As I open up my editor in full-screen mode to fill the white space with words, I am suddenly reminded of a little girl who was my classmate in second grade. The teacher had just handed out these huge paper sheets with the objective to draw an “exciting winter scene.” “Show us an activity you like to do in winter.”

Not even thirty seconds later the girl had signed the white paper on the back and handed it to the befuddled teacher with the words: “My favorite activity in winter is to look out my window in the morning when all is white, and no one has made any prints on it yet.”

And that is exactly where we stand. We always have the choice to leave everything as it is, which looking back at all the things we messed up, may not be the worst choice. However, that is not who we are as humans or as individuals. We cannot just do nothing. We act, we build, we fiddle; we create stuff. Hence, there is no way an empty screen will keep me happy for too long. You may be at a different place right now. You may just want to consume and contemplate. That is okay. But trust me it will change.

Step One: Decide if you rather create or consume.

Don’t get me wrong. You can, of course, create and consume, but you can consume – or enjoy may be a better word – without wanting to create. You can enjoy books, movies, your car, nature, etc. without wanting to create anything. That is a great state to be in. Pure enjoyment. It is great when you do it consciously.

But as soon as you decide that you want to make something, this is what you should do.

Step Two: Ideas, Ideas, Ideas

Ideas are worth nothing without action. But an action without direction also doesn’t lead anywhere, right? That is why you need to have ideas that are worth your time pursuing them. How to come up with a good idea? Come up with a lot of bad ones. I don’t know how many ideas it takes to have a really really good one. But chances are your average idea is not that great. Mine are not. Most of my good ones don’t hold up for long, either.

Based on this observation James Altucher describes a method for “learning” to come up with better ideas in his book “Choose Yourself!“. He recommends making it a daily practice to jot down at least ten ideas per day. Those ideas don’t have to be focused on an area. They can be anything. Just whatever comes to your mind. But you have to do it daily. As he writes, that makes a minimum of 3,650 ideas a year just through this exercise. By doing so, you train your brain to come up with ideas, a lot of ideas. (more…)