10 Ways To Get Inspired
Ideas tend to have a short shelf life. Put it this way, you have an idea now but it can be easily forgotten within seconds. That is why I am starting off with this quick warning: Carry something around where you can take quick notes of your ideas!
With that said here are ten quick tips on how you can get inspired!
A great way to find inspiration is by looking at the World around you. There are thousands of places to find great ideas, and sometimes they are locked away in paintings, architecture, nature, and the Internet. I am not condoning plagiarism, but rather pushing for the unexpected inspiration. Look at work around you, does it make you think, “why didn’t I think of that?” Bare in mind the best ideas are the most simple. Complex ideas are only more difficult to comprehend let alone execute. Simplify your thoughts when observing.
This is a bit dangerous and I only recommend this idea to those that are comfortable being in the spotlight. For instance, you have no idea. No Problem.
Walk up to your colleague, boss, partner, spouse, whomever you would share your idea with. Tell them, “I have a great idea.” Now its time to start BSing your way through the mess you got yourself into. You would be surprised how many wonderful ideas you can come up with when you put yourself on the spotlight. If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself. Works for me every time!
Do yourself a favor. Don’t think. Just touch your pencil to the pad and draw lines, circles, triangle and other shapes. Start bringing objects together. Eventually you may come out with a distinctive character and your strokes will mold an image. This is where you are letting your subconscious do the talking. When in this state of consciousness, ideas can flow more naturally.
This may sound counter intuitive but follow me if you will. Lets say you have been focusing relentlessly to solve your problem. However, there is no solution in sight. See the problem?
Your mind can only sustain its quality of thoughts for a very small amount of time. Many advertising agencies hold ten minute brainstorming sessions for that reason. Creativity is heightened when your mind is stimulated. Being around things that distract you is apart of the stimulation. Call up a friend, take phone calls that are routinely disturbing, watch TV, or better yet look to procrastinate a little. It will be time well spent over getting nowhere.
My friends would be surprised to hear this one. The world knows me as a person who hates the thought of writing, yet I have a journal of random thoughts… :/
Writing helps you get things out of your head and achieve mental clarity. Writing expresses thoughts and moves the process forward. It is a way to achieve and solidify an idea. The grammar does not have to be near perfect, just enough for you to understand your personal thought process.
Reading descriptive words helps stimulate the mind. Imagining the descriptions the author portrays helps your imagination increase its capacity to visualize. They say active readers are great problem solvers – not because of the knowledge they gain from reading (although that is apart of it), but mostly because they are exercising their imagination without even knowing it. So do yourself a favor, read.
Heck Yeah! Working out is a great way to freshen up the mind and get loose (for lack of a better term). Go at it, and watch the results it can bring for your creativity.
I have written a few posts on how music can help the imagination create new ideas. Music that caters to your niche can help you focus and adapt your thought process to that angle. An example is you are working for a surf company. Classic Rock and Reggae are great genres of music that can help position your mindset to solve your industry problems.
If you are that stuck don’t be a hot shot. It’s ok to ask someone for help. In fact bouncing ideas can only lead to greater idea discoveries. I use this method very frequently. Everyone has a different way of looking at life, it’s another lens to help you get to the, “why didn’t I think of that” solution.
This one is by far my favorite. Fear is what holds many people back from achieving goals and achieving a dream. Failure comes to mind and while that is not the only fear, it is one that strikes everyone at one point or another. Confronting that fear and overcoming it helps feed your inner ego. We all have one and the fact that you overcame a fear helps boost your confidence. Makes you feel better about yourself more fulfilled and most of all more confident in your undertakings. So make a note to actively confront your fear. It is one way to become inspired.
Happy Inspiration, and as always I would love to hear what things help get you inspired.
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February 8th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
WOW nice post!!!!!!!
Cant wait to try some of these techniques out
March 8th, 2009 at 8:04 am
[...] Solanki presents 10 Ways To Get Inspired posted at Invent [...]
March 27th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
What a wonderful post, and you have spent so much time as I can appreciate on the graphics and words to go with them.
Very impressed and wanted to thank you for stopping by my blog.
Extremely well done
April 4th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
This article is so true. I use many of these common sense steps to become inspired without realizing what I am doing. Thanks for the reminder of what to do when you get stuck.
July 29th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
[...] 10 Ways To Get Inspired 10 Greatest Mistakes While Brainstorming Learn to Think Intuitively Creativity Stop Where You End It! [...]