I came to the realization that Internet really hindered my capacity to reflect. Whenever I have an issue, my first move is to Google it. Instead of generating ideas by myself, I just type “Ideas for x, y, z” and that’s it. It’s easier. But all of the ideas we find online are already taken, so you need to hone the craft of producing your own.
Having great ideas isn’t a matter of luck, but a matter of training. Training your mind to think outside the box, to question your ideas, and above all to never go with your first one.
People tend to think that successful entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos woke up one day with a revolutionizing product in mind. Truth is, they probably had a fair load of failures and shitty ideas before getting where they are today.
Idea generation is pretty much like running. If you never ran a marathon in your life, how can you expect winning one tomorrow? However, if you commit to running a little bit longer every day, you’ll eventually become better.
Today’s assignment is to implement a new habit: generating 10 ideas every day, for 30 days. Without judging yourself and what you produced. Just take a piece of paper, and write every day. This will train your brain, and it’s a good exercise to overcome the writer’s block.
To facilitate the process, I add an additional constraint: a theme. My theme for today was “e-books I could write.”
A plan to test your business idea
Finding content ideas for your blog
Brand activation through experience marketing
Case study of a marketing idea
Create & Launch your newsletter business
Techniques to grow your subscriber list
Ways to earn money via your newsletter
Email marketing essentials
Principles of design thinking
A guide to playlisting
These are extremely rough ideas, and some of them are better than others. But the simple fact of taking a few minutes to reflect on this actually boosted my inspiration and was way more productive than just sitting there, thinking I should write an e-book. If you need a theme, take a look at my own list here.
Shoot me an email with your list of ideas!