Your Creative Well (How to Unlock Your Creativity and Reach Your True Potential)

3 Ways to Solidify Your Ideas

There's much more to the topic of ideas than just capturing and organizing them.

Often we have a hard time expressing what's going on inside our heads. Here are a few ways that you can bring substance to the metaphysical.

Speak Your Ideas

I've heard that talking to yourself is a sign of insanity. I've also heard that talking to yourself is a sign of competence. I'm not sure which is correct, but I do know that there's a fine line between genius and insanity. And I also know that speaking your ideas out loud is a great way to piece together your thoughts.

I have a habit (for good or ill) of lecturing myself on concepts that I've been mulling over while washing dishes or folding laundry. This stream-of-consciousness form of self-expression forces me to piece together ideas in coherent sentences.

The key is to really make a strong argument. Speak as if there's someone in the room listening intently to your sage advice. Pretend you're a professor in a lecture hall or Steve Jobs delivering a speech to a captive audience.

You may feel like you're a bit insane, but you'll walk "off stage" with the confidence you need to enact your ideas.

BONUS: If you're a writer, this exercise will help you develop your narrative voice!

Write Your Ideas

When you put an idea in writing, it suddenly becomes far more real than it was floating loosely within your head. Half the reason I created this book was for the benefit of my own idea transcription.

When you write your ideas down, you have the ability to assess and modify the idea with a bit more objectivity. Are the words you used clunky or lean? When you share it with others, are they confused by your meaning? Is it worth posting on your wall where you can see it?

If you've nailed your idea, you will have a concise yet elegant way to describe it. It will be easily understood by others and it will be worth revisiting day after day.

Discuss Your Ideas

There's something magical about having a discussion with intelligent individuals about your ideas. There's an old adage that says "two heads are better than one" and I'm inclined to believe it. Discussing your ideas with others can unlock dormant and unrealized concepts that you haven't yet considered.

The magic really happens when you're discussing your idea with others who are of similar intellect or (better yet) more intelligent and thoughtful than you are.They don't always need to have insight on the idea because of their experience with the topic. In fact, it's often better that they bring a different set of cards to the table.