From the course: Banish Your Inner Critic to Unleash Creativity

Become an idea machine

From the course: Banish Your Inner Critic to Unleash Creativity

Become an idea machine

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- If you're afraid you can't count on your ability to be creative, or you only seem to come up with good ideas on occasion, or if you just don't feel like you have enough good ideas, then you're suffering from what I call creativity misgivings. The obvious solution is to come up with a lot of ideas regularly. Being a producer of ideas means that we regularly need to work our idea muscle and keep our brains from atrophying. Serial entrepreneur James Altucher refers to this practice of idea therapy as being an idea machine. So, here's what I recommend. Come up with 10 ideas a day. Keep a small notebook like a moleskin or field notes and carry it with you everywhere. Every day, write down 10 ideas. That's it. Now, here is the structure so that you can, first, silence your inner critic before it gets triggered, especially if you're a perfectionist, like I am. And second, so that you can actually stick with the practice. Ready? Your ideas don't have to be good. They don't have to be unique, highly-innovative, or visionary. They don't have to be ideas that no one else on the planet has ever come up with before. Take the pressure off. Your ideas can be derivative and lack imagination, or they can even be ridiculous and impractical. If you don't know where to start, here are three suggestions to help you focus and generate your ideas more easily. First, you can make bug lists of things that bother you. So, every annoyance, every point of friction, everything that rubs you the wrong way hides an opportunity to apply creativity. It could be in something that you use. It could be in software. It could be in something practical. If you wish something could be different, start jotting down ideas of how you would like it to be. Next, what you could do is you could make it the worst. You can try to come up with the worst idea that you possibly can, or ideas that are as silly, unrealistic, or absurd as possible. And finally, you could ask yourself, what would X person do? You can channel the spirit of your favorite thinker and innovator and generate ideas like Marie Curie would, or George Washington Carver or Buckminster Fuller or Nicola Tesla. If you feel like you're having problems coming up with 10 ideas, then push yourself to come up with 15 or 20. Remember, the goal is not to have good ideas. The goal is to have ideas, period. It's the practice of writing down your 10 ideas a day that is transformative. Don't let your brain get flabby. Make a commitment to exercise your idea muscle daily. Have fun with the process, and enjoy your new creativity health habit.

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