To have a great idea, you need mental whitespace.
We’ve all had that “ah-ha” moment. Maybe you figure out a solution to a problem at work, and you save the company a bunch of money. Or maybe, you have a great idea for a business pitch, and you can just see it unfolding perfectly in your mind.
Usually, these kinds of great ideas don’t happen everyday. They come around every once in a while but are few and far between.
Did you know that actually doing more of “nothing” can make you have better ideas? If you take just 30 minutes a day of non-screen time or take a brisk walk, your mind can think much more clearly.
For this 5-Minute Friday episode, I’d like to share an interview clip with my friend Dorie Clark who argues for the importance of reflection in daily life in order to think clearer and have great ideas.
I first met Dorie Clark at an author’s dinner in NYC, but it wasn’t until after meeting her that I discovered her incredible history of standing out from the crowd.
She graduated college at 18, had her masters at 20 (from Harvard), and then went to work for major political campaigns. But despite her experience with being the unique one in her circles, she struggled to find her niche. So she turned that struggle into her passion. Her book Stand Out: How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It takes on that exact dilemma: How do I stand out and make my ideas heard when so many other great voices are speaking loudly?
Dorie is all about providing a roadmap for people who want to bring their great ideas to fruition.
It doesn’t take time to have a great idea, she says. That happens in little over a second. What can take a long time is to prepare the brain for that great idea. If your head is too full with the buzz of everyday life, then a great idea is going to have a hard time getting its voice above all that noise.
Take the time to reflect and settle into the whitespace of your thoughts. That’s where great ideas are born. To learn more, listen to Episode 921 with the wonderful Dorie Clark.
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Transcript of this Episode
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Music Credit:
Next Galaxy by Extan
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