt like a big risk to put them out there. Even when I was the only one looking at them.

Here's an exercise I started doing to get rid of my own negativity. Try it the next time you need an idea. It's really just a simple one person brain storming session.

Make a list of at least twenty five and don't edit yourself. Write down whatever crazy thoughts come to your mind. Take all negative thoughts about anything you write down out of your mind. This list is just for you and you can shred it, burn eat, or even eat it when you're done.

What I found is that the more I did this, the easier the ideas came. And the further down I got on the list, the better they were.