Read This If You Have Lots Of Ideas
Maybe you've heard this before, but maybe you haven't.
Ideas aren't really useful.
By themselves, they don't do anything.
It's the executing of the idea that helps people and is valuable.
So, stop looking for ideas.
Look for actionable insights.
2 Minute Action:
It helps if you know what to do and when to do it.
It also helps if you have someone in your life who can keep you accountable.
Take an idea you had recently and make it actionable.
Decide, in the next 2 minutes, what first step you're going to take, when you will do it, and who you will call to ask to keep you accountable.
You've got this.
We're all counting on you.
Where Have All The Geniuses Gone?
You've been taught that there's a right answer and that there's a way to get there.Transitive Property.Pythagorean Theorem.Grammer.There's a right way and there's a wrong way.We're only going to ask you questions to which we adults already know the answers.But when was the last time school taught kids to work on problems that had no right answers?When was the last time we prepared them to fail again and again and again, without knowing when it would finally make sense?School was designed to create compliant factory workers, not geniuses.If I asked you to name a genius, you'd probably say Einstein.And you'd probably say that he was a genius because of his DNA.Almost no one would refer to an idea as genius, but would rather refer to the person as one.And the statistical probability of having more geniuses is higher than ever, now that we're around 8 billion people on the planet.So we know it's not the DNA.
So then where are all the benevolent geniuses?
The problem isn't the DNA, the problem is the system with which we're educating.And if you want to have a society where people have genius ideas, relentless execution, and profound social impact, we're going to need a system that's thoughtful, enriching, and practical enough to give people a chance.There are geniuses all over the place, we just never notice in the Age of Distraction.And the cool thing is that anytime you've had an original idea, you've been one, too.
2 Minute Action
When was the last time you put your phone down for 5 hours so you could zoom out, identify and solve problems you're facing?Perhaps a better question is: when will you?It takes 2 minutes to look through your calendar and block out the time.You're ready.You don't need to "know what you're doing," because no one does.That's just the reflex your schooling has installed in your brain.You're ready.You have everything you need to start.Go.
How To Get Past Writer's Block
I've had a few people ask me recently "how do you come up with ideas?""How do you become creative?"There's no cure.Just like there's no cure for "having an idea" or "starting a company."You're not going to magically come up with something brilliant.But if you just start . . .Just start writing. Just start building. Just start calling.Whatever it is you're trying to do, you'll narrow in eventually.Let it be garbage. Let it be bad.Don't throw it away. Don't delete it.Just keep going.The goal isn't perfection, the goal is momentum.Once you get over the anxiety of starting before you can see the ending, you might find that you're quite unstoppable.People (and sometimes the voices in our own heads) are very happy to tell us all the reasons something won't work.Yet, people tend to get out of the way once you're moving.That's the punchline. There is no cure. You just have to start.It's probably not going to be good, so toss out the idea that it should be perfect.The goal isn't to hit a home run in your first at-bat.
2 Minute Action:
What's something you've been putting off?
- Working out?
- Writing a book?
- Start a company?
Start right now in 2 minutes.
- Do 10 pushups.
- Write a blog post.
- Make a sales call.
I promise you can get started on any path in under 2 minutes.Practice that habit enough and you'll forget "writer's block" even existed.