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You don’t have to be a creative thinker to come up with new and exciting ideas.

But what makes the difference between a good idea and a great idea?

Good ideas come along all the time and help people solve minor problems in work and daily life.

Great ideas appear a little less frequently and require an inspirational spark. Often they are brilliant moments, flashes of genius and perfect simplicity.

Here are a few inspiring ways to break your conventional thinking to give that great light bulb moment.

1. Get out and see the world in a different light

Great ideas won’t happen in a vacuum, you need some way of getting your brain to think in a new and creative way. Commit time to specific sessions where you stimulate your brain into thinking differently. Just a walk through a natural space or even a city, can trigger ideas, thoughts and fresh ideas.

2. Reading expands the creative mind

Books are wonderful for creating new thoughts and stimulating great ideas, whether the written word or pictures. All books provide a source of stimulation and allow your mind to go on journeys, with the book as your guide. Next time you are out in a town or city check out the local book store, it’s an Aladin’s Cave of creativity.

3. Randomly surf the web

The web is great place to go to get inspiration when you know what you are looking for, but if you want to push the boundaries and get some fresh ideas, then search outside the box! Take an hour each week and go on a web journey, maybe start with the I’m Feeling Lucky button and see what the web throws at you. Get whacky and bizarre, pick the stranger and more obscure references and stretch mind.

4. Create a journal or scrap book

These are great for capturing and retaining your thoughts and ideas. It’s also a great way to structure and develop creative idea habits.  If you don’t have a journal or scrap book then start today, you’ll be amazed how much you refer back to them over time.

5. Clear your mind and meditate

It’s hard to come up with great ideas when your mind is crowded with everyday life stuff. You need to set yourself quiet space and time. Meditation will help you clear your mind and reset, freeing your creative channels. There is no set routine to Mediation, you can do it as and when you feel the need to. If you need help in getting started then ‘Meditation, Now or Never’ but Steve Hagen is a good place to start.

6. Do an ‘ideas blast’ with friends and colleagues

Book out a quite space with work colleagues for ten minutes, then just Blast through as many ideas as you can in the time, it doesn’t matter if they are on topic or just plain crazy. What you want at the end of the time is an exhaustive list of ideas that you can whittle down to just a few little gems. It’s a fun way to come up with some unusual ideas and approaches to complex problems.

All of the ideas above require a structured level of commitment of your time and energy, but that’s the key to great ideas. You need to give your mind time and space to work effectively for you, which in turn will manifest some great ideas that you would of never of thought of.

Need help with getting those creative sparks? Get in touch!

#418makesithappen  #creativity #ideas #inspiration

Russ Keyte

Author Russ Keyte

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