Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

October 13, 2008

Three Keys to Finding New Ideas

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 7:29 am

I've been thinking . . .

about traffic on the road of progress.

Better eat now, because I might not have time later.
Better write this now, because I might get caught up and lose track of this idea. Better do this work for this client . . . schedule that meeting . . . write that list . . . keep things moving forward down the road . . . or else.

It’s a way of always living in the future.

Lots of days work like this because, well, who knows what tomorrow will bring?

We keep moving forward because it’s better . . . better than standing still.
Better than standing still? I’m not so sure about that.

Standing brings us back to the present. Suddenly the road of progress is only one degree of 360 we might consider. A quick look around and options seem to be everywhere.

Reflection, introspection. How else do we find out what we know?
It’s good leave the traffic and see where we are.

Even better than standing still . . . is a good wander off the road.

Curiosity, experimentation. recreation. They’re three keys to finding new ideas.
Have you looked at that word lately?
re-creation
. . . think about it.

Consider re-creating a few minutes this morning.
Give yourself a chance at discovering a new idea or two.

New ideas get run over by traffic.
They thrive, sparkle, and shine by the side of the road.

curiosity_by_the_side_of_the_road


What were you doing when you got your last fabulous idea?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Image: sxc.hu

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26 Comments to “Three Keys to Finding New Ideas”

  1. October 13th, 2008 at 7:48 am
    Rick Wolff said

    I find my best ideas come when I’m doing some kind of physical task, not necessarily exercise, but even housecleaning, showering, mowing — any activity where you’re putting the front of your brain on idle, or at least not requiring it for the task. The more routine the better, since if you’re doing it with the express goal of brainstorming, you know you’re conning yourself. Don’t expect anything. Forget that deadline. Visualize your brain rubbing its metaphorical wrists where once was clasped the shackles of having to perform purposefully. Follow the dumbest thought, let it take you to an even dumber thought. Revel in its dumbness. Then let it happen.

  2. October 13th, 2008 at 8:13 am
    Paul DeLuca said

    I’ve long subscribed to the belief that some of the best ideas come when you aren’t trying very hard. When I’m working on a coding project I sometimes dream about how I can solve a particular problem. Sometimes I get inspiration from exercise. Sometimes from playing the drums. And sometimes from watching cartoons. Take them where you find them. Do something different. Write a silly poem, do a funny dance, watch the waves hit the shore. Whatever, just set your mind to the problem and then let it go. Ideas will happen.

  3. October 13th, 2008 at 8:14 am
    Michelle Vandepas said

    Liz I love this topic! One of my great passions. I get ideas when I’m walking, hiking, dreaming, getting coffee, playing with my little one. Lack of ideas isn’t my trouble, discerning the ones I want to follow through on is! To help me with that process is more ’standing still’ getting quiet, listening inside. Yoga, prayer, meditation work for me, but it could be any quiet time….. Love that idea of letting them shine by the road.

  4. October 13th, 2008 at 8:34 am
    Amy Derby said

    Oooh, I love that picture!

    I’m usually sleeping, or trying to, when my fabulous ideas come. Too much traffic in the daytime… Plus I’m an insomniac who really wants to be nocturnal, and I’m pretty sure my muse is on crack (or at the very least some of those really bad energy drinks). And yes, there is a LOT of traffic in my head. :-)

    Thank you for reminding me to make time to wander.

  5. October 13th, 2008 at 9:01 am
    --Deb said

    “New ideas get run over by traffic.” Ooh, I like that line, and it’s so true. We’re too busy DOING to see what else is going on.

  6. October 13th, 2008 at 10:11 am
    Karin H. said

    Hi Liz

    Standing still once in a while is good. I like the re-created notion ;-)

    We - my partner and I - stand still to reflect on what’s been happening and which way to go forward every quarter when I’ve finished our management report (even small businesses with only 2 persons need management reports is my thought). That normally gives us more new ideas.

    Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

  7. October 13th, 2008 at 11:23 am
    Joanna Young said

    Liz, what a wonderful line, and picture

    “Ideas thrive, sparkle, and shine by the side of the road.”

    I’m glad we can help each other find them!

    Joanna

  8. October 13th, 2008 at 11:29 am
    communicatrix said

    I can’t “stand still” unless I’m moving, or am in a moving vehicle–still seem to need something to occupy monkey mind to free up my oppressed subconscious. But yeah. We will not STFU, us modern, sophisticated, can-do Westerners.

    I had to wander 1,100 miles north to get the chatter to die down enough to hear what was underneath. And people ask me why I came to Seattle. Pfft!

  9. October 13th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
    Mitch Ditkoff said

    Liz:

    Nice blog! We’ve done a lot of research on where and when people get their best ideas. Click on the link below for more. It will take you to a downloadable pdf that has the results of a recent survey we’ve done.

    http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/archives/2008/06/poll_results_wh_1.shtml

  10. October 13th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
    Cath Lawson said

    Hi Liz - that’s a great point. For me, most good ideas don’t come when I’m trying to think of them. Often it’s when I’m walking, swimming, or in the bath. It’s nearly always somewhere where I can’t write them down straight away.

  11. October 13th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Rick!
    I love that “any activity where you’re putting the front of your brain on idle.” Good ideas need lots of space to grow. They don’t happen in the middle of the road. My point exactly. :)

  12. October 13th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Paul!
    Welcome!
    It’s like when we were kids . . . we did take ‘em where we found ‘em and we did some great thing with ‘em. Sometimes we just have to give ourselves permission to let the ideas happen.

    Thanks for that reminder. :)

  13. October 13th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Ah Michele,
    Standing still, listening. Our hearts have so many ideas just waiting to get a way to have a voice . . . imagine what we might be saying if we listened more often. :)

  14. October 13th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Amy,
    I think your ideas are so amazing that you dream your way through them. :)

  15. October 13th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Deb,
    I like that line too. It truly expresses how I feel about my ideas sometimes. I just run right over them. :)

  16. October 13th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Karin,
    Re-created gives whole new meaning to playing, doesn’t it? I’m smiling to think where your mind went with that one. Word pictures again. Even 2 person businesses have ideas about playing. :)

  17. October 13th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
    Matthew Dryden said

    I’d like to say that I manage to keep all my new ideas, but that’s a lie. In fact, if I remembered where they all went, I would make a mad dash after them. I usually get close my eyes and write what I feel, am feeling, and have felt. And then I try to give it some focus.

    I believe I do have a nice balance of living in the present while keeping an eye on the future…but I haven’t thought about it much.

    Thanks for this.

  18. October 13th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Joanna,
    I couldn’t help but tune into my childhood after our conversation this morning. Thank you for your inspiration!

    Yeah, the side of the road is sparkling. :)

  19. October 13th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Mitch!
    Welcome!
    Thanks for bringing the research link! I love reading about ideas and where we get them!

  20. October 13th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Cath,
    We got physical reasons why that’s so . . . we actually stop ideas from happening when we’re busy doing other things with our brain. Funny, we won’t let ideas out when we need them. :)

  21. October 13th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    #8
    Communicatrix,
    My monkey mind read your comment and then moved right past answering it. What’s with that? . . .

    I do a lot of walking when I’m “standing still.” I know exactly what you mean. It’s calming. Maybe we’re part lion. :)

  22. October 13th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Matthew!
    I’m kind of glad I don’t keep all of my ideas . . . I can’t imagine having to live up to ALL of them. Some are wonders, but some would be so much work. Some are better left to dissolve into the air where they came from. :)

  23. October 13th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
    Ben Tremblay said

    “Even better than standing still . . . is a good wander off the road.”
    A funny thing happens if you for even a moment hesitate to take the obvious turn. (Trungpa Rinpoche talked about how spontaneity was actually very different from mere knee-jerk.) It’s as though the world (as you have come to know it) carries on, as though by some 5th dimension momentum, then slows with a slight blur, and there you are … where you’ve been all along, seeing things again but newly … with turnings you’d never imagined offering themselves.

    There’s a good deal more existential reality to the concept of #matrix than folk are willing to grant. Is why it’s “validated” so slightly, so superficially; the better to get back to the safety of dominant paradigms and plausibility, the perquisites of in-group membership.

    (Sorry, just watched PBS’ “Watergate/Nixon” documentary … a walk through my early 20s.)

  24. October 14th, 2008 at 2:30 am
    Davina said

    Hi Liz. It’s funny how ideas seem to pop out of nowhere. I’ll catch a spark just from having a conversation with someone or seeing an inspiring picture. Then I find myself massaging it more while I’m out walking. Trouble is if I took every idea for a walk I’d never sit at the computer long enough to get a chance to write about it :-)

  25. October 14th, 2008 at 8:22 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Ben!
    What great motivation for a Tuesday morning . . .

    It’s as though the world (as you have come to know it) carries on, as though by some 5th dimension momentum, then slows with a slight blur, and there you are … where you’ve been all along, seeing things again but newly … with turnings you’d never imagined offering themselves.

    I see myself inside the above picture with so much opportunity. Thank you for your comment. :)

  26. October 14th, 2008 at 8:24 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Davina!
    I was telling someone last night that the wonder of being on the Internet is that we’re always talking about ideas, passing them on, and changing them. It’s hard not to grow from that sort of conversation.

    Love the thought of taking an idea for a walk. :)

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