Ideas are a Dime a Dozen. People Who Implement Them are Priceless. I experienced this quote and I do agree with the statement. Approximately 10 months ago I decided to create an idea each day. It does not matter what kind of the idea, the main rule was that it needs to be innovative. I wanted this to become my daily routine and after getting around 250-260 of them I realized that I cannot continue with my other activities until I get at least one idea per day. At the moment I am at the number 330 and the lesson I learnt is very useful.
When we find a good quote, or hear a good point from smart people our inner voice agree with the content. However, there is a difference between knowing something and understanding something. In my example, I agree with everybody who claim that ideas are cheap and that everybody can have them and that what really matters is action. After getting more than 300 ideas I realized that everybody can be creative and that everybody can take advantage from its imagination and find creative solutions for all kinds of problems. I can assure you, if it works for me it will work for you. But again, what really matters is taking action. Getting an idea is really just the first steep.
What was the main drive for the development of this creative habit ? I get bored very easily and I do need constant challenges to keep me in a good mood otherwise I get this uncomfortable feeling of missing something. But it is not only the Fear of Missing out syndrome. I strongly believe that we need to create new things. I find this as a very strong need – to make an impact, to make a positive impact. This is why I started brainstorming all kinds of ideas: healthcare startup solutions, titles for my columns, blog topics, interview questions for my book and more. At the beginning I would sometime spend 20-25 minutes to get only one idea. Now I find it much easier as I developed this good habit of constant search for creative solutions. Sometimes I would get two, three ideas while walking, driving and would then write them down in my book for ideas. It really becomes a way of thinking.
Another valuable experience is understanding the limits of the time. You simply cannot put all your ideas into the life. I have not calculated the percentage of the ideas that I start working on them and implement them into the reality but I can say, that it is only around 5 to 10 % of the ideas that are not only the ideas on the paper but become reality. I try to make regular check up and also strikethrough some ideas that after some time I do not find good any more. This is also a good lesson. Not all ideas that seem to be good initially are actually worth working on.
Another important lesson can be described by this quote by Sir Richard Branson: Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.
I am annoyed by people who focus on questions about idea protection, patent issues etc. before even starting to work on the project. When you become a machine for ideas the level of self-confidence increases and you realize that there will always be another idea, another opportunity which can spare you from protect-my-idea-at-all-costs behaviour.
I don’t care that they stole my idea . I care that they don’t have any of their own — Nikola Tesla
writing with the stethoscope 